Kat Clay

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How to write a noir insult

Publicity still from the film Double Indemnity

“If you have to be a nitwit at least don’t go around with a megaphone.”

Dashiell Hammett, The Glass Key

Who doesn’t love the zingy dialogue of classic film noir and hard-boiled novels? Noir is written with a kind of pizazz that doesn’t happen often anymore. Classics like Double Indemnity, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep and Sweet Smell of Success all hinge on fantastic banter, with a fair smattering of insults.  

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Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, or why people in creepy houses shouldn’t throw fancy dress parties

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Book Cover

Last week I finished reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (yeah I know, it’s a classic and I should have read it eons ago!). As a writer, you spend all your time searching for the book that will blow you away, hoping the next one will be spectacular, and the next one. And usually books are good, but then there are some that leave you lying on the floor in shock.

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Claiming T-Mo by Eugen Bacon: Author Interview

Silvia Brown, Eugen Bacon and Kat Clay at the book launch of Claiming T-Mo

With over one hundred published short stories and articles, as well as two books under her belt, Eugen Bacon is one of Australia’s busiest speculative fiction writers. I caught up with Eugen at the book launch for her speculative fiction debut novel, Claiming T-Mo, and was keen to have her on my blog ASAP. If you’ve had the pleasure of hearing Eugen speak about writing, she talks with such passion that it makes you want to write more.

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