As I discussed in my last blog, I headed up to Bloody Scotland on the Sunday to attend four different events. It’s perhaps unsurprising to confirm that it was an amazing day spent with likeminded people and in the company of some Scottish Crime writing royalty. The only downside was choosing only to attend on one day, a mistake I am determined to rectify by attending the whole weekend next year.
The opening event was held at the Central Library, where author Sheila Averbuch shared some tips from her book ‘Pitch Your Book – Write the letter that hooks an agent on your novel’. It was a fascinating insight from her research with agents on the things to do, and avoid, when querying. I’ll certainly be taking on some of her tips when I begin my own journey in that regard next year. The event actually got off to a lovely start when, after taking my seat, a fellow author recognised me from my Bloody Scotland short story placement and came to congratulate me. I’ll be keeping an eye on his journey, in hope that there may be a publishing deal available to both of us in the future.
The second event was the fantastic Ardal O’Hanlon who has written his third book and first crime novel. I was a big fan of My Hero when it aired in the early 2000s and, of course, love Death in Paradise. It was great to witness that he was equally as charming and funny as he is on screen. His novel also sounds great, so another book to be added to the ever growing TBR pile.
The third event was the simply, captivating Professor David Wilson, someone who I’ve enjoyed and admired watching on television for many years. His delivery pulls you in and you find yourself being completely absorbed in the story that he is sharing. It was a very quick hour and both my wife and I could have happily sat there for a few more hours listening to him. I also had the pleasure of briefly meeting journalist Fiona Walker afterwards, who had appeared on many of the David Wilson’s Crime Files episodes.
Finally, we got to enjoy the aforementioned crime writing royalty in event programmer, Denise Mina and (exclusively revealed) event programmer for next year, Val McDermid. The event was joyous, very typical of the relaxed nature of Bloody Scotland in that you felt that you were witnessing two pals, having a laugh over a few drinks. Chair Jenny Brown did a fabulous job of interjecting with some questions, before sitting back and enjoying the interaction with the rest of us. The event concluded with a signing session, which allowed me to meet Denise, Val and Jo Sharp. Although our interaction was brief, it was very memorable and was the perfect conclusion to a perfect festival day.
One of the main takeaways from the day, was the inspiration to continue writing and I think it gave me the motivation to get on with my current writing projects. I am often guilty of pausing a particular project to take part in a short story competition and I again found myself sucked into one. The story was a 3,000 word limit challenge, within the locked room element of the crime writing genre. Those who know me, know how much I love a locked room mystery and a previous locked room mystery short story I had written was used as the basis for my latest DI Christie novel, I Am Mine. I recently completed and submitted this new story, meaning I can get back to my other projects.
The long running co-authored novel is nearing its editing completion, with a little over 100 pages to go. I know that my co-author, Brodie, has been waiting patiently and I promised to have it done this year. My other project relates to a new crime series, one that will be sent to agents for consideration. I’ve been thinking about the main character for a while and my, hopefully, unique hook to the series. I’ve started to flesh out the notes of the main plot and started work on the first chapter. It will certainly be a balancing act between the two projects, but I think I will enjoy the variety of doing both in tandem.
I just need to stop finding short story competitions to get in the way of my progress…
Thanks again for reading this blog. I Am Mine is available to purchase, along with all my novels, in the Books section of this website.
