The Crime Warp

Photo courtesy of  Fenris Oswin   http://www.fenris.co.uk/robert-galbraith/ Robert Galbraith in Sell-out Exclusive UK Appearance Robert Galbraith (or Bob, as Val McDermid affectionately called him) was dressed immaculately in a light grey suit and stylish peach coloured tie.  He was over the moon that Val prior to knowing his real identity had said of his first book :  “The Cuckoo's Calling reminds me why I fell in love with crime fiction in the first place.” With endearing vulnerability Galbraith explained that he wanted to know that his book was published and received under its' own merit and not on the back of his alter ego's status.  Not sure what to expect from Mr Galbraith I was pleased to witness a funny humble and likeable person, honest enough to confide that he loves Robin as a character, hates Matthew and disagrees with Cormoran on a political level. Photo courtesy of Fenris Oswin http://www.fenris...

Five Hot Tips For Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival In Harrogate This year the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival offers panels and discussions ranging from discussions on Smartphones safety, Authors changing to the crime writing genre, self publishing, and  Special events featuring authors such as Denise Mina and Lynda La Plante.  The following are my 10 must go to panels for this year and  are in no particular order. see more...

Arvon Crime Writing Course  Tutors: Val McDermid  and Andrew Taylor Guest Tutor: Allan Guthrie July 2013   Moniack Mhor Inverness This course was brilliant.  After a personally difficult year the combination of expert guidance from the tutors, the relaxing environment and the support and stimulus of being with other aspiring crime writer's, was uplifting.  As a result, barely a day has gone by when I haven't written, edited, reread or scribbled down an idea (even when on holiday) - Thanks Val and Andrew and fellow Arvon Criminalites!      Moniack Mhor Our home for the week was a beautiful rustic cottage with an extension to the kitchen and bedrooms.  This shows the Kitchen annex and the upstairs bedrooms and part of the living room.  Below is a separate cottage that housed the tutors, computers and a few of the course members. As you can see the weather was fantastic for the entire week and the sunsets were a...

William McIlvanney In Conversation with Ian Rankin               At Harrogate Crime Writing Festival 2013                       When Val McDermid introduced William McIlvanney she described him as  'the most charming man'. .. she could have added humble, funny, intelligent, philosophical, talented, charismatic... but we only had an hour. Ian Rankin in conversation with William McIlvanney Harrogate 2013  In many ways this conversation was the meeting of the Titans: Ian Rankin in the Edinburgh corner and Willie McIlvanney in the Glasgow corner and, for me, it was a privilege.  The atmosphere was relaxed, with plenty of  banter between the two and an obvious mutual respect.  Willie's sense of humour was evident in his many stories : from... meetings with Sean Connery in E...

  The Crime Warp celebrates International Women’s Day 2013                 International women’s day celebrates the various ongoing achievements of women.  In the crime fiction arena, with the likes of Agatha Christie leading the way we have a strong base for women writer's to come to the fore.  In fact there are so many female crime fiction writer's nowadays that we, at the crime warp,  are reluctant to attempt to enumerate them and their achievements.   Instead, we've opted to delve into the realms of the women characters  created by a some of these extremely talented women writer's.   This list is by no means conclusive and we’d welcome any additions you readers can add to our list. Christie at work Miss Marple by Agatha Christie    No list of women detectives would be complete without representation from Agatha Christie...

Literary or Literacy             The great debate about genre fiction not being literary seems never ending.   Quite frankly I don’t care about the labels, what I care about is the fact that often literary fiction is considered to be above and beyond the mass reading market and   therefore open to only a few more discerning readers and that makes me cross. In the UK today illiteracy amongst adults   is over 5 million ( www.literacytrust.org.uk ).   This is appalling and I think puts the whole literary writing snobbery thing into perspective:   If people can’t read a label on a medicine bottle, they certainly can’t read a book, literary or not .     However, it was reassuring to learn that the author Stephen Kelman who was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011 is actively working with adults in prisons to help with literacy.   Funnily enough his novel titled Pigeon English ...