Creative Writing Lecturer Hopes Launch Of His New Crime Novel Will Inspire Students
A Wrexham historical crime author celebrating the publication of his latest book hopes to inspire his students.
Wrexham Glyndŵr University English and Creative Writing lecturer Mike Miles launched his new novel, Eagle and the Lady-killer, last week.
The book, a sequel to An Uncommon Attorney, is a gripping tale cloaked in darkness and mystery set in Leeds, at Halloween in 1793. A teenaged prostitute is found murdered, her body horribly mutilated. Worried about the loss of trade, the town corporation hires John Eagle to investigate. But other murders soon follow, each preceded by a cryptic note.
A battle of wits ensues in this captivating dark tale, in which the stakes for the young attorney have never been higher.
Mike, who writes under the pen name Miles Craven, said: “My books have grown out of my PhD on 18th century crime –it looked at who attended crimes as there was no police force back then. So these tales of fiction grew out of serious work.
“With creative writing it’s nice to be free of footnotes and decide myself what is going to happen in the story.”
Mike, originally from Leeds and now living in Overton, has taught in further education colleges and universities for more than thirty years, teaching History, English Literature and, most recently, Creative Writing.
He celebrated his 10 year anniversary with Wrexham Glyndwr University last year and hopes his published works will encourage his students to push-forward with their own writing.
He said: “I want students to know I am a published writer and I practice what I preach.
“I have very ambitious students and hopefully this does inspire them. Anyone can become a writer at any stage of their life if they want it enough.
“The best advice I can offer to budding authors is to read something every day, even something little, and try write a little everyday too – it’s like muscle building.”
The 59-year-old cites writing as his greatest passion and uses his love-hate relationship with the process to explore different ideas and methods in the university’s Creative Writing degree.
Speaking on juggling his role as a senior lecturer and writer, he said: “It can be difficult juggling a full teaching timetable as well as writing and getting a book published but once you’ve started writing it’s like a bug, it stays with you.
“I can also share everything I’ve learnt – from writing the book to getting it published – with my students and offer advice.”
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