Seeking inspiration in Stirling…
This all happened because of Ian Rankin. And Chris Brookmyre’s jobbie.
Sorry, I should probably explain. Last week, it was announced I’ve signed with Constable to write a new crime series based in Stirling. The first book, No Man’s Land, is out (in hardback, no less!) next July. It’s a huge honour to sign with Constable, and I can’t wait to introduce readers to Connor Fraser.
But his creation, and the idea for No Man’s Land, can be traced back to Ian, Chris and Bloody Scotland’s annual Scotland v England football match.
I was playing last year - well, I say playing, I hadn’t kicked a ball in 20 years before that ill-fated day so I was really just making a good show of running around the pitch like a headless chicken. This probably explains the final score, which I won’t repeat here for fear of giving Craig Robertson a stress-related aneurism. At one point of the game, I was mercifully subbed off. Staggering off the field, chest filled with shards of molten glass, I passed Ian Rankin, who asked if I was ok then trotted onto the pitch. Once the immediate threat of a heart attack subsided, I settled back to watched the match and spotted Ian who, for a guy 17 years old than me, was making it look embarrassingly easy.
And that’s where it started. Writers free associate. We take one small thing we’ve seen, connect it to some other random fact and then add another. Before long, an idea begins to form. James Oswald calls it worrying a small problem until it’s big. So I sat there. And worried.
I was thinking about Ian and how he’s brought Edinburgh to life for millions of people around the world. He’s given people who have never visited the capital a taste of the city, a feel for its texture. Its as much a character in his books as Rebus, Clarke or Big Ger. And sitting there on the bowling green beside Cowane’s Hospital in the heart of historic Stirling, I started to think what a great character Stirling would make. Shaped by some of the bloodiest chapters in Scotland’s history, a city where the old and the new crash together and with some of the country’s most iconic sites in the town itself or within a few miles’ reach, it’s the perfect place for a crime or three. Just as I was kicking the idea around - and making a lot better job of it than I had with the actual ball on the pitch – I heard a shout. Looking up, I saw Chris gesticulating for the ball.
Bang. Free association. Lighting in a bottle. I remembered Quite Ugly One Morning, and that opening. Suddenly I was back reading it, tears streaming down my face, marvelling at the humour and the graphic description of the body with the missing fingers and nose. And that jobbie.
Humour and horror, all wrapped up in one 214-page package.
A few minutes later, the match was forgotten and I was dumping bodies on the bowling green, plotting murders and thinking characters. Who would live in Stirling? A seemingly quiet place that’s an easy commute to Glasgow to the west and Edinburgh to the east? What type of work would they do? Why would they be looking for a quiet life? And what would it take to drag them into a bloody murder case? A message only they could understand, perhaps?
I spent the rest of the day gnawing away at the idea, making the problem bigger. Then, that evening, my agent, Bob, arranged for me to meet Krystyna Green, the publishing director at Constable. Krystyna was a fan of my first book, Falling Fast, and asked if I was working on anything new. I smiled, tried not to laugh like a delighted child, and we chatted. After that meeting I went home, sobered up after Bloody Scotland, and got to work putting synopses and sample chapters together for the first three Connor books. A lot of people helped and acted as sounding boards, but I owe particular thanks to Douglas Skelton (which hurts) and Craig Russell for their advice and support during Connor’s formative months.
And now, almost a year later, I’m wreaking havoc in Stirling (only on the page, so far!), have a new book deal, and I’m gearing up for Bloody Scotland, where I’m appearing with Gordon Brown, Old Man Skelton (still hurts to think he was nice to me) and Mark Leggatt in Four Blokes in Search of a Plot. Bloody Scotland is a phenomenal weekend, but this year I’ll be celebrating a little harder thanks to everything that’s happened since last year.
And it’s all the fault of Ian Rankin. And Chris Brookmyre’s jobbie
A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil
We have something a little different for Bloody Scotland attendees this year in what we're calling the 'Bloody Scotland Fringe' where criminally relevant events are taking place during the Bloody Scotland weekend outside of our programme.
One of those events is a performance of A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil by Christopher Brookmyre, performed by Horsehead Theatre.
When a double murder reunites the classmates of St Elizabeth’s Primary School, scores are settled, debts repaid and alliances forged. Twenty years have passed but will those bonds still hold fast? This hilarious Scottish black comedy, adapted from Christopher Brookmyre’s novel, takes a nostalgic look at school days, filled with psycho teachers, class jokers and playground feuds. All set to a cracking 70s/80s soundtrack!
Warning – this play contains very strong language and scenes of a sexual nature.
They come off the back of a near sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and are sure to have you cackling throughout the evening.
£12/£10
9th September, 8:30pm
To book tickets: http://culturestirling.org/events/tale-etched-blood-hard-black-pencil/
McIlvanney Prize 2017 Longlist Announced
We're pleased to announce the 12-strong McIlvanney Prize Scottish Crime Book of the Year longlist for 2017!
Those up for the £1,000 prize include:
Lin Anderson – None But the Dead
Chris Brookmyre – Want You Gone
Ann Cleeves – Cold Earth
Helen Fields – Perfect Remains
Val McDermid – Out of Bounds
Claire MacLeary – Cross Purpose
Denise Mina – The Long Drop
Owen Mullen – Games People Play
Ian Rankin – Rather Be the Devil
Craig Robertson – Murderabilia
Craig Russell – The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid
Jay Stringer – How to Kill Friends & Implicate People
The judges will be chaired by Director of Granite Noir, Lee Randall, comedian and crime fiction fan, Susan Calman and journalist, Craig Sisterson who between them cover three continents. The finalists will be revealed at the beginning of September and the winner announced at our Opening Gala reception on Friday 8th September, which you can buy tickets to attend.
Debut: a new crime writing podcast
A new podcast series exploring a debut crime author’s dramatic 14-year journey to publication is being released today.
Debut: A Crime Writer’s Journey from the Bedroom to the Bookshelf tells the story of Charles E McGarry, whose debut crime novel The Ghost of Helen Addison will be published by Polygon on July 6, 2017.
Featuring episodes with two of crime writing’s biggest names, Val McDermid and Chris Brookmyre, the series will explore what it takes to get a great story into mainstream publishing.
That includes: how Charles ejected out of a well-paid career aged 30 to pursue his ambitions as a writer; how he found a London agent after years of searching, only to lose him in a matter of days; how one rejection note, among dozens of rejection notes, changed everything; and much more.
Neil White, producer of Debut, said: “Charles’s is an epic journey which starts with a soul-searching road-trip across Australia and will culminate with the publication of his novel in July. We were captivated by his story and wanted to capture the highs and lows of trying to get published.
“Charles’s conversations with Val and Chris, in particular, are fascinating insights into how these two great writers went through their own unique challenges early in their careers. They both had great advice for Charles about what lies ahead.”
All six episodes of Debut will be released on Tuesday, June 20. They will be available on iTunes and all other podcast feeds.
The series is produced by BackPage media, producers of the iTunes-topping podcast The Big Interview with Graham Hunter.
Find out more about the podcast and listen to the episodes here: https://debutpodcast.com/
Bloody Scotland 2017 programme
You've been waiting patiently and we can finally reveal the programme for Bloody Scotland 2017!
We welcome back popular favourites Ian Rankin, Val McDermid, Denise Mina and last year's McIlvanney Prize winner Chris Brookmyre.
You also have the chance to catch Simon Kernick, Lynda La Plante, Peter May, Mark Billingham, Karen Rose, Chris Carter, Ann Cleeves, Man Booker shortlisted Graeme Macrae Burnet, Denzil Meyrick, Mason Cross, Louise Welsh and also familiar names including John Gordon Sinclair, Vince Cable, Douglas Henshall, deputy chief constable of Scotland, Iain Livingstone.
We're excited to host our gala opening and the announcement of this year’s McIlvanney Prize for the Scottish Crime Book of the Year at Stirling Castle on the opening night, Friday 8th September. Following the opening reception there will be a torchlight procession down to the Albert Halls where Ian Rankin will be talking about 30 years of Rebus. You can grab your golden ticket to our opening ceremony or just join the torchlight procession.
Of course, we see the return of our Scotland vs England Crime Writers football match, the bursting-at-the-seams popular Crime at the Coo, Pitch Perfect and Crime in the Spotlight will return to showcase new crime writing before a number of our events.
