Category: Events

Event Alert: Chip Lit Fest – Crime Day, 25th April 2015

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Chip Lit Fest logo

Chip Lit Fest logo

The lovely spring literature festival Chip Lit Fest has a day (and a package) especially geared towards crime fiction fans. On Saturday 25th April 2015 you can spend the day soaking up the festival atmosphere and listening to some amazing crime and thriller writers talking about their books and all things writerly.

Here are some of the great sessions they’ve got lined up …

10.00 – 11.00am* New York Times bestselling author Lee Child, creator of the Jack Reacher series, will be in conversation with bestselling crime writer Mark Billingham, creator of the Tom Thorne series.

12.00 – 1.00pm* Breaking Through: hear from bestselling authors Mel Sherratt, Mark Edwards and C L Taylor about what it takes to become a published author.

2.00 – 3.00pm* Nordic Noir: Three of Denmark’s most exciting writers – Sara Blaedel, Kenneth Degnbol and Dagmar Winther talk about the phenomenon that is Nordic Noir.

4.00 – 5.00pm New Voices: meet three new writers who’ve recently made a splash – Paula Hawkins, whose debut thriller The Girl On the Train had a huge buzz around it when it published last month, Renee Knight whose novel Disclaimer was an international sensation, and Jason Hewitt whose novel The Dynamite Room was long listed for the Desmond Elliott prize.

6.00 – 7.00pm* Second Life: SJ Watson, author of the bestselling novel Before I Go to Sleep will be talking about his latest book – Second Life.

Then from 7.45 – 9.30pm it’s the Chip Lit Quiz – hosted by bestselling crime writer Mark Billingham. Test your knowledge alongside writers and festival goers, compete for prizes and celebrate books!

And that’s not all, there are loads of non crime fiction related events, events for children and creative writing sessions for writers – it’s all set to be a fun and informative weekend.

With so many great sessions going on, I’m really looking forward to this festival!

For more information, hop on over to the festival website at http://www.chiplitfest.com/events/package/the-crime-festival and follow them on Twitter @ChipLitFest for up to date festival news.

 

*Indicates the sessions included as part of the Crime Festival package.

 

 

Event Alert: Peter May at Waterstones Piccadilly on 27th January 2015

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Runaway cover image

Runaway cover image

On Tuesday 27th January 2015 Peter May, author of the best selling Lewis Trilogy and the fabulous standalone Entry Island, is going to be visiting Waterstones Piccadilly to talk about his new standalone novel RUNAWAY. Sounds like it’s going to be a great evening.

Here are the details …

PETER MAY talking with Barry Forshaw (crime reviewer for the Financial Times)

Venue: WATERSTONES PICCADILLY – 203-206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD

Tickets: £5/£3

Tel for tickets: 020 78512400  Website: http://www.waterstones.com/events

And a bit more about RUNAWAY …

What the blurb says: “The decision for five teenage boys to leave their homes in Glasgow in 1965 and head to London is led by Jack Mackay when he is expelled from school. His friends need little incentive to run away from their abusive families and dead end jobs to pursue fame and fortune as a band. However, the boys find their dreams to be devastatingly different from reality, and within less than twelve months of their departure, only three of them return home, their lives irrevocably damaged.

Fifty years later in 2015 a brutal murder takes place in London and the three men, who are now in their sixties, are forced to return to the city to confront the demons which have haunted them and blighted their lives for five decades.”

Bloody Brilliant Scotland 2014

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The Female in Crime Fiction panel being introduced

The Female in Crime Fiction panel being introduced

Last weekend was Bloody Scotland 2014. This hugely friendly and welcoming crime writing festival is going from strength to strength. Now in its third year, the festival played host to a plethora of crime writers in three days of entertaining, informative and massively fun events.

Having spent the best part of seven hours on trains travelling from my home to Stirling, I met up with some friends at the Stirling Highland Hotel and then headed over to Hotel Colessio for Mark Billingham and Stuart McBride’s Dead Funny event. As with the Billingham and Brookmyre double act last year, Billingham and McBride answering questions from readers (allegedly) made for a hilarious evening with McBride’s dark poetry, and the skilful answering by both authors of some rather random questions from the audience, real high spots.

Next morning, Saturday, I helped out SJI Holiday (acting as her notetaker) at an interview with Kati Hirekkapelto, author of fabulous book The Hummingbird, before having a quick walk around Stirling – seeing the Castle, the city walls, and peering into the old Gaol.

Then it was off to the New Blood/Fresh Meat panel featuring Eva Dolan, Hania Allen, and Mason Cross. Each of the panel began by reading from their debut novels – three different styles and stories, and all super gripping. Then, led by moderator Peggy Hughes, they spoke about how they got the idea for the novel, the research they did, and what their route to publication was like.

