Read on to find out where I’ll be chatting with readers and authors this year.
MURDER MYSTERY NIGHT, ABINGDON LIBRARY
26th November, Abingdon Library, 6pm
I did my first murder mystery night acting as one of the suspects last year at Harrogate, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so when Jess at Abingdon Library asked me if I would take part in a similar event, I jumped at it!
Join me and Caroline Kirby, Nicola Cornick and Peter Tickler and test your powers as a sleuth to figure out who did it in Ann Cleeves’ brilliant thriller A Country House.
Tickets from Abingdon Library.
TEIGNMOUTH BOOKFEST
“ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE”
7th November
What a blast we had at the inaugural Teignmouth Bookfest. The sun was shining, the venue was glorious and I was on a panel with brilliant authors Simon McCleave, Louise Fein and Kirsty Dougal. Jane Cable our chair quizzed us about the settings in our novels, strong female leads and the differences in genre. I had the fortune to be staying with the organiser, Lucy Martin, in her gorgeous seaside house and she provided all the authors with a tasty dinner after the events. Lucy does writing retreats there and I can certainly see the appeal! Thanks to everyone who came and bought books, and to Dawn at the Pavilions and Leslie at First Draft Books for making it such a great event.
LITTLEHAMPTON BOOK FESTIVAL
24th October, The Town Hall Littlehampton
Such a wonderful morning at Littlehampton Book Festival on Saturday which was superbly organised by Tracey from the Arcade Bookshop and fabulous fellow writers Will Carver, Matt Cain and Francesca Capaldi where we covered just about everything from romantic Tuscan castles to dark goings on in people's attics to the perils of living forever.
Huge thanks to everyone who braved the weather to come and listen to us and to Tracey and her team for making us so welcome!
BURFORD LIBRARY, DARK AND DANGEROUS
20th October, Burford Library
I had such a lovely evening with fellow author Holly Hepburn at Burford Library where we quizzed each other about our books, hosted by Anne Youngson. You might think a dystopian thriller about a cure for ageing and a locked room mystery inspired by Sherlock Holmes might not have much in common, but it turns out they do!
I was fascinated by Holly's recreation of 1930's London in The Locked Room with some fabulous scenes in illicit nightclubs and gambling dens.
Holly does as much research to create her worlds as I do, only her maps and books are bigger!
Thanks to all who braved the autumn weather to come and listen, and to Anne and the Burford friends of the library for hosting us and making us so welcome.
BURFORD FESTIVAL, A GOOD READ
17th June, Baptist Chapel
I had a lovely time with fellow writers Anne Youngson and Jasper Fforde at this event where we discussed our 3 book choices, from wildly different genres, including True Grit by Charles Portis, The Shooting Party by Isobel Colegate and the Booker Prize winner Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.
You can probably guess which of those choices was mine!
There was a little disagreement about the merits of each book, but the criticism was constructive! And there were the most incredible cakes… Thanks to Burford Festival for inviting us!
LITERARY LEICESTER, CRIMES OF TOMORROW
18th March, Attenborough Arts Centre
I had so much fun appearing for the first time at Literary Leicester alongside Harry Whitehead and Michael Cordy for our Crimes of Tomorrow panel.
We discussed high-tech terrorism, environmental disasters and world-threatening medical cures amongst other things, with some fabulous questions from our chair, Dr Ben Parsons.
This festival sponsors ticket prices which means it is equally accessible to all readers and I really enjoyed engaging with such a lively and diverse audience.