Me, The Debut Daggers, and CRIMEFEST

On the 31st January I finally sent my manuscript off to the Debut Daggers. Three perfect chapters and a synopsis, well, as perfect as I could make them.

The Debut Daggers is run by the Crime Writers Association (CWA), and is open to anyone who has not had a novel published commercially. Like me.

All shortlisted entries receive a professional assessment of their work. The winning entry will be seen by leading agents and top editors. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.


The Long list will be announced AFTER they have announced the shortlist on 15th May at CRIMEFEST, it seems such a long way off, but it's only just over a month away.

Follow the Debut Daggers on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/thedebuts/
For more about the CWA go to http://thecwa.co.uk/


Talking about CRIMEFEST, It's your chance to meet, and mingle with authors, agents and publishers, and have a great time.

There are some fabulous authors attending this year.
Some of the highlights are: Maj Sjöwall being interviewed by Lee Child, and Sophie Hannah & Mathew Prichard celebrating 125 years of Agatha Christie.

Other participating authors include
Rhys Bowen, Sam Eastland, Felix Francis,   M.R. Hall, Antonia Hodgson, William Ryan,       Zoë Sharp, Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Laura Wilson
and many more.


So why not get your ticket now
The Full CRIMEFEST Pass is currently £135 but will incrementally go up to £175. The full pass includes admission to all panels and a CRIMEFEST delegate bag with books and a programme. Day passes are also available.
Visit the website at http://www.crimefest.com/

And the quest goes on - I DO want to write part two

I now try to get to the Harrogate Crime Writers Festival every year. It’s a great place, a place where ordinary people like me can mingle with wonderful crime writers, such as Mel Sherratt, Mark Billingham, Val McDermid, Elizabeth Haynes, and Harlan Corben.

One of the people I met at my first Creative Thursday (yes, I’ve done more than one!), was Jackie. We both sat nervously, waiting for the first session, and started to talk to each other. Jackie has become a great friend, was later instrumental in helping me to further my pursuit.

In May 2012 I saw an advert for a one day creative writing workshop, intriguingly called A man comes into the room with a gun... Crime writer Zoe Sharpe was running the workshop. I downloaded one of her books, found that she was a really good author, I also found a great heroine in Charlie Fox. (If anything, my quest to become a writer is opening my eyes to some fabulous new, (to me), authors). I immediately signed myself up.

Through Zoe I learnt about the importance of a great first line, and techniques to keep my readers reading. It was a very full, but fun day. I left exhausted, but even more sure that I wanted to write, and more sure that I wanted to be a crime writer.

Meanwhile, my job situation was becoming unstable. I had worked for thirteen years for one of the largest housing providers in Nottingham, but the chances of my job being cut was becoming more and more evident. I needed to think about the future. I started to look at University courses, was I to old to start a new career? could I hack a university course after so many years out of school?

Alex Davis was running a six week evening course From Idea to Publication, if I could handle this, University would be a breeze, wouldn’t it?

Have you even taken any writing courses, what did you think of them?

I DO want to write

Four years ago I saw a poster in my local library advertising a talk by John Harvey, a crime writer whose books are set in Nottingham. As a fan of crime novels, (Agatha Christie, PD James, John Patterson, and Sue Grafton had been my bed partners for many years), I was both intrigued and interested. Why had I not heard of this author before?

A Nottingham Crime Writer. I knew I had to go. Five minutes later I was leaving Angel Row library with my ticket safely stored in my purse. The date was 2^nd March 2011, I know because I still have the ticket! Yes, I’m aware of how sad I am, but this was one of those epiphany moments.

On the day of the talk I left work at dinner time, and walked the short distance to the library. I had never been to an author talk before so I was not sure what to do. I sat near the back of the room, ready to make a swift exit if I didn’t like it. I needn’t have bothered I was transfixed. It was brilliant, I even asked a question, but I can’t remember what it was now. John spoke about places I knew, and made me laugh with his anecdotes. I was a little disappointed when I found out he wasn’t actually born in Nottingham, but, at least, his novels are based here. It was over far too soon.

I bought a copy of one of his books, and he very kindly signed it for me. We talked about writing. Many years ago I had written a novel. I never approached a publisher because it was more of a cathartic exercise after a really bad break up. I wrote short stories too, but had given up because of the number of rejections I’d received, (I didn’t realise that was a normal part of the process). I suddenly realised I missed writing.

When I went into work the next day I told my co-worker how great it had been to meet an crime writer. She told me about a festival she had attended at Harrogate. It sounded really good, so I looked it up on the website. I noticed that they also ran Creative Thursday, a creative writing day for aspiring writers. I went and it was fantastic. How many writers can say they were taught by Stuart MacBride, Alan Guthrie, and Dreda Say Mitchell. It was also at Creative Thursday that I met some very great friends, and we went on to form the Crime Warp blog, but more about that on another post.

Listening to John Harvey made me realise that I wanted to write again; I just didn’t realise how much it would change my life!

Have you had a life changing moment?