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

  

When do Virtual Friends become Real Friends?

In this electronic world we all have hundreds, if not thousands of friends. There are our Facebook friends, our Twitter followers, our Blog followers, and all the other virtual friends we meet and communicate with on the various groups we belong to.

 

So how do we turn these virtual friends into real friends? People who are flesh and blood, people we can hug, people we can talk to with our vocal chords rather than our fingers. Well, I recently found out when I attended A Summer Audience as part of the Love a Happy ending online group.

For those of you who don’t know, Love a Happy Ending http://loveahappyending.com/ was set up in 2011 as an online, interactive group of authors, editors and readers, and was a strictly invitation only group for the authors involved. There was only space for thirty authors and when my invitation to join came I was a bit bemused. ‘You do realise the kind of novels I write?’ was my first question, because I had never associated happy endings with my writing which is generally of the dark crime variety. Back came the answer, ‘Well, I’m sure your books are grittier than most but I presume all your books end in a good way even if they don’t start off like that.’ Apart from that, Love a Happy Ending was looking for a good mix of genres. So, still a little bemused, I joined.

 
Since then I’ve done my share of commenting, tweeting, sharing on Facebook, and all the other things you do when you belong to an online group. Oh, and I had a new set of virtual friends. Love a Happy Ending built its platform and became increasingly visible in the hectic world of the internet.
 
The idea of a readers/writers event took shape earlier this year, and gradually it became a reality. The venue was chosen, Sir William Romney’s school in Tetbury, Gloucestershire. The name was chosen, ‘Summer Audience’, and we all commenced battle to publicise it. We facebooked, blogged and tweeted like mad, in fact there was so much activity I did start to have a concern it was turning into spam.
 
The programme was also taking shape, speakers and workshops were arranged and it was looking good. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I was approached to be a speaker. My initial reaction was that Tetbury is an awfully long way from north-east Scotland, but as you’ve probably noticed I’ve been blogging a bit about writer events lately and one of my blogs was on using these events as a promotional tool. You can see it on the Do Authors Dream of Electric Books site http://authorselectric.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/on-conference-trail-by-chris-longmuir.html so taking my own advice I accepted the invitation and when a plea was put out for workshops, I signed up to do one of them as well.
 

Love a Happy ending authors, editors and readers

 
Okay, so maybe I set out with promotion firmly at the front of my mind, there was another much more important benefit. I met many of my virtual friends, so many I can’t name them all, but I can still feel the hugs. They were very, very real, and wonderful.
 

Linn Halton, author and organiser extraordinary

 

First of all I have to mention Linn Halton who opened her heart and her home to us and who did so much to ensure the event was a success. I take my hat off to her.

Chris Longmuir and Janice Horton

 

Janice Horton was the first speaker of the day with her talk ‘From Zero to Hero’. She’s done a blog post ‘The Summer Audience Event’ if you want to have a look http://janicehortonwriter.blogspot.co.uk/ she’s included loads of photos which is nice.

 

Chris Longmuir and Stephanie Keyes

 

Stephanie Keyes http://www.stephaniekeyes.com/ put me to shame she travelled from the US to come to the event, and here was I moaning about the north-east of Scotland! She was a marvellous company, knowledgeable, communicative and with a great sense of humour.

 

Harvey Black and his friend Jeremy

 

Then there was Harvey Black http://www.harveyblackauthor.com/ who brought his friend Jeremy along. None of us will forget Jeremy in a hurry!

Mandy Baggot singing her heart out

 
Oh, and I can’t forget Mandy Baggot http://mandybaggot.webs.com/apps/blog/ who sang to us during the lunchtime break. There were loads of others, apologies to all of you who haven’t been mentioned, but I’m sure any readers of this blog will be able to check you all out on http://loveahappyending.com/
 

Lou Graham and Jess who did a lot of the work on the day

Oops, I forgot to mention one very important person, Lou Graham and her beautiful daughter, Jess. They were the foot soldiers, always there to do the necessary practical things, there to look after us all, and they did a superb job. This was all the more impressive because there was no payoff for them. Lou is one of Love a Happy Ending’s associate readers, so she had no books to sell, no author platform to build, no gains to be made from all the hard work she put in. I salute you, Lou, you did a great job.
 
