Writing a Novel with Scrivener

I am not a book reviewer and I don't usually review books in this blog. However, there are times when I read a book I enjoy so much I try to squeeze the time to do a review as a form of repayment for giving me pleasure, and then I post it to Eclectic Electric. So, this post started out as a review for Eclectic Electric, but like Topsy, it grew and grew, and that's because there was so much in this book I wanted to comment on. By the time I finished writing about this book it was far too long for a review for either Eclectic Electric, or for Amazon, so I've made a post out of it.

I'm full of good intentions and as a user of Scrivener I had been intending to read Writing a Novel with Scrivener, by David Hewson, but somehow or other I never quite got round to it. However, I have to admit it had been languishing in my Kindle for some considerable time. As I said, I'm full of good intentions. A long train journey gave me the opportunity to get to grips with it.

It was a relatively easy book to read and I was pleased to find it was not an in depth guide to the Scrivener programme, full of instructions on how to use the software. Instead it was more of an aid to understanding how Scrivener can work for the writer or novelist.

It does look at the various functions such as the Binder, the Editor, and the Inspector, which is  an essential to understanding how to use the software, but this is not done in a technical fashion and is easily understood.

Hewson describes these functions as:-

-          Binder = a filing cabinet of documents

-          Editor = where you write, it’s like a word processor

-          Inspector = synopses, notes, info, and annotations and other management tasks.

 

The Binder is on the left, the Editor in the middle, and the Inspector on the right

Hewson compares the use of Scrivener to how writers wrote in the days of paper and pencil, with sections, chapters and scenes which could be shuffled about, rather than one long unwieldy document. He says, in Scrivener you can write, delete, reshuffle and move things more easily, and says that “Scrivener sees books the way authors used to regard them before the computer was invented.”

The start of my new novel in Scrivener.

He talks about moving scenes around as a nightmare in conventional word processors, but a cinch in Scrivener, and experimentation is quick and simple.

One of the tools in Scrivener is the Corkboard, which Hewson considers ideal for outlining and brainstorming, a place where you can play with ideas, and instead of cutting and pasting you drag things around.

The synopsis of a chapter or scene in the Inspector, is duplicated in the Corkboard and the Outliner, which is another function of Scrivener, and the transfer of these synopses means the outliner can be used to produce a complete outline of the novel. I remember in the good old days of Word, a publisher asked for the outline of a novel I’d submitted and I had to burn the midnight oil to produce it. If I’d had Scrivener at that time I would simply have had to print it off from the Outliner.

 

The outliner shows each chapter which can then be expanded to see the scenes in each chapter.
I have expanded 2 of them and have chosen carefully so it doesn't give away my plot.

In the Binder the two main folders are a manuscript folder and a management folder. The manuscript one is where everything that goes into the novel is stored. And the management folder is used for themes, characters, places, research, and To Do folders. He also has an ‘Unplaced Scenes’ folder in this section which is useful if a scene pops into your head but you’re not sure where to place it. Everything in the management folder is not included in the book. The character folder contains forms as an aid to character description, however it is not essential to use these and the author decides how best to use the tools supplied.  Like Hewson I prefer text based descriptions so the use of the forms is optional.

Another use of the Inspector is the meta data box. This has a status box which can track whether a scene or chapter is first draft, revised, or finished. This cuts down work at the final revision stage because it narrows down the scenes which require tweaking. The meta data box can also be used to track  POV, and as I write in multi-viewpoint this can be very useful, particularly as you can colour code each POV a different colour. Another feature to track POV is the ability to create collections using the search function. By using this all the scenes from one POV character can be collected and run together without changing where they are in the manuscript. This is incredibly useful because it gives a linear view of each character, and it is easy to spot anomalies etc. This function can also be used to collate all the first draft scenes at the revision stage. Leaving behind all the scenes which do not require further work. 

I am really glad I eventually got round to reading this book which, in Hewson’s words, is not a guide to the software, but is simply his description of how to use Scrivener to write a novel.

Chris Longmuir

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

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Ooh! I Feel Wicked



Wicked - The Musical

The reason I feel wicked is because I’ve just had a fabulous afternoon at the Edinburgh Playhouse Theatre, watching Wicked. The musical was one of the most entertaining I’ve seen for some time, and the storyline was ingenious, revealing a different take on the Wicked Witch of the West featured in L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz. Oh, and I really connected with the Wicked Witch of the West, more than I did with Glinda. So, after watching the show, if you had a choice of being wicked or good, what would you choose?



