Louise Phillips's Blog, page 13

LATEST NEWS: Skating Pond!!

Skating Pond (the novel) has now gone to the editor!!
It may need some minor changes and it will certainly undergo copy edits, but it is out in the world as a whole and real thing... 

REVEAL!! 2018 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Longlist!!

2018 THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST REVEALED

Big hitters including Lee Child, Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, feature on this longlist. The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2017 to 30 April 2018.

2018 marks the 14th year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. The winner is announced at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, hosted in Harrogate each July. The festival was established in 2003 by Val McDermid, agent Jane Gregory, and arts charity Harrogate International Festivals.
The award is run in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith, and The Mail on Sunday. The longlist of 18 titles were selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers and members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee.

Four previous winners of the award - Val McDermid (2006), Lee Child (2011), Denise Mina (2012 and 2013) and Chris Brookmyre (2017) - return on 2018’s longlist. The longlist also features some of the genre’s hottest new talent including the debut novels of Jane Harper, Emma Flint, Joseph Knox, Imran Mahmood and Abir Mukherjee.

Executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “2018’s longlist shows how strong and dynamic the genre is as it features so many debut novels, alongside established names. It shows how crime fiction not only dominates publishing but shapes our cultural landscape.”

The longlist in full:    

Want You Gone by Chris Brookmyre
The Midnight Line by Lee Child
The Seagull by Ann Cleeves
Little Deaths by Emma Flint
The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths
The Dry by Jane Harper
Spook Street by Mick Herron
A Death at Fountains Abbey by Antonia Hodgson
He Said/She Said by Erin Kelly
Sirens by Joseph Knox
The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet
You Don't Know Me by Imran Mahmood
Insidious Intent by Val McDermid
The Long Drop by Denise Mina
A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee
Rather Be the Devil by Ian Rankin
The Intrusions by Stav Sherez
Persons Unknown by Susie Steiner

The shortlist of six titles will be announced on 27 May, followed by a six-week promotion in libraries and in WHSmith stores nationwide. The overall winner will be decided by the panel of Judges, alongside a public vote. The public vote opens on 1 July and closes 14 July at www.theakstons.co.uk.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony hosted by broadcaster Mark Lawson on 19 July on the opening night of the 16th Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. They’ll receive a £3,000 cash prize, as well as a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.

The awards night will also feature the Outstanding Contribution to Crime Fiction Award, with past recipients over the years including PD James, Ruth Rendell, Reginald Hill and Colin Dexter.

Crime Fiction is more popular than ever!!!

Perhaps the latest figures from the London Book Fair shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it turns out that Crime fiction has become the most popular fiction genre in the UK. I’m assuming, we in Ireland, may be reasonably similar. Apparently, this is the first time it has happened in the UK, according to figures revealed at The London Book Fair.
Crime and Thriller novels have substantially increased since 2015, with a whopping 19% more being sold, and the genre has overtaken sales of general and literary fiction for the first time too.

In 2017, nearly 19 million units of crime fiction were sold, according to data from Nielsen BookScan, which doesn’t account for books sold online, or through smaller book stores.
The value is also staggering, going from £106.3 million to £117.6 million.

Why is this happening?

Possibly the rise of the psychological thriller, which seems to have spread literally like wildfire. Then there is the extremely robust marketing campaigns by many publishers. We all know the various book titles which became familiar to us long before the actual books hit the shelves.

Another aspect, could be the increased number of female crime writers who arguably are broadening the genre, with a mix of stories exploring female relationships and issues alongside the use of traditional detective type formats.

Either way, crime fiction has well earned its place, not only as a respected means of storytelling, but as an extremely popular one too.

I guess I better get my latest novel finished fast!

The Longest Novel in the History of my life!!

Ah guys, I really thought I'd be finished editing today, although I figured it might spill over yet again, and then this afternoon, I got over a tricky bit, and I could see the end in the distance, and I thought maybe, just maybe, I'm getting there, so I pulled together the last rambling thousand words or so, and I did out a plan!

Now, I have 6 more chapters to do, of the longest novel in the history of my life, and it just might kill me, or be the reason I lose every friend I have ever had, along with my family disowning me, because if I don't get this novel finished/edited soon, I may go quite mad..

But thanks Ernest for the insightful words!!

On a lighter note, I'm grand :-

Hooking up!!

Anyone out there on INSTAGRAM wanting to hook up???
You'll find me HERE


Name: louisephillips3490
And no, I can't remember where the 3490 came from!!
And yes, I will follow back :-)

Don't miss 'Writing Crime Fiction' this coming May!

I'm so excited to be starting this in May at the Irish Writers Centre
For full booking details, visit HERE orContact the Irish Writers Centre,19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1Phone: (+353) 1 872 1302info@writerscentre.ie Crime Fiction with Louise PhillipsStarts: Thurs 17 May 2018
Time: 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Duration: 8 Weeks
Cost: €220/€200 Members


Learn the secrets of successful crime-fiction writing with bestselling and award-winning crime author Louise Phillips.
During the course, participants will receive in-depth analysis of all aspects of great crime fiction, including the creation of memorable characters, planning, pace, dialogue, and narration.
Editorial critique throughout will help sharpen your creative voice, alongside information on today’s publishing industry, and how best to get that elusive agent/publishing deal. Many of Louise’s students have achieved publication success, including authors who have gone on to become International Bestsellers.
Louise Phillips is the author of four bestselling psychological crime thrillers all of which were nominated for the Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year. Her second novel, The Doll’s House, won the award in 2013. A recipient of both arts bursaries and residencies for literature and longlisted for the UK CWA Dagger in the Library Award, she has also been a judge on the Irish Panel for the EU Literary Award. In 2016 and 2017, her first two novels were published to critical acclaim in the US, and she is currently working on her latest novel, Skating Pond.

Making it Real!!

A lot of work still to do, but this is what I'll be working on for the next 3 weeks....Strange how seeing it printed out makes it more real.....1st in the Heather Baxter series!!!


#firstdrafts
#writing
#skatingpond
#heatherbaxter

International Women's Day - Crime Fiction Style

It seems like a very good day to talk about Irish women writers in the crime fiction genre, and you’re in for lots of treats this year if the start of the year is anything to go by. 
So, for a list of books you may want to dabble into, here you go, and you're certainly spoiled for choice!! And it's only March!!

Patricia Gibney - The Missing Ones


Dervla McTiernan - The Ruin 


Susan Stairs - One Good Reason


Joe Spain - The Confession


Catherine Ryan Howard - The Liar's Girl


Sharon Thompson - The Abandoned


Adele O Neill - Behind a Closed Door


And no doubt I've left some out, but if I have, let me know and I'll add them in!!

What's in a name??

Oh God, oh God, I've just spent 3 hours adjusting character names in order to avoid names that end in 's' because you get a double 's' when you use names like Kenny Bowers's, or duplicating names that start with J, like Jim and Jack, and a whole host of stuff (that yes,I know should have sorted first time around), because names often get changed mid-way through a script, and then you end up with issues that might send you quite batty, especially when you have 22 characters (and yes, I know, far too many), and you change the names of at least a third of them, and wonder who the heck is who? 

#amwriting #amediting #amconfused 

Mindshift Information Day at the Irish Writers Centre!!

This should be a really informative day at the Irish Writers Centre this coming Saturday for writers who want to pursue their careers both within the self-publishing platform and/or a combination of traditional publishing/self-publishing...



All details via this link here:

https://irishwriterscentre.ie/collect...