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Earthquakes, I am pleased to say, are rare occurrences in the UK, but apparently there was one yesterday and in the area where I happened to be, the Isle of Wight, and I never felt a thing. An earthquake with a magnitude of 3.9 on the Richter Scale struck in the middle of the English Channel on Thursday morning 60km south east of the Isle of Wight at about 7.59am, the time I was walking on the golden sands on a glorious sunny morning on Whitecliff Bay beach. According to reports, the British Geological Survey said the quake had a depth of 10km and its epicentre was around 60km south of the Isle of Wight. The British Geological Survey received at least ten reports from people on the Isle of Wight who felt the tremors: breakfast dishes rattled, computer monitors vibrated and windows shook but the earth never moved for me. More information is available at http://www.bgs.ac.uk/ where anyone who felt the tremor can fill in details on-line. Of course now I am wondering if...

Tomorrow is the awards ceremony for the southern area Young Crime Writers' Competition, organised by the Crime Writers' Association and supported by the Library service, and which I have had the pain and pleasure of judging.  I say pain because the entries were so  good and two in particular brilliant that I have been agonising over which one will go forward for the national finals. And I so hate to disappoint  nine of the young people who I have shortlisted and who along with their families will be at Portsmouth Central Library tomorrow morning to receive their certificates and learn which of them has won the area award. Each shortlisted entrant will receive a certificate while the area winner will be awarded a certificate and a £10 book token and will go forward for the national prize. The national winner will receive an engraved pen, a selection of signed books, and a weekend pass for the winner and one accompanying adult, including one night’s accommodatio...

Three of my crime and thriller novels feature the Isle of Wight on the South Coast of England. In For The Kill, the fast-paced thriller starring Alex Albury, is set there; The Suffocating Sea, an Inspector Andy Horton Marine Mystery ends there, and Blood Upon The Sand , another Horton crime novel, which I've just finished writing, is also set there. As I've just returned from a long hike on the Isle of Wight, I thought I'd post a couple of photos of where these novels are based. The top photograph is of Sandown Bay and the one below is of Whitecliff Bay. I'll take more next time I travel from Portsmouth to the Isle of Wight and post them here. In In For The Kill , Alex's life descends into a living nightmare when his identity is stolen. Newly released from prison and living on a houseboat in Bembridge Harbour, Alex sets out on a quest to discover who framed him for fraud and embezzlement, vowing to destroy this man as he has destroyed Alex's life. (You can l...