Kelly Creighton's Blog, page 2

End of 2020

Warning: this blog post is negative as hell.

This year has been exhausting. Take now for instance, I am writing this blog post half to keep myself awake. I keep nodding off and that’s not like me, and not a good idea since I am looking after kids and trying to keep them ‘entertained’ so my other half can do his work Zooms.

(Insert eye roll here.)

Who would have thought this time last year that this is how we would be living? I could cringe when I look back at my hopeful blog post from January.

(Insert cringe emoji here.)

Recently my son got an ‘achievement’ on his school app for wearing his face covering. That made me mad-sad. I hate that this is the way kids are living. The worst thing about the first lockdown was feeling like a let-down as a parent. Everything that you normally tell children is good for them changed, you had to do a swift u-turn. Nobody’s fault – but still. It’s hard.

I could happily forget how hard – I’m quite skilled at that – but the thought of a new lockdown starting on Boxing Day has brought back to me just how difficult some months were. I know lots of people have had it much harder. That has been stressful too, just worrying about people:

people who don’t have a garden, people with underlying health issues, people living with an abusive person, people living alone, kids feeling like they are being blamed, teachers trying to do their jobs, doctors, older people, shop assistants, jobs, the economy … It never ends.

While I feel exhausted for no good reason, except for dogs that wake too early for my liking, I realise that I am probably wrecked from all the worry. Sigh. It’s nearly Christmas.

Last week I tried to wrap up my work for Christmas. I do this from time to time and then I remember that writers don’t take holidays. In fact, writing is my sanity. I began to feel very down and remembered that writing is not something I should take a break from. Maybe ease off a bit, yes.

On that note, I do laugh when I see people signing off from Twitter for the holidays. Like, what? Social media is not your life? I feel so used! Kidding aside, social media breaks are a great idea and sometimes I need them too, but most of my friends are on there and this year in particular I don’t want to leave anyone without that connection. Plus, I need the connection as well.

So this is the time when we look back over our year.

Well okay, if you insist.

I was glad to bring my detective series to light. The first two DI Sloanes got their readership, and in tough times. Check, check.

I got Arts Council support – thank you!

I got a shitload of redirections from agents, which does not diminish my work or talent, and I much prefer a no over a nothing. (Much prefer? Jesus, why are my blog posts so middle class! I don’t talk like this in real life.)

I co-edited a Christmas anthology that has knocked my socks off with its success, supported charities and hopefully introduced you to new writers. I’m proud that it feels fresh compared to most anthologies from NI. Thank you to everyone who has supported, contributed, submitted, and thank you to my co-ed. of Underneath the Tree, the lovely and talented Claire Savage.

I read loads of books from different povs and fell in love with Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones, though not a new book it just hit me in the feels, as they say … somewhere.

I read loads of books from home. I made a list for Arts Council NI. See my recommendations here in the Belfast Telegraph.

I got to grips with technology – Hello, Zoom! – taught online and made videos for school workshops. Lost the chance to go to a couple of really cool locations to participate in literary festivals. I could cry! (Don’t think about that, Kelly.)

I have a trip to Paris planned and a writerly trip to Norway too. That’s for Sloane book 4.

Who knows if these plans will go ahead but having nice things in the pipeline helps.

With Problems with Girls I was able to get some promo. It was so lovely to meet with Karen Mooney and chat for NVTV. (Here is the obligatory part where I say we socially distanced. Of course we did.)

It was beyond lovely to see a friend from the writing community and Women Aloud NI in the flesh!

Watch our chat here.

Check out Karen’s new poetry collection Penned In which she co-wrote with Gaynor Kane during the pandemic. It’s stunning!

I hope to see people soon and if not I will have to give myself a kick up the bum and arrange more Zoom parties. Either way, we’ll get through this.

What’s to come in 2021?

I’m going to be the mother of an adult! Imagine turning 18 during a strict lockdown. She doesn’t mind though. My kids are growing up and that’s an exciting life adventure in itself.

I’m having my 20th wedding anniversary in the summer. My marriage survived a pandemic and working from home! Yay.

In May ’21 I have a new short story collection coming set mostly in the art world. It’s called Everybody’s Happy. And by May I hope that will be a true statement.

(Is it too late to change the title to Everybody’s Vaccinated and the New Strain is Not Any Worse?)

In the autumn there will be a new Sloane instalment based around a cold case. I’m keeping the title a secret for now. (I know, who cares!)

I’ll be writing – any luck – and editing. Trying to stay out of trouble.

What are your plans?

Wishing you the very best for 2021!

xx

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Crime Novel Title Generator

How hard is it to name a book?

Sometimes the title comes at the start of the project and sometimes it is the very last thing to show itself.

Now Problems with Girls, DI Sloane book 2, has arrived I am starting to write book 4, and thinking about titles again.

Book 3 (coming autumn 2021) had a title that was all wrong, so this week I spent some time trying on new ones. In the end I found the perfect name in my ‘snippets’ Word document where I store random words, phrases and story ideas.

In the meantime I consulted a few book title generators. That was fun!

It inspired me to make up my own.

Hope you enjoy it.

Crime Novel Title Generator



TheCruel(optional ‘of’)SummerAMurderous(optional ‘of the’)WinterHotTideBadGirlWitheringObjectGoneRoadWrongDeadTrueWifeSharpFallLostPastSilentBelowQuietDaughterDarkEyesDyingYearGhostNightBrokenBonesLastingDetectiveBloodyDayFinalDevilKillerPlace



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Launch Day

Problems with Girls (DI Sloane book 2) launches today, another book coming to light under the restrictions of the pandemic. So we are having another online event and it’s happening this evening.

Register your attendance at fridaypress1@gmail.com.

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This event will be a lively discussion about crime fiction with local authors. Simon Maltman’s Witness has recently published, as has James Murphy’s Dark Light. Also, I have recently read an ARC of Sharon Dempsey’s upcoming Who Took Eden Mulligan? I want to know what Cara Finegan is working on at the moment. So I have a lot to talk to these writers about.

There will be cocktails thrown in for good measure (and lots of puns). Think of it like a pre-Christmas party since we can’t go out out for drinks.

Check out the book trailer for Problems with Girls to get a flavour of the book.

Here is the blurb:

After taking some leave, DI Harriet Sloane comes back to work at Strandtown PSNI station, East Belfast, to be faced with a murder case. A young political activist has been stabbed to death in the office of a progressive political party where she works as an intern. The killer seems to have a problem with girls, and is about to strike again.

Problems with Girls is a fast-paced detective novel that will keep you gripped till the very last word. The follow up to critically acclaimed, The Sleeping Season.

Set in 2018, a month after the Belfast Rape Trial and the #ibelieveher rallies that took place throughout Ireland, this novel asks questions about cyberbullying, mental health and consent.

On a personal note, I want to thank my writing community for being so supportive of my work.

A special thanks goes to book bloggers. They were a real lifeline when The Sleeping Season launched at the start of the March lockdown.

[image error] Blog tour

The book is now in stock at the Secret Bookshelf, Carrickfergus and No Alibis, Belfast. Please do support your local bookshops.

It is also available to buy from the publisher Friday Press.

Also on Amazon UK

Amazon USA

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Until next time, be good!

Underneath the Tree

It’s November. Practically Christmas. Well, I think this year we deserve to start Christmas a little earlier.

It has felt slightly like Christmas all year to me. I’ve been co-editing Underneath the Tree, with Claire Savage. This festive anthology features new work from Northern Irish writers and is generously funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. It will launch on November 4, with all proceeds being donated to local charities.

The publication includes 12 short stories which all take place over the Christmas period. It includes an eclectic mix of genres. From crime to comedy, horror to sci-fi, ghost stories to magical realism. The range of voices in this anthology means there is something for every reader. The one thing they all have in common is that they will get you in the festive mood. The perfect gift for all the bookworms in your life, or to add to your own Santa list.

With stories from:

Angeline Adams, Eddy Baker, Kelly Creighton, Stacie Davis, Sharon Dempsey, Simon Maltman, Gary McKay, Samuel Poots, Claire Savage, Remco van Straten, Morna Sullivan, Stuart Wilson and Jo Zebedee.