So why don’t you pop over to http://loveahappyending.com/ there’s loads of feedback from the Summer Audience Event and loads of great photos. Oh, and if you want a cut down taster of my morning talk it’s at http://loveahappyending.com/what-do-psychopaths-and-mystery-writers-have-in-common/
 

Chris Longmuir in full flow

 

I’m off now to see what all my real friends are saying in the virtual world.

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk

CrimeFest 2012

Chris - In the Spotlight - talking about 'Tartan Noir: following in the footsteps of Jekyll & Hyde

A lot of you will have guessed by now that I rather enjoy literary conferences, conventions, events or whatever. I find the company of like-minded people, stimulating. I love to listen to writers presenting talks or appearing on panels, and live in hope I will learn something from them: even if it’s only how to present myself in similar situations.

My usual round of these events can include writers’ appearances at local events, but the conferences, festivals and conventions, usually include the Scottish Association of Writers’ conference at Erskine Bridge, and the Harrogate Crime Festival. This year, however, I decided to stretch my wings and go to CrimeFest, billed as the International Crime Fiction Convention, in Bristol. And later on in the year there will be the very first Bloody Scotland festival at Stirling. That’s a must go event as well.

 
So before I could change my mind I submitted my booking for CrimeFest, and what a convention that turned out to be. I went early to Bristol because I have relatives there and also because I was drawn to two of the literary tours arranged in conjunction with the convention. The first of these was a guided tour to Oxford, followed by tea and scones with Colin Dexter, the creator of Morse. I’d met Colin Dexter on a previous occasion when he came north to a conference arranged by Angus Writers’ Circle, so I looked forward to meeting him again. But the thing that really drew me to this trip was Oxford. I’d never been there and thought I would like to see it.

The tour set off and I soon discovered I was the only Brit on the coach. The others were Canadian, American and Australian. There were fifteen of us so it didn’t take the group long to gel, and I made some really good friends.
 
Wednesday was a family visit day, and I caught up with relatives I hadn’t seen for many years.
 
Soon it was Thursday and the start of the convention. I got my tickets, programme and goody bag. Some lovely books in the bag, I couldn’t help but think about the added weight to my suitcase! And of course, one of my pals, Michael Malone was launching his first book, Blood Tears, at the convention, so I would have to buy that as well – more weight!
 
I quickly scanned the programme, which also held photos and brief bios of all the speakers, including my photo. It’s always a bit of a thrill when you spot yourself in one of these. Then I fished my tickets out of their envelope, as well as several small sheets of paper with a list of shortlisted authors for the edunnit awards, the audible awards etc. Apparently this was a competition with prizes for the entry which guessed the winner correctly and was subsequently drawn out of a lucky dip. More about that later.
 
The afternoon was taken up with panels, and after the panel discussion there was a prize of a bag of books for the person who asked the best question. I didn't ask any questions because I dreaded adding more weight to my suitcase! Then Peter Guttridge interviewed Frederick Forsyth. I hadn’t heard Frederick speak before, because the year he was scheduled for Harrogate was the year of the floods and he didn’t get through. So that was a treat.

Panel on 'International Cops' 

Moderator Caro Ramsay with Anders Roslund, Michael Stanley(Michael Sears), David Jackson, & David Hewson

Oh, and I can’t forget the CrimeFest Pub Quiz night. I had a lamb curry I wished I hadn’t ordered (say no more), and we didn’t come bottom in the quiz, we were somewhere near the middle, so that was okay.
 
