Clan Destine Press Blog — Narrelle M Harris

CLAN DESTINE PRESSThe Only One in the World – a Sherlock Holmes Anthology “Well, I have a trade of my own. I suppose I am the only one in the world. I’m a consulting detective, if you can understand what that is.” ~ Sherlock Holmes to Dr John Watson, A Study in Scarlet What if Sherlock Holmes was Polish? What if he and/or John Watson were Indian or Irish or Australian or Japanese? How would their worlds look if one or both was from a completely different background? These are the questions Clan Destine Press asked writers from a wealth of...

By Narrelle M Harris Any skill improves when you practise it, and we've all discovered that in non-writing ways. Writing is exactly like knitting, painting, ju-jitsu, public speaking, riding horses, driving cars, mathematics, running marathons, learning computer code, becoming a doctor (they call it 'practising medicine' for a reason!). If you're like me, you probably made wonky things in woodwork and crochet before getting the knack. And the knack was just making enough time to practise skills, perhaps with a little guidance, before making a cupboard, or a scarf. We even learned to read through practise: we begin with Dr...

By Narrelle M Harris To celebrate the upcoming Clan Destine Press book History Bones by Lee Harper and Atlin Merrick, I'm sharing my review of The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. One of two dozen subjects in the upcoming History Bones, Frances Glessner Lee crafted detailed dioramas of unsolved crimes, dioramas still used to train Baltimore police detectives. Here I review a fascinating book about Lee's 'Nutshell Studies.' I first saw Corinne May Botz’s book, The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, at the Morbid Anatomy Museum in New York. It is a collection of art photos taken of Frances Glessner Lee’s dollhouse recreations of murder scenes. The dioramas were...

In lo, these unusual times, have you ever found yourself wondering how Australian and New Zealand crime writers focus their finely-tuned brains enough to pen their heart-pumping prose? Wonder no longer! How Do You Work From Home When You Write Crime (The Answers Involve a Pig)? [New South Wales] is not in total lock-down yet, so my tip would be walk your dog while you still can! Naturally, keep a safe distance from people when you do this. I find it energises me and giving my dogs a cuddle is very soothing. If you don’t have a dog, maybe run...