Damian Smyth, Head of Literature at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, said: “The Arts Council is delighted to have been able to support this exciting new publishing venture and this festive anthology in particular. Voices new and familiar and a range of genres and styles, smartly curated, bring to the traditional season a welcome diversity of short fiction. This is one of those years when Christmas really can’t come soon enough to help dispel the obvious gloom and this anthology of engaging narratives will be a welcome addition to anyone’s haul of Yuletide goodies.”

Fellow co-editor, Claire Savage, said that although the anthology was conceived before the COVID-19 pandemic, the project had proved timely in supporting local writers. Indeed, thanks to the Arts Council NI funding, each contributing writer has been paid for their story, and also receives a complimentary copy of the anthology. Claire said, “The arts sector has, like many, been badly affected by the pandemic so it’s great to be able to offer some support to writers – and to our chosen charities – at this difficult time.”

Underneath the Tree is available to purchase online from Amazon and The Book Depository in both e-book and paperback format. All proceeds from book sales will be split equally between the Simon Community NI and the World of Owls NI.

If you would like to attend the Zoom launch and hear the contributors read from their work on Wednesday 4 November, from 7pm, please register by email: info.sesheta@gmail.com

About Underneath the Tree:

Mixing the mysterious and macabre with tales of friendship, love and the unexplored secrets of the universe, this collection of twelve festive stories from writers in Northern Ireland presents the magic and mayhem of Christmas in all its forms.Featuring a diverse range of genres – from the gothic and ghostly, to the criminal, comedic and supernatural – these are tales to chill and delight readers on a cold winter’s night. With contemporary and historical fiction, as well as dystopian and speculative tales, you never know what you might find … underneath the tree.

Order your copy online here.

New Connections

Recently I started a YouTube channel. I had one before, years ago, and a few subscribers, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I felt uncomfortable with it and there was little room for error. I was instantly told in the comments that I was doing it wrong.

But lately I have been asked to make videos of myself teaching, introducing my work, and reading, and after six months of work moving from in-person meetings over to Zoom, we are still learning how to adapt.

I am encouraging school-age poets to allow themselves to make all the mistakes; they are the portals of discovery, after all. I am allowing myself to make lots of errors too and turning comments OFF.

I used to read my work aloud quite often, the more often you do something the more natural it feels. I could talk about my work and my themes, and writing in general, all day and all night, but sometimes I’m not fond of reading my work. Once it’s published, I like for it to be read by the reader.

Yet in my teaching videos I have noted that it adds another layer to a poem to hear it being read aloud by the poet. And I do like reading my poems far more so than reading my prose. I think it is something to do with breathing and rhythm.

Being out of the way of sharing my writing vocally for a while now I seized up a little bit about recording myself. So, that is how I knew I had to get over myself. We need to push ourselves out of our comfort zone every now and then. (I know, I know, all of life is like that nowadays!)

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I have a new YouTube channel, and probably I should have just used my old one as it had a few subscribers. So far I have posted a video of me reading from The Sleeping Season. I also posted a villanelle that appeared in the most recent issue of the Bangor Literary Journal on Culture Night.

I have never taken part in Culture Night as it usually falls on a family birthday. This year I missed out again due to health.

Check out this fantastic video that Sharon Dempsey, James Murphy, Simon Maltman and Tina Calder made about writing in a pandemic. It aired on Culture Night and I watched it nodding away in agreement. Good to know we are all having similar experiences reading and writing right now.

I am busy this time of year and glad. Busier than ever. Last year I was about to go and present at Boston Book Festival with Sharon Dempsey, and I am, of course, disappointed that there are no such adventures this year but I am writing loads, facilitating lots. I finished my Nanowrimo(ish) manuscript – a horror! – (see previous blog post) and I have two books coming out next month that I’m involved in.

Problems with Girls is launching 20 November.

[image error]Pre-order for Kindle

Underneath the Tree is launching 4 November.

(UTT is co-edited my me and Claire Savage and features many local writers.)

I will blog separately about this project soon.

