An interview with DCI Logan author, JD Kirk
An interview with DCI Logan author, JD Kirk
When I’m not writing about my characters, I miss them
An interview with DCI Logan author, JD Kirk
We caught up with crime writing sensation JD Kirk, before his appearance, alongside novelist Rachel Abbott, at our opening event on Friday the 13th of September, at 3pm.
You’re appearing alongside Rachel Abbott at Bloody Scotland at our opening event. What can bloody Scotland fans can expect from the event?
Generally, whenever I do any of these events, I absolutely wing it, and so I’m no way prepared. I never prepare for any of them. I think it’s better when it’s more spontaneous. I’ve met Rachel before. We were actually on a panel together just prior to me switching to crime fiction. She was talking about her crime books, and I was talking about a comedy science fiction series that I wrote called Space Team. I remember telling her at the time that I was looking at writing a crime novel, and Rachel, and author LJ Ross, who was also on the panel, were both very, very encouraging. I’ve not seen Rachel since, so it’ll be good to catch up and say, look, I did it!
You’ll be discussing your latest book, A Killer of Influence at the festival, can you tell us about the inspiration behind the book?
The book comes out on the 12th of September – just the day before my event. We have hardbacks in stock, ready to go, so someone will get the first signed copy of the novel at Bloody Scotland.
The book is about social media and how beauty spots in places like the Highlands are being taken over by social media users and influencers. Take Glenfinnan, for example. It’s a tiny little village which the Glenfinnan Viaduct runs through and has done for hundreds of years – but now it’s just the ‘Harry Potter Bridge’. Locals are being driven demented by people coming up dressed in robes so they can take pictures of themselves in front of the bridge as the Hogwarts Express goes across it. Visitors are parking in people’s driveways and destroying verges and all kinds of stuff. That sort of thing is happening more and more not just across the Highlands, but across lots of rural places. There’s this sense of entitlement that I think both the internet and Covid have given people. And that’s what first inspired the idea behind A Killer of Influence.
The book is about a group of social media influencers who are at a convention in the Highlands and go missing. Broadcasts start playing on their social media profiles showing them locked up in cages and being made to perform for their lives, basically. It’s probably the darkest book I’ve written so far, but it’s also got lots of humour in it. The humour is the kind of thing that attracts a lot of people to the series, and that’s what makes it enjoyable to write. I couldn’t just write, you know, relentlessly bleak stuff.
Where did your character DCI Jack Logan come from?
I would say he’s kind of a wish fulfilment thing. He can say things that I can’t say out of politeness. I’m too nice! I think a lot of Logan is me, but with that nice bit and my politeness dialled down and the rest of it dialled up. He’s also the same height as me which is no coincidence!
What compels you to write crime fiction?
Well, I actually started off writing children’s books. I wrote kids’ books for 10 years for Harper Collins and Penguin and various others. But for me, whatever I write has always just been about characters and people and how they interact. Under the surface, a lot of my books are just about dysfunctional sort of families or groups of people that have come together and need to find a way to get along with each other. That’s what keeps me coming back to the DCI Logan series and my spinoff books. It’s about finding new ways to get those characters together and seeing what happens. I feel like I’m almost observing when I’m writing now because I know the characters really well.
When I’m not writing about them, I find myself missing the characters. Like my readers – I want to know what the characters have been getting up to and what’s been happening between books. The actual crime bit is almost secondary to me, and I think it is to a lot of my readers as well. I don’t often get people saying, oh, I love the mystery element. People will say, oh, I’m really sad about what happened to Ben, or, I can’t believe this has happened to Tyler, or whatever. One of my main police characters is pregnant with twins at the moment and I’ve had three or four people email me to say they’ve started knitting – for fictional babies that would never exist! Readers get really invested in the characters – and that’s what I love too.
What’s the best thing about Bloody Scotland?
It is such a celebration of crime fiction. It really feels like a celebration – and not like a festival. A lot of festivals feel quite dry but Bloody Scotland – with its quiz nights and karaoke and whatever else is going on – feels like quite a joyous thing.
JD Kirk will be at the festival this year to talk about his novel, A Killer of Influence on Friday the 13th of September at 3pm
Apply to Volunteer
Bloody Scotland wouldn’t run without the dedication of eager volunteers, keeping the crowds safe, the tech running and the authors guided. Every year we look for Front of House Assistants, Author Hospitality Assistants, Author Signing Assistants and Festival Marketing Assistants to help out our busy team.
