#Newsflash - Crime at the Castle Launched

Glamis Castle

What! Haven’t you heard about Crime at the Castle? The original and new crime festival taking place at Glamis Castle and about to burst onto the scene on February 24th, 2018. Click here for information

This is where you’ll find the biggest and hottest crime writers that Scotland has to offer. One newspaper described the selection of authors as “some of the nation’s best crime writers”. And guess what? I’m included in the programme. Click here for the programme

Crime at the Castle was the brainchild of author Wendy H Jones and after a lot of hard work in conjunction with the Glamis Castle events team, the programme has just been launched. And if you haven’t heard of Wendy H Jones, then you’ve had your eyes shut. Either that or you never visit social media sites. She’s impossible to miss on Facebook and has a following that is the envy of many authors. But, if you really haven’t heard about Wendy click here for her website

But let’s talk about the conference. It’s a one-day event, and as I previously said, it’s taking place at Glamis Castle. There are sixteen famous authors appearing including Val McDermid, Denise Mina, Alex Gray, Chris Brookmyre, Lin Anderson, Caro Ramsay and plenty more. The hard thing for those booking a place at the conference will be selecting which author’s event to choose because there is a choice of six different events running at the same time although some of us have a slot in the morning and a repeat slot in the afternoon.

For example, my first slot is at 10 am in The Chapel, and my repeat slot is at 2.30 pm in the Queen Mother’s sitting room. In both slots, I will be talking about the rocky road to publication. I just hope I get an audience because Caro Ramsey, Alex Gray, Shona McLean, Caroline Dunford and Jackie McLean, are on at the same time in the morning, and I’m up against Val McDermid, Alex Gray, Caroline Dunford, Michael J Malone, and Douglas Skelton in the afternoon. All of them stiff competition.

As well as my own events I’ll also be introducing Chris Brookmyre in the Drawing Room, and interviewing Lin Anderson in the Dining Room. So it’s going to be a hectic day.

So, what will this fabulous event cost you? I guarantee you won’t have to take out a mortgage to cover it because it’s only £55 for the entire day and that includes lunch in the Glamis Castle restaurant. And they do really nice lunches. I’ve eaten there before at previous visits. In my opinion, it’s the bargain of the year. Meeting your favourite authors, sitting down to lunch with them, and an exciting experience in fabulous surroundings. What more could a reader or writer ask for?

One last proviso, there are only a limited number of tickets which is due to the space available and the inability to squeeze in additional people so I would advise you to get your tickets as soon as possible, particularly if there is a favourite author’s session you want to attend. It will be first come, first served, and once it’s gone it’s gone.

I hope to see you there.

Chris Longmuir

Glamis Castle

Crime at the Castle

Crime at the Castle Programme

https://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk/

Amazon:   Author page

Bloody Scotland Photo Gallery

Scotland's International Crime Festival which has been dedicated this year to the memory of William McIlvanney, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Not only is the festival dedicated in his honour, but so too is the Scottish crime Book of the Year Award, now named The McIlvanney Prize.

Stuart MacBride and Caro Ramsay opened the crime festival with their own distinctive brands of humour which left the festival goers wanting more.

They were followed by the hilarious, if somewhat, foul-mouthed duo, Mark Billingham, and Chris Brookmyre. As an aside, Chris won the McIlvanney Prize, and will go down in history as the first recipient.

Chris and Mark sneaking off the stage before anyone has a chance to ask for a refund.

Scotland the Grave was hilarious as each author defended their own part of the country. Catriona McPherson fought the corner for Galloway, Douglas Skelton threatened everyone with a police cosh in an effort to come out ahead of the others, Gillian Galbraith thought Edinburgh was the best crime location, and Russel D McLean defended Dundee. He's a nice lad, Russel. He gave me a shout out by saying he was the only crime writer writing about Dundee until Chris Longmuir (me) came along a couple of years later and then said very complimentary things about my books which I'm too modest to repeat.

Val McDermid, talking about her new book, was next on the programme for me. Val is always entertaining and I enjoy listening to her.