At the same time, the Scotland versus England 5-a-side Football match was taking place. With Ian Rankin captaining Scotland and Mark Billingham captaining England there was a good turnout to watch the battle commence and the #BloodyScotland twitter feed was alive with score updates and photos. After a tense game, the final score was Scotland 13 – England 1, and the magnificent silver trophy went to Scotland.

Next up, I went along to The Female in Crime Fiction (in association with Glasgow Women’s Library) panel with Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Lin Anderson, and Catriona McPherson. The panel debated female protagonists in crime fiction (including how many crime books would pass the Bechdel test which looks at whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man), the joy of reading a thriller that compels you to turn the page (crime writing top tip – always keep the secret withheld as long as you can!), and why it might be that women make up more than half the readership of crime fiction.

The next panel featured Luca Veste, Michael Malone, and Martyn Waites, chaired by Mark Billingham. This lively and entertaining panel discussed their most recent books, the importance of location and why they’d chosen to locate their books where they had, how they go about doing research, their route to publication and how Martyn Waites came to take on his alter ego – Tanya Carver.

The final event of the day was Ian Rankin in conversation with Kathy Reichs. This session in the Albert Halls seemed to fly by with Kathy Reichs talking about her route to publication, what it’s like working on a long running TV show (having to think up new murders after 200 episodes being one of the challenges!) and what it’s like co-writing a YA series with her son.

Then it was off to dinner with friends at the amazing Maharaja curry house before chatting in the bar well into the early hours.

On Sunday I was actually part of an event rather than just watching. Having submitted a 100 word synopsis for the Pitch Perfect session I was excited (and terrified) to hear that my story was one of seven that had been picked to be pitched. Along with the other six pitchers I was ushered into the green room and introduced to the wonderful Jenny Brown who chaired the session. From there it was on to the event with publishers Alison Hennessey (Harvill Secker), Krystyna Green (Constable & Robinson) and Tricia Jackson (Pan MacMillan) on the panel. Each pitcher had three minutes to pitch their story. There were some great pitches, and I think it was probably the longest three minutes of my life! But good fun and I’d definitely recommend it. The panel were friendly and their feedback hugely helpful, and Margaret Stewart was a most deserving winner.

And then it was over.

As I set off on my journey home, I reflected on what a fantastic weekend I’d had – great panels, a fabulous location, a warm and friendly atmosphere and the chance to catch up with all my writerly pals.

The seven hour trip was definitely worth it.

 

Events Alert: Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival, 19-21 September

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Bloody Scotland 2014 logo

Bloody Scotland 2014 logo

2014 sees the third running of the fabulous Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival. From 19th – 21st September the historic and atmospheric town of Stirling will play host to 37 events involving over fifty of the biggest names in crime fiction. Authors taking part include Ian Ranklin, Kathy Reichs, Stuart McBride, Mark Billingham, Denise Mina, Julia Crouch, Christopher Brookmyre, Sophie Hannah, Peter May, Yrsa Siguröardóttir, Megan Abbott, Mason Cross and David Hewson.

As well as a whole host of interviews, panels and talks, there’ll be a medieval murder mystery event in Stirling Castle, a true-crime dramatisation at Stirling Sheriff Court, and Scotland will take on England in a crime writers’ football match.

Add into the mix discussions on the evergreen figure of the Glasgow gangster, the genre of domestic noir, and morality in crime fiction, plus a special session on The Female in Crime Fiction looking at the enormous impact female writers and their characters have in the genre, and it looks like this year is going to be even bigger and better than last year – which was already rather fabulous! (read my blog on the 2013 festival here).

And, not to forget, there’s the announcement of the 2014 winner of the prestigious Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award.

To find out more about the event hop on over to their website and view the full programme at http://www.bloodyscotland.com/

Fun at Hay Festival: Cumberbatch, Child and sneaking into the Green Room …

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Benedict Cumberbatch reading at Letters Live

Benedict Cumberbatch reading at Letters Live

So on Saturday I drove to Hay-on-Wye to visit the Hay Festival for the very first time. I wasn’t really sure exactly what to expect. I’ve been to music festivals, sure. But an outdoor book festival? I couldn’t really picture it.

The first thing that struck me was the shear size and scale of the thing. On the stretch of road between the town of Hay-on-Wye and the Hay Festival site I passed a lot of people walking: all ages, dressed in the usual festival gear – everything from wellies to flip-flops, dresses to jeans to shorts, wet weather jackets and sunglasses. When I arrived at the parking, the first charity car park I tried was already full, but the guy on the gate looked at my little car and said he thought they could squeeze it in – luckily they did.

