The CWA Margery Allingham Short Story competition was set up in 2013 to and is an annual competition to celebrate the short story and Margery Allingham’s contribution to crime writing.
The competition is open to all – both published and unpublished authors and is for UNPUBLISHED short stories of up to 3,500 words.
The winner will receive £1,000 courtesy of The Margery Allingham Society who sponsor this prize.
Entries cost £10 and the deadline for submission is 6:00pm on 16th March 2015(GMT).
Further information on the competition and details on how to submit your entry can be found on the CWA Website
Thanks to Iceland Noir for the heads up on what looks like a fabulous one day crime fiction festival coming to the south-east in March. Further information can now be found here:- dealnoir.wordpress.com
If you happen to be in the south-east (of England, that is, not the south-east of Iceland) in March, then check out Deal Noir, a small but beautifully crafted one-day crime fiction event taking place on the 28th of March in the coastal town of Deal, overlooking the Goodwin Sands.
It has been organised by those criminal stalwarts Susan Moody and Mike Linane, and the line-up for the day looks undeniably tasty.
Well that’s 2014 over, and what an amazing year that was!
Picture by Fenris Oswin – Fenris.co.uk
Of course the highlight for me will always be my now fiancé proposing to me at the end of a panel during this years Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate. He couldn’t have chosen a more fitting venue and I will be eternally grateful to the 2014 festival chair Steve Mosby, and the rest of the festival planning committee for helping to make this happen.
Not only that but, I’ve also got the good fortune of being able to re-live the moment whenever I want, as the download of the panel itself (In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream) is available to buy from the festival website and the recording has his proposal (although not my squeaked out answer) on the end of it. That £3 purchase was definitely one of my best of the year!
Picture by Fenris Oswin – Fenris.co.uk
That was closely followed by appearing with friend and crimesquad.com editor Chris Simmons on this year’s ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Club TV show. Not only did we have two fabulous days out in ‘that London’, meeting new and interesting people, catching up with author friends and laughing with Bradley Walsh, we also WON.
Closer to home it’s been great for me to see this blog really start to increase its traffic (I’m still hoping to break that magic 1,000 followers before the end of the year – sitting at 976 as I write) and getting the opportunity to participate in the blog tours of some brilliant crime reads…
Then of course there were also these fabulous books
Land Of Shadows – Rachel Howzell Hall
I have read several highly accomplished debut novels this year, but this is one that sticks in my mind. Homicide Detective Elouise Norton is someone I’m keen to hear more about. Tough and driven, yet at times insecure. With a fascinating setting on the ever changing border of a gentrifying Los Angeles, it’s a great debut.
The Girl On The Train – Paula Hawkins
“To everyone else in this carriage I must look normal; I’m doing exactly what they do: commuting to work, making appointments, ticking things off lists.
Just goes to show”
Not published until Jan 15th 2015, I am jealous that so many of you have such a fabulous book yet to read and experience. I urge you all to grab it as soon as it comes out, as I guarantee it’s going to cause quite a stir.
Vendetta – Dreda Say Mitchell
In a distinct change of direction to the race against time thriller, Mitchell has produced a gripping read, with cracking characters, storylines and a great deal of style this series could really see her giving Simon Kernick a run for his money.
Dead Men’s Bones – James Oswald
The fourth and latest of Oswald’s books featuring Detective Inspector Tony McLean. With its supernatural twists on the standard police procedural, this is one series that just gets better and better with Dead Men’s Bones proving to be the best yet.
The Killer Next Door – Alex Marwood
Dark, chilling and impeccably plotted, it’s an interesting insight into the secrets that lurk behind closed doors, how little notice we all take of the world around us and asks the question just how well do we ever really know our friends and neighbours?
These few aside there a are plenty more delightful, intriguing and thrilling books out there, and many of those that are currently featuring on an awful lot of top 10 lists this year are staring at me mournfully from my on the verge of collapse to be read pile. I’m looking forward to being able to sit down and catch up with just a few of them over the coming months.
My end of year tally for books read came to a grand total of 123 missing out by more that I would have liked, on beating last years total of 130, so I’ll be going all out to exceed both of these numbers next year.
Here’s looking forward to and wishing you all a fabulous, book filled 2015.
The 10 shortlisted authors will get a crowdfunding campaign that may see their story published and sold around the world. All author royalties earned from the book sales will be donated to “The Hope Academy for Girls” — a self-sustaining, multi-purpose school for at-risk girls in the rural area of Sierra Leone. So not only could you get to see your work in print, but you could help to fund the education of young girls in West Africa, without a doubt a very worthy cause.
The competition runs from 1st December 2014 until 31st January 2015 and is open to ALL authors from ANY country. Remember, the theme is crime/thriller and ideally word count should not exceed 7,500 words.
The overall winner will also see their story’s title chosen as the compilation’s title.
Rules of Entry
Participants need to register and publish their entries on Scriggler.com
All entries must be previously unpublished.
Entry is not limited to UK residents. Authors can be based in any country for the purposes of this competition.
Only entire stories would be considered, no extracts.
Word count should not exceed 7,500 words.
While authors keep their rights when publishing on Scriggler, the purpose of the contest is to compile and publish a book of short stories and winning authors would be expected to enter into an agreement with BNBS. Please consider this when entering.
Further information including introductions to BNBS, Scriggler.com, and what will happen to all entries once submitted can be found on the Scriggler.com website here.
As Crime writing courses go, you can’t get much more successful than Crime and Publishment, in the two years it’s been running it has seen two of its attendees awarded publishing contracts.
March 6th – 8th 2015, sees it return for its third successive year and features lessons from some great authors including Caro Ramsay, RC Bridgestock & Tom Cain.
You’ll also get a chance to pitch your novel to an agent and you never know you may just be the next successful attendee.
For those aspiring writers amongst you there’s a new kid on the block when it comes to creative writing events specifically aimed at writing Crime Fiction.
Recently launched, The City of Carlisle are holding their first ever crime writing weekend during June next year. Over thirty top crime writers will be hosting events at The Old Fire Station, the city’s new arts centre, due to open in spring 2015.
So far there are fourteen events planned over the course of the three day weekend including
Cumbria – Cosy or Criminal?
Northern Noir
Historical Crime
The Murder Squad
Femmes Fatales
Get Forensics Down Here!
Female Detectives
Talking Sherlock
Dramatising Sherlock
Fact vs Fiction
Tartan Noir
Further details of the weekend, events, participating authors and help with accommodation if you fancy staying locally can all be found at crimeweekend.carlisle.city Tickets to events are due to go on sale at the end of November.
‘A shot rang out’ is four words, but it packs a hell of a punch. Flash fiction is the art of surprise, illumination, punch.
Think short fuse, short-arm, Get Shorty. Did you know ‘flash in the pan’ originated with the priming of guns? And flashnotes are counterfeit notes… We could go on, but we won’t, because we’re big on brevity. Surprise us. Burn us. Write us. Whatever you do, do it in a flash.
Bang bang, you’re read.
It costs just £2 per entry and the first prize is a PAIR (yes a pair) of weekend passes to CrimeFest 2016(access to all interviews, panels and receptions, exc. accommodation, dinner, travel) with runner up prizes of a single weekend pass to CrimeFest 2016, followed by a CrimeFest goodie bag. On top of all that, those on the shortlist will be invited to attend the Crime Writing Day on Friday 15 May 2015, when the winners will be announced.
Think you’re up for it? Why not give it a go, after all 150 words…… how hard can it be? 😉
Full details of prizes and how to enter can be found here
Yes it’s that time of year again. The Crime Writers Association2015 Debut Dagger competition opened on the first of the month and runs through until Midnight on January 31st 2015. Not sure what to do with your NaNoWriMo manuscript when you’re done? Well now you’ve got another eight weeks to polish it up, send off your synopsis, and you never know….
For 15 years the CWA has been encouraging new writing with its Debut Dagger competition for unpublished writers. The submissions are judged by a panel of top crime editors and agents, and the short listed entries are sent to publishers and agents.
The Debut Dagger is open to anyone who has not yet had a novel published commercially. All shortlisted entrants will receive a professional assessment of their entries. Winning the Debut Dagger doesn’t guarantee you’ll get published. But it does mean your work will be seen leading agents and top editors, who have signed up over two dozen winners and shortlisted Debut Dagger competitors.
But entering the Debut Dagger is more than just entering a competition. You can also join our community, via the Facebook Group giving you the opportunity to ask questions, share your experiences and helping out your fellow writers.
Entry to the competition costs £25 and submissions can be made here
Manuscripts should be 12pt, double spaced, in an easily readable font such as Times, Arial or Helvetica. They must fall within the prescribed word limits. Manuscripts must not include the author’s name or contact details, only the title of the work which will be allocated a unique CWA reference number.
Full Terms & Conditions of entry can be found here. Good Luck to all of you who enter!
Life of Cri.me 