[image error]Pre-order for Kindle

Seeing as I am trying my hand at being more visual I joined Tiktok. It’s quite fun. There will be no dancing; my teenagers would never forgive me.

I have always loved Instagram but it feels a bit stale during the pandemic. We are still adapting and finding different ways to connect with other readers and writers and talk about books.

How has writing/reading changed for you?

Nanowrimo(ish) Tips for that First Novel Draft

I love to hear writers talking about their own individual process. Especially back when I started out; I could identify what would work for me and know what wouldn’t. 

One such process that I first tried in 2013 was Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month, set every November) and, as I have said in many articles, I used this template for The Bones of It, and after three weeks had a first draft.

I was completely sold and have never written a book, or a story, any differently since.

If you are new to writing, or fancy writing a novel and are finding the idea overwhelming, let me give you some tips that have helped me.

They might help you. Who knows!

I am not going to recommend following Nanowrimo exactly, because that can make you feel a sense of disappointment that you aren’t ‘churning out’ the 1666 words a day, and 50,000 words at the end. I never follow it to the letter but have taken the lovely principles and made them fit me.

Plan (September/October)

Okay, so you want to write a novel. You think you could manage an hour a day in November – you will stop watching that box set for the month and prioritise your masterpiece. 

Hopefully the idea has been floating around your head for months, maybe years. Now it’s time to pin it down and work out what your book is about:

what are the themes?

whose story it is?

which genre is it?

how would you like to structure it?

Look to similar book and ones you admire for ideas.

Before you begin, start to plan:

write notes, 

do some character development exercises, 

get the characters to write you a letter, 

whatever works for you. 

2. Outline

Nanowrimo participants talk about being Plotters or Pantsers. 

I can’t begin to talk about being a pantser because I like to have a basic structure set first, at least. 

If you plan, and it doesn’t have to be rigidly, you know you have to get to a certain point by the end of the chapter, and the end of the book. 

Have a think now whether you want lots of short chapters, or fewer longer chapters, or if you are writing a novel that picks up pace and the chapters get shorter as you progress. 

Think about your genre and the usual average word count. Look it up if you’re unsure.

Now decide how many chapters you want to have. 

At this stage you could outline what will happen in each chapter, taking into consideration your story arc, beginning, middle and end. 

Check out online articles on novel structure before you start to outline.

3. Research the big things now

It saves time later.

4. Write your synopsis (October)

So it is nearly November by this stage, although you can take any month. (Twice a year, and rarely in November, I do my own first draft challenge.) 

Now is the time to think about the book as a whole. Have a look over your chapter outline, and iron out any issues. 

Is it pacey enough? 

How is your timeline? 

Is there a plot twist you have thought of that would go in there great? 

Writers on Twitter often complain that writing a synopsis is more difficult than writing the actual novel. It really is!

October is the time to do it. Really narrow down on what the book is about. You might find that by doing this you go in and make some changes to your outline. 

Also, it wouldn’t hurt to write a tagline here. 

Can you sell your book in one sentence?

Okay, so you might not want to sell your book, but the exercise will help to bring everything together and sum up what is at the heart of your story. Keep that tagline beside you as you write your book.

If you are new to writing a synopsis, there are plenty of bloggers giving advice. Have a gander.

5. Ready? Get Set … Go!

Set yourself a reward for after you finish:

a new notebook, a trip to a retreat to tackle those edits, a stack of new books, (if the fact that you are going to have a new novel isn’t enough reward).

Find a time of day when you can fit in an hour’s writing. You might want to get up early for a month. Think about when you work best and know that you might not get to write every day – I never do – but that there are days when you might get an extra half-hour to even it out. 

If you need the support, link in with others on social media who are following nanowrimo. They do word sprints and buoy each other up. 

Word sprints (writing ‘together’ fast for around a half hour) didn’t work for me, but you might love it. 

The point is, you don’t have to do it on your own. 

Maybe you and a writing pal can try the challenge together this year. 

6. Don’t procrastinate

Back to the research. This can be a big time drain. Researching small details is interesting when you are taking a longer route to writing your first draft, but right now time is of the essence.