Alanna Knight, a very dear friend and one of my favourite authors presented a new drama production with several willing authors acting the parts. Alanna is on the left of this photo introducing the play and it's actors before the action starts. Gordon Brown, the author not the politician, made a very imposing policeman, although I don't think he needed to keep order while Alanna was speaking.

And here is Gordon, our imposing policeman, reporting to Inspector Faro, who looks a lot like Stuart MacBride.

Now we can see the full cast: Stuart MacBride heading the proceedings, Gordon Brown standing guard on the suspects.

And to finish off Saturday the male authors and female authors pitted their wits against each other in a hilarious quiz. There were a couple of later events, but my granddaughter comes with me to these festivals. She loves them. So the Curly Coo or Darling Clementine wasn't an option for us.

I don't suppose any other crime festival asks the contestants to guess crime show theme tunes played on the bagpipes. But this is Bloody Scotland and anything goes.

Lin Anderson and forensic soil scientist Professor Lorna Dawson were digging up the bodies on Sunday morning. These forensic events are always full of fascinating information.

Next on the agenda was Victorian Gothic with Oscar De Muriel setting his historical crime novel in an Edinburgh lunatic asylum, and E S Thomson featuring a mystery set in a crumbling London infirmary.

Witness the Dead concentrated on how good a witness anyone in the audience would be. The crime author panel was quizzed by Professor Graham Pike, an expert in eyewitness identification, on how their fictional character would investigate the crime which had been shown on the screen, while the audience were asked to identify the criminal. Needless to say, quite a lot of people made the wrong identification despite having clearly seen the perpetrator.

This photo gallery is simply a selection of events I attended, but there were many other events I didn't attend because there were always three choices to pick from. The dilemma at Bloody Scotland is always what to choose and what to miss out on.

I hope you've enjoyed my photos of Bloody Scotland, and if you haven't been to it yet then you really must put it in your diary. It's an unmissable event.

Chris Longmuir

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

Amazon author page UK

Amazon author page US

If you would like a free short story featuring DS Bill Murphy from my popular Dundee Crime Series then visit my website and fill in a form to tell me where to send it. Meet Bill Murphy long before he became a policeman. Get a taste of the child that made the man.

Have a Look at my November Sale Bargains

In my last post I told you about Awesome Indies new website http://awesomeindies.net/ and the sale they were running to launch it. Well the bad news is that their sale is now finished. But the good news is that I have decided to keep my two sale books available for the rest of November.

These books have never been discounted before – ever. So, they are genuine bargains. Let me tell you about them.

The two books I decided to reduce are Night Watcher and A Salt Splashed Cradle, and they’ve both been reduced from $4.99/£3.03 down to $2.99/£1.92.

Night Watcher is the first book in my Dundee Crime Series, featuring DS Bill Murphy. The whole series is very popular, and DS Murphy has quite a following. Night Watcher is a story of two stalkers, both with the same target, Nicole, who is rather partial to male company and is not too concerned about whose husband she steals. I’ve already said there were two stalkers – there is the woman with revenge on her mind playing mind games, and then there is the deranged and dangerous Night Watcher. But who kills Nicole? Read it and find out. Link for Night Watcher.

Here are a couple of reviews of Night Watcher:

Night watcher is the sort of novel that keeps the reader glued to its pages, frantically guessing as the plot takes numerous twists and turns. – Alex Gray, Crime Writer

This is a complex and very well crafted tale, beautifully put together -full of a sense of foreboding, and full of menace. – Catherine Czerkawska

A Salt Splashed Cradle is different. It is not my usual crime story. It is a historical saga set in 1830s Scotland in an east coast fishing village which does not welcome newcomers in their midst. This story reflects the living conditions and the morals of the ordinary fishing folk of that time. It starts when Jimmie Watt brings his new bride home to his horrified parents. This is 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? Read it to find out.