Up at the crack of dawn on Friday, and lots more panels to attend, plus I was sweating (sorry, ladies don’t sweat, they glow!), because I had my speaking slot at four o’clock. It was a twenty minute slot listed in the programme as ‘In the Spotlight’. Four o’clock came round all too soon and it was time to deliver my talk Tartan Noir: in the footsteps of Jekyll and Hyde, but it went well, and four of the attendees declared they were my fan club. It was awfully nice to think I had a fan club.
 
So now my slot was over I could settle down to enjoy myself, oh, I forgot to say, my favourite crime author, Jeffery Deaver, was the last speaker of the day. However, the day wasn’t finished, there was the Crime Writers’ Association’s Dagger Shortlist Announcement Reception. After that I went out for a lovely meal with Caro Ramsay and her partner. A lovely end to a lovely day.
 
Saturday was hectic with panels, as well as top notch speakers in Lee Child and PD James. They are always popular. Then later on we had David Hewson and a cast member (sorry can’t remember his name) of The Killing being interviewed by Barry Forshaw.
 
Later there was a reception for Million for a Morgue, presented by Professor Sue Black, Jeffery Deaver, Peter James and Lee Child. Million for a Morgue is a fundraising project to raise funds for a new morgue, or as it is known in Scotland, mortuary at Dundee University. Everyone who donates gets to vote for the crime author they would like to have the morgue named after. Lee Child reckoned that Jeffery Deaver should have the morgue named after him because he was the only one who looked like an undertaker!
 
We went straight from this reception into the Gala Dinner. I was dreading it in a way because of my experience with the lamb curry the previous night. However, the meal was excellent and the company great. Oh, and you remember those slips of paper which were entries to a competition, well mine was the first out of the hat and I won an MP4 player plus a bagload of audiobooks. How I got them home I will never know because the bag was so heavy.
 
Sunday morning and the pace seemed a little less hectic, just as well because we were all flagging by that time. Two lots of panels and a session of Criminal Mastermind, and that was it. CrimeFest was over. So the afternoon was left clear for another family visit.
 
But I’m not finished yet, because my second tour was scheduled for Monday. And that was an Agatha Christie tour, with coffee in the Grand Hotel, Torquay, where she spent her honeymoon. Then off to Torquay Museum which has an Agatha Christie room, no photographs allowed for copyright reasons. We finally wound up at Greenways, Agatha Christies home, overlooking the River Dart. Again no photographs inside the house for the same reason. Our guide was John Curran, an expert on Agatha Christie, who researched her notebooks and wrote Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks.
 
A wonderful end to a wonderful literary event. Will I go to CrimeFest next year? You bet your bottom dollar I will.
 
http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk

Writing Competitions: Winners & Losers

You’d think I would know quite a bit about writing competitions, after all I’ve entered zillions of them over the years, and won a few of those, although the times I didn’t win by far outnumber the times I did. And I sincerely believe the biggies that I won, I only did so through sheer dogged determination.

Take the Dundee International Book Prize, for example. I didn’t win that on my first attempt. Oh no, I’d had two goes at it before that, and only won it on the third attempt. I also won the Scotttish Association of Writers’ Pitlochry Trophy twice, once for Night Watcher and again for Dead Wood. But I never did win the even more prestigious Constable Trophy (I coveted that for many years), and I stopped counting after the fifth year I came second. Ironically, after Dead Wood was published I was asked to adjudicate the Constable Award competition. It’s a queer world, isn’t it?

Chris with the Dundee International Book Prize Trophy

So what got me thinking about writing competitions? Well, last year, in a weak moment, I agreed to adjudicate the novel competition of a writing group. Taking my base from my own writing group of thirty members, with 16-20 who regularly attended meetings, and about 6 or 7 submitting work to competitions, I thought easy peasy, and never gave it another thought.

