Crime Fest Lessons #3

I enjoyed last year’s panels and interviews. And I took notes.  Thus I here offer for your delectation my 20 top tips and observations from CrimeFest 2017 panellists. See you at this year’s CrimeFest.

Keeping It Real, international thrillers panel with LA Larkin, Quentin Bates, JF Penn, Chris Ewan and Simon Toyne.

On computer cameras:

“Is everyone aware that hackers can turn your camera on?”
On politics:

“Why are crime writers left wing?”

“Our job as authors is not to write people off, but to ask how did they get to this point?”
On villains:

“A good villain is not a bad guy, but someone under enormous pressure.”
On research:

“We’re all scared of what’s on our search engines.”
Writing tips:

“Pinterest: a way to explore research visually.”

“Dialogue: read it out loud. Read the whole book: nuances, vocabulary, sound.”
On names:

“Make sure you google your names, or you may find out your hero has the same name as the Hungarian Prime Minister.”
Nor will we forget LA Larkin’s story of how she asked a vet what it felt like to sew up a wound, he told her to buy a leg of pork, and taught her to sew flesh.

  

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