Assassination Diaries author at Leighton Library
John Newton
LEIGHTON Buzzard author John Newton is at the centre of a publishing storm that has caught the imagination of readers throughout the world and this Thursday he may let guests to the town’s library in on its secret.
John, of Taylor’s Ride, is giving a talk on the subject of researching and writing different styles of books. The author, who recently launched a writers’ group - The Writing Room - at The Heath Barn, is the editor of the Assassination Diaries which can currently be bought online.
The jury is out on whether the diaries, purporting to be details of underworld contract kills, are a slick marketing campaign by Wing publisher Tim Purcell or a factual exposé, but the e-stories are proving increasingly popular among readers.
John who wrote a hard-hitting book called Kitchen Gangster about real life heavy Vance Miller, said: “As a Leighton author I have, in the recent past, written a modern historical novel, a non-fiction expose of oppressive authority, and most recently - published three weeks ago - a commissioned work, The Assassination Diaries, currently an E-book.
“The first diary - The Bishop - is the first of what looks to be a continuing series as more of the diaries come to light.”
The premise of The Assassination Diaries is that a strong box was found in the wreckage of a burned out house. Inside the box was a series of diaries, written by a woman called Maddy who purports to be a freelance travel writer but in reality is a contract killer.
No-one knows if the diaries are true or pulp fiction but they will be released in e-book form over the coming months accompanied by a digital marketing campaign that involves YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Said Tim: “It was because John had been able to get access to Vance Miller and all those associated with him, good and bad, to produce an accurate true account in his book, that we were anonymously sent the first three diaries, with promise of more to come.
“The author, who calls herself Maddy, is clearly a woman. Despite claiming in the diaries that she speaks six languages, they appeared to be hastily written, from memory, often weeks or even months after the event. This meant there was quite a bit of editing, and some re-writing, to be done to make them cohesive and flow. It didn’t help that they were mostly handwritten, with some typed pages, but nothing that would have been generated by or stored on a computer.
“I have done a bit of research and there are certainly similarities in what appears in the diaries to actual crimes. But as there are no dates, we are open minded as to their veracity. That is why in the publicity, on our website, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube we are asking people to read the diaries and come back with any ideas, or evidence there may be out there as to who Maddy is or was!”
John’s library talk, which is open to the public, begins at 7pm.
For more information about The Diaries, follow this link: http://www.assassinationdiaries.com/
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Weather for Leighton Buzzard
Thursday 23 May 2013
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