View all the events and buy your tickets online here or call 01786 27 4000 (Tue-Sat, 10am - 6pm).
You can also view the full print brochure in PDF here.
McIlvanney Prize 2017 judges!
We're excited to reveal the McIlvanney Prize 2017 judges as Susan Calman and Craig Sisterson, chaired by Lee Randall.
Susan said: ‘I am absolutely delighted to be on the judging panel for the McIlvanney Prize this year. I’m an avid fan of Scottish Crime fiction and this is less a chore and more a dream come true. I can’t wait to get stuck in, reading the wonderful books produced this year.’
She joins Lee Randall, last year a judge, now promoted to chair: ‘I was honoured to be asked to chair the judging panel for this year’s McIlvanney Prize. I’ve always known — and it was reinforced when I programmed this year's first Granite Noir festival, for Aberdeen — that crime writers and their readers are a special breed. I relish the opportunity to dive into a longlist created by these same readers. I suspect that this year’s panel will have tough choices to make, given the abundance of talent out there, but look forward to the challenge.’
They are joined by Craig Sisterson, founder of New Zealand’s Ngaio Marsh Awards who said: ‘William McIlvanney raised the crime writing bar for Scottish writers and those further afield. It's an absolute honour to be a judge for this year's McIlvanney Prize, which celebrates his outstanding legacy - as evidenced by the strength and quality of modern Scottish crime writing. I'm looking forward to some excellent reading and vigorous debate with my fellow judges.’
The prize is open for submissions until April 28th and full info can be found here: https://bloodyscotlstg.wpenginepowered.com/mcilvanney-prize-entry/
Tartan Noir in Kolkata
This month crime writers Lin Anderson and Doug Johnstone with Bloody Scotland chair Jenny Brown travelled to Kolkata to take part in the Literature Festival. We met writers, talked about translated literature and discussed the differences between Scottish and Indian crime fiction. The Festival is part of the huge Book Fair which attracts 2.5 million visitors. Big thanks to Esha Chatterjee of BEE Books and Artistic Director Sujata Sen for inviting us, and to British Council for making the visit possible.
For more about the visit, read Lin's blog and Doug’s blog.
B is for Bloody Scotland
Bloody Scotland is only one day away and the excitement is bubbling. The Booktrail has been a fixture on this blog for the past six weeks and what a journey it’s been! The writers and the destinations! Iceland, Germany, London and the dark, dark heart of Scotland.
Stirling is of course the final destination and where the best and the bloodiest writers will be hanging out and quite possibly getting ideas for a murder or two whilst they’re at it. So for the last post before the festival I thought I’d do a little Bloody Scotland Mini World tour to get those literary travelling bugs biting.
B - Bloody Scotland
Bloody Scotland is made up of Gritty Glasgow, Evil Edinburgh and Dastardly Dumfries and Galloway to name but a few. Tartan Noir celebrates everything that is good about crime fiction firmly set on Scottish soil.
L - London
London is the stomping ground of Mark Billingham’s character. Tom Thorne. He’s a busy guy fighting crime all over the capital but then again not as busy as Mark himself who’s displaying his musical talents as well as footballing prowess in this years festival.
OO - Crime at the Coo
This could be very bloody indeed. Billed as cramped, chaotic and criminally captivating, Craig Robertson is the host so you know you’re going to get some Gallus banter right there.
D - DCI Kate Daniels
Kate Daniels is just over the border in Northumberland but she’s heading North for some Scottish banter. (Don’t mention the Wall). She works with quite a team, but if DCI James Atkins were to make an appearance, since there is very bad blood between them in her latest book Gallows Drop, the Blood of Bloody Scotland may well be his.
Y - Yorkshire
Yorkshire is where Peter Robinson does his fictional killing. The landscape seems so nice so not surprisingly fictional Eastvale provides a setting, modelled on real towns such as Ripon and Richmond but bigger. Otherwise Yorkshire would be depleted of people by now, given the number who have fictionally died in Peter’s hands.
S - Sanday
Lin Anderson wins the award for the novel set furthest North this year. Sanday is an island community, distant, lonely and deadly. Nothing is welcoming here – the weather, the landscape, the daylight or indeed the past. But Lin entices you there with her latest creepy read.