My granddaughter loved the show

To take it further, if I gave you the choice of which character you would want to play in one of my books, what would you choose? When I left my last job to concentrate on being a full time writer, I did a survey of everyone in the department. And, because I worked in a senior position in a Local Authority, that was a lot of people. Without fail, everyone said they would rather be the villain than the hero. And I must admit that in most visual shows, such as films or television, the baddies do seem to have the roles with more depth to them.

But how easy is it to write from the villain’s point of view? And how many villains are truly bad? In fact, if you go to see Wicked, you’ll find out that the heroine is the Wicked Witch of the West, and Glinda, the Good Witch, is far from being perfect.

As a crime writer, who writes in a multi-viewpoint style, I often have to get inside the villain’s head, and into their skin. It’s the only way characters come alive. So, it can be quite an uncomfortable experience. However, no character is totally bad, and even good characters have their flaws.

Let me tell you about Tony, a really bad guy who has a large role in Dead Wood, Book 2 of the Dundee Crime Series. He’s a Mr Big, who runs his own little crime empire in the Scottish city of Dundee. You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Tony, and he does some vicious things. One of his operations is the night club, Teasers, and he is not averse to taking advantage of the pole dancers who work there (that’s putting it politely). I won’t go into all the the things he gets up to because I wouldn’t want to spoil the book for you.

 
However, Tony has his good side as well. Despite his activities with his pole dancers, he regards these as simply diversions, and in his mind is loyal to his wife. He has a strong sense of family, and has a strong protective streak as far as they are concerned, therefore the anguish he feels when his daughter is murdered, is palpable.
 
I must admit I have a soft spot for Tony. But that’s maybe because I’m wicked!
 

Chris Longmuir

 

 

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

 

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My Writing Process #mywritingprocess

I am a member of the excellent Authors Electric group. If you haven’t checked it out online then you’re missing a treat. Click on Authors Electric to have a peek. Why am I telling you this? Well, it’s because a request was made by Ann Evans, one of my Authors Electric colleagues for willing guinea pigs to produce a blog post for the “My Writing Process” blog tour. And in my usual jump before you think mode, I stuck my hand up and said “me, me”. After which came, “groan, groan”, I’m going to have to write it now. Well, time has rolled on in its usual relentless fashion, and today is my day to answer the questions I’ve been given and to impose the answers on you.

You can check out Ann’s blog at http://annsawriter.blogspot.co.uk/. Thank you for inviting me to join the blog tour, Ann.

1) What am I working on?

As you probably already know I’ve written three books in The Dundee Crime Series, which to my surprise have been tremendously popular. I’ve also written a historical saga set in the 1830s. Now you might think given the popularity of The Dundee Crime Series, my new book would be number four, a contemporary crime novel set in Dundee. But you would be wrong. Oh, the book is set in Dundee, so no surprises there. And it’s crime, again no surprises. But it’s a historical one this time – got you! You see, I decided to combine my two interests, crime and social history, into a new novel which might just be the start of a new series.

The story was inspired by Dundee’s first policewoman, although that is where the similarity ends. My policewoman starts out in London, but is sent to Dundee at the request of the Chief Constable. When the women police (a voluntary force) were formed in 1914 she was one of the first to join. And like a lot of the early policewomen, she has a suffragette background. I bet you didn’t know that the origins of the women’s police included suffragette organisations, such as the Women’s Freedom League (WFL), and the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Anyway, she gets sent to Dundee and is immediately embroiled in a murder with satanic undertones, while at the same time fighting against prejudice from the male police force.

This novel was originally written several years ago and it was one of the twenty winners of an international competition for the best crime novel by an unpublished crime writer, all this was before I was published. However, a succession of editors insisted on changes which tore the heart out of the novel, and in my opinion completely destroyed it. At the end of the day it had become such a mess that it wasn’t published. So, this year I have torn it to pieces, completely rewritten it, and I hope my readers will like it. I’m currently at the revision and editing stage and just about ready to send it out to my two editors, one edits for content and the other for grammar. These editors are far superior to the ones supplied to me by the publishing firm that organised the competition, so there’s no danger they will spoil the book.