Link for A Salt Splashed Cradle

Here are some reviews of A Salt Splashed Cradle:

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

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

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

Why did I decide to keep these two books on offer? Well, that’s easy, I wanted to reward my faithful followers and readers, as well as trying to tempt some new readers into my gang. Why not try one or other of the books, or both if you feel so inclined. And don’t forget to tell me what you think of them.

 Chris Longmuir

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

Amazon Author Page

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Awesome Indies

Anchors Away – Awesome Indies Website is Live

In my last post I told you all about the brand new website that has been designed for Awesome Indies, but of course the links only took you to the original site because the new one was scheduled for today, Saturday 1st November. Scroll down if you want to read my previous post.Here is the link for the new website http://awesomeindies.net/

Well, today is the day, the website is live, and all those delicious book bargains are on offer. There are 74 books in the sale, I know because I counted them. And there are loads to choose from, in a variety of different genres. Oh, and before I forget, there is a competition for you with the prize being a Kindle Paperwhite ereader. Here is the link to the competition page – Awesome Indies Welcome Page.

However, don’t miss my books. I have two in the sale. And these books have never been discounted before – ever. So, they are genuine bargains. Let me tell you about them.

I decided to put Night Watcher and A Salt Splashed Cradle in the sale to celebrate the launch of the new website. They’ve both been reduced from $4.99/£3.03 down to $2.99/£1.92.

Night Watcher is the first book in my Dundee Crime Series, featuring DS Bill Murphy, and it’s been very popular, as well as the rest of the series. It’s a story of two stalkers, both with the same target, Nicole, who is rather partial to male company and is not too concerned about whose husband she steals. I’ve already said there were two stalkers – there is the woman with revenge on her mind playing mind games, and then there is the deranged and dangerous Night Watcher. But who kills Nicole? Read it and find out. Link for Night Watcher.

Here are a couple of reviews of Night Watcher:

Night watcher is the sort of novel that keeps the reader glued to its pages, frantically guessing as the plot takes numerous twists and turns. – Alex Gray, Crime Writer

This is a complex and very well crafted tale, beautifully put together -full of a sense of foreboding, and full of menace. – Catherine Czerkawska

A Salt Splashed Cradle is different. It is not my usual crime story. It is a historical saga set in 1830s Scotland in an east coast fishing village which does not welcome newcomers in their midst. This story reflects the living conditions and the morals of the ordinary fishing folk of that time. It starts when Jimmie Watt brings his new bride home to his horrified parents. This is 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? Read it to find out. Link for A Salt Splashed Cradle

Here are some reviews of A Salt Splashed Cradle:

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

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

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

There are many more books in the sale and I hope you’ll visit the sale page to sample some of them. Have fun reading.

Here is the link to the sale page http://awesomeindies.net/bookstore/on-sale/

Chris Longmuir

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

Amazon Author Page

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

Awesome Indies

Bloody Scotland Photo Gallery

I had a brilliant time at Bloody Scotland so I thought I'd share some pics with you.

A lively event with Christopher Brookmyre and Denise Mina

Happy chappies waiting to go on stage - Mark Billingham and Stuart Macbride

Stuart Macbride successfully turned Mark Billingham, as well as the audience, into zombies as he read from Skeleton Bob

The Digital Detectives - Ed James, Allan Guthrie, and Alexandra Sokoloff

A bit of light relief. The Elvis Cleaning Team sprucing up Stirling on Saturday

Favourite authors Caro Ramsay, and Alex Gray, being interviewed by Gordon Brown

Entertaining Event - Alanna Knight interviewing Peter May

Ian Rankin and Kathy Reichs in conversation

The rapt audience listening to Ian and Kathy Reichs

Peter Mays speaking at the gala dinner where he was awarded with the Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award for Entry Island

Lin Anderson with her forensic team - brilliant presentation involving volunteers from the audience

The forensic volunteers suited up and ready to try out their fingerprinting skills

There was lots more but insufficient time to attend everything or post all the pics I took. If you're a crime writer or reader, and within travelling distance of Stirling, this is one event that's unmissable.

Chris Longmuir

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

Amazon Author Page

Amazon UK

Amazon.com

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/