#CrimeFest17 Day3 20th May

Day 3 of the fabulous Crime Fest 2017! Another book filled day or listening to talented and articulate writers chat about their books - life doesn't get much better!

Here's a run down of the panels I attended today!

DEBUT AUTHORS: FRESH BLOOD 



This was a great panel to go to as the authors are all talking about their debuts so there was a bit more about the novel itself, what inspired them and their writing journey.

I love "My Sister's Bones" - I gave it 5 stars and meet Nuala Ellwood at an event in February so I was pleased to see her again on this panel. Her novel is about a war reporter, PTSD and explores the unsettling situation of when you don't know whether what you are seeing is real or not.

Walter Lucius is a filmaker, theatre director and TV script writer in Amsterdam and his debut is the first in a trilogy. His novel is about corruption and conspiracy.

Lucy Cameron's debut novel is a thriller novel with a mix of the supernatural. The murderer is known as the "couple's killer" as he butchers the men and drains the blood of the women. It also has a main character who is no longer sure what is real and what to believe.

Bill Beverly's Dodgers is going to be massive - it has won multiple awards already and is sure to be a bestseller. Beverly has an academic background and this is his first fiction title. It's set in America and focuses on a group of teenagers that set off on a road trip which takes them away from home for the first time on a journey that changes everything.

The authors all have very different routes into publishing - some already working within the industry, some have completed MA courses and some have worked in supermarkets. But all of them have been writing a long time and all of them advise just to keep going, don't be put off and speak to people so you get good feedback, support and advice.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHERE THE FACTS END AND THE FICTION STARTS?



All of these books are part of a series and all of them have aspects of the authors' lives incorporated into the main protagonists, whether it's that the author and their main character share the same job, have travelled to the same places or have grown out of something the author has studied or researched. There was a lot of debate about "reality" and "truth", "fact" and "fiction".

Paul Hardisty felt very strongly that in his books he wanted to bring the reader as close as he could to the real issues, events, people and places so he needs to recreate something very convincing that will provide that immediacy so the reader believes it. In his work, Hardisty has had to write a lot of scientific reports and from this he's found that facts aren't always the truth.

On the other hand, Robert Thorogood, who writes "Death in Paradise", has created a fictional island and therefore can play with the truth and wriggle out of inaccuracies. But, he will always make sure he is true to the genre of the murder mystery and always stay true to what makes a convincing and well written novel.

There was a lot of chat about location and how important that is in each of these novels. Linda Stratmann's novels are all set in Victorian Bayswater, Thomas Mogford are all set in Gibraltor, Hardisty's in the Middle East and Thorogood's on a fictional island. There were some interesting comments about the size of this canvas and the challenges of writing about a location you weren't living in.

AMERICAN NOIR



This was an entertaining panel, expertly moderated by Barry Forshaw. Two of the authors are American and two are British but their books are all set in America. After a general introduction to the authors and their novels, there was some discussion about what the panel understood by the term "American Noir" and what were the key differences between British Noir and American Noir.

There was some discussion about why Chris Petit and Robert Wilson chose to set their books in America and it seems that basically America provides a bigger canvas; the roads are longer, the landscape is bigger and it seems to just lend itself better to the stories they want to write.

When chatting about America it's impossible not to mention the current political climate so it was interesting to hear how the authors and their writing might be affected by the new President. And whether America, seen for so long as  palace of great optimism and opportunities, will now become a darker place and symbolise something different.

The authors recommended some classic American Noir authors too including Patricia Highsmith and Raymond Chandler.

ANTHONY HOROWITZ 



This was a real treat!! There were two headline acts today, Anthony Horowitz and Anne Cleeves. As an English Teacher and mother of an Alex Rider fan, I had to see Horowitz. And it was a real treat. Horowitz is so animated, interesting, entertaining and energetic that the time passed really quickly. He was full of fantastic anecdotes from his writing life and plenty of insightful comments about crime fiction. Here are a few highlights but honestly, it's impossible to condense everything he said as he's achieved so much, written so much and seemed to share four times as much information as any of the other authors I saw this weekend!