I reckon this book will probably be published in late February or March, so watch this space.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

All writers think their work differs from that of other writers, and I certainly wouldn’t want to mimic another writer, no matter how successful. I write in different genres, but considering I’m known mainly as a crime novelist, I will focus on the Dundee Crime Series. As far as I’m concerned I think this contemporary crime series does differ from many others. The books are often listed as police procedurals, but although many of my police characters remain the same in each book (it would be a nonsense to change the Dundee Police Force each time), they are not really the main characters. My main characters are the victims, the suspects, or the perpetrators, which means the books also fit into the noir genre. The other thing is that each book is different because the police are not the main characters. Night Watcher is a revenge thriller. Dead Wood is a cross between a police procedural, and a woman in peril thriller. While Missing Believed Dead is a psychological thriller as well as a police procedural. I like to get into the heads of my characters, and the more twisted the character, the better.

3) Why do I write what I do?

I suppose I write about what interests me. I’ve always been interested in social history, not the kings and queens and lords and ladies stuff, but how the ordinary people lived and survived in times gone past. So that’s where my saga and historical crime comes from. As for my contemporary crime, I suppose that’s because it has always been my favourite reading, from my teenage devourment of Agatha Christie, on to my more modern favourites Jeffrey Deaver, Val McDermid, Mo Hayder, Denise Mina, and loads more.

The suspense in my writing probably originates from my horror phase, starting with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and on through James Herbert, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz. Koontz in particular is a master of suspense. The darkness of my characters arises from my interest in psychology and what makes someone do something evil.

I’m sure there are many more influences, but those are the main ones.

4) How does your writing process work?

This is a really difficult question to answer because I really don’t know. I’m what is known as a pantster. I do not plot or plan the book I am writing, which I am told is unusual for a crime writer. I start out with one scene involving a character and take it from there. I write the scene, and then play the “what if” game, and so the next scene is born, and I carry on in that fashion until the end of the book. I reckon if I can’t surprise myself by what will happen, then I won’t surprise the reader.

One thing I do believe is that a writer has to write. It’s like any job of work, there may be days when I am not in the mood, but I have to force myself into the chair and force my fingers onto the keyboard, or if you’re a pencil and paper writer, you must grasp the pencil firmly and write. It’s possible what has been written may have to be junked, but it is important to keep the writing muscle active. It’s like any other muscle – you use it or lose it.

The other thing that is really important is the editing phase, and I don’t mean checking for spelling and grammar mistakes. Editing is dissecting what has been written and deciding if it can be improved. It involves a lot of rewriting, and when I am satisfied it’s as good as it can be, I send it out to my editors whose opinion I value.

* * * *

Next week the following three authors will be telling you about their writing process

Melanie Robertson King will be talking about her writing process on Monday 20th January, on her blog, which is here – http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/wp02/

Melanie lives in Canada, and she writes time travel and contemporary romance set in Scotland.

Pauline Barclay will be writing about her writing process on Monday 20th January on her blog, and you’ll find her at – http://paulinembarclay.blogspot.co.uk/

Pauline says “My passion is to write about events that happen in life and change everything for those involved as well as those caught up in the maelstrom. I want my characters to sit at your side, steal your attention and sweep you up in their story.”

Tanya J Peterson talks about her writing process on Monday 20th January, on her blog at http://tanyajpeterson.com/blog/

Tanya J Peterson is a columnist for HealthyPlace.com as well as a novelist. The themes of her novels address the impact of mental illness on people as well as the human capacity for healing.

* * *

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading about my writing process.

 Chris Longmuir

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Amazon Author Page

Amazon UK

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Having Fun Doing Research

Research is a word that conjures up an activity that is dull and boring. It builds an image of a scholar sitting in a library pouring over dusty tomes of knowledge. Or pinning down experts in the field of whatever you’re researching, in long and boring talks. In our minds it can be linked to school, college, or university, and an activity that is enforced in able to attain the desired object, the qualification or degree, in that specific subject.

But it doesn’t have to be like that, and if you are really interested in the area you want to research, it can be exciting and stimulating.

Now, I am better known for my crime novels and, of course, like everything an author writes about, it requires a certain amount of research. But I’m not going to talk about crime research today. What I want to talk about is historical research. I can already hear the groans. No doubt there is a certain amount of study involved, books, films, TV programmes, and of course our friendly librarian.

