Authors Electric

 June is Crime Reading Month! The Crime Writers' Association has joined forces with The Reading Agency to promote it. There are lots of events up and down the country and you can find out more by going to  crimereading.com  . It's seventy years since The CWA was created so there's plenty to do. And of course, I've arranged something too. This is the perfect time to launch Murder In Merton: Crime Writing Events. First up, this coming Saturday 10th June 2-4pm at West Barnes Library, we have a Crime Authors Fair. With Sarah Clarke, Lucy Martin, Biba Pearce, Amer Anwar, Alex Khan and ML Rose. The authors will be free to chat with readers, with a more formal talk from Amer Anwar at 3pm. Books will be available to buy and there will be refreshments at a small cost. Entry is FREE and no booking is required. There will be a competition too! On Tuesday 20th June 7-8.15pm at Wimbledon Library, I'll be interviewing Robert Gold, Olivia Kiernan and Saima Mir about their latest n...

Venue and reason for my murderous gathering... A gathering of assorted people intent on murder, in the spooky, beautiful old Lit and Phil library, on a wet snowy night - it could have been the start of a Golden Age crime novel, and who knows, several novels and stories may emerge from the twenty writers who attended my ‘Time for Crime’ Workshop as part of Newcastle Noir crime fiction festival. The old massively-carved tables had been arranged in a long line, as if some League of Assassins were expected. Some attendees had dabbled in crime fiction, and others were hesitating on the brink of villainy, as I assigned writing exercises to produce Chandleresque 'first lines' to grab the reader by the throat, then others to help create villains and to evolve detective protagonists who might become as famous as Vera, Lord Peter Wimsey or Jack Reacher. I was not slow to remind them of one of the joys of crime writing, revenge on school bullies, cheating exes and abusive bosses. ...