Unless you really don’t know something and that lack of knowledge can riddle your storyline with plot holes, then skip it.

There will be many months after to go back and fill in the details.

7. Keep Going (Mid-November)

I am midway through my own writing challenge and I know that there is a natural slump at this stage. 

In fact, I have been wanting to do a class on nanowrimo for years, and now that I am in the middle of things, it is the best time to write a blog, while things are fresh and I can see the issues clearly. 

Plus, time is on my side today. I’m not procrastinating … maybe a tiny bit. But I will get today’s chapter done too. 

(If you’re interested, I am writing a book with 40 chapters, between 1,500-2,000 words in each. It might take me into next month and that’s okay. I’m not going for the usual 50,000 words this time, only because I am well used to this process now.)

But getting back to the slump, here are some things I am doing to help: 

changing the space I write in. 

It is cold in my writing shed right now, and in the kitchen all the appliances are whizzing and bumping about, so yesterday I went and lay on top of my bed and wrote a great chapter. 

Change it up, be comfortable and get your focus back. 

Caffeine and biscuits definitely help. 

Can’t quit now!

8. Blot out the background

If you get stuck or bored on a certain part – keep it brief. 

I have been known to write, ‘they have an argument here’, which has given my first reader a laugh. 

I just didn’t have the energy to write that scene that day. But that was fine, I knew I would come back to it during editing and give it my best. 

It is hard work, writing a book, but remind yourself you are doing well. I started as a visual artist so I always liken writing and editing to painting. Blot out that background with a wash.

You can come back with the fine tipped brush for the gorgeous details later.

9. Don’t read what you have written so far

Big rule. BIG RULE!

If you need to stop, stop mid-sentence so you can pick it up the next day. It works for some writers.

I try to write a chapter and have a natural finish. 

Be prepared, you will have repeated yourself a lot.

You will write something that you have written earlier, or contradict yourself, but that is not your concern. That is for future-you to think about down the line. 

You have enough to think about right now. 

Don’t edit your spelling and typos; bleed all over the page. 

For me, someone always comes out as soemone and friend as freind when I write fast – that’s what the ‘replace’ function is for.

Allow yourself to make millions of mistakes.

10. Be flexible 

By now I hope you have forgotten all about word counts and how long you are writing for each day and are enjoying writing this book that only you can. 

It’s not about numbers. It’s about the story. 

You might find that as you write, the plot develops a mind of its own and changes, which is fine too. 

Surprise yourself. 

When you are finished, remember to go back and change your synopsis to fit.

Did you stay true to the tagline?

Ta-da!

You’re done! 

Now to set aside your work for a week. Then give it a quick skim over, see what you need to change and take some notes. 

But don’t do anything more right now. 

Forget about it. Enjoy the holiday season knowing you have written a novel – yay! Buy yourself that reward, or better yet, get someone else to.

The new year is when you can come back at it and start the editing process with fresh eyes. 

If you do give it a go, let me know how you are getting on!

Darkly Revisiting Dexter

Dexter was filmed between 2006-2013 and back then I was a huge fan. Lately I prepared to re-watch some episodes and then probably set it aside. But now I want to watch on.

Warning: this blog post will contain spoilers

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Season 1 deals with the Ice Truck Killer case. It is absolutely chilling and so darkly comic I laughed my way through. But first, I must confess that I have had Darkly Dreaming Dexter on my bookshelf for years and have yet to read it. It is the show I am talking about and hopefully writing this post will prompt me to read the Jeff Lindsay books. I understand that some of it is different. But let’s talk about what makes Dexter, the TV show, so amazing.

Dexter Morgan is the perfect anti-hero. He has witnessed an awful event that has shaped his life, leading to serial killer urges. He lives by the Code of Harry, implemented by his late father who was a cop and taught Dexter – who becomes a forensic analyst specialising in blood spatter for Miami Metro PD – how to use his ‘dark passenger’ for good. The perfect job and guise. What is not to love about that!