Then it was across the road and into the festival. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many book lovers all crammed into one space before! There was loads to see, not just all the fabulous events, but also the huge bookstore, the BBC radio broadcasts, the various eating places and bars, and also (if you’d brought the kids) a host of children’s play areas.

The first event I went along to was Letters Live in the Tata Tent. This event, in association with The Reading Agency and World Book Night, was a celebration of literary correspondence inspired by To The Letter by Simon Garfield and Letters of Note by Shaun Usher. The letters were read on stage by Benedict Cumberbatch, Louise Brealy, Ian McEwan, Rob Brydon, Antony Grayling, Lisa Dwan and others (with James Rhodes reading a letter by Chopin and then playing a piece of his music on the keyboard set up on stage). It was a fantastic event with the letters, and their performers, both inspiring laughter and reflection at the emotion conveyed in each one and the wonder of the art of letter writing. The highlight of the event for me was the series of letters read by Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealy – the love letters of Chris and Betty whose relationship bloomed by correspondence while Chris was posted during the war (and later a POW).

In line for the Lee Child event

In line for the Lee Child event (CTG squinting into the sun on the right!)

Next I caught up with my friend Steph Roundsmith, who runs the KidsReadWriteReview scheme (http://www.kidsreadwritereview.co.uk/), and Kjartan Poskitt, the fabulous author of many children’s books including the Agatha Parrot series, the Murderous Maths series and his newest series – Borgon the Axeboy (see http://www.kjartan.co.uk/), who’d just finished his event and signing. We (slowly) inched our way through the crowds to the green room where we sat on the very comfortable sofas and chatted over a hot chocolate.

After that, I had time for a little mooch about. One of the things I loved was the Hollow Ash Shepherd’s Huts. These beautiful spaces are just perfect for using as a writing room in the garden. Hollow Ash also offer glamping holidays in a couple of huts situated in a beautiful part of Hereford. Check them out here http://www.hollowash.co.uk

 

 

Lee Child with Sarah Crompton

Lee Child with Sarah Crompton

Then it was dinner – potato wedges and hummus did the job – before heading to the Never Go Back – Lee Child talks to Sarah Crompton event. The tent was packed, and Sarah Crompton did at great job of questioning Lee about his route to becoming an author, where the inspiration (and name of Reacher) came from, and what happens in the latest book of the series – Never Go Back. Of course, there were also questions about the film, and Tom Cruise. And a question from the audience about why Reacher has had less sex in recent books – the answer? In Never Go Back there’s plenty! I’ve heard Lee speak a few times before, and he was as witty and entertaining as ever.

And then it was over. As I drove out of the festival site and headed home I reflected that the Hay Festival is a fun place to visit, and that perhaps next year I’d come along for more than one day.

Confessions from CrimeFest: Part Three

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Mark Billingham interviewed by Martyn Waites

Mark Billingham interviewed by Martyn Waites

And so onto Saturday!

First up, I headed to the 9am panel Name Your Price: The Hired Gun. Moderated by Meg Gardiner, with panellists Mason Cross, Hanna Jameson, John Gordon Sinclair, and Mark Allen Smith, the panel discussed the attraction of the ‘hired gun’ as protagonist, the mystery surrounding the character that rides into town, sorts out the problem, then disappears again, and the joys (and challenges) of writing them.

Next, I headed to the lounge to interview Mason Cross, author of The Killing Season and creator of the rather mysterious Carter Blake. It was a fun interview to do – watch this blog for the write-up coming soon.

After a leisurely lunch with friends, I headed to one of the main events of the weekend – Featured Guest of Honour: Mark Billingham interviewed by Martyn Waites. Both wearing fabulous western shirts that I’m sure Mark Billingham’s series character, Tom Thorne, would have been proud of, they took to the stage for a lively and entertaining interview covering everything from Mark’s books, the future of police procedurals, Thorne’s taste in music (it changed quite dramatically between the first book and the second) and even dachshund detectives!

Then it was on to the Arcadia Books Reception complete with tasty wine in beautiful Bristol Blue Glass glasses, followed by the Gala Awards Dinner. It was a fabulous evening with the merriment continuing way into the early hours of Sunday morning.

On Sunday I had a hangover, and it was a big one, which meant I didn’t get up very early! But I did make it along to the last event of the festival, Criminal Mastermind with Quiz Master Maxim Jakubowski interrogating contestants: Mason Cross (specialist subject Lee Child), Kate Ellis (specialist subject Josephine Tey), Paul Johnston (specialist subject Dashiell Hammett) and Susan Moody (specialist subject Raymond Chandler). It was great fun playing along in the audience, but the general crime fiction questions in the second round were seriously hard! In the end Paul Johnston was victorious.

