Tim Kinsey

A screenshot of a Scrivener document entitled “LH13 v1”. The central pane simply has the words "THE END” typed near the top in white against a dark grey background.

I only ever write THE END so I can screenshot it - it never appears in the actual manuscript. Nevertheless, I have this day submitted the first draft of Lady Hardcastle - Book 13.

It's always seemed a bit artificial to me when foley artists add a zing whenever someone draws a blade in a film. But then we got a new knife block...

She has an especial fondness for Mussorgsky's piano suite "Pictures at an Exhibition" which she plays when she's in a showing-off mood and she's planning a series of animated pictures to go with it.

It changes from week to week. At the moment she's particularly fond of Mahler, especially his fifth symphony. She also loves Tchaikovsky's fifth and wondered for a while if it was a fifth symphony thing. But then she remembered how much she dislikes Beethoven's fifth so it can't be that.

80 Years

Composite photo showing a product shot from the Argos catalogue 1973/4. Cropped to show an electric bass guitar leaning against an electronic organ. The bass is 3/4 scale and finished in tobacco burst with a white pick guard. Also in the composite is the listing for the item which reads: 18. DALLAS ARBITER Solid Electric Bass Guitar. 2 pick-ups. 4 strings. Amplifier lead included. (Japan). Catalogue Number 540/0045. Recommended Retail £25.37. Argos Price £19.95

I was thinking back to my days in 4th Year Juniors at primary school when I played bass guitar in the school orchestra. I looked through old Argos catalogues and found this, which I believe is the instrument I played. It’s a 3/4 scale bass bought by the school from Argos in around 1973 or ’74.

Meanwhile in 2008 at the Upton Snodsbury Music Festival...

I mean… just take my money…

For anyone who wondered about my badger pin this weekend, these are three of the visiting badgers.

"You want to try mowing the f$%&ing orchard."

What with writing LH13 and all the prep for Harrogate, I completely missed the anniversary of Macaroni Penguins' last (hopefully not final) gig at the Nibley Festival on 6 July last year. Eee, but we ’ad a laff.

Screenshot of an Instagram story on a phone screen. The main image shows the stage at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival with me (Tim Kinsey) on the left, S J Parris, Andrew Taylor, Beth Lewis and Shylashri Shankar.

I went to #TheakstonsCrime intending to post updates... and forgot. Instead, I just had the best time ever. I hugged old friends, met wonderful new people, and had a great time hosting the How We Lived Then panel. The only useable pic on my phone is this screenshot from the official HIF IG account.

Their books are all amazingly brilliant

It's such a fun and busy time, it's inevitable. I'm missing my own publisher's dinner because of the panel

There are some fantastic books in the book room at Harrogate. #TheakstonsCrime

I’ll be about. Do say hello

We find ourselves once more at Harrogate. This is the view from our room. #theakstonscrime

Finally a use for the NutriBullet: I have made a frozen margarita

A lego F1 car in McLaren livery with a yellow T-bar instead of the stock black.

The yellow ingot arrived today, enabling me to turn my Lego McLaren into Lando's Lego McLaren.

Home - The Story School Discover your writing voice & style. With guidance from two published authors with very different approaches, discover the writing process that works for you and your voice, and turn your idea into a ...

Meanwhile, look what two of my friends have done.

If you're an aspiring writer in need of advice and encouragement, this might be exactly what you're looking for...

the-story-school.com

Crime Time FM: Rev RICHARD COLES, TM KINSEY, MARNIE RICHES #OnTheSofaWithVictoria Season 8 Episode 4, Cosy Crime Rev. Richard Coles, TE 'Tim' Kinsey. Marnie Riches Desert island books: Tiger Margery Allingham. Daughter Laura Shepherd Robinson. A Big Boy Chris Brookmy...

I've been a guest on of those podcast things...

podfollow.com/crime-time-f...

Because a wireless Boss Katana-Go rig seemed like a funny idea.

(it's playing out through desktop monitor speakers)

Sometimes you stop what you’re doing to get a drink. Sometimes the drink gets you…

A photo of a plastic panel inside a car boot. There is a garden snail snoozing between the ridges.

There was a hitchhiker in the boot of my car yesterday.

A white desk with desk things. There are also two similarly sized cylindrical containers, both with “Fast Fret String Cleaner and Lubricant” printed on them. The left-hand one is a tin, slightly battered and scratched. Beside it is a small wooden handle with the magic applicator at its end. On the right is a plastic tube. The handle of the applicator is also plastic.

When I was a lad, Fast Fret came in a tin and had a wooden handle...

Niche thing (if you're only here for mysteries and badgers... sorry): TIL that following the latest update (11.2) Logic Pro now has a stem splitter. It's utterly brilliant. #iykyk #TimeWellWasted

Almost a year late, I spotted this post on Insta. That's me at the back. Obviously.

Still image from night vision video. An overgrown, 'natural' section of a garden. Two badgers in the foreground, snuffling. One badger behind them, investigating a stone birdbath.

You wait all evening for a badger and then three turn up at once...

Didn't get it, but I prob'ly should of have...

This is a wonderful book, and I'll be gently encouraging Beth to talk about it at #theakstoncrime in July

A Mickey Mouse tumbler containing a negroni and an ice sphere. It's on a white desk near a computer keyboard. There's an out-of-focus guitar neck in the foreground and assorted desk nonsense in the background, also out of focus.

Guitar practice needs a decent drink.

I'm still rubbish at the guitar, but I make a mean negroni.