Quercus publish the A Book of Scars paperback on March 10 2016. The edition looks great and it contains all sorts of bonus content, including a list of very erudite Book Club questions and an exclusive preview of The Birdwatcher, which will be released in hardback in May 2016.
Deal Noir, April 2
On April 2 2016, I’ll be taking part in Deal Noir.
As The Birdwatcher is set in Kent, it’s a nice one for me. This is the second Deal Noir. I heard lots of great things about the first one.
More here
36 gems of advice for the first-time writer from People Who Know
I was guest tutor on a Crime Writing weekend on Sunday. Leaving things to the last minute, I thought, what would I like to have known about crime writing before I sent off my first manuscript?
So I sent off this tweet in the morning:
And, within no time, this is what the brilliant hive mind of crime writers answered:
- David Hewson
Stay off the internet when they invent it. - Isabelle Grey
If, when you hit a dead end, you make your characters more complex, then plot solutions will follow. - Denise Mina
You will be expected to generate your own publicity content. - Fergus McNeil
Ensure each book has a compelling hook. 2. Don’t care too much about your characters. 3. Have lots of book-blogger friends. - Jane Lythell
[responding to Fergus] But you have to care about your #characters so that the reader believes in them. Agree it makes it harder to kill them off… - Laura Wilson
Choose a surname with a mid-alphabet first letter. - Elizabeth Haynes
It sounds inane but how about ‘you can do this’? - Cath Staincliffe
Read your work aloud. - Jon Courtney Grimwood
Experts are always surprisingly helpful. - MD Viliers
Finish the 2nd book before your 1st is published. I wish I’d done that! - Rebecca Whitney
Concentrate on the story first, then the genre. - Tamar Cohen
[Agreeing with Rebecca] Yes! And if yours doesn’t lend itself to genre don’t try to squish it into one. Oh, and take more risks. - Jane Casey
Seek out fellow crime writers; you can learn a lot. - Marnie Riches
My gem would be learn how to wait patiently. - Anya Lipska
Research is never a waste of time: it’s great material. - Adrian McKinty
Don’t quit your day job - Vanessa O’Loughlin/Sam Blake
Don’t let the words get in the way of the story. - Steve Cavanagh
Rejection is part of the game. - Martin Waites/Tania Carver
Don’t expect to become known overnight… or even after twenty years. - Claire McGowan
… the importance of hook and concept, I think. - Frances Brody
Don’t ask for advice till you’ve written it. - Neil White
Don’t order the yacht just yet. - John Rickards/Sean Creegan
If you’re going to back into a story, you’d better have a great-looking ass.< - Alison Joseph
That bit about two thirds through where you think – this is rubbish. It happens with every book. And every time it passes. - C. L. Taylor
Trust your gut instinct. If something about the story feels wrong it probably is. - David Mark
Put some money away for Tax! It saves a difficult conversation when your debut does well. “Tax? Why? I wrote it. No! But…. that’s not fair! I’ve spent it!” - Mel Sherratt
Always think the one you are writing is going to be the best book you’ve written. I learn with every new book. - Steven Dunne
The quality of your writing is as important as the quality of your plot. - Emlyn Rees
Read more Ira Levin and other 50s masters/mistresses. - William Shaw
People throughout the publishing work mostly for love rather than money and deserve respect. Don’t take your frustrations at not being an instant best-seller out on them. It’s not all their fault. Only some of it. - Melanie McGrath
Complex good, convoluted bad. Applies equally to plot and characters. - Susan Wilkins
Whatever story problem you have, stop thinking, go for a walk/do housework and your subconscious mind will solve it. - Simon Toyne
Turn up. That’s all you need to do – turn up and keep turning up. Everything else will eventually follow. - Sinéad Crowley
Don’t tell anyone you’re writing it until it’s finished. - P D Viner
Take yourself seriously. Be ambitious, plan to give up the day job and live by your imagination. Don’t self-censor or give in to the fears. - Jessie Keane
That you will need the hide of a rhino, the staying power of a Fell pony, and a ton of self-belief.
There you go. From the practical to the heartfelt. Thanks so much everyone for responding. I read out the ones that had arrived in time out to the would-be writers and they are wiser for it.
(They were also impressed by my ability to summon the instant opinions of such great writers.)
Waterstones Lewes, 18 June 6.30pm
June is National Crime Reading Month. Join four of the UK’s leading crime writers at Waterstones Lewes to discuss the dark, delicious joys of reading crime fiction. Come along to hear about the books that made them want to write crime – and tell them about what kind of writing you’re passionate about. The authors will be signing books after the event.
Elly Griffiths is the author of the best-selling Ruth Galloway novels and now the Stephens and Mephisto series. The seventh Ruth Galloway book, The Ghost Fields, was published in March 2015.
A Book of Scars concludes the trilogy that launched in 2013 with A Song from Dead Lips, a Time Out choice for crime book of 2013. The New York Times has called the series, “an elegy for an entire alienated generation”.
Lesley Thomson was born in 1958 and grew up in London. Her first novel, A Kind of Vanishing, won the People’s Book Prize in 2010. Her second novel, The Detective’s Daughter, was published in 2013 and sold over 300,000 copies.
Susan Wilkins is a former television writer. Her debut novel, The Informant, reached #24 in the paperback chart. A sequel, The Mourner, was published in May.
18 June 6.30pm
Waterstones
220/221 High Street
Lewes, BN7 2AF
Waterstones Chichester, 19 June 7.00pm
June is National Crime Reading Month. Join four of the UK’s leading crime writers at Waterstones Chichester to discuss the dark, delicious joys of reading crime fiction. Come along to hear about the books that made them want to write crime – and tell them about what kind of writing you’re passionate about. The authors will be signing books after the event.
Elly Griffiths is the author of the best-selling Ruth Galloway novels and now the Stephens and Mephisto series. The seventh Ruth Galloway book, The Ghost Fields, was published in March 2015.
A Book of Scars concludes the trilogy that launched in 2013 with A Song from Dead Lips, a Time Out choice for crime book of 2013. The New York Times has called the series, “an elegy for an entire alienated generation”.
Lesley Thomson was born in 1958 and grew up in London. Her first novel, A Kind of Vanishing, won the People’s Book Prize in 2010. Her second novel, The Detective’s Daughter, was published in 2013 and sold over 300,000 copies.
Susan Wilkins is a former television writer. Her debut novel, The Informant, reached #24 in the paperback chart. A sequel, The Mourner, was published in May.
7.00 pm 19 June
Waterstones
The Dolphin & Anchor, West Street
Chichester , PO19 1QD