It was only when the date crept up on me, I realised that I only had a month to adjudicate the manuscripts, which is quite tight if you want to do justice to the crit. I then acquired the information that this club had 100 members, and there might be about 50 of those members attending my adjudication talk. Panic stations! How many scripts would I have to read? I made some tentative enquiries and was told to expect something in the region of 14. Wow, 14 submissions of 10,000 words each, plus synopses. When would I have time to sleep?

Anyway, the scripts arrived, and I breathed a sigh of relief. There were only 7 manuscripts. But, the thing I had forgotten was that in the middle of my month’s adjudication time came the Easter holidays, and I would be doing my granny duties with my granddaughter who would be off school!

So I buckled down to work. I read the manuscripts as a reader, without looking at the synopses. They were all good. No obvious ones I could rule out as not making the grade, although there was one I thought stood out as being something very special, but at this point I wasn’t making any judgements. Then it was time for the second reading which was done after reading the synopses. Again, great story lines, not a duff one among them.

It was time to start making decisions, so I read them a third time with an analytic eye, jotting down notes for my crits. And of course, being me, I couldn’t resist proofing them at the same time. The crits helped give me a clearer view of top and bottom runners. But I still had 4 to sort out in the order of first, second, third, and commended.

During my readings I had come to appreciate all the manuscripts at a far deeper level and I wasn’t sure anymore whether the one I thought was the best, really was the best. It took 5 readings before I finally made up my mind about the order of the top 4. And would you believe it, the manuscript I’d hit on as being the best in my first reading did come out on top.

That was the adjudication done, all that remained was to present my findings to the writers’ group. However they wanted a half hour talk to provide practical advice on writing a novel. Now everyone has their own method of writing a novel and who is to say my way is any better than someone else’s? So I decided to concentrate on the craft aspects of writing rather than the creative process, taking my cues from their own manuscripts.

So, what did I pick up from my reading of the manuscripts that would give me something to talk about? Remember, I told you they were all good. But even being good, nothing is ever perfect, and don’t I know that only too well as I struggle with my own revisions. Some of the manuscripts started with a definite hook while others had a more gentle lead in to the story, so the first thing on my agenda was ‘hooks’. How to start with a hook to intrigue a potential reader, but not only that, I also covered hooks at the end of scenes. You know, the traditional cliff hangers. They’re needed to keep the reader turning the pages.

Next I talked about dialogue and how it is not really necessary to have a speech tag as well as action at the end of it. It’s the difference between writing, ‘I’m not coming back,’ she said and slammed the door, as opposed to, ‘I’m not coming back.’ She slammed the door.

Something else I included was sentences where the effect came before the action. It should always be action first and then the effect. I felt a bit of a hypocrite talking about this because I couldn’t help wondering how many times I had done this myself. It’s so easy to write, ‘she jumped as the door slammed’, which is effect followed by action. I really must remember to do a find in my manuscripts for the two words ‘as the’ which are a dead giveaway.

I spoke about several other things as well, but one thing that struck me when I read the manuscripts was how much hyphens are overused. At least that’s one thing I felt reasonably sure I handled okay in my work because I always check hyphenated words with the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors which is an excellent reference work, particularly for the use of hyphens.

So, back to winners and losers, there were only winners in this competition, there were no losers, which was what made my decision so difficult. But then again, if there had been duff manuscripts there still wouldn’t have been any losers, because the very nature of entering competitions, and getting your work out there for an objective crit, makes you a winner in my book.

I must say the talk went very well and was well received by the audience, and to top off a lovely, stimulating meeting with the club members, some of them took time out the next week to email me to say how much they enjoyed it.

I’m now off to pull together some material for my next talk in a week’s time. It’s Layout and Presentation this time. Now how can I make that interesting?

