Woohoo - It's Party Time

 

I am not here today. I have put on my party shoes and can be found at the fabulous Surfing in Stiletto party at www.facing50withhumour.blogspot.co.uk Come and join me for some fantastic prizes, surprises, and desirable shoes.

 

I'm having a fab time at the party so pop over and join me. You won't be sorry.

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

 

Do Authors Dream of Electric Books?

In case you’re wondering, the answer is no, I’m not clever enough to think up a title like the one above. It’s a lovely name for a blog though, and the reason I’m using it is to let you know that this is where my blog post will be today. Here’s the link you will want to click to see it http://authorselectric.blogspot.co.uk/
 
My blog post has the title What is Tartan Noir? And I’m sure you’ll want to read it to find out.
 
A bit about Do Authors Dream of Electric Books. This is a fascinating blog well worth following. There are approximately thirty contributors and a new post goes online every day. My day for posting is the 19^th day each month, so if you pop onto the site today you’ll catch my post. However, if you go there after the 19^th you can still scroll down the page to find me. Oh, and you never know what other fascinating titbits might come up in the process.
 
So, I look forward to seeing you while I dream of electric books, and maybe you’ll join in my dream by leaving me a comment.
 
http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

 

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/

Do Writers need Writers Groups?

I got to wondering how other writers see writers’ groups. Are they beneficial? Or are they just social gatherings?

 
Well, there are all types of writers’ groups and whether or not you are involved is, of course a matter of choice. I am involved in several of these groups, physical ones and virtual ones. Let’s look at the physical ones first.
 

Members of Angus Writers' Circle

The first group I became involved with was Angus Writers’ Circle http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/anguswriterscircle/index.html I was one of the founder members over 20 years ago. At that time I was a novice writer and much of my writing really wasn’t worth publishing. I’ve progressed since then, my writing has improved, and I’ve become a professional writer. Now I don’t know whether I would have had the same outcome if I’d never belonged to Angus Writers’ Circle, but I can say that the crits and encouragement I experienced along the way did help me develop as a writer.
 
I have to say, though, that there are writers’ groups in existence which simply give praise irrespective of the quality of writing. These groups do nothing to help a writer develop. The groups that are of the most benefit are the ones which are honest with their crits, even if the truth hurts.
 
One of the benefits of belonging to a writers’ group is acceptance to professional bodies like the Scottish Association of Writers. I have attended their weekend conferences on a regular basis over the past 20 odd years, and have been awarded many prizes from their annual writing competitions. The most prized of these was when I won the Pitlochry Award on two different occasions, once for Night Watcher, and again for Dead Wood before it went on to win the Dundee International Book Prize.
 

Margaret Thomson Davies presenting me with the Pitlochry Award for Night Watcher

But crits, encouragement and awards are not the only benefits from belonging to these groups, there is also the social aspect, the networking, and the acceptance from other writers. I met many of my now more famous friends through these groups, at a time before they became famous. People like Ian Rankin and Alex Gray. I could name many more, but enough of the name dropping and let’s get on with the blog.
 
It’s time to have a look at virtual groups. There are many of these around, particularly on Facebook. I’ve sampled a few of these and when they become overloaded with ‘buy my book’ posts to the exclusion of most of the other posts, I usually back out the door and only look in occasionally.
 

The exception to these is the three main groups I’m heavily involved with. I’ll take them one at a time.

 
First there’s the loveahappyending.com group which is an invitation only group for authors, although they also have readers, editors and publishers as members. This group started a year ago and as of this morning there have been over a million visits to the website. When I was invited to join, I think my first response was ‘You do know what kind of books I write?’ You see I never thought of my books as being anything to do with happy endings. The response when it came was that they wanted a mix of authors and anyway, in my crime books, the fact that the crime was resolved equated to a happy ending. So I agreed to join and actually felt quite honoured to be one of their thirty authors, because that was the maximum amount they take on as members at any one time. If you want to have a look here is the link http://loveahappyending.com/
 

 
Then there is the Famous Five Plus group, FFP for short http://www.famousfiveplus.com/ I saw this coming to prominence on Twitter and became curious, so that was why I joined it. I’ve had no regrets about joining, although members are expected to promote the group through Twitter and other media sites. That’s why you’ll see me with loads of retweets involving FFP. But it’s a fabulous group with lots of lovely members who are supportive. The website’s pages are worth checking out, they have a Home page, Books page, Authors page, Review page and loads more. They also post an excerpt from one of the books every day. I love it when it’s my turn. Oh, and they also have a readers’ club if you would like to join. The details are on the Books page of the site here’s the link http://www.famousfiveplus.com/p/books.html
 

 

 

Last and not least, there is the Authors Electric group, which again is an invitation only group. Each member is expected to provide a blog post for their blog – Do Authors Dream of Electric Books. My turn is on the 19^th of each month if you want to check me out. The blog itself is a mix of posts from various writers and is well worth a look. Here’s the link http://authorselectric.blogspot.co.uk/

 

 
Well, that’s an overview of the groups I’m involved with and all I can say is that I find them beneficial. However, whether you would is a different matter and only you can decide whether to join a group or not. The only advice I would give is, be selective.

  

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

 

Harrogate Crime Festival 2012 – Part 3

I can hear you say – at last, thought we were never going to get Part 3 of the Harrogate Crime Festival. that’s because I took time out last week to write about the Edinburgh Ebook Festival, because if I hadn’t the festival would have been over before it was posted. Anyway, thank you for your patience, and here is day three of the Old Peculier Crime Festival at Harrogate.
 
Before I start I want to give you a link. Remember in the last festival post I commented on the furore around the panel Wanted for Murder: The Ebook, when feelings ran high and caused quite a bit of media buzz. Well, the Harrogate Crime Festival site has produced an audio download of the panel discussion. It will cost you £3, but if you want to get at the truth around all the hype in connection with this panel, then you might want to listen to it. Here is the link http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/shop/wanted-for-murder-the-ebook/

Peter James and Paul Blezard

So, on to Day 3 of the festival. We started off at 9 am, some of us more bleary-eyed than others, with the special guest Peter James who was interviewed by Paul Blezard. He was interesting to listen to and gave us snippets of information about his background. Like the time he worked as a cleaner for Orson Welles, but was sacked after a week because he was ‘not cut out for it’. Similar to a lot of writers he was an obsessive reader as a child, so I suppose his progression to being a writer was to be expected, although he said his first two books were very bad spy thrillers. He also had a stalker for over 5 years, and was given advice by the police to step up home security because they could do nothing unless she killed him. Lots of fascinating information in this interview, although, considering the furore the day before about cheap as chips ebooks, his publisher sells one of his books on Amazon for 20p and he has no say in this.

 

Deadlier than the Male panel

 
I missed the Golden age and the New Blood Panels because I was chatting with Alex Gray and then went out for a welcome breath of air. The Deadlier than the Male panel was interesting. It looked at why women write violent crime fiction, and why the majority of it is bought by women readers. The main points I took from that were –

1.  Violence is associated with males, which makes it more horrific when associated with a female.

2.  Women have a much more terrifying imagination than men.

3.  Women crime readers want to know what makes the dark side tick.

 

Special Event: Luther

 

The Special Event: Luther was something special. The panel was made up of Neil Cross, the creator of Luther; Claire Bennett, the producer of the series; Simon Morgan, police adviser; and two of the show’s stars, Michael Smiley who plays Benny, and Warren Brown who plays Ripley. Neil Cross talked about wanting an iconic police character, a mad copper. He is a lover of the TV show, Columbo, and he wanted to put his mad copper into a Columbo format. I must say I never associated Luther with Columbo before, but as he is the creator I take it he knows what he’s done. The panel also talked about Idris Elba having a ‘presence’, and they never thought they would get him, but he was keen to star in the show. One thing came out that I didn’t know, was that Idris Elba has a soul singer career on the side. There was lots more, but if I detailed it we would be here forever. So I’ll close this panel with the information that the next show in the series – Series 3 – is carnage from beginning to end.

 

Laura Lippman interviewing Harlan Coben

 The last guest of the evening was Harlan Coben who was interviewed by Laura Lippman. Harlan is an excellent speaker and he told us that when he finishes a book, he is empty, and it is only the fear of having to work in a department store which impels him to write again. He says he suffers from a level of insecurity and insanity when he is not writing well. He took up golf a few years ago, but when he is doing something else there is a voice in his head which says he should be writing. But when he is writing he fluctuates between thinking it is crap or genius, and he suffers from lots of self doubt. This was something that appeared over and over again during this festival, the insecurity of writers, no matter how successful, who all fear that they will never be able to write another good book. There is also something else he shares with most writers I know, and that is, if he writes and no one reads it, he is not a writer. He also said that he keeps writing because he hasn’t written the perfect book yet, and he never will. All I can say is that Harlan Coben is a thoroughly nice man.

 

Quizmasters extraordinaire - Val McDermid and Mark Billingham

 Considering Harlan didn’t stop speaking until 9.30 pm you would be excused for thinking the day would be over, but you would be wrong. There was still the infamous Harrogate quiz night chaired by those most experienced quiz masters, Val McDermid, and Mark Billingham.

The Scarlet Ladies - Sonia, Justine, Me, and Isobel

 
The quiz is always hilarious with lots of cheating going on and much good natured shouting. I was in the Scarlet Ladies team, which also included Lucy, Isobel, Justine, and Sonia, and we came fifth, which wasn’t bad going. I was really glad we didn’t come first, not as if that was ever a possibility considering the competition we had. I was also glad not to win the raffle. I can hear you asking – why on earth would you want to lose? Well, the reason was the size of the prizes. Massive hampers that I would never be able to carry, let alone get on the train with, plus the largest pile of books to go along with it. There were several of the prize hampers plus books and I was really glad not to have to cart them off. Mind you, the top prize of next year’s Harrogate festival for two, all expenses paid was a beaut.
 
Well, that’s Day three finished, time to stagger to bed. There’s only Sunday morning to go now before it’s all over for another year. But I’ll tell you about Sunday the next time.

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