Val McDermid's Blog, page 8
July 31, 2017
Queer as Art, BBC Two review – showbusiness and the gay revolution…
Part of the BBC’s Gay Britannia season, here was a programme fulfilling what it said on the tin: prominent LGBTQ (when will all these expanding acronyms cease to confuse us all) figures narrating, examining, discussing, analysing, letting it all hang out about LGBTQ folk and the arts during the past half-century.
The usual suspects were interviewed, from Maggi Hambling – her smoking more shocking than anything else on the programme – to Stephen Fry, Sandy Toksvig and David Hockney, although there was no Alan Bennett or Grayson Perry.
In the 1960s before the act that partially decriminalised homosexuality, evidently the only partly safe places were the theatre, the civil service (not examined here at all) and… hairdressing. Lesbianism was never illegal, but most of the running into the open, we were reminded, has been overwhelmingly male. Historically lesbians weren’t closeted but almost totally hidden, meaning no role models were available, but Val McDermid touchingly told us how her pin-up was Dusty Springfield.
July 30, 2017
Fourth time lucky for talented Brookmyre…
BARRHEAD author Chris Brookmyre has been toasting success after winning the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.
Chris earned the prestigious prize for his book Black Widow, which features one of his most popular characters – investigative journalist Jack Parlabane.
And it was a case of fourth time lucky for the talented writer, having been pipped at the post in previous bids to win the award.
“I’m really quite taken aback,” said Chris. “I’ve been shortlisted three times for this award – always the bridesmaid. Today, I get to walk up the aisle.”
The Barrhead man saw off competition from top crime writers such as Val McDermid, Eva Dolan, Sabine Durrant, Mick Herron and Susie Steiner to win the 2017 award.
July 26, 2017
All hail Christopher Brookmyre, the new king of Tartan Noir…
THERE’S been something of a changing of the guard in the talented and successful world of Scottish crime fiction.
With Ian Rankin having threatened to retire his legendary detective John Rebus, there’s a looming vacancy at the top of the Scottish crime writers’ list.
It may just have been filled by Christopher Brookmyre, who last week won Crime Novel of the Year at the Theakston Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival for Black Widow.
The same novel last year scooped the McIlvanney Prize last year at Scotland’s own festival of crime writing, Bloody Scotland.
What’s more, Brookmyre has been nominated for this year’s McIlvanney Prize with his latest novel, Want You Gone.
The prize is named after the late and much-missed William McIlvanney, who is credited with inventing Tartan Noir with his Laidlaw trilogy, though the man who coined the phrase was American crime writer James Ellroy – a great compliment from one of the kings of the crime genre.
July 24, 2017
Last chance to enter Val’s Facebook Competition
Head over to Val’s Facebook page to enter a competition to win a complete set of Tony Hill and carol Jordan thrillers…
*COMPETITION*
Tell us why you love Val’s books in the comments below, and you could win a complete set of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan thrillers!
T&Cs: https://www.facebook.com/notes/val-mcdermid/win-a-complete-set-of-tony-hill-and-carol-jordan-thrillers-tcs/10156449636274625/
July 21, 2017
Chris Brookmyre scoops top crime novel award for Black Widow…
Scottish author Chris Brookmyre has been named as the winner of a major crime-writing prize, beating renowned crime novelist Val McDermid to the accolade.
Brookmyre’s cyber-abuse effort Black Widow – which features his long-time character investigative detective Jack Parlabane – scooped the Theakston Old Peculier crime novel of the year award at the annual ceremony.
He was up against fellow Scottish writer McDermid for her 2016 novel Out Of Bounds, part of her Inspector Karen Pirie series, who previously won the title in 2006 and who last year won the ceremony’s top prize, the outstanding contribution to crime fiction award.
Read more…
July 19, 2017
Scots celebrities still can’t take solace from gay rights legislation…
I AM nearly gay. I love musical theatre, the company of women and Barbra Streisand (although not Judy Garland, so technically I’m not a friend of Dorothy.) I love melodramas, am borderline obsessive about matching up exact socks and always iron my underpants.
Now, before the righteous start to sniff a little homophobia in this opener it has to be said the above description of my closeness to the same sex appreciation society comes from the colleague and gay chum who sits next to me (and interestingly, doesn’t conform to any of the stereotypes.)
