Last night I attended the second First Monday Crime night at City University. They were anticipating a larger turnout than last time, so we were in a bigger, lighter room. I followed the paper signs up the stairs, twisting and turning along various corridors- like a treasure hunt.
It was too muggy an evening to drink the proffered wine, when I reached the X-marks-the-spot, so I gulped down a massive tumbler of water and watched everyone arriving, with lots of kissing and waving. I felt less at ease than last time, as neither of the people either side of me spoke, except to get help with the WiFi.
The panel of 4 writers: Chris Fowler, Sarah Hilary, William Shaw and Jack Grimwood were introduced by the journalist, Jake Kerridge, who did an admirable job of interviewing them. The tone was quite different from last time. This was a serious discussion rather than the levity of last month's event. They all seemed to be seasoned panellists, confident and articulate.
I will cover the first two writers in this blog and the second two in my next, as it seems a lot of ground was covered!
Sarah Hilary's debut novel, `Someone Else's Skin', was a Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller and won the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the year 2015, an unusual and particularly admirable feat for a debut novelist. She's currently working on her 4th in the series featuring DI Marnie Rome. `Tastes Like Fear' has just come out- strange happenings around the urban wastelands by the river and disappearing, homeless girls.
Her DI is a compassionate figure with her own tragic past and her own demons. Sarah Hilary doesn't like the trope of the alcoholic, divorced cop who lives in a caravan- her DI forces herself to live in the real world. (Although Hilary does like the word `trope'). When you're writing a series, the character has to grow- she feels her DI is becoming stronger, yet softer. She said she's deliberately parsimonious in revealing details about the DI's childhood, so she doesn't later write herself into a corner.
She no longer lives in London, but fortunately came up to town and took a look at Battersea Power station, which she'd seen in her mind's eye as it used to be, `an urban cathedral', dominating the landscape. Now it's been `hobbled', closed off to the public and the rebuilt towers will become penthouse apartments (Sting has bought one!). She spoke eloquently about London being all layers, from these glass penthouses right down to the many Saxon finds, when developers start digging the foundations for a new building. London changes all the time, so she feels she has licence to change things and create a London partly from her own imagination.
She was inspired by the Gorilla Experiment (Google it, you'll be amazed!) which shows how much we miss about what goes on around us- and yet we have little idea that we're missing so much. I guess that's where the phrase, hidden in plain view, comes from.
The second writer, Chris Fowler, has written more than 40 books and has been described as an `unashamed anorak'. A Guardian reviewer once wrote that he would make a good serial killer. He was tanned and muscled, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist and definitely looked as if he could do some damage down a dark alley! He said: `Don't ever say to a writer, do you write Cosies?' I felt I'd be very unlikely to ask him anything contentious, at all, although last night he was very much the affable gentleman that I'm sure he is.
His series of detective fiction (maybe 15 or so and counting), feature `golden age detectives in a modern world'. Detectives Bryant and May, from the Peculiar Crimes Unit, are based on a unit his dad worked on in WW2. He's interested in `bumbling' characters who can screw up a lot, who don't have all the answers. But definitely not cosy.
He works a great deal from local police notebooks. Apparently, someone gave him all their notebooks upon retirement, dating from the Seventies to the present. What a treasure trove! She was a very forthright police officer, apparently, who wrote about liking the ammonia smell of the pigeon shit on the roof, when watching a crackhouse overnight, as it cleared her bronchitis.
His picture of the city is partly shaped by what he's read about London and he's a big fan of Marjory Allingham and also recommended `King Dido', by Alexander Baron.
He has his own website and writes daily blogs. I took this from his website, which is really helpful as a brief overview:
I will cover the first two writers in this blog and the second two in my next, as it seems a lot of ground was covered!
Sarah Hilary's debut novel, `Someone Else's Skin', was a Richard and Judy Book Club bestseller and won the Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the year 2015, an unusual and particularly admirable feat for a debut novelist. She's currently working on her 4th in the series featuring DI Marnie Rome. `Tastes Like Fear' has just come out- strange happenings around the urban wastelands by the river and disappearing, homeless girls.
Her DI is a compassionate figure with her own tragic past and her own demons. Sarah Hilary doesn't like the trope of the alcoholic, divorced cop who lives in a caravan- her DI forces herself to live in the real world. (Although Hilary does like the word `trope'). When you're writing a series, the character has to grow- she feels her DI is becoming stronger, yet softer. She said she's deliberately parsimonious in revealing details about the DI's childhood, so she doesn't later write herself into a corner.
She no longer lives in London, but fortunately came up to town and took a look at Battersea Power station, which she'd seen in her mind's eye as it used to be, `an urban cathedral', dominating the landscape. Now it's been `hobbled', closed off to the public and the rebuilt towers will become penthouse apartments (Sting has bought one!). She spoke eloquently about London being all layers, from these glass penthouses right down to the many Saxon finds, when developers start digging the foundations for a new building. London changes all the time, so she feels she has licence to change things and create a London partly from her own imagination.
She was inspired by the Gorilla Experiment (Google it, you'll be amazed!) which shows how much we miss about what goes on around us- and yet we have little idea that we're missing so much. I guess that's where the phrase, hidden in plain view, comes from.
The second writer, Chris Fowler, has written more than 40 books and has been described as an `unashamed anorak'. A Guardian reviewer once wrote that he would make a good serial killer. He was tanned and muscled, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist and definitely looked as if he could do some damage down a dark alley! He said: `Don't ever say to a writer, do you write Cosies?' I felt I'd be very unlikely to ask him anything contentious, at all, although last night he was very much the affable gentleman that I'm sure he is.
His series of detective fiction (maybe 15 or so and counting), feature `golden age detectives in a modern world'. Detectives Bryant and May, from the Peculiar Crimes Unit, are based on a unit his dad worked on in WW2. He's interested in `bumbling' characters who can screw up a lot, who don't have all the answers. But definitely not cosy.
He works a great deal from local police notebooks. Apparently, someone gave him all their notebooks upon retirement, dating from the Seventies to the present. What a treasure trove! She was a very forthright police officer, apparently, who wrote about liking the ammonia smell of the pigeon shit on the roof, when watching a crackhouse overnight, as it cleared her bronchitis.
His picture of the city is partly shaped by what he's read about London and he's a big fan of Marjory Allingham and also recommended `King Dido', by Alexander Baron.
He has his own website and writes daily blogs. I took this from his website, which is really helpful as a brief overview:
`Whats your advice for first time writers?
Fiction means you can make stuff up.Dont be ashamed of embarrassing yourself.
Romances need a moral dilemma.
Remember its fiction, not biography.
Ask yourself what the hero wants.
Think the unthinkable.
When you think it cant go further, go further.
Characters need to grow, and not repeat themselves.
Choice is a dilemma between irreconcilable goods or the lesser of two evils.
You dont always need to explain why people do things.
Crisis moments are better when theyre completely static.
Leave room for characters to breathe.
You have to love your hero.
Dialogue is not conversation.
Its better to do than to describe.
Believe what you write.
You dont have to write from experience.
Make sure that something always remains unknowable.'
I walked out into the night after the evening and felt inspired to look up as I walked along, something we so rarely do in this beloved ever-changing city:
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