• Horowitz has a different pen for each time he writes a new book and prefers the fluency of writing his stories by hand first rather than the abstractness of the computer where there is a bit of detachment
• Alex Rider was banned in one school! 
• Alex Rider unlocked Horowitz's success- his children's book needed to grow up a bit and when they did, he found success. 
• Horowitz talked about 3 objects that were important to him and why - the objects were a human skull, Tintin's moon rocket and a pair of broken sunglasses 
• Arthur Conan Doyle didn't like Watson and how important it is to stay faithful to the original author when building on their stories
• Netflix is the future! 

And there was so so so so much more. It was a really enjoyable interview to listen to and has certainly made me want to read Horowitz's new book which sounds intriguing and exciting.

ESCAPING THE SHADOWS OF THE PAST: WHEN YOUR PROTAGONIST CAN"T FORGET



Elizabeth Haynes was moderating this panel and she threw them all in at the deep end by asking them to disclose something they had done that they would rather forget! I'm afraid I can't share as what's said at Crime Fest, stays at Crime Fest!

The authors talked about the past stories in their protagonists' lives and how intrigued they all were by family - every family has a dark side, and every family has a secret....!! Toyne and Diamond use a lot of violence in their novels but they explained that it was not gratuitous and as it served the story it was justified.

Elizabeth Haynes asked a great question about what they thought the reader wouldn't be able to forget once they'd finished the book. It seems that the locations of each of these novels is what is so memorable about them - and also essential for hiding secrets and shadows. Diamond's book is set in a museum, Toyne's novel is in France and Jonasson and Enger use their Nordic homelands. The locations for each of these novels is intrinsic to the plot and therefore must make a great impression on the reader.

All four authors have new books coming out soon so look out!

So that was Saturday - another 5 panels and another stack of books added to my TBR pile! But another fabulous set of panels, lots of inspiring words and entertaining stories.  I've had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed meeting readers, writers, bloggers and authors, discovering new books, hearing about favourite ones and generally getting to soak up a wonderful atmosphere for 3 days! 

Thanks for reading my posts and I hope you've found some new authors or new titles to add to your TBR pile! 

Keep an eye out for my interviews with Leigh Russell, Paul Hardisty and Bill Beverly that are coming soon and check back over my blog to read the interview with Johana Gustawsson that I did on Thursday. 

Follow me on Twitter @KatherineSunde3 to keep up to date with all my reviews and recommendations! 

#CrimeFest17 #Day2 19th May

Well I rather excelled myself today and managed to attend 5 panels, 1 author presentation and meet 2 authors for interviews. My head is so full of titles, names, characters and crime that I can barely string a sentence together - so this post will be interesting!

Day 2 of Crime Fest and it was another fabulous day mingling with authors, bloggers, writers, readers and anyone who likes crime fiction. Here's a run down of the panels I attended and some of the highlights of my day!

HOW MANY DEATHS? THE APPEAL OF THE SERIAL KILLER IN CRIME FICTION



Perhaps not the lightest of topics to kick off a Friday morning with but while in CrimeFest..... This panel started by talking about why there was such a fascination with serial killers. Leigh Russell thought it might be because in childhood we read fairy tales about monsters, in adulthood the serial killers in crime fiction become these monsters. Helen Fields commented that perhaps our fascination is because there is a tiny bit of a serial killer inside all of us - we all have a fascination with the darker side and novels give authors and readers a safe place to explore and experience this.

There was some interesting chat about the kind of duty an author has when writing about serial killers and crimes. Although the novel is fiction and needs to be engaging and exciting, it cannot be flippant. Real crimes happens, people do commit murder and the number of lives affected by a murder are very far reaching from the immediate family to the police officers and lawyers. Serial killers perhaps, are interesting because we are interested in the impact their crime has on people- not the body count.

Some of the authors on this panel have direct experience of working with murders through their 'day' jobs so there was some discussion about whether you can 'spot' a killer and some anecdotes about situations in which the writers had felt uneasy or on edge. When working with criminals you have to engage with them but can't be drawn into their world.

GENRE JUMPING: CROSSING BOUNDARIES 



As the title suggests, this panel was discussing how authors blend genres - the focus was mainly on horror and crime, or crime and supernatural, but there were lots of really interesting points raised. It started with a question about why we needed 'genre' - was it to help the reader, help the publisher or a marketing ploy? And does an author make a conscious decision to 'pick' a genre or do they just write a good story?

