Theakston Crime Festival report!

Phew! I'm back from a hot and crowded festival. Well, what an adventure! We had a 8 hour car journey to get there, made a little slower by a tiny complication charging our car at a Tesla charger for the first time. We were evacuated twice from our hotel at quarter to midnight thanks to the fire alarm going off. Still it breaks the ice when you're all standing in the gardens in pj's chatting. Then, since I don't walk well, our one Uber got in a very minor shunt as we were on our way to meet our daughter and her lovely partner for dinner on Friday! Good things _ I met some of my wonderful readers who had taken the trouble to come find me. My lovely agents Saskia and Fran who are just fab. Since the actual festival website was so absolutely terrible to navigate I did't get tickets for anything really and didn't even get a site pass for Friday as they were all sold out. My thanks to Spellbound books who scored me a pass to get on site on the Friday afternoon so I could at last look around. My daughter and her partner had to miss out since they couldn't get passes at all. They had tried well beforehand but couldn't find them on said terrible website and there were no tickets on the day to get on site. It was very, very hot! There was a shortage of accessible seating. The folding deckchairs seemed to be baffling most people and if you have a disability with balance or walking those are a no go anyway. The fabled beer tent stank and was impossibly hot. The bar in the hotel was much nicer and cooler. Fun talk from Graham Bartlett and T M Payne on what happens at an arrest. The mystery dinner on Saturday evening was again very hot but fabulous company! I met lovely Michael Wood and we had a wonderful time. I went off piste on Firiday to Val Penny's book launch which we all enjoyed very much and Saturday we went off piste again to Mark Wrights book launch in a very old and atmospheric pub with Victorian gas cigar lighters and gas lamps. It's also haunted which I knew as soon as I went in. We also had lovely cake and coffee and music at a Christian festival called Hope Now which was on at the same time in the Crescent Gardens. If you are a cozy crime fan or an historic crime fan or true crime fan then there was nothing much there but If you love thrillers and police procedurals and contemporary then there was much more going on. If you can, go with friends or in a group. On your own it's difficult, I was glad I had Mr Nell with me on Saturday. No pics of the signs or green chairs as they were full of people. I missed loads of people as I'm rubbish at spotting faces. So, now I have to catch up on my wordage and get my nose back to the grindstone for the next Miss Underhay book and the new Secret Detective Agency book.

Summer catch up!

Summer seems to be flying by at a rate of knots! I was ill for two weeks with a severe respiraory infection which knocked me off my stride. Now I'm busy catching myself back up as I write the next Miss Underhay - working title - Murder in Central Park, and the second in my new series. The secret detective agency book 2 - snappy title huh? The new series will start next year so I'm editing, writing, polishing and all kinds of crazy right now! I'm also going to Theakston Crime Festival this year in Harrogate, Yorkshire. I'm going on Thursday and returning Sunday. I'm meeting my youngest daughter and her partner there for dinner on Friday too! Attending something this big is a challenge for me. I'm fine if I'm going with a purpose to something - like being on a panel or moderating but when it's a new experience just going as an attendee it brings a lot of challenges for me. The first is physical, I can't stand for any period and my walking and balance isn't great so queueing and not knowing if there will be seats is scary. I also struggle to hear properly in crowds. The second is because of my dyscalculia the website to navigate what is on where and when is tricky. It's like being given a complicated jigsaw without the picture on the lid. Everything seems to be in different places and clashes with gaps and I can't find information. I'm so grateful to those author friends who have offered me help and patiently explained things to me. I'm sure once I get there it will be clearer and Mr Nell is coming with me so at least I have help to save me from getting lost and having a nervous breakdown. My nail artist, Keelie, has painted brilliant crime themed nails for me so hopefully that might break the ice when I'm talking to people. Several of my fabulous readers have also said they are hoping to meet me there as are lovely Saskia and Francesca from my agency. So if you see me wombling about looking lost or confused please come and say hello! I'd love to meet you.