2024 applications will open soon.
Support Us
Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s international crime writing festival is an independent, not for profit charity, established in 2011 to present the very best of Scottish and international crime writing. We rely on a combination of sponsorship, grants, box office and donations to support our activity.
A criminally good catch up with AA Chaudhuri
A criminally good catch up with AA Chaudhuri
An interview with novelist, AA Chaudhuri
This week, we caught up with novelist AA (Alex) Chaudhuri who is the author of the new thriller, Under Her Roof. Alex, who will be at the festival on Saturday the 14th of September to discuss her latest book, will appear alongside CM Ewan and BA Paris, at our Everyday Extraordinary event.
How did you become a novelist?
Like most authors, I always loved reading. I was an only child, so I always had my nose buried in a book. In the back of my mind, I think I always knew I’d like to be an author, but things took a different turn, as they do in life. I used to play tennis professionally, so that was my life for about 13 years. But I always had a book with me on the tour!
I went back and did my A Levels and then went to law school but I knew by the time I was three years qualified that I wasn’t really enjoying it. I had my first child, and I knew that I wanted to spend more time with the kids and I’d had this book idea in my head for a long time. When I was pregnant with my second child, I started writing and it just sort of felt right.
You’ll be appearing alongside CM Ewan and BA Paris, what can Bloody Scotland fans expect from the event?
I’m so excited about it. Our panel is about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. And I think that’s what makes the psychological thriller so compelling. It takes ordinary people and very ordinary circumstances and looks at the worst thing that could happen! I think that’s what makes psychological thrillers so relatable for readers. They tend to explore issues we can all relate to, but then take things down a dark path! I think that’s what makes it so exciting because we can all see ourselves going down a dark path sometimes. We’re all fallible human beings and we try to live within morally acceptable boundaries, but the characters in our novels tend not to.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your latest book, Under Her Roof?
My novel is about a landlord and tenant, which is a very ordinary situation that many of us have been in – most of us have been tenants at one point, I’m sure. But what struck me about that particular setup was the fact that they’re both strangers to each other. So, you don’t know what the other person’s past is, or what they’re hiding. And that’s the other thing in psychological thrillers – a lot of it is about what people keep back, behind that facade. It’s all about the secrets that people keep and the things they don’t show to the outside world. You don’t know what your next-door neighbour might have been up to – that’s what makes it so thrilling, I think.
I chose to base the book in Hampstead because I know that area quite well. I used to live in northwest London, so it was an area I was very familiar with. Hampstead’s supposed to be quite a rich, affluent, nice area of London. And I thought that would provide quite a lot of dramatic irony because my characters are in this amazing house where they should feel incredibly safe but of course it’s anything but! I really like the idea of that juxtaposition – something very dark happening somewhere very beautiful.
What compels you to write crime thrillers?
I just find them really exciting. For me it’s a real challenge. I love constructing puzzles. I love trying to fool readers and getting them to guess what’s going on. I love the red herrings and all the twists and the turns. I love to be shocked, and I love to shock my readers as well. I think that’s really exciting. There’s just so many challenges to crime writing.
I also love the way the genre comments on society. A lot of it is about human nature, about what drives people to do the things they do. Human nature is not all black and white, circumstances can drive people to do terrible things. I think crime writers and psychological thriller writers show the good and the bad and try to give even their bad characters some sort of redeeming qualities. I think readers appreciate that. They don’t want all perfect characters.
Is this your first time at Bloody Scotland?
Yes – I’m so excited. I’ve visited Edinburgh and Glasgow, and I’m really excited to go to Stirling too. I’ve heard so many nice things about the festival. I’ve seen all the photos, and it seems like such a friendly crowd. It’s one of the biggest crime fiction festivals in the world, so I’m really honoured to have been asked. I can’t wait to be a part of it.
AA Chaudhuri will be at the festival this year to talk about her novel, Under Her Roof at our Everyday Extraordinary panel on Saturday the 14th of September at 10am.
Apply to Volunteer
Bloody Scotland wouldn’t run without the dedication of eager volunteers, keeping the crowds safe, the tech running and the authors guided. Every year we look for Front of House Assistants, Author Hospitality Assistants, Author Signing Assistants and Festival Marketing Assistants to help out our busy team.
2024 applications will open soon.
Support Us
Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s international crime writing festival is an independent, not for profit charity, established in 2011 to present the very best of Scottish and international crime writing. We rely on a combination of sponsorship, grants, box office and donations to support our activity.
A bloody good chat with Louise Minchin
A bloody good chat with Louise Minchin
A Bloody Good Chat with Louise Minchin
You are appearing at the festival this year, alongside Ruth Ware. What can Bloody Scotland fans expect from your event?
I think it’s going to be super exciting because we’ve both written books about reality TV shows on islands where storms disrupt things very dramatically. I’ve read Ruth’s book, which I think is utterly brilliant. The premises are the same, but actually our stories are very different and I think it’ll be really fun to hear about our different approaches to reality tv, why we both wanted to write about it, the different characters that you see on these shows, and also why we both thought that it would be such a great place to set a thriller.
Can you tell us a bit about Isolation Island and where the inspiration for the novel came from?
It’s my debut thriller and I’ve had a character that I’ve wanted to write about for ages. She’s called Lauren. She’s an investigative journalist and I’ve had her sort of living with me for about 12 years now! I thought I knew where I was going to send her, but then I went into the I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here castle in Wales (in 2021) and we got thrown out because of this once in a 100-year storm, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Isolation Island is absolutely inspired by Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None. I lived in Scotland and went to St. Andrew’s University. I spent five of my happiest years in Scotland and traveled a lot to the West Coast and visited lots of beautiful islands like Skye. And I just thought it would be such a brilliant place to have an imaginary monastery and an imaginary island.
How did you find your first foray into novel writing?
I’ve written two nonfiction books, but I’ve always wanted to write fiction. I wrote nonfiction first as a way of honing my skills and learning my craft, but obviously nonfiction and fiction are hugely different. I had a very set idea of where I wanted to send my characters, who I wanted to go to the island and I knew who was going to die and why they were going to die. And I also knew, or thought I knew, who had killed them – but what I love about the fictional creative process is you set things in motion and then your characters start taking on a life of their own. They surprise you. They do things you’re not expecting. And that’s what I love about it. You set out your plot but then things change along the way.
What’s the best thing about being a good crime writer?
Being able to let your imagination go wild. Seeing people read Isolation Island and engage with the characters is fantastic. I love hearing readers talk about who they love and who they hate in the book. They see things in the book that even I, even myself, haven’t seen – so that’s really exciting for me. The book sort of takes on a life of its own once it’s out in the world.
Is this your first visit to Bloody Scotland? And if so, what are you most looking forward to about your visit?
It’s not my first visit to Stirling, but it is my first visit to Bloody Scotland. I absolutely love literary festivals number one, but crime writing festivals just have a whole atmosphere of their own. The crime writing community – they’re incredibly interesting. They’re incredibly informed. They really care, you know, about both readers and writers and about the genre. It is great to be in that environment. I’m really looking forward to it and meeting other writers too. I love going to see other writers and it’s a huge opportunity for all audiences to go and see their favourite writers and to meet new writers too. For me, it’s always about hearing where the inspiration comes from, how they create their characters and how they feel about their characters. It’s a great opportunity for readers to meet their heroes. And you know, I’ll get to meet my heroes too. Ruth Ware! I love her books and I’m so excited about sitting on a panel with her.
Louise will appear at Bloody Scotland alongside Ruth Ware on Sunday the 15th of September at 12pm. You can book tickets to this event here: https://bloodyscotland.com/event/louise-minchin-and-ruth-ware/
Apply to Volunteer
Bloody Scotland wouldn’t run without the dedication of eager volunteers, keeping the crowds safe, the tech running and the authors guided. Every year we look for Front of House Assistants, Author Hospitality Assistants, Author Signing Assistants and Festival Marketing Assistants to help out our busy team.
2024 applications will open soon.
Support Us
Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s international crime writing festival is an independent, not for profit charity, established in 2011 to present the very best of Scottish and international crime writing. We rely on a combination of sponsorship, grants, box office and donations to support our activity.
Revealing the 2019 McIlvanney longlist and debut prize shortlist
It's that time of year again where we reveal the McIlvanney Prize longlist for Scottish Crime Book of the Year. We know that you skip all this pre-blurb to get straight to the juicy stuff so we won't hold you back.
THE 2019 MCILVANNEY PRIZE LONGLIST IS...
A Breath on Dying Embers, Denzil Meyrick (Polygon)
A Treachery of Spies, Manda Scott (Transworld)
All That’s Dead, Stuart MacBride (Harper Collins)
All the Hidden Truths, Claire Askew (Hodder)
Breakers, Doug Johnstone (Orenda)
Broken Ground, Val McDermid (Little, Brown)
Conviction, Denise Mina (Vintage)
Fallen Angel, Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown)
In a House of Lies, Ian Rankin (Orion)
In the Silence, M R Mackenzie (Bloodhound Books)
No Man’s Land, Neil Broadfoot (Little, Brown)
The Way of All Flesh, Ambrose Parry (Canongate) aka Chris Brookmyre and Marisa Haetzman
Thunder Bay, Douglas Skelton (Polygon)
Read more about the longlist titles here.
We also have a prize for best Scottish crime debut book this year for the first time and here's the shortlist...
THE 2019 MCILVANNEY DEBUT PRIZE SHORTLIST IS...
All the Hidden Truths, Claire Askew (Hodder)
Black Camp 21, Bill Jones (Polygon)
From the Shadows, G R Halliday (Vintage)
In the Silence, M R Mackenzie (Bloodhound)
The Peat Dead, Allan Martin (Thunderpoint)
Read more about the shortlist titles here.
The longlist and shortlist were chosen by an independent panel of readers and booksellers and the finalists for the McIlvanney Prize 2019 will be revealed at the beginning of September and selected by Alison Flood, books reporter for The Guardian; James Crawford, presenter of BBC series Scotland from the Sky; and Stuart Cosgrove, writer and broadcaster who was formerly a senior executive at Channel 4.
The debut prize will be judged by a panel from our own board including Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson, Gordon Brown and Abir Mukerjee. The debut shortlist makes up the debut panel at the festival on Saturday 21 September.
Congrats to all!
Alexander McCall Smith celebrates at Bloody Scotland
Picture by Alex Hewitt/Writer Pictures
We're delighted to announce that we will be launching the 2018 programme on June 4th in Stirling in the presence of one of Scotland’s best loved crime writers, Alexander McCall Smith.
The official programme launch on Monday 4 June will be followed by afternoon tea in the Ballroom of The Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling as Alexander McCall Smith celebrates the 20th anniversary of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.
Alexander McCall Smith says ‘I can’t think of any better way to celebrate 20 years of The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency than with afternoon tea at the launch of Scotland’s biggest crime book festival. I have always wanted to appear at Bloody Scotland & am glad we have managed to make it work as I’ll be in Botswana when the actual festival takes place.’
Not only will Bloody Scotland announce the line up for the 2018 festival, it will toast a milestone anniversary for one of Scotland’s greatest crime writers. Incredibly, it is 20 years since The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency was first published, introducing Precious Ramotswe to captivated audiences around the world. In the two decades since, Mma Ramotswe- along with Grace Makutsi and the excellent mechanic, Mr J L B Matekoni – have entertained us in a further 17 novels from Botswana. Their creator is as captivating as his characters.
Tickets are available here: http://culturestirling.org/events/alexander-mccall-smith/ or from the Albert Halls or The Toll Booth in Stirling.
We look forward to seeing you on June 4th!
TICKETS
McIlvanney Prize Finalists 2017
Congratulations to the five finalists of the 2017 Scottish Crime Book of the Year, the McIlvanney Prize! Judges Lee Randall, Susan Calman and Craig Sisteron had the below to say about the top 5:
Val McDermid - Out of Bounds (Little, Brown)
'The Queen of Scottish crime adds yet more jewels to her crown with Out of Bounds and shows us why she's writing at the very top of her game…Karen Pirie is one of the most engaging and charismatic of all the fictional Scottish Detectives'
Denise Mina - The Long Drop (Random House)
'This elegantly written novel confirms Denise Mina's stature among the great Scottish crime writers…The Long Drop transports you to the pubs, grubby back alleys and courtrooms at the heart of this unsavoury chapter of Scottish history'
Craig Russell - The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid (Quercus)
'The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid is an assured riff on a classic noir caper which reveals Glasgow in all its gritty and compelling glory…The writing is as stylish as Lennox's bespoke suits'
Craig Robertson – Murderabilia (Simon & Schuster)
'An intriguing premise in a contemporary setting which tiptoes along the darker edges of crime fiction with an unusual detective at its heart…Murderabilia is a terrific addition to this inventive series'
Jay Stringer - How to Kill Friends and Implicate People (Thomas & Mercer)
'This unexpected and explosive novel proves that Jay Stringer has reached the major league of Scottish crime fiction…The prose in How to Kill Friends and Implicate People crackles like a roaring campfire and you find yourself rooting for the unlikeliest of heroes'
The winner of the Scottish Crime Book of the Year will be awarded The McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney at the opening reception at Stirling Castle on Friday 8 September (6.30-8.30pm) and followed by a torchlight procession – open to the public - led by Ian Rankin on his way down to his event celebrating 30 years of Rebus. The award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.
