Today I am MOST happy to welcome Michael Wood to the blog telling us why he writes as part of the “For Reasons Unknown” blog tour.
Why We Write?
For as long as I can remember I have always written, whether it has been short stories, comedy scripts, or novels. Being a published novelist is something I’ve aspired to be since I was a child. However, it’s not the easiest of tasks. You don’t just wake up one morning and decide you’re a writer. It takes years of hard work and dedication and soul searching to get where you want to be. My first novel – written in my early twenties – was absolute rubbish. Looking back, I can’t believe I actually sent it out to potential agents. No wonder it was rejected. The second was similarly lacking in any quality. The third, I like, and I still hope it will be published one day. The fourth, For Reasons Unknown, is the book we’re all talking about on this tour.
For Reasons Unknown is a series novel, whereas all the previous attempts were standalone books. I approached the process of writing differently with this one as I created the character before the story. I wanted a strong female lead who was dedicated and at the top of her career, but was a complete mess, fragile and lacking confidence.
So why crime? Well, as a former journalist a great deal of my stories involved crime in some way and I have covered many court cases in my career which I found absolutely fascinating. I also read a great deal of crime fiction too. I’m a huge fan of British crime fiction and could spend hours talking about my favourite novels and authors. I think if you’re going to write in a specific genre you need to, firstly, know your genre, and secondly, be a fan of it. I have an extensive collection of crime fiction novels and I’m very protective of my collection.
I am currently working on the second novel in the DCI Matilda Darke series and love writing. I’m at my happiest when I’m creating a story, researching a story, or writing a story. I enjoy sitting at the laptop and wondering what direction the plot is going to go in next. I have spent a great deal of time creating Matilda and the other characters that I feel like I know them personally so take great care over what they do, say, and what happens to them next. What does happen to them next is anyone’s guess. I’ve no idea, but I’m having a great deal of fun finding out.
About the Book:
Two murders. Twenty years. Now the killer is back for more…
A darkly compelling debut crime novel. The start of a brilliant series, perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, Val McDermid, and James Oswald.
DCI Matilda Darke has returned to work after a nine month absence. A shadow of her former self, she is tasked with re-opening a cold case: the terrifyingly brutal murders of Miranda and Stefan Harkness. The only witness was their eleven-year-old son, Jonathan, who was too deeply traumatized to speak a word.
Then a dead body is discovered, and the investigation leads back to Matilda’s case. Suddenly the past and present converge, and it seems a killer may have come back for more…
Purchase Information:
My Review:
Absolutely thoroughly enjoyed For Reasons Unknown – a fast paced and endlessly compellling crime thriller and (we hope) the first in a series featuring Matilda Darke (great name great character) a DCI who has returned to work after a traumatic case and personal loss has seen her out of the picture for a while.
It’s always interesting reading a new crime fiction novel when you read as many of them as I do – often they can be quite same old same old, then sometimes one comes along that grips you completely for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on ….aptly in this case given it’s title – and you know that you are going to want more. I want more.
All the elements of great crime fiction are in here – a puzzling and engaging mystery, a touch of emotional angst, characters with a past that speaks to who they are today- what Michael Wood has done particularly well here is give psychological and realistic depth to all of this, especially in relation to how he offsets one personality against the other.
Then you have a lovely twisty turny murder case, where some things are predictable and some things are most definitely not so, a great piece of storytelling that gives the old brain cells a work out and really will have you avidly turning the pages to find out what is what.
On top of that Matilda is a really really terrific main protagonist – her back story is utterly captivating and you absolutely get caught up in her struggle to return to some kind of normality. The relationship between her and the surviving child (now grown) of the cold case she is looking at is brilliantly drawn. As for Ben Hale, the man in charge in Matilda’s absence, well – to say I was enthralled by his personality and what happens to him would be putting it mildly. Really well written to completely involve the reader.
Overall then a great read. One I achieved in one sitting, perfectly paced, entirely fluent throughout, a genuinely first rate first novel.
Bring on book two. I’ll be waiting.
Highly Recommended.
Follow Michael on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/MichaelHWood
#ForReasonsUnknown
Find out more! Follow the tour:
