World Book Day

It’s World Book Day so I thought I’d share some of my favourite books.

The book I’ve read more than any other: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

The book I was blown away by, and have been reading the author ever since, and the author that makes me want to be a better author:  The Business of Dying, Simon Kernick

The book that surprised and amused me, so I read a lot of his other work: The Sacred Art of Stealing, Christopher Brookmyre

The book I laughed my arse off at, and am now working my way through the series:  The Heretics of De’Ath, Howard of Warwick

The book a friend of mine wrote and I loved more than I’d expected to (because I don’t tend to read historical books): The Wrong Sort To Die, Paula Harmon

The book I read so far this year that’s likely to stay with me longest: Dead Man’s Prayer, Jackie Baldwin

The crime book I’m most proud to have written:  The Chair, GB Williams

Psychopaths Panel

Should start by stating that the panel was about Psychopaths in Literature, not a panel of psychopaths.  Though…

Tonight I am back from a weekend of Llandeilo Litfest – it was a blast!  My first ever experience of being on a panel and I didn’t know what to expect, but it was a great hour.

The panel was led by Thorne Moore, writer of psychological crime novels, many of which are based here in Wales.  She did a great job of asking pertinent questions that set the rest of us off into interesting discussions.

My fellow panellists were John Nicholl and John Thompson. Now John N is an ex-police officer, and John T is a barrister, which left me feeling a little out of place – I’ve never worked in any of the law enforcement or legal occupations.  I’m an office bod who specialises in system design (Excel and Access mostly), so least qualified there.

What I enjoyed was that the three of us didn’t always agree which makes for lively conversation, all good-natured.  It was also lovely to get some really good audience participation going with an open floor and some back and forth.

To find more about these lovely people try:

• Thorne Moore: www.thornemoore.co.uk
• John Nicholl:  John Nicholl’s Amazon Page
• John Thompson: John Thompson’s Amazon Page

 

It was also great to see some old friends and make new ones.  People that I’ve connected to on the internet, I finally got to meet in real life. New people that I met for the first time too.  All the writers were lovely people and everyone willing to lend a hand at all points, writers are just about the most supportive group of people I have ever met. Then there were people who I know through Swansea and District Writers’ Circle, lovely to see everyone again.  Had some great chats at the Book Fair and managed to sell a few volumes too.

Thanks to all who made it a great weekend.