Location, Location, Location
The Book Trail returns as guest blogger this year, with a blog particularly relevant to her expertise - an exploration of our Location, Location, Location event on Saturday 9th September, 10:30am.
Nothing to do with the stress of house-moving but the much better and much more exciting kind of discovering new places via books - travelling to countries and cities you might never get the chance to see if you don’t pick up a book. On the BookTrail, we map out the locations in novels so you can almost feel you’re there, via photos and travel guides. The three novels by the authors in the Location, Location, Location panel certainly clocked up the miles!
Setting is often vital to the plot of a novel – it is sometimes a character in itself – but it always shapes and colours our expectations and understanding of a country and its people. Setting a novel in a remote location can either ramp up the fear of isolation or create a sense of peace. An island can provide an idyllic getaway or a place you can’t escape from.
So, what can you expect from authors who set their books in Albania, the Antarctic and the stunning coast of Australia?
Walk in Silence by J.G. Sinclair - set in Albania
Albania – not your usual destination for a crime novel. Even if you’ve been to the country, the view you’ll get in this novel is definitely not what you’d get if you saw it through your own eyes! Instead, J.G. Sinclair takes you to the dark side to set his crime thriller in the gritty shadows of the Albanian Mafia aka “The Clan”.
The Scottish link is nicely woven in since the lead character is a hard-nosed Glaswegian lawyer who has experience of an Albanian gang. Moving her from the usual territory into the unknown gives the novel a fish out of water feel and she doesn’t just venture into this place but goes in feet first, chasing criminals in a world where the rules don’t apply. The underworld is brutal and in Albania, even more so it would seem!
Devour by L.A. Larkin - set in Antarctica
With all the running from the mafia in the last book, L.A. Larkin is going to cool you down with the freezing isolation of this location! Set in Antarctica, we follow an expedition to dig a subglacial lake in order to explore what’s underneath. You’d never get a chance to do this in real life (and this is based on a real life case) so the thrill of the adventure allows the author to expand on fact with some literary flourish. We all have that little bit of adventure inside us and to essentially go back in time to something that really did happen is perhaps the biggest thrill of all. You might want to wear gloves and a hat and scarf when reading this as this gets very cold and very remote...
Bay of Martyrs by Tony Black - set in Australia
Slightly warmer in location than the previous novel but just as chilling. The Bay of Martys is a stunning part of Victoria in Australia and is a favourite tourist location along the Great Ocean Road. You might not expect to find a dead body on the beach - but then that’s the shocking contrast; just how does a community feel when a family find a body in a place where families spend time every day? What are the consequences on a small beach side community? Lots to analyse and think about in a crime novel with so many local touches.
When you read novels so imbued with a sense of time and place like these, you really get a sense of what it must be like to be there. If the author evokes each of your five senses with their words, even some of the language or dialogue, the journey is almost as vivid as if you were actually on location.
Books set in a distant land or country can open up worlds both reading and otherwise, allow us to live other people’s lives, stand in their shoes and even go to the dark side to see and understand the world, cultures and more.
Plus, when you come off a literary holiday there’s no holiday blues – as even if you miss the place and characters, you can instantly go back there just by picking up that book again.
For more holiday reads visit:
TheBookTrail.com
@thebooktrailer
Four Blokes in Search of a Plot...hopefully
So, there’s four crime writers, right? Real wise guys. And they want a plot. A deadly plot. Someone’s going to die. Maybe quite a few people. It won’t be pretty. But it might be funny.
This year, Bloody Scotland is giving an audience the chance to witness the birth of a crime story – and help write it.