The lead, Michael C. Hall is amazing. One of my other favourite TV shows is Six Feet Under in which Hall plays David Fisher, a highly-strung, closeted undertaker. In Dexter he plays a laid back, nice guy, who has a very bad temper, obviously, but who also buys everyone’s trust with a big box of doughnuts. Hall has variety. He sings and performs on Broadway. (I just wish he had been allowed to keep his accent in Harlan Coben’s Safe (Netflix) but everyone is allowed an off day.)

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Dexter is set in Miami where everyone is sweaty and the soundtrack is salsa fusion mixed with eerie stuff that sounds like a crying cat. Dexter Morgan is much tanner and hipper than David Fisher, even in his brown killing outfit, which itself is comical. The cinematography is highly saturated, a nod to the heat and the darkly dreaming, I suspect. The show has a colour palette reminiscent of Pedro Almodovar movies. The cast is diverse and memorable. The Lieutenant is female. In Dexter women do bad things, just as men do. There is both male and female nudity; the female nudity is addressed in the caustic dialogue of Dexter’s sister Deborah, who is a rounded character, both annoying and endearing.

Okay, the forensic analyst Vince Masuka is the only let down, all he offers is double entendre. But his role is small. I would like some more from Masuka however, when most of the characters do develop and change over time, especially Rita – Dexter’s love interest, who he initially likes because she is ‘safe’; Rita develops from ‘meek little thing’ to a thoroughly interesting character – and it is believable.

I, like many people, can’t help but watch slightly ‘older’ shows through the lens of what would be acceptable now, and Dexter’s not bad in that respect. In The Sopranos any misogyny comes from the toxic masculinity of the characters, but it also has strong women throughout.

True Detective’s misogyny is much more complicated. In the third season, which was stated to have its best portrayal of women yet, (Ha!) one grieving female character wails, ‘I have the soul of a whore’, while the other female character has so much sexual energy it is never absent from any scene she is in. So much male gaze shit I started watching through my fingers.
A pity, when the acting was so good, and credit where it’s due, TD succeeded in using the same actors for different time periods – which never works. It wasn’t enough, I switched off.

So, what did keep me watching Dexter right to the end of season 8, even through the bad years, through dubious plotlines and choices that didn’t seem to come from the Dexter I knew?

Last night I watched the second season finale; the demise of the Bay Harbour Butcher. Remember it? I thought I did, but it must be thirteen years since I saw it. The thing is that it was every bit as good. And I remembered that headbutt. What a scene! The Lila subplot I didn’t remember so well. But she was another great character.

I only intended to watch these two and another season then ditch the rest. Season three was a let-down for me. I didn’t buy the ‘partnership’, and I found Jimmy Smits wooden – sorry, Jimmy. The reward for hanging in there the first time was that the best season was yet to come. Season 4. The one with the Trinity Killer.

John Lithgow stars in that season. I loved him in Terms of Endearment, really sweet, plus he was a comic genius in Third Rock from the Sun. Then wow, in Dexter Lithgow could also ‘do’ terrifying.

Look, the flashbacks in Dexter are cringe-worthy, especially when it is Hall and Jennifer Carpenter (who plays Deborah Morgan) – two thirty-somethings – playing themselves as teenagers. It isn’t perfect, but season 4 has some of the most iconic moments in TV, right up there with the pool scene in The Sopranos, and the final scene in Six Feet Under … and the bed scene, and the campervan, and the prison visit, and others I don’t want to spoil.

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Okay, I need to re-watch SFU too.

What I noticed last night watching the season 2 finale of Dexter was how beautifully they wrapped things up. Everything came full circle, even using the show opening where Dex pours black coffee, flosses his teeth like he’s going to tie up a dead body, and cuts a blood orange for his breakfast. All that imagery – it only works because of the humour. Anyway, Dexter does all those things again in s2 ep12 giving the impression that they didn’t know if it would come back for a third season.

Three may be one that they could have skipped, but maybe we had to endure Smits to be rewarded with Lithgow … I’ll watch it again and maybe next time I’ll be posting here saying I was wrong, and that 3 was a great season too. I do think 5 is often enough, though.
Six Feet Under had six and none a dud. The Sopranos had five, and the same.