  

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk

Book Reviews – Love them or hate them

I don’t know about other writers but when any of my books is out for review, I shake in my shoes. Most authors, at one time or another, doubt their books. They fluctuate between thinking it’s the greatest story ever published, and it’s the crappiest book ever written. Being the doubting Thomas’s that we are, it’s usually the latter. Even in the middle of writing our latest offering, there are more ‘crap’ crises, than ‘this is wonderful’ moments. So can you wonder I shake in my shoes when a review is imminent.

 
Thoughts pound in my head affecting my ability to function as a normal human being. What if the reviewer doesn’t like it? What if he/she thinks it’s the crappiest thing ever written? At this stage I’m wondering if it is. When the review goes up I’m almost afraid to look, but I have to. I have to know the worst.

Then there are the reviews that pop out of nowhere, usually on Amazon. Now the law of averages stipulates that if a reader likes a book, even loves it, they won’t bother to comment. However, if they hate it, if it disappoints them, if it’s not the kind of book they expected, then spleen must out, and it appears in the form of a review.

 
Now, I don’t mind the odd bad review, not everyone can like everything. But the ones that say little more than this book was awful, and not giving any reasons, strikes me as a bit unfair. If a reader really thinks this then surely some comments about what it was they didn’t like are more useful to another reader contemplating reading it.

Similarly, with reviews that simply say this book was marvellous. It tells you nothing. I much prefer balanced reviews. You know the kind of thing that says this bit was good, but this bit wasn’t, regardless of how many stars they are awarding. At least it says something about the book and gives future readers more information to make their decision.

Now having got all that off my chest, I have to say that my reviews are mostly in the 4 and 5 star category, and out of the lot I think I’ve only got two reviews with 2 stars, so that’s not too bad. And no, I don’t have that many friends and relatives, and most of them wouldn’t know how to write a review anyway. And being the bashful person I am I wouldn’t ask them to do that in any case. I’m just thankful if they read the books.

However, a review of Night Watcher went up today on the Indie Ebook Review site http://indieebookreview.wordpress.com/ which absolutely amazed me. It took a really different view of the book from the norm. The reviewer indicated she wasn’t a crime thriller reader and I think that was why she came up with something different. I must say some of the review gave me cause to think. But, you know, she was spot on with her comments and she saw things no other reviewer had seen. Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention, she said that ‘if Jane Austen wrote crime fiction this is the book she would have written’. Must say I’ve never been compared to Jane Austen before. And it gets better, because she also compared me to Agatha Christie. WOW! That’s kudos in buckets.

Reviews are something every author has to take in their stride. They are necessary because they inform potential readers what to expect. But that doesn’t stop the fear element when you know one is about to be published.

How do you feel about reviews? Do you take them in your stride, or like me, do you shake in your shoes at the thought of what they will say?

Thanks for listening and cheerio until the next time

 

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk

Lucky 7: Seven lines from new works

Ooh! I’ve been tagged by Sue Uden and Janet O’Kane. Thanks ladies for taking my mind off my work for a few minutes, well, maybe a bit more than a few. So what have they done to me? Yikes! They’ve tagged me to take part in Lucky 7: Seven lines from new works. They said the rules were simple, and here they are:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS or WIP
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy the next 7 lines, sentences or paragraphs and post them as they’re written
4. Tag 7 more writers and let them know.

Okay, I’ve done that and here are the seven lines from my current book which is as yet untitled. And luckily, or maybe not so luckily, the seven lines feature my detective sergeant, the lovely, or not so lovely, Bill Murphy.
 
Bill swallowed the lump in his throat. Shit, he’d forgotten about the damned report. He wriggled in his seat.

‘You do have it?’

‘Actually,’ Bill said, ‘I was waiting for SOCO to get back to me with some information I needed before I could complete it. But I couldn’t raise them last night.’

‘I see.’ It was obvious from her tone she didn’t believe him. ‘In that case you will have the report on my desk within the hour.’ She paused before continuing, ‘I’m sure they’ll be on duty now.’