Neil Broadfoot, Gordon Brown, Mark Leggatt and Douglas Skelton took part in the recent #ScotLitFest Collaborative Crime Creation as part of The Saltire Society's annual virtual literary festival, where over the course of four hours on–line they wrote an improvised crime story, complete with murder, mayhem and a rubber duck, between all four of them.
Now, in person and almost live, they will repeat the process, with help from the audience.
They will ask for a lead character and a crime – and that’s about as prepared as they get. While one is writing, the others will talk to the audience about writing, crime, and writing crime.
There may also be hats and cat jokes.
The deadly prose will be projected for all to see. The author will also have to read it aloud, because he’s not getting away with it that easily.
If you want to know how it’s done/not done, or just want to see four blokes make absolute fools of themselves (and each other) book now to avoid disappointment.
Four Blokes in Search of a Plot, Allan Park South Church, Sunday September 10, 5.30pm
BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE.
Volunteer at Bloody Scotland 2017
Bloody Scotland is seeking enthusiastic, responsible and reliable volunteers to help out at this year’s festival. This is our sixth year and the festival is taking place across Stirling from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th September.
There are a variety of roles available for volunteers from being the first port of call for information for our guests to helping set up venues, providing assistance and usher around festival-goers and featured authors alike. So if you would like to gain some valuable festival experience, meet some authors and get free tickets to some events or would just like to get involved and get behind the scenes then follow the link below to download the information pack to see the full list of available volunteering opportunities.
Deadline for applications: Friday 11th August.
Full information and application form: https://bloodyscotlstg.wpenginepowered.com/volunteer/
Practicing what you preach
In the first of this year's series of guest posts from crime writers and bloggers, we hear from Edinburgh Napier University MA Creative Writing programme leader and writer David Bishop who gives us insight into what it's like writing under the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and preparing a MA course for specialising in genre fiction, which includes crime.
I killed two people this morning - one with a dagger to his chest, the other an arrow wound – but Robert Louis Stevenson must take some blame for my murderous ways.
In the 1870s the celebrated Scottish writer spent several summers in Grez-sur-Loing, a village south of Paris that attracted creative types from around the world.
These days Grez is home to Hotel Chevillion, a retreat for artists, composers and writers. Each year Creative Scotland and the Scottish Book Trust award Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowships to four writers, enabling them to spend a month at Grez working on a project. To my surprise I was selected as a 2017 RLS Fellow, alongside such luminaries as poet and playwright Liz Lochhead.
I am repaying this kindness by killing as many people as possible.
Not in reality, of course – in prose.
For my project I am writing a historical crime novel called Safer To Be Feared, set in late Renaissance Florence. My sleuth is Captain Cesar Aldo, a law enforcer for the Otto di Guardia e Balia, Florence’s most powerful criminal court. He is also gay at a time when sodomy is a crime punishable by public humiliation, imprisonment, even execution.
I have been researching this novel for more than a decade, but never found the time to write it. When you usually create work to contract, setting aside months for a speculative project isn’t easy. But the RLS Fellowship is giving me the luxury of four weeks to write, write and write some more.
It is also forcing me to practice what I preach, as I’m programme leader for the MA Creative Writing programme at Edinburgh Napier University. We specialise in genre fiction, almost the only creative Writing MA in the UK or US that does. We love crime and mystery novels, not to mention fantasy narratives, horror stories, and science fiction.
One of our core principles is purpose. We argue every story should have a purpose underpinning its narrative. This goes beyond simply having a theme like diversity, sexism, or law and order. We ask students to define their sub-genre, and expect them to be reading it extensively.
We also challenge students to consider what they want readers to be doing while reading their stories, and what meaning they wish readers to take away after finishing each one. For example, do they want readers to be a detective piecing the story together from different elements, as in Graeme Macrae Burnet’s acclaimed novel His Bloody Project? Or are they asking readers to empathise with a protagonist, only to discover all is not as it seems, as in psychological thrillers like Gone Girl?
So my first task at Grez was to remind myself of the purpose underpinning my project: to write a historical mystery with a queer sleuth in a pre-Victorian setting, a rarely seen scenario; and to challenge perceptions of Renaissance Florence, showing how it could be home to great artists like Michelangelo and the murderous manipulators detailed by Niccolo Machiavelli.
I’m aiming to draft the first 20,000 words of my novel during July. That’s nothing compared to Stevenson, who reputedly wrote The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by hand in just six days – all 64,000 words of it! Of course, he was living in Bournemouth at the time...