#ScotsWrite17 was a blast

Two years in the planning but the Society of Authors in Scotland conference ScotsWrite was a roaring success although now it’s all over I have to admit to being a bit knackered.

 

ScotsWrite team meeting to plan the day ahead

Decked out in our royal blue tee shirts and/or sashes we were constantly on the go. My Fitbit, which monitors how much exercise I take and how many steps and miles I walk, almost collapsed with exhaustion. And at the end of each day, I also collapsed into bed thinking I’d never make it to breakfast the next morning. But I always did. Plus I had to be bright and breezy for the morning team meeting where we did our planning to ensure all the delegates got an amazing experience.

I think we succeeded in providing that amazing experience because there was a definite buzz during the conference and many demands for us to do it again next year. However, there were no plans to make this an annual event. It was meant to be a one-off and given the fact this conference was two years in the making the logistics would rule out another event of this nature next year. But it has planted the idea that this cannot be a one-off and that there might need to be thought given to a repeat in the future. I, for one, certainly hope it can be done again.

The registration desk is ready and we're raring to go

The conference started on Friday afternoon, but we were all there from early morning to tackle the tasks that needed to be done prior to the arrival of the first delegates. There was registration to set up as well as display boards inviting comments and discussions. Some of the organising team assisted by student volunteers tackled the mammoth task of packing the goody-bags. In fact, there was so much to do I did wonder at one time whether we would make our deadlines. But writers are used to deadlines and this was a conference organised by writers for writers. So everything was completed in time and the conference got off to a good start.

 

Three of our keynote speakers

Our lineup of speakers was outstanding. Many conferences have one keynote speaker but because we had a keynote speaker each day of the conference and two on Saturday, that meant we had four: Joanne Harris the author of Chocolat and other books; Jane Johnson who has been a publisher and is now an author; Charlie Higson who wrote the young James Bond books; and Joanna Penn, author-entrepreneur, who is an expert on all aspects of publishing and marketing. I managed to see and hear them all except for Charlie Higson because I was manning the registration desk which remained open the entire conference for any queries that might arise.

 

Denise Mina presenting her breakout session

Apart from the keynote speakers, there were masses of breakout sessions (workshops) all of which were excellent, and I had the honour of hosting Denis Mina at her session. She’s a lovely person as well as being a brilliant writer. Did you know she won this year’s McIlvanney prize for best crime novel? Other breakout sessions were presented by Caro Ramsay, Emily Dodds, Mary Hoffman, David Bishop and a host of others. We also had two Scrivener sessions and got a sneak peek at the new Scrivener Three which will be launched within the next few months. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.

 

Westerwood Hotel - ScotsWrite venue

Our venue was the Westerwood Hotel at Cumbernauld and as far as I am concerned it’s one of the best conference hotels around. The facilities offered included their own golf course as well as a spa but, of course, we didn’t have time to use them. As always, the food was delicious and I think I’ll have to diet for the next month to recover. Oh, and I can’t forget the ceilidh we had on Saturday night after the gala meal. It was a blast as well. The floor was packed although I managed to avoid most of the energetic dances like the eightsome reel and strip the willow.

 

Whooping it up at the ceilidh

I’m exhausted after all that and I’m off to lie down to recover now. You may not see me for some time!

Chris Longmuir

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

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Countdown to #ScotsWrite

Writing conferences are part and parcel of a busy writer’s life. They release writers from their self-imposed solitude and confirm there is life outside the writer’s cave. It provides an opportunity to expand our knowledge, find out how other writers work, meet other writers who are household names and others who are less well known. Above all, it’s about networking.

Normally I am simply an attendee and sometimes a speaker but I’ve never been involved with organising a conference. Until now.

After the Society of Authors in Scotland (SOAiS) made the decision to organise a conference we were gripped with excitement. We wanted it to be the best conference ever, particularly as it was going to be a one off and wouldn’t be repeated. Well, at least not for a long time. Find out all about the conference at http://www.societyofauthors.org/Events/ScotsWrite

 

Hard working members on the ScotsWrite Conference organising committee

Our committee, headed up by our wonderful chairperson, Linda Strachan, got to work. And as a committee member, I was in the thick of it. We soon realised it would be of benefit to have additional SOAiS members join the committee to help with the planning and implementation of the conference. These extra members were a boon and things were soon merrily chugging away although at the beginning things were a bit chaotic for me. That was soon to change when our events organiser, Jenny Kumar, joined our working parties and soon whipped us into shape. I reckon Jenny is Wonderwoman in disguise.

 

Westerwood Hotel ScotsWrite conference venue

Anyway to cut a long story short. We have our venue arranged, the luxurious Westerwood Hotel, in Cumbernauld, which is central and easily reached from all parts of Scotland. The food is to die for and if there’s time in between listening to all the great speakers we have lined up, there’s always the spa or the golf course.