When I wrote my historical saga, A Salt Splashed Cradle, it required a lot of research into fishing villages, fisher customs, and everything a villager might be involved with. I read a lot of books. The Peter Anson ones were particularly helpful, and I used a lot of the information in my novel.

 

The fisher women busy hanging out their washing

But here comes the fun bit. The village of Auchmithie, on the east coast of Scotland, holds a festival every second year. It’s called the Haar Festival, and for those of you who don’t know, haar is a sea mist or fog. The festival runs over 2 days, and it features enactments of the fisher folks lives, a form of street theatre. They act out the fisher wives doing their washing, baiting the lines for their fisher husbands, and they even have a fisher wedding. It’s all great fun, acted with great humour, and some traditional songs.

Fisher women baiting the lines

Washing the bride's feet before the wedding

The wedding party at the church with Annie Gilruth commenting on the wedding customs

There are also children’s games, but they are not modern games, they are the traditional ones. A coconut shy, cans to be knocked over, and horseshoe throwing, as well as a traditional tug of war. This culminates in the Mucklebackit race where children form teams and run a relay with a life size dummy on their back. This race is based on one of the fisher customs, a very necessary one, where the women carried their fisher husbands to the boats, so they would have dry feet when they sailed.

One of the racers in the Mucklebackit race, with the fisherman on his back

This poor fisherman has been a tad unlucky

The harbour where the Auchmithie fisher women carried their men to the boats

The festival starts with Annie Gilruth, a historic benefactor of the village, providing the narration into the historical context. She leads crowds of people between each street event, and believe me, the village is packed with spectators during this festival.

 

We mustn't forget Annie Gilruth who provided the commentary, ably acted by Auchmithie resident Ann Craig

So, there’s lots to learn as well as being a visual entertainment. And that’s where the fun and the research become one.

When I wrote A Salt Splashed Cradle, I had the women paddling for mussels in the mud of a tidal basin. They baited the lines, smoked their clay pipes, carried the men to the boats on their backs, and walked to the towns with their creels of fish. When one of my characters married, I made sure they danced the ‘lang reel’, although that is more common in villages further north than the one I used for my setting. But what the heck, it’s fiction. We’re allowed!

Now if you want to read the blurb about the book, here it is –

Life and Love in 1830s Scotland

When Jimmie Watt brings his new bride home his parents are horrified, because fishermen are expected to marry within their own community, and Belle is an incomer from the town across the water.

Belle, an emotionally damaged and beautiful girl, struggles to find acceptance in the village but she is fighting a losing battle, and when Jimmie leaves the fishing village to sail to the Arctic with a whaling ship, she becomes increasingly isolated.

With Jimmie gone, Belle falls for the charms of Lachlan, the Laird’s son and embarks on a tempestuous affair with him. When Jimmie returns she struggles with her feelings for him and for Lachlan.

The women in the village now regard Belle as a Jezebel who will tempt their men away. A mood of hysteria engulfs them and they turn against Belle, in an attempt to force her out of the village.

What will Belle do? And will she survive?

This historical saga is set in a Scottish fishing village in the 1830’s and reflects the living conditions and the morals of the ordinary fisher folk of that time.

Review quotes

“There is some beautiful poetic writing and the complex life of the heroine, Belle, had me gripped from the beginning. Some of the loveliest writing is in the whaling sequences -one can feel the cold - and among the whalers she creates some outstanding characters” – Eileen Ramsay, novelist

“A Salt-Splashed Cradle drips with historical accuracy, and even the scenes aboard a whaling ship seem to have been recounted directly from an 1800's whaler, almost as if Chris Longmuir boarded those ships and chopped them free from the arctic ice herself” – Tim Greaton

“Chris Longmuir's books so far have been mysterious, suspenseful stories concerned with some of the darker depths of human nature. So it's surprising to learn that this latest is a romance. But fans won't be disappointed. Yes, it's a romance but the murkier motives and actions are still in evidence” – Bill Kirton, crime writer

“Beautifully written with deeply enchanting and well drawn protagonists, A Salt Splashed Cradle goes beyond the norms of the historical romance to bring us a story of hardship, love, wanderlust and coming of age. This was a story I did not want to end and I hope the author plans to bring another instalment of Belle's life and loves to us soon” – Karen Bryant Doering

A Salt Splashed Cradle

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

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What’s in a Name?