C - Capital City of Scotland - Edinburgh
The capital city of Scotland is awash with criminal undertones. Ian Rankin and Quintin Jardine are the King of Scottish crime fiction and are closing the festival this year. Rebus and Skinner are Edinburgh’s best and most alternative tour guides when you think about it. Both came out of retirement recently as, well, Scotland missed them. No One foot in the grave for this lot!
O - Orkney
This is one journey I’ll never forget - I crash landed with Doug Johnstone, felt the effect of the plague with Louise Welsh and Lin Anderson took me to remote Sanday. The islands might be stunning, but they’re remote, bleak and mythical and the perfect spot as no one here will hear you scream....
T - Trouble with Hamish Macbeth
Trouble comes in many forms but MC Beaton has written some of the funniest characters in crime fiction. Agatha Raisin kills with Quiche amongst other things and Hamish Macbeth is a Highlander who could tell you a thing or two about the locals.
LAND - The land in Scotland is the canvas for criminally good crime fiction
Scotland has produced some of the finest crime fiction ever in my eyes. The rugged landscape more than lends itself to the gruesome goings on. I mean, where else could you find isolated islands, a alleyway named ‘Fleshmarket Close’ and a police constable working deep in the heart of the Highlands where there seems to be just as many Highland cows as people?
As a certian popular song might go: “I would walk five hundred miles and I would walk five hundred more, Just to be at Bloody Scotland where that Tartan Noir is at your door."
So raise a glass, celebrate the best of Scotland and remember the wonderful William Mcllvanney, widely regarded as the father of Tartan Noir, whose name has been put to the prize celebrating the best names in crime fiction, all gathered at Bloody Scotland this weekend.
I do proclaim this the best festival yet! Enjoy!
This is the seventh and final post of the Booktrail blog takeover for a series of posts exploring where setting shapes a number of novels from authors attending Bloody Scotland this year.
Visit the booktrail for maps, travel guides and reviews for the books featuring in Bloody Scotland.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebooktrailer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebooktrail
Crime in the Spotlight 2016 (part two)
Every year Bloody Scotland supports new writers by pairing established authors with ‘support’ acts just starting out on their career - Crime in the Spotlight.
Last year, Jake Kerridge, crime fiction reviewer for The Daily Telegraph discovered current Man Booker long-listed title His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet ‘In the Spotlight’ when he visited Bloody Scotland. Kerridge described the initiative as:
'Such a simple and effective idea that nobody seems to have thought of before. I was able to get a flavour of the work of writers new to me such as Philip Miller, Margot McCuig and the now celebrated Graeme Macrae Burnet. A lot of people I spoke to enjoyed these brief bursts from unfamiliar writers before hearing from the superstars they had travelled to see.’
Here are the next six spotlighters.
Amanda Fleet - The Wrong Kind of Clouds - Matador
Amanda Fleet is a physiologist by training and a writer at heart. She spent 18 years teaching science and medicine undergraduates at St Andrews University, but now uses her knowledge to work out how to kill people (in her books!). She completed her first degree at St Andrews University and her doctorate at University College, London. Amanda lives in Scotland with her husband, where she can be found writing, walking and running. The Wrong Kind of Clouds is her début novel and was published by Matador in early 2016.
Les Wood - Dark Side of the Moon - Freight
Les Wood's writing has been widely anthologised. He has a Masters in creative writing from the University of Glasgow and a doctorate in Physiotherapy. Les teaches at Glasgow Caledonian University.
https://leswoodwriting.com/
Jackie Baldwin - Dead Man's Prayer - Killer Reads
Jackie Baldwin practiced as a solicitor in a rural town for twenty years specialising in family and criminal law. She then trained as a hypnotherapist and now works from home. She is married with two grown up children and loves to walk with her two dogs in local forests. She is an active member of her local crime writing group.
https://twitter.com/JackieMBaldwin1
Tom O Keenan - The Father - McNidder & Grace Crime
Born and raised in Glasgow this is Tom's critically acclaimed debut novel. His experience as an independent social worker in the mental health field, writing expert reports for solicitors and Glasgow Sheriff Court informs and underpins his writing. Tom is now working on the second Sean Rooney crime novel.
https://www.tom-odgen-keenan.co.uk/me/
Liz Mistry - Unquiet Souls - Bloodhound Books
Liz is an ex teacher who has taught in inner city Bradford schools for over twenty years. Her husband of 27 years is Indian and they have three children. They live in inner city Bradford and Liz likes to use the rich tapestry of her life in Bradford, combined with her Scottish heritage, in her writing.