The last three of Dexter we could have done without. There is something to be said for going out on top. Some shows are hard to take a first time. I’m glad to find that those first two seasons of Dexter have aged like matured steaks. To eat with no vegetables. And a couple of bottles of beer, of course.

Cheers!

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Northern Noir

It’s the start of August, midway through the summer holidays and everything seems easier Covid-wise. I’m excited to participate in Shelley Tracey’s poetry workshop next week and to have booked myself into a writing retreat for next month.

In the meantime I am editing my next novel – more about that later – and the Christmas anthology I have been working on with Claire Savage and a host of local authors. So, no rest for the wicked!

Being stuck in one place during lockdown, has me thinking about ‘setting’ a lot. It was in my garden-shed-turned-writing-shed that I chaired an event for Féile an Phobail lately.

It was a real pleasure to quiz James Murphy (author of the Terror books) and Simon Maltman (author of books including his new one, The Mark) on what they like about writing crime and what brought them to the genre. We also talked about setting, particularly writing in and around Belfast, which we all three do.

It was a cracking interview and welcome laugh, getting to speak to Simon and James during more stressful times. And an education getting to grips with Zoom events. James took the reins there, thank god!

Watch Northern Noir here.

Simon and James were also grilled by sci-fi and fantasy writer Jo Zebedee in her beautiful bookstore in Carrickfergus, The Secret Bookshelf. If you need more Northern Noir in your life (and you do!) this is a great fun watch.

It is fantastic to see ‘normal life’ resuming, albeit slowly and cautiously, and I want to give Jo my thanks for inviting me and Sharon Dempsey, author of Little Bird, to The Secret Bookshelf last week to film our video, where we talk about more local crime fiction and gender’s role in it.

Watch Off the Shelf here.

Sharon is about to begin a PhD in gender and crime fiction, which sounds amazing. And my new book, the second instalment in my DI Harriet Sloane series, is aptly titled PROBLEMS WITH GIRLS.

Here is the blurb:

Where are the young women here? Can you even see them?

After taking some leave, DI Harriet Sloane comes back to work at Strandtown PSNI station, East Belfast, to be faced with a murder case. A young political activist has been stabbed to death in the office of a progressive political party where she works as an intern. The killer seems to have a problem with girls, and is about to strike again.

Problems with Girls is set in May, 2018. The same month as a Royal wedding and the Irish abortion Repeal vote. A month after the #ibelieveher rallies that came as a reaction to the Belfast rape trial, or the Rugby rape trial, as it is sometimes called.

These events are the backdrop for the story. As for setting, we start in the air, then go to East Belfast, down the Ards peninsula and to North Down.

Yes, I went for a title with the word ‘girls’ in it. Which can be controversial, but you’ll see why as you read the book.

I was interested to learn a few years back that young women in NI are our most invisible demographic. So this book is for them. If you have read The Sleeping Season, you’ll know that my police series comes from a feminist viewpoint.

Publication date is 20 November 2020.

If you like to read on kindle, then you can pre-order in the meantime.

[image error]cover reveal

Speaking of Northern Noir…

Books I read recently and highly recommend are:

The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway and Rose McClelland’s Under Your Skin.

One to watch:

Kerry Buchanan has a crime series coming soon with Joffe. Keep an eye out for that. It will be fab!

Till next time.

Where are the Women?

Yesterday I had the pleasure of leaving my house and driving to Belfast to collect some books. I was actually excited to put petrol in my car for the first time in months. One book I bought was North Star, an anthology of poetry and short stories by female Northern Irish writers.

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I came home and began to read and I’m not going to lie, I felt a bit emotional. There are great pieces in that anthology, put together during lockdown by members of Women Aloud NI. A lot of these writers are my friends and I feel honoured to be involved in such a great project, master minded by Angeline King and edited by WANI volunteers.

Joining Women Aloud a few years ago, to be honest, I was conflicted. I loved the sense of community but I also thought, why do we need a women’s literary organisation?

In the South, the Waking the Feminists movement had just happened. Women writers in general were not getting reviewed to the same extent as their male counterparts. Reviews were mostly by men, etc.

Yet the literary scene, festival goers and book buyers, are mostly women… Yes, I’m baffled too.

(I really am, this blog post has NO answers, just further bafflement.)

I joined up and loved taking part in events, but I wondered where the overall writing community was…

[image error]Sounds like a Carrie moment

And if groups like Women Aloud make male writers think that it is ‘us against them’. Of course it shouldn’t, and thankfully we do get men coming along to our events.

I wish groups like ours weren’t needed but they still are, a few things have reminded me lately. I’m going to highlight two.

Many moons ago I was interviewed for a radio documentary. When it finally aired I didn’t get the heads-up, wasn’t tagged on Twitter. I had this awful sinking feeling, went to my emails and there it was, my material had been cut.

Since you won’t hear it, I’ll tell you now.

In the interview I was guided to talk about diversity in our NI crime writing scene and I blanked, because, What diversity? I was aware of that then and I am aware of that today with the Black Lives Matter protests taking place. But, the question of diversity, in this case, was the obvious gender imbalance in NI that I get asked about at every single crime fiction event.

I had to say, that I know of plenty of women crime writers living in Northern Ireland (Sharon Dempsey, Catriona King, Claire Allan, Gerry McCullough, myself… and if you know of more, if you are one, PLEASE let me know) but that for some reason they don’t get the same media exposure.

I don’t know why that is, because they certainly work bloody hard and have buckets of talent. I said that the question was really one for the gatekeepers.

(Yes, that was cut from the doc. The irony is not lost on me.)

What is clear is that there is a blind spot.

2. I recently read an article on books about the Good Friday Agreement. The author referenced many male names, whether they had written about the GFA or not, and – perhaps for balance? – mentioned a couple of women writers who have not published books about Northern Ireland.

Er, hello! Mine (The Bones of It) was published five years ago this month.

NB: To be clear, I’m not getting at anyone here, people can’t be expected to read everything and know everything.

Also: this is my platform.

And in the spirit of Women Aloud NI, I believe we (Obviously Still Flipping) need to elevate the voices of female writers who live in Northern Ireland or who are from Northern Ireland.

A mission statement I can get behind!

Please buy North Star here.

Support women writers.

Be kind.

Sign petitions.

Recycle.

Wash you hands.

And if you don’t know, ask.

Hope during Lockdown

As our period of lockdown in NI is extended for another few weeks, one good thing – for me – is a sense that we are getting there.

Many people say they can’t read or write at the minute, can’t summon the head space and maybe physical space, and are having difficulties with their concentration. That hasn’t been a problem for me.

I began writing as a carer who was suddenly unable to work, and I loved getting out of the house, meeting new people. Writing was work I gave myself, and I did have a couple of weeks at the start of the pandemic when I couldn’t concentrate, but then I realised it just felt like summer at home, when the kids are off school and I don’t have much freedom. Being an autism mum, there are lots of routines to follow, etc.

So, I decided to write a first draft of a novel, which I did in April. Now I am doing the second draft, but really I should be editing PROBLEMS WITH GIRLS (DI Sloane book 2) which will be released in November.

(FYI – THE SLEEPING SEASON is on offer for Kindle at the moment, and on Kindle Unlimited too.)

I am having trouble sticking to that schedule but I’m happy to be inspired, and if one project is going well I’ll lead with that.

Another project on the horizon is an anthology of short Christmas stories which I am co-editing with Claire Savage.

Submissions are now open for writers living in Northern Ireland, and we want to cover genres like: crime fiction, ghost stories, gothic, sci-fi…

Anyway, there is no point reiterating what is already on the Sesheta website. So, if you’re interested in sending us something for this exciting venture, please read the guidelines. See link below.

https://seshetawords.wordpress.com/

We are delighted to have been awarded funding from Arts Council NI for the anthology to pay our contributors. So important, especially now.

And, hopefully it is a bit of escapism, to push ourselves into the Christmas spirit right now, into a time when Covid-19 is (hopefully) not so all-consuming.

I would like to add more to this post, and clean it up, add more images. But like a lot of people, I am homeschooling and need to hand over my laptop now. So if this is a mess of typos – forgive me.

Keep well. Keep writing!