January 1939. When the British Foreign Minister receives a phone call from Berlin, Amsterdam must be warned. Forces within the Dutch government are working on staging a terrorist attack on their own…
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A New Novel – coming soon
Today is my birthday and I feel like giving you things. My books. All of them. And a quick update on what’s coming.
Free. Worthless or priceless?
It is the end of winter, summer is coming. The weather today is nice, I drove home from work with the top open. One of the simple pleasures in my life. Driving with the warm wind in my hair. Summer is when people read books. They lie on sunbeds on beaches, besides swimming pools in […]
Translations? How? Why?
I’m sure you are all aware that I’m not a traditionally published author with million sales to my name. I write when I can and when I feel like it, I sell a handful of books a year, probably not enough to go grocery shopping… once. But you write because you want to. Because you […]
Paperback Writer – how to get them?
Late in 2022, I “remastered” my two existing novels, Under the Black Sand, and Blood and Rain. I made slight changes to the contents and redesigned the books. The cover of Black Sand is now completely different. Blood and Rain is now available in a hardcover for the first time. Both paperbacks are now larger, […]
Happy New 2023!
Dear reader,2022 is gone and 2023 is here. A year is different for us all. Some may experience it as the best year of their lives, while others are forced to stare into the void. 2022 was another strange year. Covid is still here. I lost a friend to the pandemic. My last grandparent left […]
Memory Lane
Remix, remaster, re-edit?
When is a work of art finished? Is it ever, or do we simply abandon it when we’ve had enough? In early summer 2013, I completed my debut novel, Under the Black Sand. It was done. After years of work, from a short film to a screenplay to a different screenplay to a novel, to […]
Everything is Possible
If a book is good, or at least popular, chances are that someone will make a film based on it. But how often does the reverse happen? Under the Black Sand wasn’t meant to be a novel. It started as a short film. I wrote the screenplay in the Netherlands, where I live, but the […]
Killing Your Darlings
One of the most painful things writers must do it killing the darlings. The scenes they worked to perfection. They may be inspired, beautiful, full of meaning. They may be the greatest prose you ever wrote. But no matter how special they are, if they don’t serve the story, they must die. Under the Black […]
The House of the Living – a short story
We did not turn on the lights at night, as you probably expect of our sort. Neither did we slam doors or look through the windows from the outside. Never did we rearrange jars in the kitchen or throw furniture around. We are not like that.
Every Writer has a Voice
I was at work last night when a colleague asked if I already had the paperback of the new novel. It won’t come out for another two weeks, but I have my first print run. She took it, and after complimenting the cover design and format of the book, opened it on a random page and […]
It’s (not) All About the Money
I have decided to stop charging for my books. Writing is a passion. Certainly in the beginning, before you build an audience. You write because there are voices, people and stories in your head that want to get out into the world. If you’re lucky, you sell a million books and can make a living […]
David Bowie’s 100 Favourite Books
As the fallout from Bowie’s death settles, we collect our thoughts and try to make sense of his life and legacy. As I mentioned in my previous post, I fell in love with him in my teens. He was larger than life and he sang about feelings of isolation and anxiety. Something I was only […]
