Wednesday August 22nd at Borders Bookshop at Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh.
`The week following St Hilda’s Crime & Mystery Conference, I drove up to Edinburgh with Ruth Wade for two events.
Wednesday August 22nd at Borders Bookshop
at Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh.
It was a lovely warm evening when we gathered at Borders at 6 pm to meet the evening’s panel, which consisted of Anne Perry, Alanna Knight and The Mulgray Twins. The moderator was Ruth Wade.
Anne Perry talked about plotting and how writing has enabled her to explore social issues. Alanna said that she initially got into crime writing because she liked puzzles. The twins - who declined to reveal which of them was Morna and which was Helen - said that they had started writing romance but found it boring.
There was a lively audience and the questions prompted more discussion of the benefits of writing a series and starting your characters young if you decide to do so. The twins said that they have decided that D J Smith will not age.
Thanks to Susan Nagel of Borders who had everything organised to perfection and provided us with wonderful refreshments.
Thursday, August 23rd found us at
Waterstones Bookshop
Sauceihall Street, Glasgow.
Another lovely evening; either I am always just lucky with the weather when I visit Scotland, as I go up nearly every year and the weather is always glorious, or there is some odd plot that tells the world that the weather in Scotland is bad.
The panel line-up in Glasgow was Anne Perry, Joyce Holms and The Mulgray Twins. The moderator was Ruth Wade. A slightly smaller audience than of the previous evening, but an interested and lively one nevertheless. As on the previous evening, Ruth introduced the panel and after each of the panel had spoken they did a reading from their latest books. Helen and Morna read alternate parts from their book which had its hilarious moments. And having Joyce Holms on the panel added to this immeasurably, especially when the discussion came round to ‘How not to write a crime novel’.
In all a fun evening, and my special thanks to Ewan of Waterstones who was so helpful in getting the evening set up. My thanks also to Anne Perry , Alanna Knight, Joyce Holms and Helen and Morna Mulgray, for providing us with informative and interesting discussions.