Bloody Scotland - Scotland's International Crime Writing Festival - has started.
On Thursday 15th there was a torchlight procession, starting at Stirling Castle and winding down the historic streets of old Stirling.
The same evening it was fascinating to listen to four candidates for the Debut Crime Novel of the Year reading from their books and describing their writing. The winner was Tariq Ashkanani for his novel Welcome to Cooper, set in a fictional town in Nebraska.
The large number and variety of crime fiction writers appearing at Bloody Scotland makes it easy to select events of interest. There are so many to choose from, with events held simultaneously over three days at three locations, and it is impossible to attend them all. Most are also available to watch live online, and I understand many will be kept online after the festival is over.
Crime in the Spotlight
My own "appearance" at the festival is a short reading from Miles Away before the start of a headline session with Jeffrey Archer and Abir Mukherjee.
Crime in the Spotlight pairs the rising stars of the crime fiction scene with established crime writers.
I am very proud to have been selected to open for such famous and successful authors.
You can watch online by following this link - but don't miss the beginning, my slot is only 3 minutes long.