However, the reason for stating my gay credentials (gay friends; gay tennis partner, holidaying with gay pal – and I have been snogged by a gay man) – is not to curry pink favour but to limit possible discredit upon addressing the state of gay Scotland.
Last night, BBC2 screened, Against the Law, the story of journalist Peter Wildeblood who in 1957 admitted he was homosexual and was awarded 18 months in the pokey for his honesty. The drama was released to coincide with the anniversary of England’s legalisation of homosexuality in 1967.
But what of Scotland? We have been able to claim the higher ground by legalising gay marriage in 2014. And we’ve taken to task those who refuse to open their boarding house doors to men who wish to share a bed, (not in an innocent Morecambe and Wise manner).
Read the full article on The Herald website…
July 11, 2017
In the Dark: Mark Billingham on how being taken hostage informed his crime writing…
His novels have been adapted into a four-part drama for BBC1 – here the author reveals why his thrillers are the real deal.
By Mark Lawson
Tuesday 11 July 2017
The problem with novelists, says Mark Billingham, is that “as a rule, they tend not to play well with others. You spend a year on your own writing a book. So it’s difficult suddenly to be thrown in a room with loads of other people.”
But the bestselling crime writer is, in three senses, coming out to play at the moment. He spent time on the set and in the editing suite of In the Dark, a four-part adaptation of two of his novels featuring DS Helen Weeks, a young detective who investigates a child murder while heavily pregnant. The day after we meet at his north London home, he’s off to Liverpool to start a promotional tour for Love like Blood, his 14th novel featuring London homicide detective DI Tom Thorne, and, while there, he has scheduled the first rehearsal for a summer tour with his rock band, the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.
Read more on the Radio Times website
July 10, 2017
Arts News: Recoat at The Lighthouse; Benzie joins Spark Trio; Bloody Scotland tickets boom
RECOAT, a Scottish arts organisation that specialises in contemporary urban art, will celebrate a decade of exhibitions, mural projects, and education programmes with an exhibition – This Will Ruin Everything – at The Lighthouse in Glasgow.
Running from July 14 to 30, This Will Ruin Everything features forty Scottish and international artists and designers exhibiting architecture, digital art and painting. The show will also feature the Lighthouse’s first mural.
Exhibiting practitioners include Kidacne, Sheone, Matt. W. Moore, Maya Wild, Will Barras, Kirsty Whiten, Mark Lyken, Elph, Fraser Gray and Susie Wright.
Read the full article on The Herald website…
July 4, 2017
One way to keep Trump at bay, and a surprise for Steve Earle…
JUST one, urgent, question surrounding Donald Trump’s rumoured flying visit to Scotland: Is there enough time to build a great big beautiful wall to keep him out?
And there’s an interesting suggestion on the Stop Trump Coalition Facebook page, relating to his possible trip to the UK. “Maybe we could help some refugees sneak into America while he’s out”, it says.
Inconvenient
Life on the road isn’t always as glamorous as it’s cracked up to be.
Scots alt. blues troubadour Dave Arcari, who plays Glasgow Calling, at McChuill’s, on July 28, and Milngavie’s Mugstock Festival on July 30, has been recalling an incident from the time he played a show with Steve Earle.
Each musician had his own dressing-room but what Dave didn’t realise was that the shared toilet could be accessed from each room. Dave was engaged in using the facilities prior to the show when the other door opened and in walked Steve – who, if he was taken aback, hid it well.
Both of them had a good laugh about it, though.
Read more on the Herald Scotland website…
June 23, 2017
Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy get fresh designs…
Published June 22, 2017 by Katherine Cowdrey on The Bookseller
MacLehose Press is reissuing books in Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy to complement the jacket of The Girl in the Spider’s Web and has revealed ‘Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid is contributing an introduction to the new issue of The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo.
The new-look cover designs use colours from the original jackets but “apply them in a fresh way” by revisiting the image of the woman and her tattooed back, which adorns the cover of The Girl in the Spider’s Web. They will be available on 1st July.
McDermid is also contributing to the introduction to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo after her novel The Wire in the Blood was mentioned as being read by co-lead character Michael Blomkvist in it.
In McDermid’s introduction she will discuss her relationship with Larsson’s work, his literary influences and her take on his graphic and explicit descriptions of the exploitation of women in the novels.
The second Millennium novel by David Lagercrantz, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye will be published worldwide on 7th September.
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