Clan Destine Press
Cart 0

Clan Destine Press Blog

Is Anyone There?… (Writing Prompts)

Writing Prompts

Reminder of what's up since most of us have had other things on our minds: Every week Clan Destine's going to try to get inside your head. Get in there and help you write. We're going to prompt you with a phrase, a couple words, some colours and a weird image and then we're hoping you take it from there. And so… Is anyone there? Do those words bring to mind the echoes of an old and empty house? A sterile space station, white, pristine, and silent? Who's saying it? Or are they? Is it a dream? Are they human?...

Read more →


Ignore at Your (Possible) Peril — Women Crime Writers and Readers

Carmel Shute Diversity Women Crime Writers

"The last time I looked over 90% of book club members were women," said Carmel Shute in a talk last December. Shute, co-convenor of Sisters in Crime, went on share a few other stats: "Women comprise around two-thirds of published authors and buy around three-quarters of the books sold."In preparing this talk, I naturally consulted the [Sisters in Crime] and had a big response. Sulari Gentill, the author of 10 Roland Sinclair historical mysteries amongst other things, was born in Sri Lanka, learned to speak English in Zambia, grew up in Brisbane and now lives in the foothills of the...

Read more →


When They Found It… (Writing Prompts)

Writing Prompts

So here's the Monday deal: We're going to get inside your head. Yes, you heard that right, we want to get in there and help you write. Sometimes you need to look out of the corner of your eye and see the world through someone else's peepers, sometimes you need to be inspired, prompted, encouraged. So that's what we're gonna do every Monday with what you see below:   We're calling them writing prompts and they're here to get your writerly engine revving, they're here to make you squint, stare into the distance, and then go, "Oh hey, that makes...

Read more →


The Criminally Easy Guide to Getting Published

We don't believe in writing rules. If you get words on the page wearing scarlet stilettos and sipping seltzer from a champagne flute, then those are your writing rules. In my experience as a working writer though, there are three single-sentence rules that help get your lovely seltzer-infused writing published. 3 Tiny Tips for Getting Published * Read and follow the publisher's submission guidelines If your preferred publisher's guidelines ask for Victorian crime fiction and you send a contemporary crime story, you've ignored their guidelines and you'll be rejected. Please, don't do that to yourself. They know what they want,...

Read more →


Books Inspiring Us Right Now

Great books are like gold, but unlike what usually happens with gold, great books should be shared. With that in mind, here are some books that have inspired us at the beginning of 2020, and we'd love for you to share your book treasures with us below. What're you reading that's so good you gotta tell? Do tell! Lindy Cameron (Clan Destine Press' publisher) I’m reading a book on boxing to learn more about the topic, and I really wanted one from the point of view of someone who does it and who writes.That's why I'm excited I found The...

Read more →