Tag: Crime Writers Association

Competition Alert: CWA Debut Dagger & CRIMEFEST FLASHBANG

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CRIME WRITERS ASSOCIATION DEBUT DAGGER

Entries are now open for the 2014 CWA Debut Dagger competition. The competition is open to unpublished writers with entries judged by a panel of top crime editors and agents, and the shortlist sent to publishers and agents. First prize is £700, sponsored by Orion, and all shortlisted entries receive a professional assessment of their work. The entry fee is £25 and you’ll need to sent the first 3000 words (or fewer) of your novel along with a 500-1000 word synopsis of the rest of the novel.

The Debut Dagger closes on Friday 31st January 2014. The shortlist is announced at CrimeFest in May 2014 and the winner at the CWA Dagger Awards Dinner later in the year.

To find out more, hop on over to http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/debut/

 

CRIMEFEST FLASHBANG COMPETITION


CRIMEFEST’s FLASHBANG writing competition challenges you to write a flash-fiction crime story in no more than 150 words.

Prizes include a pair of weekend passes to CRIMEFEST 2015 and other crime-related goodies. Shortlisted entries will be compiled by a judging panel of leading crime reviewers, and Zoë Sharp, author of the Charlie Fox series, will be the final arbiter. The judges are on the lookout for flashes of crime storytelling brilliance in 150 words or less. The entry fee is £2 (only one entry allowed per person).

Entries close at midnight on 3rd March 2014. The longlist will be announced on 7th April, the shortlist announced on 21st April and the winners announced at CRIMEFEST in May 2014.

To find out more, pop over to www.flashbangcontest.wordpress.com

Event Report: CWA 60th Anniversary Event

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Barry Forshaw at CWA

Barry Forshaw at CWA

Last night I trotted into London for the CWA 60th Anniversary event. Held on the third floor of the fabulous Foyles flagship bookstore on Charing Cross Road, the celebrations began at 6.30pm with the announcement of the CWA’s recent polls to find the greatest crime writer, crime series and crime novel of all time.

The packed room fell silent as the winners were announced. And the winners are …

Best Ever Novel: THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD – AGATHA CHRISTIE 

Best Ever Author – AGATHA CHRISTIE

Best Ever Crime Series – SHERLOCK HOLMES

Following the announcement, an expert panel of crime thriller writers – Barry Forshaw, Belinda Bauer, Zoe Sharp and David Stuart Davies – debated the shortlist choices and winners, with panel chair, Barry Forshaw, playing ‘devils advocate’.

A lively discussion was had – with topics ranging from plot-holes in classic crime novels, what can an author do when they get sick of writing their protagonist (as Agatha Christie did famously with Poirot), and who is the best Sherlock Holmes?

Congratulations to the winners and Happy Anniversary CWA.

 

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Today is Get Writing 2013 Day!

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Get Writing 2013 logo

Get Writing 2013 logo

Today I’m at Verulam Writers’ Circle’s Get Writing 2013 Conference at the University of Hertfordshire’s De Havilland Campus.

As well as attending many of the wonderful workshops and sessions at the conference, I’ve got the pleasure of chairing the Crime Panel in the Main Hall.

The four fabulous crime writers on the panel are:

ANN CLEEVES

Ann is the author of the books behind ITV’s VERA and BBC One’s SHETLAND. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

LESLEY HORTON

Lesley’s books have been described as interesting, serious and gritty. After a career in teaching, Lesley took early retirement and has written five novels featuring DI (now DCI) John Handford and has completed her sixth. Her next novel will be a psychological suspense stand-alone. She is a founder member of the Airedale Writers’ Circle set up in 1995.

ADRIAN MAGSON

Adrian is the author of 13 crime/thriller novels and hundreds of short stories and magazine articles. His latest novels are ‘ Retribution’, the fourth in his Harry Tate spy series, and ‘Death on the Pont Noir’, third in his Inspector Lucas Rocco French police series. He’s a reviewer for Shots Magazine, he writes the ‘Beginners’ and ‘New Author’ pages for Writing Magazine, and is the author of ‘Write On! – The Writer’s Help Book’ .

CLARIE McGOWAN

Claire is the Director of Crime Writers’ Association and teaches on the new Crime Fiction MA at City University, London. Her first novel, The Fall, was published in 2012. Her second novel, The Lost, featuring forensic psychologist, Paula Maguire, was published earlier this month.

I’m really looking forward to it.

You can follow Get Writing 2013 on Twitter at @GetWriting2013

Not long to go: Vote for the CWA’s Dagger in the Library award

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Library

Library (Photo credit: thejester100)

 

The Dagger in the Library award is one of the Crime Writers’ Association highly prized dagger awards. It’s a unique prize that allows readers, reading groups, and libraries to nominate their favourite crime authors to go forward to a panel of expert judges made up of UK librarians.

 

The prize is for an author’s whole collection rather than a specific book. In previous years, recipients of the Dagger in the Library have included Mo Hayder, Steve Mosby and Stuart MacBride.

 

It’s a great chance for readers to recognise their favourite authors and also to honour the work of our UK libraries. But you’ll have to be quick, the closing date for nominations is 1st April 2013.

 

So, hop across to http://deadgoodbooks.co.uk/index.php/nominate-an-author-for-cwas-dagger-in-the-library-award-and-win-200-worth-of-books/ and nominate your favourite British crime writers. You’ll also be in with a chance to win £200 worth of books from Random House Publishers.

 

Daily Ponder: Book spotting on the Train

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Kindle

Kindle (Photo credit: Simply Bike)

In just a few hours I’ll be heading up to London for the Crime Writers’ Association (CWA) hosted panel discussion “Is crime the new literary fiction?” that’s being held at Kings Place.

One of the things I always like to do on the train ride to London and back (and on the tube) is to check out the books my fellow travelers are reading. Are they crime thrillers, romance, science fiction, fantasy, historical or something else? And, more importantly, have I read them, and do they look like the type of thing I’d like to read.

I’ve even had quite a few bookish conversations with fellow commuters, and got some excellent recommendations from them. But, it’s not quite as easy as it used to be. That’s because of eReaders. I just can’t (or not as secretly) take a sneaky peep at the cover of the book being read. Although, that said, if I’m standing on the train, and someone sitting nearby is reading on an eReader (especially if the font size is set to large) it is possible.

But, not to be deterred (and, of course, being of a rather nosy disposition!) I’ll be book spotting on the train as I travel.

I wonder what crime thriller books I’ll glimpse today …

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Competition Alert: CWA Debut Dagger has opened!

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Entries have opened for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger competition. Budding crime writers can enter the competition from now until the closing date of 2nd February 2013.

The competition offers a prize of £700 and all shortlisted entrants receive a professional assessment of their entries.

The shortlist will be announced at CRIMEFEST in May, and the winner announced at the glitzy CWA Awards Ceremony in July 2013.

To enter you’ll need a 500 – 1000 word synopsis and the first 3000 words (or fewer) of your novel, plus you’ll need to complete the entry form, pay the entry fee and ensure you’re abiding by the competition rules.

To find out more about the competition and how to enter, head over to http://www.thecwa.co.uk/daggers/debut/index.html

While you’re there, you can also sign up for regular competition updates, and check out the wealth of writing hints and tips.

So what are you waiting for?