 

How important is the name you give your characters? And how much thinking goes into names that do not confuse the reader?

 
Why am I asking this? Well, over the past few weeks I’ve lacked a certain mobility which means I’ve had time to read over my work in progress from the beginning and do a bit of editing. That was when it struck me! I’ve given my new detective inspector the name, Kate Rawlings. So what’s the matter with that? Well, one of my other characters is Detective Sergeant Sue Rogers and, although she is not the main character, she often pairs up Detective Sergeant Bill Murphy, who is my main character.
 
So, Rawlings and Rogers, the names are too similar to avoid confusion in a reader’s mind. What to do? What to do?
 
Well, I can’t rename DS Sue Rogers, because she’s featured in both Night Watcher, and Dead Wood. So that leaves me no choice but to rename DI Kate Rawlings. And she’s not the easiest person to deal with.

 

No problems, I hear you say, just get on with it and rename her. However, it’s not as simple as that, because characters get attached to their names, and there’s going to be a pretty big tantrum when I break it to Kate, that her name needs to be changed.
 

Characters, you see, often make their own decisions about names. When I was writing Dead Wood, my detective constable was called Joanne. Now I like Joanne as a name, Jo for short, but Joanne apparently didn’t take to the name at all, and I found that halfway through the book she’d miraculously turned into Louise. It was decision time. Would I do a find and replace on Louise to turn her back into Joanne, or should I do the reverse. After much thinking I came to the decision that if Joanne wanted to be called Louise, then Louise it should be.
 
So I’m now back to decision time and building up the courage to tell Kate she can’t be called Rawlings. But then there’s the other problem! What the heck should I call her instead, and will she make the decision for me, or is it back to the Name Dictionaries to find a suitable one? Oh, and what if she doesn’t like the new name I choose? Decisions! Decisions!
 

How do you name your characters? And are your characters as bolshie as mine? I’d love to know.

 



 
http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Amazon Author Page

 

So Whats New? The Next Big Thing

It’s autumn now, or at least if feels like it, and it’s the time for new things. New series on the telly – are you watching Dr Who? – and I’m told Downton Abbey is just about to appear again. New books – aren’t you fed up with Fifty Shades yet? New films – I’m not up to them as there is no cinema in my town. So what else is new? Well, last week I was tagged by one of my Love a Happy Ending mates, Mandy Baggot, in her blog post ‘The Next Big Thing’, so this week it’s my turn! I have to answer ten questions about my work in progress and tag five other writers to tell you about their latest work next Wednesday. But before we start I have to make an admission! The work in progress is progressing very slowly because I’ve taken time out to prepare Night Watcher for a paperback edition. So watch this space, it won’t be long before it is out.

 

Now for the work in progress, the novel I really must sit down and finish because I’m only a smidgin from the end.

 

Check out the questions and my answers. I’ll try to be as honest as I can!

 

1.What is the working title of your next book?

Well, over time it’s had a couple of working titles. It started out as Vigilante, and then it changed to Predator, and I’m not going to tell you what the final title is as it’s under wraps at the present.

 
2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

I suppose it started out by one of my friends suggesting I should write a book with a plot that involved computers, because I’m a bit of a techie nerd. So I turned over some ideas in my head and played around with ideas about chat rooms and internet predators, and the plot developed from there, although I must say it became a tad more complicated than my original idea with my usual dose of sub plots and twists. I’m not going to tell you any more, you’ll just have to read it when it comes out.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

Same genre as Night Watcher and Dead Wood, it’s a psychological crime thriller and is the third in the Dundee Crime series.

 

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Hmm! I’m not sure who I’d like for DS Bill Murphy. It would have to be a younger version of Liam Neeson. I rather like Nathan Fillion, but he’s too quirky for Bill, so the role is open to any takers. I think Julianne Moore would be ideal for DS Sue Rogers.

 

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Jade vanished five years ago – is she alive or dead – and who is doing all the killing?

 

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I’ve been published both ways and decided some time ago that self publishing was the way I wanted to go. You see, I’m a bit of a control freak, and I like to keep my hands on the driving wheel. Agents and publishers tend to impose conditions which I’m not comfortable with.

 

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I hate to admit it but I’ve been working on this novel for over a year, and I’m behind schedule. I usually allow a year from beginning to final publication, you need that kind of time to ensure the novel is as good as it can be, and to allow for the revision and editing process to make sure the book meets that criteria.