I found the question about what influence the homes and places where the authors write had on the genre they wrote in. For example Yrsa Siguaroardottir comes from Iceland where recently a road was moved to protect the elves and the children grow up being told not to throw stones as they don't want to hit the hidden people!

It was interesting to hear from four authors who were all generally writing using the same genre but mixing it and blending it to all produce books that are original and unlike each other. Each author had a different approach to writing, planning and word count but they did all agree on one thing and that was this - a great top tip for an aspiring writer!

"It's not write about what you know, but make sure you know what you write about."

And I'll leave you with their recommendations for books which they thing are perfect examples of authors who cross boundaries and jump genres!



YOU ARE NOT ALONE: GIVING YOUR PROTAGONIST FAMILY AND FRIENDS 



So, protagonists in crime fiction who have family and friends - oh no, sorry they don't. Why don't they? Does it remove all the extra baggage, character descriptions, mundanity of chores and details? Does a protagonist work better when they have hit rock bottom and are totally alone? Does it make for a more dramatic story? Or is it because ultimately we all fear being alone?

All of the above it would seem! That and a need to really challenge and push the main character so they are really tested. If they are isolated they are more alone, more challenged, everything is harder and the author can really explore the emotional strength of their character.

Why are families so dysfunctional in crime thrillers? Why is their such a fascination with 'toxic' siblings and parents? Again, is it because everyone has a family, every family has aspects of dysfunction with in it, and ultimately we are all intrigued by what has make these people or these relationships toxic. "Home is where the hurt is".

One of the questions from the floor was what is the best and the worst thing about being a writer. It seems the authors all suffer from anxiety and self doubt about their work and the best bits are the actual writing itself, the fun they can have playing with their characters and coming up with the initial idea. Cally Taylor also added that her best thing was when you get an email from someone who hasn't read for a long time - until they discover your book! Let's hope she also now thinks the best thing is when a starry eyed fan proclaims their love for her when she's signing books. Not that I did that. Obvs. (I know, I know, my suitcase is packed.....)

Finally here are some of the books that influenced these authors:



OBSESSION: PASSION, MANIA, OR SIMPLE ENTHUSIASM



Ok so this panel was all about obsession and stalking. (No wise cracks please, I will always plea I'm "simply enthusiastic"...!!) The discussion on this panel raised a lot of interesting questions as the authors talked about whether stalking was ever alright, what causes people to do it - whether it is just an obsession out of control or something more pathological, why do stalkers think they have that sense of entitlement and whether it is triggered by some trauma in their youth.

The authors talked about what inspired them to write about stalkers and if this was the intention when they began writing. Kendal's first book (The Book of You) is written in the 2nd person which creates more intensity for a story already focusing on someone's intense obsession. The authors also talked about how many of us enjoy a little bit of (innocent) stalking - watching out the window and making up narratives about our neighbours, following the same routes on our daily walks, lurking on line to look up ex boyfriends...... And if it is this reason that makes us want to read about them.

There was a question about the impact of social media and how this might affect novels about stalking. Most of the authors have not included social media in their novels due to setting, time or the age of the characters - and they did feel that obsessive fixations with people usually required something more present and close which you couldn't get online or virtually.

Here are there favourite 'stalking' novels:




And Finally - PARENTING 101: WHEN YOUR PROTAGONIST HAS COMMITMENTS



What happens when your protagonist has a child? What happens when they lose that child or have to take that child with them on a journey that's not safe or when they have to compromise their children's safety? All of these authors have chosen to write about parents and children in different ways and for different reasons. Most of them felt that by giving their protagonist a child, it made them more real, more empathetic, less of a lone wolf.

There were some interesting discussion points raised about the difference between parenting in the US and the UK, whether you needed to be a parent to write about being a parent, how you found your way into the head of the young child you were writing about and how much of yourself and your own family you put into your novel.

Again, as with the other panels today, there was a diverse range of authors, all with different kinds of stories, settings, locations and protagonists and all with different approaches to giving their main character commitments. It was a very interesting chat with which to end the day!

Thanks so much to all the panelists for such a fascinating day. I have loved every minute of listening to all they've shared and really enjoyed hearing more about their thought processes, writing lives and the wider issues that are explored through crime fiction. 

And once more, a further handful of books to add to my TBR pile!!