This month sees a media related special as we look at newly commissioned writing reality programs, radio-led motivational schemes and book trailers as well as the latest thriller releases from UK Writers
Oh, yes, January's gone and we're into February here. This means no more time to sit around; it's back to business as usual in the booktrade.
It's been nice to see some people taking me up on my ramblings here. I've had emails from people who've searched out books because of a mention here, which is a gratifying thing to hear.
And, of course, certain eagle eyed readers will have noticed I'd had too much of the Christmas cheer last month and cut short some of my ramblings about celebrity biographies. For that I apologise. It wasn't terribly interesting, anyway, and you're probably glad to have not been exposed to an egg-nog fuelled rant in an indecipherable Scots accent.
Anyway, this month we have some media news for you and all the usual nonsense, so...
TIME FOR MY CLOSE UP, MS WALTERS
They're calling it Murder Most Famous (very close to camp comic Julian Clary's mystery debut, Murder Most Fab and probably about as gritty). Yes, crime fiction is finally meeting reality TV as UK "celebrities" undergo training to become the next great crime writer.
Over six episodes, a group of celebrities will learn how to solve a crime before the winner gets the chance to write their own novel. Novelist Minette Walters will preside over the activities and have the power to oust celebrities in elimination rounds.
According to various online sources, the competitors are:
Brendan Cole, Sherrie Hewson, Angela Griffin, Matt Allwright, Diarmud Gavin and Kelvin Mackenzie.
I know that one of them probably plays rugby. Otherwise I don't know the first thing about any of them or why they are celebrities.
I have my own opinions on the idea of this show, even if it is all in a good cause (World Book Day). Goodness knows how they'll make it as gripping for an audience as the shows in whose footsteps it is clearly trying to follow. Shows like Strictly Come Dancing. Even dressed up in sequins with a bossa-nova playing in the background, writing isn't the most gripping activity to watch unfold.
VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR
But the BBC have another crime fiction related project up their sleeve. With a premise very close to the American National Novel Writing Month (NANWRIMO for short, so they tell me) BBC Scotland are running an initiative called Write Here, Right Now. The idea is to get people to write a novel in a month. You sign up for an email - one a day, more at weekends - filled with advice from "Scotland's leading crime writers" and in return you're expected to write 1,000 words every day. The idea is to have fun and get those creative juices flowing. You don't even have to be from Scotland to take part. In previous years, the project has had participants from Australia, Middle East and South America.
Although they are claiming you can "write a novel in a month", you will actually end up with only 29,000 words (the average novel these days running at least 80,000 as far as I'm led to believe, usually more), but it's still a good start and excellent motivation for any would be crime writers out there.
The website and signup can be found here...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/programmes/writehererightnow
COMING ATTRACTIONS...
British Thriller Writer Martyn Waites has upped the stakes in the Book Trailer wars once more. While Patterson has had phenomenal TV coverage, other writers have to make do with a series of still images and suitable mood music. But Waites - an actor in his own right - has joined forces with friends in the business to create a proper trailer for his latest Joe Donavan thriller, the disturbing and gripping White Riot. The trailer is not currently available at Waites's official website - www.martynwaites.com - but he does provide a link to the Youtube version:
