In a previous post, I mentioned that my new novel Cover Story had been picked by spy fiction superfan and journalist Tim Shipman as one of his top reads of 2025. Now Tim has gone one further, awarding the book a coveted Mole in his annual awards, The Golden Moles. It picked up Bronze Mole in the ‘writer new to the espionage genre’ category. It’s a great honour. There are so many wonderful books out there, it’s very gratifying to get this recognition from one of spy fiction’s leading critics.
I hadn’t realised there was such a strong spy fiction community when I started writing Cover Story. If I had, I think I might have been more wary of venturing into the field. Maybe I wouldn’t even have dared to do it.
You see, the idea of literary superfans can be a little intimidating for a writer. They probably (in my case, certainly) know more about the genre you are attempting to work in than you. In many ways, they see themselves as the guardians of that genre. They know the rules. And woe betide any ignorant hack who breaks them.
The problem is, as a writer, you don’t really have any control over the ideas that take hold of your imagination. In this case, the idea of a writer writing a book which would be used to prop up the cover story of an MI6 agent in the field. Almost by accident, I found myself writing a spy novel.
I didn’t know the rules. So it goes without saying, I broke them.
But you know what? The superfans didn’t seem to mind. In fact, they welcomed me with open arms. And they seemed to like the book. Or at least, those who have been in touch did.
Not only that, some readers have asked me whether I have any plans to return to the world of espionage. I can now reveal that I am currently working on a short story, which once again features Col Newton and Chris ‘Lazyboy’ Lazenby.
I thought I’d start small and see if it grows into anything more substantial. In the meantime, I’m having a lot of fun getting to know my characters again. So who knows, maybe one day there will be another Col Newton novel available for you to read. Assuming you’ve already read Cover Story… If not, get your copy here (ebook) or here (paperback)!
Podcastic
Last year I had the pleasure of sitting down with Phoebe Whitlock, host of Off The Shelf podcast. I was a little nervous, but Phoebe did a great job of putting me at my ease. The time flew by and before I knew it the interview was in the bag. You can hear it on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
If you’d like to leave a comment or get in touch through the contact page, please do… don’t be shy!