Bloody Scotland Influencers Tour

It's the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival in Stirling next week end! Woohoo! This is always a highlight in my calendar but it seems to have come around so quickly this year! Family circumstances meant I was unable to attend the Bloody Scotland press launch in June, and I only managed to get a print copy of the programme earlier this week - it's easier to plan the weekend on paper because there is so much to see! I'm thrilled to be on this tour again so huge thanks to Bloody Scotland for inviting me. But they've asked me to pick two sessions I'm looking forward to this year. Just two! There are loads of sessions I want to attend, and some big names coming this year, so picking just two is a big ask! You can see my picks below and I urge you to check out the other posts from this tour to get a wide range of recommendations.

 

Actually, when it came down to it, picking just two I was really excited about wasn't that hard and both my choices are on the opening day of the festival, Friday 12th September. 

I might have squealed a little bit when I saw this first event was happening. I am a big fan of both Thomas Enger and Johana Gustawsson - loved their individual work and they're both lovely people too. So I was super excited when they joined forces to write a new series, starting with Son. I loved it, you can see my review here, and I'm really looking forward to hearing them talking about working together. Need to buy a copy too to get signed! I don't know Karin Smirnoff's work although I do know of the series - mainly because I've seen the film of the first book - so excited to her from her. 

Nordic Chills and Thrills: Karin Smirnoff, Thomas Enger & Johana Gustawsson

Friday 12th September, 3:30pm, The Albert Halls
Tickets: £11 - £12

The chilling allure of Scandinavian crime fiction remains undiminished, a glittering dark star in the noir sky. Three of its finest proponents come together to discuss their new books and the genre’s continuing appeal.

The Girl with Ice in her Veins is the latest in the multi-million selling Millenium series featuring Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomquist and penned by Swedish author Karin Smirnoff. Norway’s Thomas Enger and French-born Swedish resident Johana Gustawsson have achieved notable individual success and have now combined brilliantly on Son, the first in a spectacular new series featuring police psychologist Kari Voss.

This event will feature a Crime in the Spotlight reading from Becky Brynolf (I Found a Body)."

Tickets for this event can be found here

I knew I would be coming to this second event as soon as I knew it was happening. Crime fiction is the perfect genre for reflecting and highlighting social issues, and it is encouraging to see more protagonists coming to the fore who are differently abled, disabled, from the LGBTQ+ community or from a minority group. This session focuses on the first of these, with authors who have given their main characters a mental health issue or mind condition (not the right wording but I am loathed to say 'disability'). I've read both of Daniel Aubrey's novels to date - sorry I have I'd reviewed them yet but the review for The Dying Light (second book) will be up next week). I was particularly interested in these books as I have experience of autism in the family and I am currently on a very long waiting list to discuss an ADHD diagnosis for myself, but I don't see these conditions as entirely bad, there is much that is positive in them. I don't know the books of the other two authors but am so interested to hear what they have to say and how they've dealt with the portrayal of the conditions they feature. I'm always interested in how mental illness is shown in literature and, unfortunately, also have experience in the family of dementia. I think this is going to be a fascinating session and I'm really pleased it's been included in the programme. 

Always on my Mind: Daniel Aubrey, Sean Watkin, Trevor Wood

Friday 12th September, 7:00pm, The Holy Trinity Church,
Tickets: £8 - £9

Meet three authors of intriguing and powerful novels whose protagonists excel despite – and sometimes because of – their brains working differently from what is considered “typical”.

Freya Sinclair, Daniel Aubrey’s autistic and fearless journalist, returns in The Dying Light, set against the unrelenting sunshine of an Orkney summer. DCI Win de Silva is suffering from PTSD but must catch the killer of teenage girls in Liverpool in Sean Watkin’s compelling Black Water Rising. Trevor Wood’s sensitive portrayal of early onset dementia sufferer DCI Jack Parker gets a reprise in the enthralling new thriller The Inside Man.

Tickets for this session can be found here

But these are just two from a huge, wide ranging programme, with three different sessions happening in most of the time slots. You can view the whole programme here and I would urge you to have a look, and also read the recommendations of others on this tour.  I do hope you can come along - come say hi if you do!