My latest blog post about women's magazines, respecting fiction in tough times, and why we might be wise not to overlook short stories in 2026.

Cold Secrets has a gorgeous rebrand in the vein of Golden Age mysteries. New cover for Cold Secrets , V. J. Randle By the end of 2026, I will have published four books with a publisher (Bloodhound Books). The benefits of signing with a publisher (as opposed to self-publishing) are much-debated in book spaces, however, the agreement works well for me: yes, they take a cut of royalties, but all costs (actors/production for audiobooks, covers, editing etc., marketing etc.) are

Why we love to hate the criminally elite...

Over the last couple of weeks, I was lucky enough to do some book events in Scotland, where my latest mystery thriller, Seven Bodies , is set. Here I am, absolutely buzzing whilst chatting to the most wonderful local readers! I had never done an author event before and the nerves were tremendous: would anyone actually turn up? What if lots of people turned up and declared that a) they had already read my book and b) they hated it? What if I discovered that I was, actually, ve

A spooky mystery thriller short story ahead of my January release...

I saw this year’s first marmot a few days ago. For anyone unfamiliar with marmots, they are quite simply the best. They are oversized...

Today is the perfect day to tell you not to give up on your dream of becoming a published author. Why? Because I considered packing it...