 

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

It’s difficult to make comparisons because a book is unique to the author who writes it. Let’s just say that I veer more towards Val McDermid than Agatha Christie.

 

9. Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I think it’s my own inner demons who provide that push. Writing is an addiction, it’s an itch you just have to scratch.

 

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

I hope the fact that it’s the third book in the Dundee Crime Series will be enough to tempt my readers to pounce on it.

 

Now! “Tag you’re it!”

 
Here are some great authors I’ve tagged to tell us what their next big thing is. Hopefully they’ll have time to tell us what they’re working on.

 

1. Gilli Allan:  http://gilliallan.blogspot.co.uk/
2. Miriam Wakerly:  http://www.miriamwakerly.blogspot.co.uk/
3. Carol E Wyer:  http://facing50withhumour.blogspot.co.uk/
4. Eileen Schuh:  http://eileenschuh.blogspot.co.uk/
5. Harvey Black:  http://harveyblackauthor.org/

I look forward to getting a sneak peak of what they’re writing and hope you will too.

 

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Meet Jo Nesbo at Harrogate Crime Festival – Part 4

Finally it’s Sunday, the last day of the Harrogate Crime Festival and it’s up early to pack my suitcase. Now where can I put all those books I’ve bought, plus can’t forget to pack the bottle of Old Peculier that came in my goody bag. The only solution is to pack the canvas goody bag and carry it slung over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

 
Breakfast next, and I decide not to collect my flyers and bookmarks from the unwanted books table until after the first panel of the day – bad decision – when I went to collect them they’d all been binned. The Scot in me mourned the loss of my material, the hours spent preparing it, never mind the ink and paper. Ah well, that’s life. Next year I’ll be there a lot earlier.
 
The highlight of morning had to be the special guest, Jo Nesbo. The ballroom where all the events are held was packed, illustrating the popularity of this event. Jo Nesbo is one of the Scandinavian writers who have risen to popularity over the past few years. And he’s Norwegian, which means I have a special affinity with him because of my Norwegian grandfather, not that he’d know it, of course.
 

Mark Lawson interviewing Jo Nesbo

 

He was an entertaining speaker who expressed a reluctance to talk at events, however, he said he was forced by Mark Billingham to come. He claimed to be unable to write in his apartment and said he preferred to write on trains, planes and in airports, and that he was delighted when his plane was delayed. His main character is Harry Hole, which he said was a common Norwegian name which should be pronounced ‘Hoola’. The first of his books published in the UK was The Devil’s Star, although the first book in the series is The Bat, which doesn’t seem to be available in a UK or US version.

 
He took five weeks to write the first draft of The Bat, which is set in Australia, however, Harry Hole was not fully developed until The Redbreast, his third novel. The Bat – in Norwegian it is The Batman – is based on an Aboriginal myth about a half-man, half-bat, with links to the devil.
 
His second book, also unavailable in the UK or US, is The Cockroaches and is set in Bangkok, Thailand.
 
The Redbreast his third book is the first of the series available in the UK and US. It is set in the trenches outside Leningrad, on the Eastern Front, in 1944. When talking about this book he provided details of his family’s dynamics. His mother and her family were in the resistance during the Second World War, but his father was in the German army and fought Stalin, therefore they were on opposing sides. This was not unusual in Norway at the time because many people fought against the Germans, and many fought with them, but most people did nothing. As a result of his wartime career his father was imprisoned for two years after the war. The Redbreast was written using his father’s memories of the trenches, and as a result he considers this his father’s book.

Jo Nesbo

 

I found this session with Jo Nesbo interesting, fascinating, and I’m glad I didn’t miss it. Now, I really must read his books.
 
I won’t bore you with the details of my journey home, including train breakdowns, but before I left, I made sure I paid my deposit for next year’s Old Peculier Crime Festival at Harrogate. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

 

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk

 

NEWSFLASH: Edinburgh E-Book Festival

If you’ve been looking forward to part 3 of the Harrogate Crime Festival then there’s no need to worry, it will be with you in the next couple of days. However, I simply had to let you know about something fabulous that is happening right now.
 
