tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35332387945482934192024-03-13T07:19:00.327+00:00Crawl SpaceSarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.comBlogger638125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-40145578958553503532021-02-16T07:32:00.002+00:002021-02-16T07:32:54.086+00:00I have a new website!<p>Please go to <a href="http://www.sarahhilary.com">www.sarahhilary.com</a> for my latest news and updates. I no longer update this blog. Thanks. </p>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-46366811518137788132020-09-01T21:33:00.002+01:002020-09-01T21:33:40.845+01:00FRAGILE cover reveal<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2KxmH9C0E3TNGLyVVwsuaQkV-mO9NkTEC49fQu-YWfnb12Q2g8m2RnH1bXJschAMqryuw9Uy7sZNF7y7b0ql7x42vc7vA7RSez8zJH6E_a2YN9LEplE5Hnt7i7HHUd9_juooBatUYE4/s1500/Fragile+Instagram+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL2KxmH9C0E3TNGLyVVwsuaQkV-mO9NkTEC49fQu-YWfnb12Q2g8m2RnH1bXJschAMqryuw9Uy7sZNF7y7b0ql7x42vc7vA7RSez8zJH6E_a2YN9LEplE5Hnt7i7HHUd9_juooBatUYE4/w328-h328/Fragile+Instagram+image.jpg" width="328" /></a></div><br />It's here! The cover to my brand new novel FRAGILE publishing on 1 April 2020. I love it! Huge thanks to Ami and the amazing art team at Pan Macmillan, and to my editor extraordinaire, Vicki Mellor.<p></p><p>FRAGILE is available to request on <a href="netgal.ly/pIjSC6 " target="_blank">NetGalley</a> or to pre-order on <a href="https://amzn.to/34FNRta" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.</p>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-20722763606572032512020-06-26T13:04:00.001+01:002020-06-26T13:04:45.599+01:00Patricia Highsmith: Preying on Our Minds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This started life as part of the paper I delivered for <a href="https://www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/content/2020-st-hilda%E2%80%99s-college-crime-fiction-weekend" target="_blank">St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend</a> in August 2019, but has been brought up to date for a feature in CrimeReads.<br />
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<a href="https://crimereads.com/patricia-highsmith-preying-on-our-minds/" target="_blank">Patricia Highsmith: Preying on Our Minds</a>
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<a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-7030242730764862042020-06-02T10:06:00.000+01:002020-06-02T10:06:45.235+01:00Never Be Broken up for CrimeFest's eDunnit Award<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2lJmS3Wy-p55S4UJwwOJEmC2Mh1Fw-jAu3NBPW_yKQ9jGuoIklke-BulaJFkCsKs3rLts8Y6S94qv-D_ax8eMu_pd5alTUJGmffeW1ThgSYmdPllVmlnPDUDBAA0uAhJW2U_xN58Rso/s1600/Never_Be_Broken_PBB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk2lJmS3Wy-p55S4UJwwOJEmC2Mh1Fw-jAu3NBPW_yKQ9jGuoIklke-BulaJFkCsKs3rLts8Y6S94qv-D_ax8eMu_pd5alTUJGmffeW1ThgSYmdPllVmlnPDUDBAA0uAhJW2U_xN58Rso/s200/Never_Be_Broken_PBB.jpg" width="130" /></a>Nice news to wake up to this morning: Never Be Broken has been shortlisted for CrimeFest's eDunnit Award 2020, alongside some of my favourite writers.<br />
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You can buy the ebook of Never Be Broken <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Broken-D-I-Marnie-Rome-ebook/dp/B07FM68979" target="_blank">here</a> (Kindle) or <a href="https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/never-be-broken-d-i-marnie-rome-6" target="_blank">here</a> (Kobo).<br />
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The full list of Awards with their shortlists is <a href="https://crimefest.com/awards-cf/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Winners to be announced online 7 July.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">Congratulations to all!</span><br />
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<a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-72583184993765001162020-05-07T10:52:00.000+01:002020-05-07T10:52:27.579+01:00Crawl Space welcomes Paddy Magrane and Red DesertHappy Publication Day to Paddy Magrane whose <a href="https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Red-Desert-Audiobook/B086WN4YH7" target="_blank">Red Desert</a> is published by Audible today. It's terrifically gripping, dropping you down into the hostile desert territory of Southern Iraq where therapist Tom witnesses a brutal sequence of deaths that can't possibly be coincidence.<br />
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Welcome to Crawl Space, Paddy!<br />
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SH: You live in a rural idyll near the Devon coast. What made you want to write about a desert warzone, which you do brilliantly, by the way; I could feel the heat and taste the dust.<br />
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PM: A local friend has spent years working for an oil company in the arid south of Iraq. In addition to being one of the world’s largest untapped reserves of oil, the desert is also littered with lethal unexploded ordnance from both Gulf wars – mines left by the Iraqis and cluster bombs the Allies dropped that failed to detonate. I remember him saying that it would take all the de-mining teams in the world an eternity to clear the desert. As a result, his team have adopted a mitigation policy – removing mines and cluster bombs if an area needs to be surveyed or drilled, but otherwise plotting their exact location, and working around them using GPS. The more he talked about his work there and the extraordinary risks he and his colleagues were willing to tolerate, the more I thought the setting would be perfect for a thriller. Throw in a killer and some unexplained deaths and I knew I had the makings of a really exciting story.<br />
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SH: Your hero, Tom, is a therapist with a tortured past. How well did you knew Tom before you began writing, and which came first - your hero or your plot?<br />
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PM: I’ve written a couple of thrillers featuring a character who shares some of Tom’s characteristics so a version of him has definitely been in my mind for years. But I’m also a therapist myself (albeit one without a tortured past) so Tom is definitely an example of an author writing what they know. I think a shrink makes a really interesting protagonist in a thriller, a genre in which the hero is normally defined by his physical skillset. Tom, it’s fair to say, is not great with his fists but he is good at seeing the world through a therapeutic lens and, when cornered, using his therapeutic insight to find a solution.<br />
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SH: How did it feel, listening to your book being narrated? I always find it such a unique experience, almost as if it's a story I don't know with characters I've never met.<br />
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PM: Prior to publication, I’d read Red Desert dozens of times checking the flow and looking for typos. As every writer knows, it’s a largely mechanical process that can sap the soul. By the time I delivered the final manuscript to Audible, I wasn’t exactly itching to hear it again. But with Joe Jameson, the book feels completely fresh and it’s so exciting to hear it brought to life. In addition to the wonderful character and cadence of his voice, he’s also managed to achieve something miraculous in my mind, distinguishing each character – whether it’s an Iraqi boy, a French doctor or a traumatised British therapist – with delicate shades of intonation.
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SH: The story is superbly unsettling and claustrophobic. I found this especially striking given these strange days we're living through. All too easy to feel Tom's unease and paranoia. How are you finding lockdown - any tips or tricks for us?<br />
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PM: I reached a point about three weeks into the lockdown when I thought I had my coping mechanism sorted. I ran most days, dramatically cut back on my news addiction so I didn’t unnecessarily trigger anxiety, stayed in contact with old friends to ensure I didn’t get lonely, and carved aside a little time each morning to outline a new novel in the hope of building some future momentum. But of course, what I hadn’t anticipated was that although nothing about the lockdown had changed, the way I felt about it was slowly shifting beneath the surface. I was still processing the new reality, even if only on an unconscious level. At around week six, I hit a wall. I was too tired to run, couldn’t be bothered to talk to anyone and felt deeply unmotivated. The lesson for me is that it’s great if you find ways to cope, but it’s also OK to feel crap. This is an emotional marathon, impacting on us all in different ways. There’s no correct way to get through it. Do what works for you and don’t beat yourself up when you have tough days. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask for help – whether from a trusted friend or a professional – if life becomes overwhelming. Being able to do that is a strength, not a weakness.<br />
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SH: Absolutely. Before lockdown, you were gearing up for Lyme Crime, a brand-new festival by the sea. What can we expect in June 2021 when the festival finally opens its doors?<br />
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PM: June 2021 cannot come soon enough! I have hopefully persuaded my existing line-up to return next year. So we’ve got Erin Kelly discussing We Know You Know, her sublime thriller about mental health and motherhood; Luke Jennings chatting to you about Killing Eve; psychological thriller titans CL Taylor and Mark Edwards in conversation; spy novelist Mick Herron speaking to Jason Goodwin, and many more treats besides. And, mindful of the fact we will by then have possibly been starved of crime festivals for a year, I’ve added another day of events. I hope to welcome Ann Cleeves, Fiona Cummins, CJ Tudor, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Roz Watkins, Cathi Unsworth and Syd Moore to the festivities.<br />
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SH: I can't wait! What's next for you on the writing front? Can we expect to hear from Tom again?<br />
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PM: I’m very fond of Tom and already have the outline of a new thriller – one involving refugees and dark establishment figures. But for now, I’m concentrating on a crime thriller set in Essex in 1953, when a storm surge overcame the east coast. The parallels between then and now – of nature hitting with terrible force and a renewed sense of collaboration and community emerging – have been striking.
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SH: That sounds exciting - great news for thriller fans! Thanks, Paddy.<br />
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You can buy Red Desert <a href="https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Red-Desert-Audiobook/B086WN4YH7">here</a>.
Paddy is on <a href="https://twitter.com/PaddyMagrane" target="_blank">Twitter</a> so do ask him questions of your own. And pencil in the last weekend of June 2021 for <a href="https://twitter.com/crimelyme" target="_blank">Lyme Crime</a>.
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-62718766050736406122020-04-19T11:12:00.000+01:002020-04-19T11:12:17.471+01:00Luke Jennings, Killing Eve, Big Book Weekend<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm thrilled to have interviewed Luke Jennings about Die For Me and Killing Eve for the <a href="https://bigbookweekend.com/" target="_blank">Big Book Weekend</a>, co-founded by Kit de Waal and Molly Flatt and supported by the BBC and Arts Council England.<br />
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Luke and I were scheduled to have this chat at <a href="https://www.lymecrime.co.uk/" target="_blank">Lyme Crime</a> (the brainchild of <a href="http://www.paddymagrane.com/" target="_blank">Paddy Magrane</a>), and we very much hope to be there in June 2021 but in the meantime, you can catch us online 8-10 May 2020. Details <a href="https://bigbookweekend.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-12765005936283194032020-04-06T13:27:00.001+01:002020-04-06T13:27:46.795+01:00Fragile is coming in 2021<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I'm thrilled to be sharing the news that my new standalone thriller, Fragile, is being published by Pan Macmillan in spring 2021.<br />
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The idea for the book grew out of my love of Rebecca, and The Handmaid's Tale, and follows the story of Nell Ballard, a young woman who finds herself working for an eccentric recluse whose former wife is a force to be reckoned with.<br />
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You can read more about the new book <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/crime-author-sarah-hilary-moves-pan-macmillan-1199522" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-72238917034708023882020-04-02T10:00:00.000+01:002020-04-02T10:00:00.547+01:00Crawl Space welcomes Lucy Atkins and Magpie LaneHappy Publication Day to Lucy Atkins whose new book, Magpie Lane (Quercus), is one of my favourite recent reads. It's tense, warm, chilling and funny; you will fall for her fabulous cast of characters, and the setting (Oxford) will make you swoon.<br />
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Welcome to Crawl Space, Lucy!<br />
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SH: You live in Oxford and teach at a university there, was it inevitable you would write a novel about the secret lives of Oxford academics, and are you now banned from
college gatherings?<br />
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LA: An Oxford friend who has just read Magpie Lane said to me the other day, ‘You’re so brave - everyone’s going to be talking about this!’ and I was actually surprised. The funny thing about writing a novel is that, perhaps inevitably, your views are conflated with those of your characters. My nanny, Dee, and her oddball historian friend Linklater have one foot in the University, but they are also outsiders and misfits, on the fringes, and are seeing the absolute worst of it because of the family Dee lives with (the Master of a College, his glamorous wife and their neglected little girl). There are actually tons of good things about Oxford, and some of my best friends are perfectly sane Oxford academics, but of course, they wouldn’t make such interesting material.
I do think that it probably was inevitable that I should write about it though, eventually. The characters you meet in the cloisters and libraries here are just too interesting to ignore. And you only have to look at, say, the recent machinations in Christ Church College to know that it can be a nest of vipers!<br />
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SH: I absolutely loved Dee and Linklater. Do you have a favourite character in the story, or one who sat at your shoulder as you wrote?<br />
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LA: Linklater, the house historian and ghost-tour guide, is a character who emerged fully formed onto the page. This might be because I once wrote a story about him, and he has been lurking around in my subconscious for a quarter of a century. My husband has always said to me ‘you have to put him in a book’ and somehow, this time, he just inserted himself. I’m very fond of him, as you can tell.<br />
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SH: I defy anyone not to fall for Linklater. Magpie Lane once had another name ..?
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LA: The lane does have a rather colourful history. Nowadays it’s a picturesque little lane leading from meadow to High Street, with College accommodation on it, but it was once a rather more dangerous, insalubrious place where stabbings, robbings and other unsavoury activities took place – which is why in the thirteenth century it was called Gropecunt Lane. In the seventeenth century, decorum won out, and they renamed it Magpie Lane after the pub that used to be there. But even the pub was dodgy, so the Victorians changed it to Grove Street. It went back to Magpie Lane in 1927 and I’m very much hoping someone will revert to the thirteenth century soon. The tourists would love it, surely.<br />
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SH: There has to be an organisation that campaigns for the restoration of old street names ... Who or what helped you when you were writing this book? Who or what hindered you?<br />
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LA: I was helped enormously by four individuals – who for obvious reasons want to stay anonymous – who have lived, or do live now, in the Master’s Lodging of Oxbridge Colleges. They gave me all the details – one or two things they told me were so jaw-dropping I couldn’t use them, as they would seem too unbelievable. It’s very frustrating not to be able to thank these kind people publically but they know who they are.
I was hindered mainly by my own self-doubt. This was, by far, the hardest of my books to write. I don’t know why but perhaps it’s because it’s the closest to the bone and I was trying to do something a bit different.<br />
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SH: If this was a launch in a bookshop and we each had a glass of wine to hand, who would you toast and why?<br />
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LA: My launch has just been cancelled, and so this is a nice question! I’d give a heartfelt thanks to my agent and my editor, and all the people at Quercus of course, and my family. But I’d also thank the people I’ve just mentioned, who opened their doors (literally) and talked to me so honestly, and openly, about what life is like behind them. It was fascinating, and they were so generous with their time. I honestly had no idea whether Magpie Lane was okay or a disaster, and having such enthusiasm from other writers has been massive, too. Other writers are what keep us sane I think – and I’m really grateful to friends who read early versions and talked about the plot and gave invaluable editorial suggestions. I’d also thank generous and kind writers like you, who are championing the book. That’s huge. We really do need each other more than ever. So: thank you, Sarah!<br />
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SH: And thank you, for coming here to chat with me. I hope Magpie Lane soars - and I'm recommending everyone buys 'two for joy'.<br />
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You can buy as many copies as you like from <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/cuckoo/lucy-atkins/9781786485571">Waterstones</a> or <a href="https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Magpie-Lane-by-Lucy-Atkins-author/9781786485564" target="_blank">Blackwells</a> or <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cuckoo-Lucy-Atkins/dp/1786485575" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.<br />
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Lucy is on <a href="https://twitter.com/lucyatkins" target="_blank">Twitter</a> so do get in touch to let her know what you thought of the book. I loved it and think you will, too.
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-33376895669850637702020-03-15T16:27:00.000+00:002020-03-15T16:27:02.278+00:00Killer Women : Fresh Blood : Trevor WoodPlease welcome the fourth and final <a href="https://killerwomen.org/" target="_blank">Killer Women</a> Fresh Blood panellist, Trevor Wood. Trevor is a playwright turned crime writer who started his working life in the Royal Navy. The Man On The Street (Quercus) is his first novel. Lee Child called it, ‘Fresh, original, authentic and gritty,’ while Mari Hannah said, ‘What more do you want from a debut than a unique protagonist and a cracking plot-line?’<br />
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SH: Trevor, you’re involved in working or volunteering with homeless people. And you served in the Royal Navy for 16 years. How did that influence your hero’s story?<br />
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TW: The Navy background was the initial influence. When I first came up with the idea of a homeless man seeing a murder my initial research told me that ex-servicemen constitute around 10 per cent of the homeless population. I knew that this gave me a way in to my protagonist – I may not have known a lot about being homeless but I knew how ex-servicemen thought and behaved. Whilst writing the story I went to visit the People’s Kitchen in Newcastle which provides hot meals for over 100 people every day. It’s staffed entirely by unpaid volunteers but at the time they had a waiting list for helping there – which says a lot about the city I think. I kept my eye on the lists and when a vacancy came up I grabbed it so now spend one afternoon a week working in a hot kitchen making supersize versions of the meals I would cook at home. Mixing with the volunteers and the ‘friends’ as we call our clients gave me the impetus to focus more on the homeless experience than the ex-serviceman experience, not just on the shameful way we treat people, or the pitiful lack of affordable housing,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>but on the idea that these people were, and still can be, resourceful, capable, members of society and, in many cases, are more honourable than those who are supposed to be role models.<br />
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SH: You’re a hugely successful playwright who decided to turn to crime (novels). What would you call the biggest difference between the two disciplines?<br />
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TW: The first, most glaring, difference is the sheer number of words. A standard, full-length play probably comes in around 15,000 words while you’re looking at a minimum of 80k for a crime novel – and I had a co-writer for the plays so, theoretically, only had to come up with around half of the words! So sheer volume of work is a big difference.
The second thing is the nature of the writing. Plays, by definition, are almost entirely dialogue. There are a few stage directions but actors don’t much like being told what to do by writers so these are usually kept to a minimum. So, when I started to try and write my first crime novel I was confident that I could handle the dialogue but had to learn how to do everything else. I did a couple of local writing courses and joined a local writing group and gradually managed to get a grip on what to do in between the dialogue! My editing, even now, often consists of trimming out dialogue and adding a little more description.<br />
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If I’m allowed a third thing… because I co-wrote the plays we planned everything from the get-go. The whole play would be mapped out and then we would divide up the scenes, head back to our own territory, write our own bit and then swop them around. Once we’d got a rough draft we’d sit together to edit. For my crime novels it’s the complete opposite. I don’t plan at all. I start with an opening chapter and go from there. Maybe it’s a reaction to the previous over-planning but it feels more organic to me and almost as if it’s happening in real time – as it would for any actual investigator, my protagonist can follow hunches but has no sure idea what might happen next. I have this crazy idea that if I don’t know what’s happening next it will be pretty hard for the reader to guess. It does mean that I have to do a lot of editing, retro-fitting the plot to make it all work, but if it’s good enough for Lee Child ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj_v4L5TNG569JQm1vafuH0oWRlg5rWD71xX-UvM-2s-0fcfp-XSPQp9OkInwI-tMsHAIToJV0fDB95LDfXF4N0UD0wt-TodlKpPTzL7KASwuZ-fvOOeVrmYb0uY-3-hKdjz34vFMAR8/s1600/ELvHIYqWkAAekiZ.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOj_v4L5TNG569JQm1vafuH0oWRlg5rWD71xX-UvM-2s-0fcfp-XSPQp9OkInwI-tMsHAIToJV0fDB95LDfXF4N0UD0wt-TodlKpPTzL7KASwuZ-fvOOeVrmYb0uY-3-hKdjz34vFMAR8/s200/ELvHIYqWkAAekiZ.jpeg" width="133" /></a>SH: Can you expand on your road to publication?<br />
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TW: My first attempt at a crime novel is sitting on my laptop waiting for the world to change. One of the problems was that I stayed in my comfort zone. I wrote it in first person – falling back on the idea that dialogue was my strength (see above). Also, the tone was comedic, again doing what I knew I could do, most of our plays were out-and-out comedies. It got me an agent but stalled there. It was only later that I discovered the publishing world doesn’t really know what to do with comic crime. Editors have enough trouble judging whether a book is good or not, if they then have to judge whether it’s funny that’s two difficult, risky decisions. The knockout blow is that they then have to decide whether other people will think it’s funny. I’m hoping that Mick Herron’s success may mean I can resurrect the book one day.<br />
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I decided to throw that all away and try instead to write the kind of book I like to read, gritty, socially aware, realistic crime, think Dennis Lehane, Eva Dolan and, um, Sarah Hilary. This meant completely stripping down my natural style and starting again. So I did another course. The inaugural MA in Crime Writing at UEA – the best decision I could have made. A great course, based hugely on peer-to-peer feedback and I had the help of ten other hugely committed wannabe crime writers and visiting speakers like Ian Rankin, Denise Mina and Lee Child. Of the eleven who started the course, five now have book deals, including Harriet Tyce, of Blood Orange fame, and three others have agents and books on the way. The final deliverable of the course was an 80k-word crime novel and that was the book that became The Man on the Street.
After that the journey was a story of long gaps with sudden bursts of joy. I had got rid of my first agent (long story, but basically I could never get him to meet me) and I had nearly a year of rejections before the wonderful Oli Munson at AM Heath read the book in a day and offered me representation within two days of me sending out my initial enquiry. We then had a second long wait as rejections, some hugely encouraging but rejections nonetheless, crept in. Eventually we had strong interest from one editor but subject to a significant rewrite. We took the plunge. Several months of hard work later that was rejected too. HOWEVER… the new version went out to a handful of editors and the offers came in almost immediately, including one from the estimable Jane Wood at Quercus. I nearly bit her hand off.<br />
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SH: What's next for you?<br />
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TW: I wrote The Man on the Street under the distinct impression I was writing a standalone novel. To my surprise everyone else thought it was a series so I’ve been working on book 2, provisionally entitled One Way Street and the second draft is in my editor’s hands as I type this. Like the first book it’s currently planned to be given a soft launch, in e-book and audio, in October this year before full publication in hardback in March 2021. The other big thing is that The Man on the Street has been optioned for TV and film by World Productions, the makers of Line of Duty and Bodyguard. I try very hard to keep things on an even keel – I know that not everything that gets optioned ends up on screen - but I’m finding it tricky not to get ridiculously excited about this.<br />
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Thanks, Trevor!<br />
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You can buy The Man on the Street <a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Trevor-Wood/The-Man-on-the-Street/24524554" target="_blank">here</a> (supporting your local indie bookshop). Do join the discussion on Twitter where Trevor can be found <a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorWoodWrite" target="_blank">here</a>.
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Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-64476532076949779152020-03-15T16:04:00.001+00:002020-03-15T16:24:08.288+00:00Killer Women Festival : Fresh Blood : Kate BradleyWelcome to the third of my <a href="https://killerwomen.org/" target="_blank">Killer Women</a> Fresh Blood panellists, Kate Bradley. Kate has worked for years with vulnerable and marginalised individuals in prisons, mental health hospitals, and amongst the homeless. To Keep You Safe (Zaffre) is her first book. CJ Tudor called it, ‘strong and fast-paced; a change from the usual thriller.’<br />
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SH: Kate, your work with marginalised people must have been an influence on your writing. Did that make it easier or harder to create a fictional cast?<br />
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KB: Definitely easier. I've worked with many people with complex needs. In one role, I helped manage a large, multisite housing project, for many years. Working in and around people's homes, you obviously get to know the people you work with, really well. Although many of them had committed terrible crimes, it's right to set that aside and see the whole person. It's true their stories flavour my writing, but only from a distance. Up close, my characters are their own people and stubbornly so.<br />
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SH: Let’s talk about what happened after you’d finished your manuscript and started looking for a publisher. That road can be a rocky one. What was your experience, highs and lows?<br />
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KB: My experience was an unusual one. I met my editor, the epic Katherine Armstrong, through The WoMentoring Project (a project for 'undiscovered' writers). She was beyond generous, helping me with a previous script. That improved script saw me signed to Jane Gregory, who for obvious reasons, has always been my dream agent. Jane wanted me to write something new -- I did and then she pitched it to Katherine who bought it immediately before another publisher saw it. It sounds easy, but there was over a decade of struggle before that.<br />
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SH: There are so many new and interesting roads to being published now. What’s next for you?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxZQ1sNnrGcL5VB_Uh0M59-gRpHwqPyDgwk_NhpDnxZlHfKGa3R70PSClKUQUr4StBs9hI8g9H9nXTVReNy8I1tobmoW3goZEs4drOPq0ipP_GbtmqMbwAySG6v-6eU5RVCm4OGsOyiU/s1600/ELvGH7RWoAAs7bs.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="453" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxZQ1sNnrGcL5VB_Uh0M59-gRpHwqPyDgwk_NhpDnxZlHfKGa3R70PSClKUQUr4StBs9hI8g9H9nXTVReNy8I1tobmoW3goZEs4drOPq0ipP_GbtmqMbwAySG6v-6eU5RVCm4OGsOyiU/s200/ELvGH7RWoAAs7bs.jpeg" width="133" /></a>KB: I’m thrilled that my next book - another psychological thriller - is coming out this time next year. I'm also working on another new one to keep me busy over the summer. I've been writing for years: I'm not sure I'd know how not to! What on earth would I do with my time?
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Thanks, Kate!<br />
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You can buy To Keep You Safe <a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Kate-Bradley/To-Keep-You-Safe--A-gripping-and-unpredictable-new-thrill/24518924" target="_blank">here</a> (supporting your local indie bookshop). Do join the discussion on Twitter where Kate can be found <a href="https://twitter.com/kate__bradley" target="_blank">here</a>.
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-49437120086938034932020-03-15T10:04:00.000+00:002020-03-15T10:04:07.592+00:00Killer Women Festival : Fresh Blood : Russ ThomasWelcome to the second of my <a href="https://killerwomen.org/" target="_blank">Killer Women</a> Fresh Blood panellists, Russ Thomas, who works as a mentor and creative writing tutor. Lee Child is a fan of his debut, Firewatching (Simon & Schuster), calling it, ‘a UK cop novel with a pitch-perfect blend of the best of the old and the best of the new; all the traditional strengths and charms are here, with a fresh and relevant 21st-century edge.’
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SH: Russ, you took a trip around the world before writing Firewatching, which is set in Sheffield. How important was location to you when creating the series?<br />
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RT: It was very important. I tried a few other places in early drafts but all of them in this country - I never envisioned setting it in Thailand or Australia or anything (that would have meant doing far too much research!). But I ended up settling on Sheffield because it's the city I know best. Tyler is a city boy, just like me, and finds the quiet of the countryside almost unsettling. Of course, in the case of Firewatching, the countryside is a pretty unsettling place. I made up the small village of Castledene because I didn't want to put all the horrible things that go on there on a real village in the Peak District. I don't feel the same way about Sheffield though, it's big enough to take it. In a way, this is my way of giving something back to the city that took me in twenty-five years ago. It's such a great place, famous for what it used to be rather than what it is now. It's also the fourth largest city in the country but largely gets ignored. Hopefully, Firewatching will help put it back on the map in some small way.<br />
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SH: Let’s talk about what happened you had finished your manuscripts and started looking for a publisher. That road can be a rocky one. How was it for you? I hear you originally started writing Firewatching in 2005?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuWbkLBzsSmcKfAattPWgQ-RomDbrO-mQ4IrAWlCXAPMucw6PCZZNn1YA41nwfTzA6jtUw9WlD6iG3X4ND1SroI-Q222dQBYhsirEgl-hggVq0AsxWR9Eg4AGUsAuT32a8UVXQ1HVuOo/s1600/cwY1_NhK_400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="180" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuWbkLBzsSmcKfAattPWgQ-RomDbrO-mQ4IrAWlCXAPMucw6PCZZNn1YA41nwfTzA6jtUw9WlD6iG3X4ND1SroI-Q222dQBYhsirEgl-hggVq0AsxWR9Eg4AGUsAuT32a8UVXQ1HVuOo/s200/cwY1_NhK_400x400.jpg" width="200" /></a>RT: It was 2008 actually, but still a long time ago. I started the manuscript when I began my MA in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University. I came away from that three years later with a finished manuscript and a fairly average mark. Then my father died and all thoughts of writing went out of my head for a bit. When I came back to it, I found myself writing a story that was much more about fathers and sons than the original had been, unsurprisingly perhaps. I started sending it out to agents and getting politely worded responses, all the usual stuff - "I liked your writing but it's just not quite right for me" etc. After exhausting a huge number of agencies I decided to put it away and work on something else. I wrote a whole different novel. But I kept coming back to Firewatching. It was working on the character of Adam Tyler that finally changed it into something. I rewrote him changing the tense, changing the point of view, even changing Tyler's name, and somehow through all of that process, Tyler emerged as he is today. I searched for him for years and then he just turned up and said, "I'm here". And at that point I knew I had something worth sending out again. This time I got three agents who were interested almost immediately and from there the book went to auction. I can't honestly say what the one thing was that made the difference. Maybe it was just the passage of time and me getting better at writing. I can tell you though that all the reasons people gave for not liking it originally are all the things people now tell me is what they love about it. So my advice is to listen when people tell you there's something wrong with your manuscript but work out for yourself what needs changing. After all, it's your vision, you just need to find a way to get that vision across to the reader.<br />
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SH: What’s next for you?<br />
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RT: Book 2 will be out next year and continues Tyler's story. It's called Nighthawking. I'm just about to start work on book 3.<br />
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Thanks, Russ!<br />
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You can buy Firewatching <a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Russ-Thomas/Firewatching/22726638" target="_blank">here</a> (supporting your local indie bookshop). Do join the discussion on Twitter where Russ can be found <a href="https://twitter.com/thevoiceofruss" target="_blank">here</a>.
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-41486809529002283892020-03-15T08:58:00.000+00:002020-03-15T09:49:04.111+00:00Killer Women Festival : Fresh Blood : Bella EllisHello and welcome to the (virtual) <a href="https://killerwomen.org/" target="_blank">Killer Women</a> Fresh Blood panel. I’m going to be chatting with four fantastic debut crime authors who will spill the beans about their books, and share a publishing secret or two. You can join the discussion on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/killerwomenorg" target="_blank">here</a>. Do ask questions and, most importantly, buy the books!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52Qxl53Mg7-jLbDHihGmgxrn6hAdgcHmVcLQSP-ryaD8SrpkkuDLI6prB4lLrGyXzY6bmD_adUXeyJOifCyxJzoTzUXsBrwdLIW3i-aTF3vIRQdxByt4-Ak9scusP20KNSZoZLpU2MFU/s1600/71se2c4YnkL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi52Qxl53Mg7-jLbDHihGmgxrn6hAdgcHmVcLQSP-ryaD8SrpkkuDLI6prB4lLrGyXzY6bmD_adUXeyJOifCyxJzoTzUXsBrwdLIW3i-aTF3vIRQdxByt4-Ak9scusP20KNSZoZLpU2MFU/s320/71se2c4YnkL.jpg" width="198" /></a>First up is Bella Ellis whose crime debut, The Vanished Bride (Hodder & Stoughton) is the first in a new mystery series about the Brontë sisters (aided or otherwise by their feckless brother) investigating crimes whilst finding inspiration for their best-loved books. The Wall Street Journal called it ‘a delight’ while the Guardian praised it as a ‘splendid adventure, touching and often funny’.
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Bella Ellis is the Brontë-esque pseudonym of bestselling author, Rowan Coleman, who’s been obsessed with the Brontës since childhood. I always think that’s the best thing to have as a writer: an obsession.<br />
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SH: Bella, you’ve spending a lot of time wondering what life might have been like for female detectives in the 1850s. What conclusions have you reached?<br />
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BE: For women in the 1850s life was a precarious and dangerous business no matter what social background you came from, so much of what women did then, had a high probability of resulting in death, from working at the mill to becoming pregnant. In a way, though middle class spinsters, particularly the ones that had to earn a living were looked down upon, they were in a better position than most. As Charlotte famously said, ‘what author would be without the advantage of being able to walk invisible?’ She was referring to being unsuspected as the famous author Currer Bell because of her gender, but it could be equally said of being an investigator. Single, ineligible women were largely ignored at the same time as being allowed entry to a great many situations. It could be the perfect undercover disguise.<br />
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SH: Your chosen pseudonym is very clever (literary sleuths will know why)! You’ve talked about identifying with Charlotte Brontë’s writerly angst. Was there a lot of angst in taking on this pseudonym and starting a mystery series?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LqA-YNTIDFc72v36owEuWDGyZkanl90YaD73pMfTs3SdWUSR7I3ZunrvxayAqtPlwU7JeTtBjueVLiAE1u9qMUPvZ8VcmaBPH0jzMysBvAq8-IImBcr8nNYYtQ3SBsJP1pwDzRKyjZk/s1600/2199518.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="338" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LqA-YNTIDFc72v36owEuWDGyZkanl90YaD73pMfTs3SdWUSR7I3ZunrvxayAqtPlwU7JeTtBjueVLiAE1u9qMUPvZ8VcmaBPH0jzMysBvAq8-IImBcr8nNYYtQ3SBsJP1pwDzRKyjZk/s200/2199518.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div>
BE: SO MUCH ANGST! For a variety of reasons. Firstly, though I’m a life long Brontë fan, I’m a novelist and not a historian or an academic, and really worried about what people would think of me engaging with the Brontë family this way, and secondly because this is my first foray into mystery and I know how much hard work and expertise goes into writing a well placed, intricately plotted crime or suspense novel. In the end I asked my self what would Emily do, but I thought she’d probably just go for walk, write the story and never show anyone. So then I asked what would Charlotte do, and I remembered that Charlotte said,’ I’m just going to write because I cannot help it.’ And then I did what Anne would have done, which is lots of research and hard work. Generally I think as writers, we have to keep frightening ourselves to stay engage, and that’s always been my tactic.<br />
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SH: What's next for you?<br />
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BE: The second in The Brontë Mysteries - The Diabolical Bones is due out in November (The paperback of The Vanished Bride in September) and I’m working on a new Rowan Coleman idea right now, which I’m very excited about.<br />
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Thanks, Bella!<br />
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You can buy The Vanished Bride <a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Bella-Ellis/The-Vanished-Bride--An-absolutely-perfect-winter-mystery-/23964286" target="_blank">here</a> (supporting your local indie bookshop). Do join the discussion on Twitter where Bella can be found <a href="https://twitter.com/brontemysteries" target="_blank">here</a>.
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-82096463581503955742020-01-22T10:31:00.000+00:002020-01-22T10:31:06.067+00:00Never Be Broken is out in paperback<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUqpYOvlu3C0BnFsbmshd3LlJGk4VbAWZzrclDT5LJZqbvtE3Nexl0kTkCzf_7QA-gUQ1OM-giusqZGBp0N6WCD7PefTEE4_CRtzI1vH0CBDFMHKLdcm4b9KwdG3MIpTfJHmwutFbJ_A/s1600/Never_Be_Broken_PBB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUqpYOvlu3C0BnFsbmshd3LlJGk4VbAWZzrclDT5LJZqbvtE3Nexl0kTkCzf_7QA-gUQ1OM-giusqZGBp0N6WCD7PefTEE4_CRtzI1vH0CBDFMHKLdcm4b9KwdG3MIpTfJHmwutFbJ_A/s320/Never_Be_Broken_PBB.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
Tomorrow, my sixth novel will be published in paperback. Six whole actual books! My teenage self is turning somersaults. Huge thanks to the readers, reviewers, bloggers and book lovers who've been on this amazing journey with me. What a ride!<br />
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<a href="https://amzn.to/3ax8lon" target="_blank">Buy the book in the UK</a><br />
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<a href="https://bit.ly/2GeHBLu" target="_blank">Buy with free shipping worldwide</a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-70594577587769213092020-01-21T10:51:00.000+00:002020-01-28T10:13:24.594+00:00Interviewing Joe Barton, writer of Giri/Haji<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK862NE7eRL1tEoBxeC0I1RbxwuGA1JwCbj-JP-Ep0zci6XyW64cGswNtmxDRCxsN8LDA-c1Z3HOnioBAwwOQZaXEv_76ThjljxUQg_Xk43piuO_LDWCqOjdaTvMQ9cw49slMzbKveN6c/s1600/81237646_2674658075953596_893209380588093440_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="959" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK862NE7eRL1tEoBxeC0I1RbxwuGA1JwCbj-JP-Ep0zci6XyW64cGswNtmxDRCxsN8LDA-c1Z3HOnioBAwwOQZaXEv_76ThjljxUQg_Xk43piuO_LDWCqOjdaTvMQ9cw49slMzbKveN6c/s320/81237646_2674658075953596_893209380588093440_o.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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To celebrate the paperback publication of Never Be Broken on Thursday, I was delighted to interview Joe Barton, writer of the truly excellent TV drama, Giri/Haji. Big thanks to Joe for his terrific answers.<br />
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<a href="https://www.crimefiles.co.uk/the-crime-files/2020/01/21/sarah-hilary-interviews-joe-barton-writer-of-giri-haji/" target="_blank">Read the interview</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Broken-D-I-Marnie-Rome/dp/147224902X" target="_blank">Buy the book </a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-6285202744964921602020-01-07T18:49:00.000+00:002020-01-07T18:49:25.928+00:00Never Be Broken : Japan Book Tour & Giveaway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTt8T-uq3sFAfrw9eI5UW6DpLVwWJ3Fck2kHUl_Du6VIBSSyrI9pHi7PiGjigLEu1vDBNIzjfn31B_zAK8Kd1RZoBZOwVeLbhivooWLKa5S9t1tXXo8EJmo-8laqTsoevXhYHvOppSGU/s1600/Never_Be_Broken_PBB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTt8T-uq3sFAfrw9eI5UW6DpLVwWJ3Fck2kHUl_Du6VIBSSyrI9pHi7PiGjigLEu1vDBNIzjfn31B_zAK8Kd1RZoBZOwVeLbhivooWLKa5S9t1tXXo8EJmo-8laqTsoevXhYHvOppSGU/s320/Never_Be_Broken_PBB.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
Never Be Broken is out in paperback on 23 January and about to travel to Japan with me for a photo tour! If you're on Twitter then please follow me to retweet and share its adventures as I'll be choosing TWO LUCKY WINNERS to win the book plus a bag of Japanese goodies on my return. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">幸運を </span><br />
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Click <a href="https://twitter.com/sarah_hilary/status/1214558019075244032">here</a> to retweet and be in with a chance to win!
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-65609178007961125742020-01-07T08:11:00.000+00:002020-01-07T08:11:01.327+00:00Never Be Broken picked by LoveReading<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNfypWH6T2NGJgsn0ZPyA9LGt0udKdJsjwQOz0kVDTB7Pp2olM2wdMcSxlj-YVEAXvNtagPuUAj6PtpAOUGIhaTZ6fzN9oYk3iUXoyqkhyphenhyphencuQsXEvlR1kparV3fdl7iOVQ5fW0tEF-dM/s1600/ENnFv3NW4AEwHj2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="260" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFNfypWH6T2NGJgsn0ZPyA9LGt0udKdJsjwQOz0kVDTB7Pp2olM2wdMcSxlj-YVEAXvNtagPuUAj6PtpAOUGIhaTZ6fzN9oYk3iUXoyqkhyphenhyphencuQsXEvlR1kparV3fdl7iOVQ5fW0tEF-dM/s200/ENnFv3NW4AEwHj2.jpeg" width="130" /></a>Delighted to find Never Be Broken picked by LoveReading as one of their <a href="https://www.lovereading.co.uk/genre/cwh/Crime-and-Mystery.html" target="_blank">Crime and Mystery Books of the Month</a> alongside the mighty Mark Billingham, Alex Marwood and more.<br />
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Never Be Broken is out in paperback on 23 January and you can preorder <a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Sarah-Hilary/Never-Be-Broken-DI-Marnie-Rome-6/24114609" target="_blank">here</a> to support independent bookshops in the UK or via <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/147224902X" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-49919495951339842202019-12-30T09:27:00.000+00:002019-12-30T09:27:35.618+00:00Come and Find Me for 99p<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkKX_Gur4BoittfD8JI8h729VC7OJ4HXj83ZYEdejFfKhmI8hz-codi7eZ2l4dSTNr8kQ1Gn_7Ld41gAWEzSslIRuqNMe1fYB1DJkMWx5ZIc3K-2mWZn7Al1WSm1lgzz8vGujgEro7e8/s1600/ENBhwC9WkAEGR9M.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="680" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkKX_Gur4BoittfD8JI8h729VC7OJ4HXj83ZYEdejFfKhmI8hz-codi7eZ2l4dSTNr8kQ1Gn_7Ld41gAWEzSslIRuqNMe1fYB1DJkMWx5ZIc3K-2mWZn7Al1WSm1lgzz8vGujgEro7e8/s320/ENBhwC9WkAEGR9M.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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My fifth book, Come and Find Me, is currently on sale for just 99p if you have a Kindle or Kobo. It's the book Ben Daniels called 'Totally gripping and oh so twistilicious'. Links below!<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Come-Find-Marnie-Rome-Book-ebook/dp/B072M1ZZX1" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a><br />
<a href="https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/come-and-find-me-di-marnie-rome-book-5" target="_blank">Kobo UK</a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-37158135260758912562019-12-14T15:38:00.000+00:002019-12-14T15:38:47.096+00:00Killer Women Festival 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3np4MgTJ_ToS5FuYlGgDjIlqkZH-SVlPFgdu5Hmyi2HWssT2xc_o4VLaR6ssd9rELEtDGPmF2-Xw7ShizVG5K-2Ib1xbyunC6IScfS0wV1G9YviABllVAUE6wxmrf0jxRDdvWgdN682g/s1600/ELwcCOWXUAEPC3a.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="634" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3np4MgTJ_ToS5FuYlGgDjIlqkZH-SVlPFgdu5Hmyi2HWssT2xc_o4VLaR6ssd9rELEtDGPmF2-Xw7ShizVG5K-2Ib1xbyunC6IScfS0wV1G9YviABllVAUE6wxmrf0jxRDdvWgdN682g/s200/ELwcCOWXUAEPC3a.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
This is shaping up to be one of the best crime fiction and drama festivals around, with next year's programme packed with star guests and festival firsts: a live demonstration of police dog training; crime writing for kids; the real Peaky Blinders; forensic challenges; former prison inmates; true crime TV scoops and exclusives, and panels on psychopaths, cults and toxic masculinity. I'll be hosting the Fresh Blood panel with four terrific debut crime writers.<br />
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If you're not already subscribing to their Crime Club newsletter, do sign up now as you'll be sent a special notice when the early bird tickets go on sale on 1 January. A full day of crime fiction favourites for just £65? You can't whack it!<br />
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More information <a href="https://killerwomen.org/killer-women-festival-2/" target="_blank">here</a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-92092171277999528952019-12-05T16:46:00.000+00:002019-12-05T16:46:07.443+00:00St Hilda's Crime Fiction Weekend 2020<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjE9CP9cn23ufahiMNZCat6StgdpdCBbTMS-JjfDScveC_nhKXIu2Xx7ux1A51_OIFRPh7Cw_2UABv8DsNtiPx7S8r56w41rlvWsUSD5fXnHz4ei42U1Ph8HjnKLGoXzCquoBH0QY_-Uo/s1600/rgGX5knq_400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjE9CP9cn23ufahiMNZCat6StgdpdCBbTMS-JjfDScveC_nhKXIu2Xx7ux1A51_OIFRPh7Cw_2UABv8DsNtiPx7S8r56w41rlvWsUSD5fXnHz4ei42U1Ph8HjnKLGoXzCquoBH0QY_-Uo/s200/rgGX5knq_400x400.jpg" width="200" /></a>I'm very excited to be helping to organise next year's St Hilda's Crime Writing Weekend, which is held in glorious Oxford over the weekend 14-16 August 2020. The theme is 'All Our Yesterdays: Historical Crime Fiction'. Guest speakers will include Laura Shepherd-Robinson, Abir Mukherjee, Vaseem Khan and William Shaw. Do come if you can; it's a weekend like no other and unmissable for crime fiction fans. You'll have drinks on the lawn, a murder mystery supper (we hope to persuade Mick Herron to reprise his Geordie detective) and a super Sunday lunch. You can stay on campus for the full Oxford collegiate experience!<br />
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<a href="https://www.st-hildas.ox.ac.uk/content/2020-st-hilda%E2%80%99s-college-crime-fiction-weekend" target="_blank">More information and tickets here</a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-44866884141322836352019-12-02T13:08:00.000+00:002019-12-02T13:09:29.497+00:00Granite Noir 2020<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7ybapzEqWLYCs8z_65vIDSYZBm9Ef3-sVngaPsnIoE304PNW-ChmVDYlOUgJxAjPcRVKZKa8u0lD9HKnCH3mev2SWgHsAswnU-Q9gc5Yq7V5JbITDQM9LaknPGyiO6IqRlImSDSYt7s/s1600/gn2020cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="532" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7ybapzEqWLYCs8z_65vIDSYZBm9Ef3-sVngaPsnIoE304PNW-ChmVDYlOUgJxAjPcRVKZKa8u0lD9HKnCH3mev2SWgHsAswnU-Q9gc5Yq7V5JbITDQM9LaknPGyiO6IqRlImSDSYt7s/s320/gn2020cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Delighted to be making my debut at Granite Noir in February 2020 alongside Alice Feeney and Dorothy Koomson. We'll be discussing Suspense with a Topical Twist. Do come!<br />
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<a href="https://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/whats-on/all-shows/suspense-with-a-topical-twist-granite-noir-2020" target="_blank">Tickets and info</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-75418352715512407062019-09-04T12:20:00.002+01:002019-09-04T12:22:27.472+01:00Noirwich, flash fiction, Scandal and the city<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKV2AqfTLKbCv_vE37f89DLvuKSgvyy88EGdL4AW8kISU4cPw-0rAlPX0Oy0ill-KTUTiLhz7UWQrkCMW0SAsfuqf6hrcK1eeA8rqr9edI4gcWbFLMi5G9mSo4KaKmht8iWJuNUoieDE/s1600/EDiHqdsXYAA9h08.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKV2AqfTLKbCv_vE37f89DLvuKSgvyy88EGdL4AW8kISU4cPw-0rAlPX0Oy0ill-KTUTiLhz7UWQrkCMW0SAsfuqf6hrcK1eeA8rqr9edI4gcWbFLMi5G9mSo4KaKmht8iWJuNUoieDE/s320/EDiHqdsXYAA9h08.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
Chuffed to discover my flash fiction on bus stops around Norwich as part of <a href="https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/" target="_blank">Noirwich Crime Writing Festival</a>, 12-15 Sept. I'll be on a panel with Leye Adenle and Vaseem Khan, chaired by Ayo Onatade, on Saturday 14th, and speaking about my love of flash fiction at the evening session on that same day. Do come!<br />
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<a href="https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/whats-on/scandal-in-the-city/" target="_blank">Details and tickets</a>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-63258854916128757332019-06-21T18:35:00.001+01:002019-06-21T18:35:41.382+01:00Harrogate Festival's Library Conference '19<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUM0LWyw5wHvIMGCnCVJfjXv8_DyUp8GW8XKcvPdp_co367N1zYYq0X1x2Aqiv8UAsbQpy4yj1MDO77qWSaq2lR19OptV7LQqxTU8xbYo2gOwneza8OZBjlWDNO0-60C7ZiOt9N30AhE/s1600/READ-websize.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1077" data-original-width="1600" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUM0LWyw5wHvIMGCnCVJfjXv8_DyUp8GW8XKcvPdp_co367N1zYYq0X1x2Aqiv8UAsbQpy4yj1MDO77qWSaq2lR19OptV7LQqxTU8xbYo2gOwneza8OZBjlWDNO0-60C7ZiOt9N30AhE/s200/READ-websize.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
I'm very happy to be chairing this event for <a href="https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/category/theakston-festival/on-sale-now/" target="_blank">Theakstons Crime</a> and Harrogate Festival as part of their Library Conference on Friday 19 July at the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate.<br />
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<a href="https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/big-read-library-conference/" target="_blank">How To Engage with Publishers and Build Relationships with Authors</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-68462396868879166592019-06-18T19:16:00.000+01:002019-06-18T19:16:31.343+01:00My Top Ten Strange Tastes in Fiction for You're Booked<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOGI-QQScI5N4djmHJniI74FbKBRUuDFd5QhzqTs0OhL1PNI0VmiRIbYVkwnR4Rq5fSKJ9Cxl-tayOKV0ij_adcLbe-1EkP2e5ZRBR-jUC-RZlheOt8Vx0Ogq0lrOYoJZ4MsN1P-QYzk/s1600/64257764_2284675711618503_7657867989449965568_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOGI-QQScI5N4djmHJniI74FbKBRUuDFd5QhzqTs0OhL1PNI0VmiRIbYVkwnR4Rq5fSKJ9Cxl-tayOKV0ij_adcLbe-1EkP2e5ZRBR-jUC-RZlheOt8Vx0Ogq0lrOYoJZ4MsN1P-QYzk/s320/64257764_2284675711618503_7657867989449965568_n.jpg" width="200" /></a>From Humbert Humbert's pineapple and gin cocktail to Iguana John Howard Sharp, these are my favourite strange drinks and dishes in fiction, online over at You're Booked, the blog for Theakstons Crime Writing Festival. Tell me some of yours!<br />
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<a href="http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/yourebooked/2019/06/sarah-hilarys-top-ten-strange-tastes-in-fiction" target="_blank">Top Ten Strange Tastes in Fiction</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-35411351205758699822019-06-16T15:56:00.000+01:002019-06-17T16:01:03.896+01:00Never Be Broken and Joe Country both Thrillers of the Month in the Observer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjUhyphenhyphengpk7NpBeXjq4TRFA_h9sMgU36fXXVEN5eRm_9ZEkBey7dHaCnKn4kMzpN9ffvKqtInUv3yMYzIOW_TTYJ27Y24UrUxtBTw5YIMU-vvftzoOOWdfFFxJ9g48Wt1jX25uJPx2Pj1o/s1600/D9La3avW4AIjxvH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjUhyphenhyphengpk7NpBeXjq4TRFA_h9sMgU36fXXVEN5eRm_9ZEkBey7dHaCnKn4kMzpN9ffvKqtInUv3yMYzIOW_TTYJ27Y24UrUxtBTw5YIMU-vvftzoOOWdfFFxJ9g48Wt1jX25uJPx2Pj1o/s200/D9La3avW4AIjxvH.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
A huge thank you to Alison Flood, writing in the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jun/17/those-people-the-missing-years-never-be-broken-joe-country-thrillers-of-the-month?CMP=share_btn_tw" target="_blank">Observer New Review</a>, who has picked <a href="https://guardianbookshop.com/never-be-broken-d-i-marnie-rome-6-9781472249005.html" target="_blank">Never Be Broken</a><span id="goog_1256004364"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1256004365"></span> as one of her Thrillers of the Month. Alison has been a big supporter of my Marnie Rome series from the very start, in fact she made me cry with her brilliant review of my debut, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/09/someone-elses-skin-sarah-hilary-debut-review" target="_blank">Someone Else's Skin</a>. What's more, she's chosen Never Be Broken alongside Joe Country by the mighty Mick Herron, who is one of my favourite writers. If you're not already reading his <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Slow-Horses-Jackson-Lamb-Thriller/dp/1473674182" target="_blank">Slough House series</a>, do start!
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<a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Sarah-Hilary/Never-Be-Broken-DI-Marnie-Rome-6/23339465" target="_blank">Buy Never Be Broken from Hive UK</a><br />
<a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Never-Be-Broken-D-I-Marnie-Rome-6-Sarah-Hilary/9781472249005" target="_blank">Or With free shipping to US</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a class="twitter-share-button" count="none" href="http://twitter.com/share" style="text-align: center;" via="sarah_hilary">Tweet</a></span>Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3533238794548293419.post-17320287203234529362019-06-03T13:12:00.000+01:002019-06-03T13:12:12.611+01:00Never Be Broken picked as Book of the Month by Theakstons Crime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfQ2isXjzRsCnjCcXOerWrGLhDyUA6COzvlTyQbxBoFnXbusxSA36y9nIMk51m-G0zxu9RNLBUDpX3cOGhx8wNnluFEXPD0x895vEra4U1d9zHDhokAWZkA09cJdiNSGh7mvnGJ6NsIg/s1600/never-be-broken-400x615.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZfQ2isXjzRsCnjCcXOerWrGLhDyUA6COzvlTyQbxBoFnXbusxSA36y9nIMk51m-G0zxu9RNLBUDpX3cOGhx8wNnluFEXPD0x895vEra4U1d9zHDhokAWZkA09cJdiNSGh7mvnGJ6NsIg/s320/never-be-broken-400x615.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>
Never Be Broken has been picked as <a href="http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/yourebooked/2019/06/book-of-the-month-june-2/" target="_blank">Book of the Month by Theakstons Crime</a>, a festival I have loved since I first attended as an unpublished author. Then they chose my debut, <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F0LV0OO" target="_blank">Someone Else's Skin</a>, as their Crime Novel of the Year! If you keep an eye on <a href="http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/yourebooked/interviews/" target="_blank">You're Booked</a>, you'll find my Top Ten Strange Tastes in Fiction, later in the month.<br />
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<a href="https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Sarah-Hilary/Never-Be-Broken-DI-Marnie-Rome-6/23339465" target="_blank">Order from Hive UK</a><br />
<a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Never-Be-Broken-D-I-Marnie-Rome-6-Sarah-Hilary/9781472249005" target="_blank">With free shipping to US</a><br />
<br />Sarah Hilaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03379986260169703599noreply@blogger.com0