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Showing posts from September, 2013

HEADS UP FESTIVAL: So You Want to be a Crime Writer?

What struck me about the four writers of crime fiction who came together yesterday afternoon under the banner So You Want to be a Crime Writer? was the degree of consensus that emerged as to what it takes to write a crime novel that engages readers and keeps them reading. In the appropriately surreal setting of The Other Space – the live performance area for Ensemble 52’s innovative theatre piece City Sketches – David Mark, Nick Quantrill, Luca Veste and I undertook our own investigation into the writing process. Each of us read an extract from, and discussed aspects of a book (just the one, mind) that has influenced our writing. David Mark , author of Dark Winter and Original Skin . Inspired by Jim Crace’s Being Dead . Nick Quantrill author of Broken Dreams, The Late Greats and The Crooked Beat . Inspired by Ian Rankin’s Standing in Another Man’s Grave . Nick Triplow author of Frank’s Wild Years . Inspired by Graham Swift’s Last Orders . Luca Veste

Great Grimsby Literature Festival

    It's festival time again and first up is the newly-retitled Great Grimsby Literature Festival . A feat of organisational wonder by Charlotte Bowen and Jo Gray of The Culture House , the festival is spread across October (with one or two of the events continuing into November).   Beginning with a splash on National Poetry Day, 3 October, with the Great Grimsby Poetry Relay. A unique event that will see 72 readers each reading a couple of stanzas of Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner at locations across the region. For the record, I'll be on the Humber Bridge at 11.44.   On Friday 18 October I'll be delivering a lunchtime Q&A session at Grimsby Minster on the do's and don'ts and perils and pitfalls of writing and publishing. Kicking off at 12.30 (there's a closed session for Grimsby Institute Writing Degree students in the morning), I'm hoping participants will bring their own experiences to the party. I'll do what I can to

Frank's Wild Years - FREE kindle edition

    It's a deal, it's a steal, it's Frank's Wild Years and for this weekend only it's cheaper than chips. I'm not askin' a tenner, not even a fiver. Put your money away ladies and gents. This weekend only, it's FREE.   Click HERE   for the link.