What is it? Well, it’s only the first ever Edinburgh Ebook Festival which is running at the same time as the internationally known Edinburgh Festival. For those of you who have been to the Edinburgh Festival, you will know that it has many faces including the Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh Tattoo and the Book Festival. However, the Edinburgh Ebook Festival is an independent virtual festival with no ties or association with the commercial entity that is the Edinburgh Book Festival. It is something unique, never been done before, and I am so excited to be part of it.

This is how the Edinburgh Ebook Festival site describes itself:-

“The great thing about the Edinburgh e-book festival (launching this year) is that it comes to you, you don’t have to go to it. So you are doing your bit to be eco-friendly too: No paper, no carbon emissions and no money spent. The environment will love you for it. You’ll love it back. And you may learn something about the digital publishing revolution and loads of great writing out there you’ve never heard of. From new writers to seasoned professionals re-publishing their back catalogue to award winning authors who are choosing to publish via ebooks for a whole range of reasons, there will be something for everyone.

We’ll be bringing you a host of items online each day from August 11th right through till August 27th.”

The festival events start on 11th August and will run to 27th August, but you can get involved right now because the ‘Rolling Launch’ started on Friday. You can explore the website, click on the tabs and see what’s already there. Here is the link for the Home Page, you can access everything from there –Click here http://edebookfest.wordpress.com/?like=1&_wpnonce=d74a4569cf&wpl_rand=9f122508f7

I’ve just clicked through all the tabs and there’s something on each page to bring you the flavour of what is to happen when the events explode onto the scene beginning on 11th August. There is also a Who’s Who link to introduce you to all the authors taking part. Some authors have a more active role than others and I’m lucky to be one of them. If you want a quick link straight to Who’s Who, click here http://edebookfest.wordpress.com/whos-the-festival/
 
I hope you find the idea of an Ebook Festival as exciting as I do, and I hope we’ll meet up there.
 
I’ll be back in a couple of days with Part 3 of the Harrogate Crime festival.

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk

All Talked Out

My recent blogs have been focused on something the majority of us learn to do at an early age – talking.

 

Chris giving talk on Tartan Noir at Crimefest 2012

 

I’ve been doing a lot of talking lately starting with Crimefest, where I talked about Scottish Crime Writing and how it came by the name of Tartan Noir. You can see my report on Crimefest here http://chrislongmuir.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/crimefest-2012.html Following that I wrote an article for the blog Do Authors Dream of Electric Books where I considered how personal appearances and talks could be used as a promotional tool. You can check that out here http://authorselectric.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/on-conference-trail-by-chris-longmuir.html
 

Chris Longmuir delivering her speech at A Summer Audience in Tetbury

 
Hot on the heels of Crimefest was the Love a Happy Ending event – A Summer Audience – at Tetbury. That was really good because I met up with loads of writers and readers associated with loveahappyending.com, an online literary community of writers, readers and editors, and of course I had to blog about that. You’ll see my blog looking at when virtual friends become real flesh and blood friends, here http://chrislongmuir.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/when-do-virtual-friends-become-real.html But I also gave a cut down version of my talk to Love a Happy Ending and they published it on their site. It’s here if you want to have a look at it http://loveahappyending.com/what-do-psychopaths-and-mystery-writers-have-in-common/
 

Chris still rabbiting on about psychopaths and mystery writers at Tetbury

After those two big events you would think I would have relaxed back to recuperate, but no, there were two more to go. A library talk on the last day of June, where I must admit I used some of the material I’d prepared for Tetbury, interspersed with some readings of my published books, but I also gave them a preview of the work in progress by reading the first chapter. The only problem with that is I am now being hassled by my readers to get the book finished. Yikes, there’s been so much going on this year that my writing time seems to have gone down the drain. Can’t disappoint my readers though, so it looks as if I’m going to have to chain myself to my computer and get on with it.
 
Finally, I gave a highly successful talk to my local writers’ circle on epublishing. So that’s me now until the end of August when I’m booked to talk about epublishing to a writers’ group on the west coast.
 
So, has my marathon of talking been worth it? Well, I did notice a surge in sales after each talk, so I suppose that proves personal appearances and talking does have a marketing spin off. On the other hand it could simply be a coincidence because my sales have been increasing month by month since I first started to epublish. But the main pay off for me has been enjoyment. I have loved meeting my readers and people who are enthusiastic about my writing, even if it has been at the expense of the amount of writing I can do. So I would say, yes, it has been worth it.
 
In the meantime I’m all talked out.

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk