Guest Blogs
Crime Scene
A blog by Louise Phillips
LOUISE PHILLIPS is the author of four bestselling psychological crime thrillers. Her debut novel RED RIBBONS, and her subsequent novels, THE DOLL’S HOUSE, LAST KISS and THE GAME CHANGER, were each nominated for Best Irish Crime Novel of the Year. She won the award in 2013. Louise’s work has formed part of many literary anthologies, and she has won both the Jonathan Swift Award and the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice platform, along with being shortlisted for the Molly Keane Memorial Award, Bridport UK, and many others. In 2015, she was awarded a writing residency at Cill Rialaig Artist retreat and she was also a judge on the Irish panel for the EU Literary Award. In 2016, she was longlisted for the prestigious CWA Dagger in the Library Award, and her first two novels, RED RIBBONS and THE DOLL'S HOUSE, were published in the US. She has recently been awarded an Arts Bursary for Literature from the Arts Council of Ireland, and is currently working on her latest novel, which is set in the US. Louise Phillips is the crime writing mastermind behind writing.ie's Crime Scene blog.
The Shortlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year!!
Huge congratulations to Steve Cavanagh as the Irish voice on this list (Thirteen is a superb book) and to Khurrum Rahman for being shortlisted for a first novel – fantastic news! Shortlist: Belinda Bauer – Snap Steve Cavanagh – Thirteen Mick Herron – London Rules Val McDermid – Broken Ground Liam McIlvanney – The Quaker Khurrum Rahman – East of Hounslow The prize, now in its 15th year, was created to celebrate the very best in...
Read the full article >>Library Conference Makes Noise at Leading Festival!!
One of the UK’s leading literary festivals is hosting an inaugural Library Conference. Up to 100 library professionals from across the country are invited to attend the one-day event to be held at the 2019 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival this July. Keynote speakers include chief executive of Arts Council England, Darren Henley OBE. Also speaking is leading crime author and advocate for libraries, Ann Cleeves, whose Vera and Shetlands series were adapted for...
Read the full article >>Do you want to write a novel??
If the answer to the above question is – YES, then maybe next week is the time to start! I’m delighted to join the great team at the Irish Writers Centre next week for an 8 Week Course duly titled – BEGIN YOUR NOVEL. If you want to start that novel you’ve been thinking about, then click on the link below for more information. I hope this course will set you on the exciting path...
Read the full article >>Edgar Awards 2019 Winners!!
The Edgar Award Winners and Nominees 2019 are as follows!! Best Novel The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard (Blackstone Publishing) House Witness by Mike Lawson (Grove Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press) A Gambler’s Jury by Victor Methos (Amazon Publishing – Thomas & Mercer) Down the River Unto the Sea by Walter Mosley (Hachette Book Group – Mulholland) Only to Sleep by Lawrence Osborne(Penguin Random House – Hogarth) A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn (Penguin Random House – Berkley) Winner: Down...
Read the full article >>2019 THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR LONGLIST REVEALED!!
2019 marks the 15th year of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. The prize was created to celebrate the very best in crime fiction and is open to UK and Irish crime authors whose novels were published in paperback from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019. Belinda Bauer, a previous winner of the Crime Novel of the Year Award for her novel Rubbernecker in 2014, enters the longlist with her 2018 Man...
Read the full article >>A Date for the Diary! Black Wood…How far would you go?
Author Derek Flynn will launch his new novel, a standalone thriller titled BLACK WOOD, in The Gutter Bookshop, Dublin, next Wednesday the 27th March at 6.30 and all are welcome!! ‘How far would you go to get out?’ This is the question three unlikely friends living in a dead-end town in America ask each other. The answer would come to haunt them. The narrator, a writer, now in his late 30s, lives alone in New...
Read the full article >>CWA Debut Dagger Submissions Tips!
CWA Debut Dagger submissions close on 28th February, and here are some great tips for this and future competitions…. Details of Debut Dagger Submissions HERE TIPS: Debut Dagger Tip from a Shortlistee and Published Author by Victoria Selman, author of Blood For Blood (shortlisted for the Debut Dagger as Broken in 2017 and now widely published to acclaim) You only have three thousand words to hook the judges’ interest. Make every one of those words count by ramping...
Read the full article >>Mystery Writers of America Announce the 2019 Edgar Nominations!!
Mystery Writers of America have announced the Nominees for the 2019 Edgar Awards, honouring the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and television, published, or produced, in 2018, and there is plenty for you to work your way through. See full list below…. It is absolutely terrific to see Irish crime writer Catherine Ryan Howard up for Best Novel of the year, for THE LIAR’S GIRL. Huge Congratulations to Catherine!! Crossing all fingers and toes for you...
Read the full article >>Delicious Reads 2018!
It is January and therefore the time of year to reflect on the highs and lows, and all things in between. I have to admit because of work on my current novel, I have had less time for the guilty pleasure of reading, but none the less, on review, there are certainly some tasty treats in my 2018 mix! I have a serious amount of Irish crime fiction books in my ‘To Be Read list’,...
Read the full article >>Irish Crime Writer Liz Nugent Wins Double at Irish Book Awards!
This year’s Irish Book Awards ceremony on the 27th November In the Clayton Hotel was the glitzy culmination of the first year of An Post as the award sponsors, and if the first year is anything to go by, the sponsorship will be a very positive one indeed. I was lucky to be there on the night, and it was one of the best awards nights I have ever attended. Also notable on the night,...
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