And then the weekend was over.

As ever I was determined to resist the festival book shop – my ever multiplying ‘to be read’ pile already stretches across several rooms of the house! But, as usual, I was unable to resist the papery lure of the all those fabulous looking books, and over the weekend bought several bags full.

Authors whose books I’ve added to my mountainous ‘to be read’ pile are: Simon Kernick, Helen Giltrow, Nev Fountain, Tom Wood, Kevin Wignall, Tanya Carver, and Kate Griffin. Along with the latest books of a few of my favourite authors including Mark Billingham (The Bones Beneath), Meg Gardiner (The Shadow Tracer), and a signed copy of The Killing Season by Mason Cross.

All in all, it was a fabulously fun weekend.

Now I’m off to book my ticket for next year!

Dead Good Fiction Festival #dgfictionfest #FFF

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Quick, it’s here, the brand new online fiction festival put together by those fabulous people over at Dead Good Books.

Check out the flyer (below) to join in with the fun: there’s conversations with featured authors Nicci French, Sharon Bolton, and Karin Slaughter, and a monster prize to be won by the winner of the Who ‘Dunnit game.

Festival Flyer

Festival Flyer

Confessions from CrimeFest: Part Two

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L-R: Kevin Wignall, AK Benedict, James Oswald, Anne Zouroudi, Ben Aaronovitch

L-R: Kevin Wignall, AK Benedict, James Oswald, Anne Zouroudi, Ben Aaronovitch

I did indeed get up in time to make it to the first panel of the day, but I didn’t manage breakfast. Still, it was worth it. The Debut Authors: An Infusion of Fresh Blood panel was great fun and all the panel members were surprisingly perky for a nine o’clock start. Moderator Jake Kerridge talked to panellists MJ Arlidge, Mason Cross, Jake Woodhouse, Kate Griffin and Colette McBeth about their debut novels and the route they’d taken to publication.

Next up, was the Death in High Heels: Women as Victims panel. MR Hall, Jessica Mann, Jessie Keane, and Martyn Waites (who also writes as Tanya Carver) debated the issue of how women are portrayed in crime fiction, especially when the victim of the crime is female. It was an interesting and thought provoking discussion covering everything from at what point violence becomes ‘torture porn’ through to the use of female images on book covers.

I then had time for a swift coffee (black, no sugar) before heading into The Modern Thriller panel. As thrillers are my absolute favourite of the genre, this was one of the panels I’d been most eager to see. Moderated by Doug Johnstone, the panel of Belinda Bauer, Helen Fitzgerald, Chris Ewan and Simon Kernick talked about what constitutes the modern thriller, and how it differs from a crime novel. Defining characteristics seemed to be agreed on as pace, and a sense of urgency. They spoke of their own favourite modern thrillers, with Harlan Coben’s Tell No One coming out as a popular choice.

I didn’t stop for lunch, instead going straight on to watch the Things That Go Bump In the Night: Magic, Paranormal & All Things Supernatural panel. Moderated by Kevin Wignall, with Ben Aaronovitch, AK Benedict, James Oswald, and Anne Zouroudi, this was a lively panel with some great discussion about mixing crime with the paranormal. I particularly enjoyed some of the more random questions poised by Kevin Wignall to the panel (which were questions he had been asked by children when doing author events) – these included: ‘Can you tell me a story about a hamster?’ And ‘What would be your X-Man name and superpower?’ Fabulous.

By that point in the day I was rather panelled-out, but managed to find the energy to head along to the drinks reception that evening to watch 2014 CWA Diamond Dagger Recipient Simon Brett in performance. Then it was off for a fabulous curry with the Icelandic crime writers before heading to the bar for a few last orders drinks (and beyond!).

Confessions from CrimeFest: Part One

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The Iceland Noir panel

The Iceland Noir panel

On a surprisingly hot Thursday last week I packed my weekend bag and headed to CrimeFest. Held in Bristol, from the 15 – 18 May the Royal Marriott Hotel on College Green played host to hundreds of crime writers and readers for a long weekend of panels and interviews celebrating and debating crime fiction.

Having checked into the rather gorgeous conference hotel, I hurried along to my first panel of the afternoon: Locked Rooms & Closed Locations: Writing Yourself into a Corner. Here, the panellists Nev Fountain, Thomas Mogford, Anotonia Hodgson, LC Tyler, and moderator, Charles (Caroline) Todd discussed the settings that inspired their own novels, how they’ve used elements of locked room or closed location settings in their writing, and the difficulties that can be encountered when writing a traditional locked room mystery with an entirely plausible ending.