She is currently completing her dissertation for an MA in creative writing at Leeds Trinity University and hopes to graduate in December with a distinction.
https://twitter.com/lizcrimewarp
Eva Holland - The Daughter's Secret – Orion
A lifelong lover of words and stories, Eva Holland was the winner of the 2014 Good Housekeeping novel writing competition. She grew up in Gloucestershire and studied in Leeds before moving to London. When not writing or reading fiction she works as a freelance PR consultant and copywriter.
The Daughter’s Secret is Eva’s first novel.
View full details in our press release.
Douglas Skelton's Top 5 Crime Films
McIlvanney Prize longlister Douglas Skelton wrote a blog for us about his top 5 crime films.
How often have you heard, even said, that film just wasn’t as good as the book?
Approaching film adaptations of loved books can be daunting.
There are so many questions.
Will they cast it well? Will it have all my favourite elements? Will it carry the same flavour that made me enjoy the book so much?
The successful ones all tick those boxes, and more.
It can go so very wrong so very easily. Just look at some of the dire movie versions of Alistair MacLean novels. ‘The Golden Rendezvous’ anyone? And don’t start me on the big screen attempt at Robert Ludlum’s ‘The Osterman Weekend.’
So here, in no particular order, are my five top page to screen transfers.
In half an hour I’ll have five more…
1. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Horton Foote deservedly won an Oscar for adapting Harper Lee’s masterpiece. As with all the films on this list, it contained everything from the book that was needed. And the casting was perfect, especially the kids and, of course, Gregory Peck – who also received an Academy Award. I must also make special mention of Elmer Bernstein’s evocative score.
2. MYSTIC RIVER
It’s a big, fat book but Brian Helgeland’s Oscar-nominated screenplay managed to encapsulate everything to around two hours. Clint Eastwood must also be praised for his usual unshowy direction. This is my favourite Dennis Lehane book and the film did its dark, dramatic subject matter proud. Another Lehane book, ‘Gone, Baby, Gone’ was also filmed but to my mind less successfully because the script and the casting did not capture the nature of the characters as written.
3. MARATHON MAN
William Goldman is another author and screenwriter I hold dear and he adapted his seminal thriller for director John Schlesinger. This shadowy paranoid nail-biter carried all the edge of the 70s in its sharp dialogue and splendid performances. There were slight deviations from the book – Paris replaced Edinburgh for one sequence – and the ending was rewritten, Goldman thinks by Robert Towne, but it remains, over 40 years later, a top-notch watch. See also another Goldman book to script, ‘Magic’ with Anthony Hopkins.
4. LA CONFIDENTIAL
Co-scripted by Brian Helgeland and director Curtis Hanson (and winning them an Oscar), this celebrated version of James Ellroy’s dark, dense novel punched all the right buttons. Star-making turns from Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce, and don’t forget James Cromwell’s unforgettably monstrous Dudley Smith, plus bang-on period detail and an atmospheric score by Jerry Goldsmith combined to create a film that gets richer with each viewing.
5. THE MALTESE FALCON
A true classic that is – amazingly – Oscar light! There had been two other versions of the book, one (later renamed ‘Dangerous Female’) in 1931 and another, ‘Satan Met a Lady’, in 1936 with Bette Davis. Although by 1941 the Hays Code saw to it that much of the salacious elements of Dashiell Hammett’s novel were smoothed down (unlike the 1931 version), fledgling writer/director John Huston made what is regarded as the definitive version. Again, the casting – Bogart as Sam Spade, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Elisha Cook Jnr – is damn near perfect, the tone is spot-on and Huston’s script carried as much of Hammett’s dialogue as was permissible. Although he did add the “stuff that dreams are made of” line.
Douglas will be at Bloody Scotland this year in Scotland the Grave on Saturday 10th September, 12:15pm. His book Open Wounds was longlisted for this year’s McIlvanney Prize.