 
Ooh! She’s a sarky one that new DI of his, and boy, does she have it in for him. Bill can almost feel the knife between his shoulder blades. He’s a bit of a loser though, so maybe he needs someone to keep him in line. Check out the interview Peggy Stanton did with him for Famous Five Plus http://famousfiveplus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/peggy-stanton-known-for-her-cut-to.html then when you’ve checked Bill out you might want to know what his colleague Detective Sergeant Sue Rogers thinks of him http://famousfiveplus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/following-peggy-stantons-interview-will.html
 
So now you’ve met my Bill Murphy, and you’ll maybe get a clue why some of my readers think he needs a good woman to take him in hand. Please form an orderly queue ladies, he’ll get round to you all sooner or later.

So what now? I have to find seven other folk to tag. Who will I choose? Who will be the lucky seven? Did I hear a mutter of ‘unlucky’ there? We’ll have less insubordination in the ranks, if you please, and I will ignore that. So it’s over to –

Janice Horton - @JaniceHorton - http://www.janicehortonwriter.blogspot.co.uk/

Gilli Allan - @gilliallan - http://gilliallan.blogspot.co.uk/

Pauline Barclay - @paulinembarclay - http://www.paulinebarclay.co.uk/

Eileen Schuh - @eileenschuh - http://www.eileenschuh.blogspot.co.uk/

Melanie King - @RobertsoKing - http://www.melanierobertson-king.com/wp02/

Susan Russo Anderson - @SusanRussoAnder - http://susanrussoanderson.com/

Susan Livingston - @lotsocats100 - http://lotsocats100-fascinatingbooks.blogspot.co.uk/

Now do you know what you rescued me from, Sue and Janet, just an afternoon of book-keeping, getting things ready for the tax man. So, my blessings ladies, this has been a welcome relief.

http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk

Writers’ Conferences and the SAW

Some writers hate them, some love them, and some go because they feel they have to promote themselves as much as possible. Me, I go for the good company, the crack (the chat kind that is, not the drug), the stimulation and loads of other reasons. What am I talking about? Why writers’ conferences, of course.
 
I attend several every year, always starting with the SAW weekend conference at Erskine Bridge, which is just west of Glasgow. And for those of you not in the know, SAW stands for the Scottish Association of Writers.
 
Well, I’ve just returned from Erskine and I’m absolutely shattered. For there is one thing that’s common to all these events, and that is that they are lively and hectic, requiring loads of stamina and energy. But they are also stimulating and a good way of networking.
 
So what kind of programme did we have on this fantastic weekend. Well, there were loads of workshops and talks on every aspect of writing you could imagine. There was also the ‘Night of Drama’ where lots of the drama entries were performed by their writers and various ‘volunteers’, willing or otherwise. The speakers and workshop leaders were brilliant, and of course, we can’t forget the prize giving. That is one thing that the SAW is renowned for, the amount of competitions and prizes they award.
 

SAW Prizewinners 2012

There’s nothing quite like it. More than a hundred people sitting there with their hearts pounding, waiting to hear if they are among the prize winners. I used to be one of them, but now, with several books under my belt, I just go along for the company and the crack, not forgetting the networking. I’m afraid I’m a bit of a litter lout when it comes to conferences, and I leave a paper trail wherever I go.

 
Then on Saturday night, after all the awards and trophies have been handed out, there is always the disco. This year it was the ‘Shimmer Disco’ to reflect the 70s and 80s. It’s fascinating to see how many people have brought costumes with them, and the wondrous variety of those costumes, as they strut their stuff on the dance floor. There is another option for those who aren’t into the disco scene, and that is the ‘Poetry Penthouse’ where they get a chance to perform their poetry.

On Sunday there are more workshops, then in the afternoon, readings of many of the entries. It’s astonishing how many able and talented writers attend this conference.

Then it’s off home, stimulated, invigorated, and exhausted, but ready to tackle the next part of the novel I’m in the middle of writing.

 
http://www.chrislongmuir.co.uk