Next, I trotted along to the Iceland Noir panel. Iceland Noir authors Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Quentin Bates, and Michael Ridpath, along with publisher Petur Mar Olafsson and moderator Barry Forshaw, talked about the rise of Icelandic crime fiction, the cold but beautiful landscape of Iceland, and the dreadfulness of the traditional Icelandic food! Each member of the audience was given a raffle ticket, and at the end of the panel one lucky person won an all-expenses paid trip to this years’ Iceland Noir crime writing festival in Reykjavik in November. Sadly that person was not me.

Then it was off to the bar, to catch up with friends, and on to the Crimefest Pub Quiz, hosted by crimewriter, critic, and quiz master, Peter Guttridge. Despite the amount of wine drunk, we were still able to do much better this year – rising one place from last to second from last! We didn’t mind though, it was still a lot of fun.

As I fell into bed in the early hours of Friday morning, I set my alarm for 7.30am and promised myself I’d get up in a few hours time to see the first panel.

Check out Confessions from CrimeFest: Part 2 to see if I managed it …

Shortlists for the 2014 CrimeFest Awards Announced

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CrimeFest logo

CrimeFest logo

The shortlists have been announced for the annual CrimeFest Awards!

Now in its seventh year, the winners of the 2014 CrimeFest Awards will be revealed at the CrimeFest Gala Awards Dinner on Saturday, 17 May 2014. It promises to be a great night, and I can’t wait to find out which of the books from the fabulous novels shortlisted are going to be awarded the prizes.

 

The shortlisted authors and books are …

 

The Audible Sounds of Crime Award:  for the best crime audiobook first published in the UK in 2013 in print and audio format, and available for download from audible.co.uk (Sponsored by Audible UK).

Nominees:

Ben Aaronovitch for Broken Homes, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Orion Audio)

John le Carré for A Delicate Truth, read by John le Carré (Penguin)

Robert Galbraith for The Cuckoo’s Calling, read by Robert Glenister (Hachette Audio)

Peter James for Dead Man’s Time, read by Daniel Weyman (Macmillan Audio)

Peter May for The Chessmen, read by Peter Forbes (Quercus)

James Oswald for Natural Causes, read by Ian Hanmore (Penguin)

 

The eDunnit Award: for the best crime fiction ebook first published in hardcopy and  electronic format in the British Isles in 2013.

Nominees:

A.K. Benedict for The Beauty of Murder (Orion)

Thomas H. Cook for Sandrine (Head of Zeus)

Sara Gran for Claire DeWitt and the Bohemian Highway (Faber and Faber)

Elizabeth Haynes for Under a Silent Moon (Sphere)

Val McDermid for Cross and Burn (Sphere)

Derek B. Miller for Norwegian by Night (Faber and Faber)

Denise Mina for The Red Road (Orion)

Thomas Mogford for Sign of the Cross (Bloomsbury)

George Pelecanos for The Double (Orion)

Anne Zouroudi for The Feast of Artemis (Bloomsbury)

 

The Goldsboro Last Laugh Award: for the best humorous crime novel first published in the British Isles in 2013 (Sponsored by Goldsboro Books, the UK’s largest specialist in first edition, signed books).

Nominees:

Colin Bateman for Fire and Brimstone (Headline)

Alan Bradley for Speaking from Among the Bones (Orion)

Colin Cotterill for The Axe Factor (Quercus)

Shamini Flint for A Calamitous Chinese Killing (Little, Brown)

Carl Hiaasen for Bad Monkey (Little, Brown)

Suzette A. Hill for A Little Murder (Allison & Busby)

Derek B. Miller for Norwegian by Night (Faber and Faber)

Teresa Solana for The Sound of One Hand Killing (Bitter Lemon Press)

 

CrimeFest runs 15th – 18th May 2014 in Bristol, UK, and will be featuring guest authors including Mark Billingham, Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Simon Brett, who will be joined by the likes of Ben Aaronovitch, Jasper Fforde, Nicci French, Lars Kepler and Peter James.

The CrimeFest programme includes a full schedule of panel events and interviews, and aspiring crime novelists can also attend the CrimeFest Crime Writing Day, which includes a workshop with M.R. Hall and William Ryan, and a Pitch-an-Agent event where aspiring authors can pitch their unpublished manuscript to a top line-up of literary agents.

To find out more about CrimeFest, and the authors attending the convention, pop over to www.crimefest.com/attend.html