Our speakers are booked and the line up is stupendous. The speakers include Joanne Harris (Chocolat), Caro Ramsay, Denise Mina, Charlie Higson, Joanna Penn and a host of others too numerous to mention including publishers and agents. Plus, if you want to know about Scrivener we have sessions devoted to that. And there is optional Tai Chi if that’s something you fancy. If you want to see the full programme check it out here http://www.societyofauthors.org/Events/ScotsWrite/Full-Programme and if you want to know more about the speakers check them out here http://www.societyofauthors.org/Events/ScotsWrite/Speakers

It’s going to be an exciting weekend and we have a delegate bag full of fascinating goodies for everyone who comes along. But don’t delay because places are selling fast. And don’t think if you miss it this year you can come along next year because you can’t. This is a one off conference and there will be no repeat next year.

A final word before I finish. As well as special rates for SOA members there are special affiliate rates for the conference if you belong to any of the following organisations such as: ACW; ALLi; Borders' Writers Forum; Federation of Scottish Writers; Historical Novel Society; ITI; NUJ; Playwrights' Studio, Scotland; Royal Literary Fund; SAS; SAW; SCBWI; and WGGB. So, be sure to claim your discounted price.

This conference is something you can’t afford to miss and it is open to everyone, not just SOA members so make sure you book. And make it soon so you don’t miss the event of the year.

I’ll see you there.

Chris Longmuir

http://www.societyofauthors.org/Events/ScotsWrite

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

Amazon:   Author page

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

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Harrogate Crime Festival 2012 – Part 1

It’s that time of year again – the time all crime writers look forward to – the Harrogate Crime Festival, where crime writers and readers gather to celebrate crime fiction in all its varieties.

Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, where the crime conference is held

I’m not entirely sure what you would call a gathering of crime writers – would it be a murder of crime writers? Maybe not, because we don’t want to be associated with crows. After all it’s a murder of crows, isn’t it? What about a massacre of crime writers? Do you think that would suit any better? If you have any ideas I’d love to hear them.

Anyway, whatever you call them, you won’t find a bigger gathering anywhere this summer, than Harrogate. They all gather at the Old Swan Hotel, that’s the one where Agatha Christie was found after her vanishing act more years ago than I care to remember.

This is the tenth Harrogate Crime Festival, although to give it its proper title I should be saying the Theakstons Old Peculier (yes the spelling is correct) Crime Writing Festival. The first one took place in 2003, and it was meant to be a small weekend of literature events that would be part of the larger Harrogate International Festival. However, probably because of the early involvement of Val McDermid, it was like Topsy, it grew and grew, until it is now the largest and most prestigious crime fiction event in Europe.

Over the years many of the biggies of the crime writing world have appeared at Harrogate, including PD James, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, and many more. Not forgetting our international counterparts such as Jeffrey Deaver (a favourite of mine), Michael Connolly, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Jo Nesbo, I could go on and on. But you don’t want a list of names of the world’s most prestigious crime writers, do you? You want me to get on and tell you about this year’s festival. The only thing is, there is so much going on, there is no way I’ll be able to get it all into one blog post, so I’ll talk about each day in a separate post, so you’ll just have to watch this space

Well, I arrived on Thursday afternoon. There were people there before me because the festival runs a creative writing day prior to the opening events on Thursday evening. I have taken part in the creative writing day in past years and it is something well worth attending. But because I didn’t do it this year I won’t comment on it.

Mark Lawson, from BBC Radio 4 Front Row

The festival started on Thursday night with the presentation of the awards. Mark Lawson introduced this with a hilarious speech, and I’m sure the laughter could have been heard in Harrogate town centre. The locals must have wondered what was going on.

Some of the bits I remember was where he referred to Cambridge being like downtown Detroit, and Oxford as the most lethal town in England, while going for a walk in Suffolk was quite risky because you’d be lucky to return from it. He also reckoned that with the recent reported drop in UK crime figures we’d all soon be out of a job.

 

Colin Dexter, author of the Morse series

Mark Billingham then came on stage to announce the recipient of the lifetime award for an outstanding contribution to crime fiction. This was presented to Colin Dexter, by Simon Theakston, the festival’s sponsor. Colin entertained us with a short speech, laced with his usual dry humour, and he got a standing ovation from the audience. He was a very popular choice for the lifetime award. But I wasn’t surprised by this, because Colin is a lovely man whom I’ve had the honour to meet on several occasions, and I still treasure the photograph he gave me earlier this year, of his portrait which hangs in the Randolph Hotel.

After this came the presentation of the Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award which was won by Denise Mina, for End of the Wasp Season. I’ve read Denise’s Garnethill trilogy and she’s a great crime writer, so I made a note to myself – get End of the Wasp season as soon as possible.

Denise Mina with the Theakston Old Peculier award for crime novel of the year

We finished up with the Festival opening party, which was mobbed and quite quickly became uncomfortably hot. However, no one seemed to mind and there was lots of networking, chatting and meeting up with old and new friends. I spent a fair bit of the time with Sonia, Lucy, Justine and Isobel, and we had a lovely time.

The top tier of the cup cake mountain at the festival party

Oh, and by the way, Justine is now my BFF because she told me she’d read my book, Dead Wood, and loved it. She also said she was reading another author (quite a famous one, who shall be nameless), and thought my book was the better of the two. Yay, The perfect end to a perfect day.

From left - Isabel, Lucy, Sonia, and Justine

Well, that’s Thursday taken care of, I’ll write about the Friday events in the next post, so watch this space, and I’ll try not to be too long.

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk