Monday, 02 June 2008.
Hi all,
Just a few days to go before the first ever CRIMEFEST and here are a last few announcements.
It looks like Cactus TV (of Richard & Judy fame) will be filming at CRIMEFEST in the run-up for ITV3’s crime fiction awards later this year. Since ITV3 have said they aren’t interested in highlighting only the usual suspects, but new and mid-list authors as well, we are very excited by this news. There is still time to REGISTER for CRIMEFEST and be part of the fun.
Having said that, rooms at the conference rate at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel are running low, so book soon. And, if you are getting a taxi from the bus or coach stations or Bristol airport, make sure they are taking you to the right Marriott: the Marriott Royal Hotel on College Green!
We’ve been receiving questions about the dress code for the CRIMEFEST Gala Dinner. We can’t imagine that anyone will be turned away, but we are encouraging casual smart or smart.
The weather… If you are from Northern Europe you’ll know what to expect: pretty much anything. Even though we’ve been having some pretty good days recently we still recommend that you bring layers so you can adapt to any climate. As mentioned in the previous update, for more info check WEATHER.CO.UK
The CRIMEFEST registration desk opens on Thursday at midday, and the first panel is at 1.30pm. On Friday and Saturday the registration desk will open at 8.30am. There will be a light breakfast in the King’s Lounge from 7 until 8.30 am for those delegates who booked for the whole weekend.
Finally, for those of you who can’t make it to CrimeFest, Laurie King will be making some UK appearances after CRIMEFEST. Dates, locations and times
We look forward to seeing you in Bristol at CRIMEFEST this weekend.
Cheers,
Myles Allfrey and Adrian Muller,
CRIMEFEST co-hosts.
Saturday, 17 May 2008.
Hi all,
Welcome to update 6½, the penultimate newsletter with information on the upcoming
CRIMEFEST.
For those of you who have not signed up yet, The Times today is running a competition for two to an all-inclusive registration to CRIMEFEST. (A Full Weekend Registration, tickets to the Gala Dinner, accommodation at the convention hotel, the works...). The competition can be found on page 12 in the Books Supplement.
If you have already signed up, there are still plenty of good reasons to buy a copy of The Times today: it includes a readers guide to Ian Fleming and also a free book containing two short James Bond stories: "Octopussy" and "007 in New York."
As previously mentioned, CRIMEFEST will be celebrating Ian Fleming’s centenary with a panel based on the author’s essay on how to write a thriller. It will be just one of the panels that will include a competition or give-away with exciting prizes. The biggest competition will take place during the last panel on Sunday, the 8th of June, when one winner will receive an all-inclusive registration for two to the next CRIMEFEST. For more information about the Fleming, the final 2008 CRIMEFEST panel and other panels see the PROGRAMME.
Included in all CRIMEFEST REGISTRATIONS is an eco-friendly, Fairtrade canvas bag (courtesy of Orion Publishing), a delegate name wallet (courtesy of Penguin Books), a CRIMEFEST programme, two or more books, an abridged audio book, and more. Tickets to the Gala and Buffet Dinners are still available and cost £30 and £20 respectively.
Delegates signing up before the 25th of May will still have the opportunity of winning an iPod (courtesy of Audible UK) or copies of the shortlisted humorous crime novels if they vote for the Audible Sounds of Crime and Last Laugh Awards. The deadline—for registered delegates—to receive free copies of the books to be discussed at the CRIMEFEST Reading Groups is the 30th of May. For more details about the competitions or the titles to be discussed in the reading groups see the May 2nd UPDATE.
If you are travelling from abroad and need some indication of what the weather might be like, expect anything from warm and sunny to wet and chilly. In other words, bring layers. For more specific details go to WEATHER.CO.UK
Finally, for delegates who will be in or around London on the 3rd of June, Andrea Maria Schenkel, the author of The Murder Farm, will be discussing her hugely successful book with Peter Guttridge. The event is free and those attending will have the chance to purchase the novel at a discounted price. (Alternatively sign up for the CRIMEFEST Reading Groups and receive a free copy!)
3 June 2008, 7 PM
The Murder Farm
Andrea Maria Schenkel discusses The Murder Farm
Goethe-Institut London - Free entry
Princes Gate
50 Exhibition Road
London SW7 2PH
We look forward to seeing you in June.
Cheers,
Myles Allfrey and Adrian Muller,
CRIMEFEST co-hosts.
Friday, 02 May 2008.
Hi all,
Want to find out who is on the shortlist for the Audible Sounds of Crime and Last Laugh Awards? Just keep on reading!
CRIMEFEST is just under a month away so, for those of you who have not already done so, stop thinking about it and just REGISTER!
Between them, our Featured Guest Authors, Karin Fossum, Jeff Lindsay and Ian Rankin pretty much cover the spectrum of crime fiction: humour, police procedural, psychological, serial killer, suspense, thriller… Add to that Natasha Cooper, our wonderful Toastrix, and a slew of other writers, and you can’t go wrong. The PROGRAMME has something for everyone. And there are some great last minute additions, just have a look at the ATTENDING AUTHORS page.
Other reasons to stop dithering? We have just two places remaining on the CRIMEFEST CRIME WRITING WORKSHOP, and the closing date (May 16th) to book for the CRIMEFEST excursions is looming. For destinations and prices, visit the TRIPS page.
Also, registered delegates have the opportunity to sign up for CRIMEFEST reading groups and to receive free copies of the following books:
- The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke
- Touchstone by Laurie King
- City of the Sun by David Levien
- The Mark by Jason Pinter
- The Murder Farm by Andrea Maria Schenkel (translated from German by Anthea Bell)
- An Expert in Murder by Nicola Upson
It’s first come, first serve, and they are going fast.
And then there are the CRIMEFEST Awards. If you have signed up to attend you get to vote for the Last Laugh and Audible Sounds of Crime Awards and win prizes like (more) books, audio books, DVDs, and even an iPod Nano preloaded with the Audible Sounds of Crime shortlisted titles!
Oh, yes, the shortlisted titles. Here they are:
AUDIBLE SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARD
The Audible Sounds of Crime Award is for the best crime audiobook first published in 2007, and available for download from the Audible UK website.
- Richard Bachman, Blaze. Read by Ron McLarty. (Hodder & Stoughton, unabridged.)
- Lee Child, Bad Luck & Trouble. Read by Kerry Shale. (Random House, abridged.)
- Tess Gerritsen, The Mephisto Club. Read by Lorelei King. (BBC Audiobooks, unabridged.)
- David Hewson, The Seventh Sacrament. Read by Saul Reichlin. (W. F. Howes, unabridged.)
- Ian Rankin, Exit Music. Read by James Macpherson. (Orion, abridged.)
The award goes to both the author and the reader of the winning entry.
THE LAST LAUGH AWARD
The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel published in the British Isles in 2007. The shortlist is:
- Declan Burke, The Big O (Hag's Head Press)
- Ruth Dudley Edwards, Murdering Americans (Poisoned Pen Press UK)
- Chris Ewan, The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam (Long Barn Books)
- Alan Guthrie, Hard Man (Polygon)
- Deanna Raybourn, Silent in the Grave (MIRA Books)
- Mike Ripley, Angel's Share (Alison & Busby)
- L. C. Tyler, The Herring Seller's Apprentice (Macmillan New Writing)
- Donald Westlake, What's So Funny? (Quercus)
Congratulations to all the nominees!
The winners will be announced at the CRIMEFEST Gala Dinner and tickets are still available if you REGISTER.
So, come on, join the fun. We look forward to seeing you in Bristol.
Cheers,
Myles Allfrey and Adrian Muller,
CRIMEFEST co-hosts.
Monday, 07 April 2008.
Hi all,
Since we last contacted you, Lee Child, due to circumstances beyond his and our control, has had to withdraw from participating in CRIMEFEST. Both Lee and the CRIMEFEST organisers are disappointed by this development but we look forward to seeing him at a future CRIMEFEST. And, Lee, congratulations on being number 1 in both the UK paperback and hardback best-seller lists!
Graciously stepping in as Lee’s replacement is Jeff Lindsay, author of the hugely popular Dexter thrillers currently being televised across the globe. We could not be more delighted at Jeff’s joining Karin Fossum and Ian Rankin as Featured Guest Authors! Other authors have also signed up since the last update; to find out who, go to the ATTENDING AUTHORS page.
We are pleased to announce that a draft PROGRAMME is now available on the CRIMEFEST website. All the moderators and participating authors have been contacted with their panel details. If you are a registered author and have not heard from us yet, please drop us a line at info@crimefest.com to let us know.
People have been asking about the dollar prices for the CRIMEFEST DAY TRIPS. They are:
- A day tour of the Cotswolds, including lunch with Rebecca Tope
£60/$140 by cheque – cheaper dollar price if you pay online
- A day tour of Wells, Glastonbury and Stourhead Gardens, including lunch with Michael Jecks
£65/$150 by cheque – cheaper dollar price if you pay online
- A half day bus and walking tour of Bristol
£25/$70 by cheque – cheaper dollar price if you pay online
- A day tour of the Brecon Beacons and Hay-on-Wye
£40/$100 by cheque – cheaper dollar price if you pay online
(Please note that all US cheques include an additional £10/£20 to cover UK bank charges.)
The CRIMEFEST excursions are organised by Tours of Discovery, long-time UK collaborators of Smithsonian Tours' 'Classic Mystery Lover's England'. All the trips are accompanied by a Blue Badge Guide from The Guild of Registered Tourist Guides. The closing date for bookings is the 16th of May. Visit the TRIPS page for more information.
Only a few places remain available for the CRIMEFEST CRIME WRITING WORKSHOP. The tutors are crime writers Peter Guttridge and Janet Laurence, and the registration includes a one-on-one assessment and entry to the Crime Writers' Association's Debut Dagger Competition. (All previous Debut Dagger winners have gone on to be published.)
The titles for the CRIMEFEST reading groups have now been finalised:
Registered CRIMEFEST delegates will receive an email later this month with details of the reading groups and how to sign up for a free copy of the above titles.
Finally, if you haven’t already done so, don’t forget to vote for the Last Laugh- and Audible Sounds of Crime Awards.
The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel published in Britain in 2007. For the longlist, anyone may nominate as many titles as they wish, as long as the nominated title is a humorous crime novel which was published in the UK for the first time between January 1st and December 31st, 2007. Using the following format 'author - title - publisher', please send your nominations to laugh@crimefest.com (Nominations for the longlist must be received by Friday, the 25th of April.) The top five titles of the longlist will form the shortlist, and only registered CRIMEFEST delegates with email are eligible to vote for the winner from the shortlist. The shortlist will be announced in early May.
The Audible Sounds of Crime Award is sponsored by Audible UK and is for the best crime audiobook first published in 2007, and available for download from the audible.co.uk website. Only audible customers and registered CRIMEFEST delegates with email are eligible to vote. Audible UK is providing an iPod as a prize for one of the CRIMEFEST delegates who votes for the winning title. The longlist with eligible titles can be found at www.crimefest.com/awards.html. Nominations from the longlist must be received by Friday, the 25th of April. The top five titles of the longlist will form the shortlist, and only Audible customers and registered CRIMEFEST delegates with email are eligible to vote for the winner from the shortlist. The shortlist will be announced in early May.
That’s it everyone. Just two more updates before the first CRIMEFEST begins. If you haven’t already done so, sign up now!
We look forward to seeing you in June.
Bye for now,
Myles Allfrey and Adrian Muller,
CRIMEFEST co-hosts.
Monday, 03 March 2008.
Hi all,
As most of you know, CRIMEFEST is the follow-up to the 2006 Bristol Left Coast Crime convention. Later this week CRIMEFEST (5-8 June) will have a registration table at the Denver Left Coast Crime, and we will have Cadbury’s chocolates, Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry and a LCC discount to tempt you to sign up. So if you are attending come by and say hello.
Since our last newsletter there has been quite an increase in our delegates, including some great authors. Please, visit the PARTICIPANTS page to see if any more of your favourite crime writers have signed up. Why not join the fun and REGISTER also? If you can’t attend the whole weekend, day tickets are available. Natasha Cooper and Lee Child will be interviewed on Friday, and Karin Fossum and Ian Rankin are interrogated on Saturday. Planned panels include ones featuring debut crime writers, a panel celebrating the Ian Fleming Centenary, a translated authors panel, and many, many more. (Events are subject to change.)
Authors, please note:
you need to sign up for the full weekend registration by the 15th of March to secure a place on a panel and inclusion in the CRIMEFEST programme! (We might be able to accommodate some latecomers after this date, but we can make no guarantees.) Please visit the CRIMEFEST REGISTRATION page to register.
You may recall that we weren’t happy with the name Best Crime Audiobook for the new award CRIMEFEST is initiating, and that we had a competition for a better title. Well, we have a winner: Sounds of Crime as suggested by crime writer Adrian Magson. Congratulations to Adrian, who will receive an audiobook for his efforts.
We are thrilled to announce that Audible UK (click here for Audible US) has agreed to be the sponsor of the Sounds of Crime Award. Audible is the Internet's leading premium spoken audio source, with more than 40,000 hours of audio programs that include some of the best titles in crime fiction. Audible is providing an iPod as a prize for one of the CRIMEFEST delegates who votes for the winning title.
Later this month registered delegates will be receiving an email inviting them to submit titles the Last Laugh Award, and also to vote for eligible titles for the Audible Sounds of Crime Award.
At the Gala Dinner on Saturday evening Natasha Cooper, our Toastrix, will call upon our Featured Guest Authors for a brief speech. This will be followed by the announcements of the winners of the Last Laugh Award for best humorous crime novel of 2007 and the Audible Sounds of Crime Award for best crime audiobook. Tickets to the Gala Dinner are
limited, so if you wish to attend book now.
There are also
limited tickets for the CRIMEFEST DAY TRIPS and the CRIME WRITING WORKSHOP. The trips to the Cotswolds, and Wells, Glastonbury and Stourhead Gardens are accompanied by professional guides and include lunches and talks by Rebecca Tope and Michael Jecks. The crime writing workshop, tutored by crime writers Peter Guttridge and Janet Laurence includes a one-on-one assessment and entry to the Crime Writers' Association’s Debut Dagger Competition. (All previous Debut Dagger winners have gone on to be published.)
We promised you more details about CRIMEFEST reading groups. Some of the titles that will be up for discussion will be Touchstone by Laurie King, City of the Sun by David Levien, The Mark by Jason Pinter and The Murder Farm by Andrea Maria Schenkel (translated from German by Anthea Bell). In April, registered delegates will have the opportunity to sign up for free copies of these and four or five other titles, and to discuss them in reading groups at CRIMEFEST.
That is it for now. And if you have registered, keep a look out for that email with ballots for the awards.
Bye for now,
Adrian Muller & Myles Allfrey,
CrimeFest co-hosts.
Wednesday, 30 January 2008.
Hi all,
Another month closer to CRIMEFEST, and we hope you are all looking forward to it as much as we are.
Some of you may have noticed a slight glitch in the delivery and receipt of your email late last year. Apparently there was a sudden increase of spam being sent, and this caused problems for some internet providers. Due to this there is a remote chance that we did not receive some registrations. If you have registered, please check that you are listed on the CRIMEFEST PARTICIPANTS page.
As we mentioned in the last newsletter, in addition to the full weekend registration (which includes a light breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday), we are now also offering day tickets for Friday and Saturday. Anyone going to Left Coast Crime in Denver this March, you will able to find information on CRIMEFEST and sign up at the CRIMEFEST registration table.
Authors, please note:
you need to sign up for the full weekend registration by the 15th of March to be certain a place of a panel and inclusion in the CRIMEFEST programme! (We might be able to accommodate some latecomers after this date, but we can make no guarantees.)
Please visit the CRIMEFEST REGISTRATION page to register online.
There are
limited tickets for a number of CRIMEFEST events. These include:
the
DAY TRIPS
The trips to the Cotswolds, and Wells, Glastonbury and Stourhead Gardens are accompanied by professional guides and include lunches and talks by Rebecca Tope and Michael Jecks.
the
CRIME WRITING WORKSHOP
The crime writing workshop, tutored by crime writers Peter Guttridge and Janet Laurence includes a one-on-one assesment and entry to the Crime Writers' Association's
Debut Dagger Competition. (All previous winners have gone on to be published.)
Coming soon:
CRIMEFEST reading groups. Get a free copy of a crime novel and discuss it at a CRIMEFEST reading group. (Details in the next newsletter.)
In the last newsletter we promised to include more information on the two CRIMEFEST awards that will be presented at the Gala Dinner. These awards are:
- Last Laugh Award for best humorous crime novel of 2007
Registered delegates will soon be receiving an email inviting them to submit the title of the funniest crime novel of 2007. (Any title published for the first time in the UK in 2007 will be eligible.)
- Best Audio Crimebook of 2007
Registered delegates will soon be receiving an email allowing them to choose their favourite title from a longlist of eligible audio crime titles.
One competition that is open to anyone right now is to come up with better title than 'Best Audio Crimebook'. The winner will receive a surprise prize. Send your suggestions by the 15th of February to competition@crimefest.com.
Finally, if you are a Facebook or MySpace person, then why not sign up to be a friend. For MySpace visit www.myspace.com/crimefestbristol. Do a name search for 'Crimefest Bristol' on Facebook.
Bye for now,
Adrian Muller & Myles Allfrey,
CrimeFest co-hosts.
Monday, 24 December 2007.
Hi all,
It is Christmas Eve and, for all of you who are still rushing around trying to buy presents for friends and family, how about a registration to CRIMEFEST? (Or spoil yourself and get your own registration!) Just click here and enter the details. To give the recipient something concrete to represent the registration, you can download a mini CrimeFest poster as a JPEG or PDF.
Day tickets to CrimeFest are now also available for Friday and Saturday. Delegates who register for the full weekend will be offered a light breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. All delegates receive a goody bag and programme.
Besides the world-class Featured Guest Authors (Lee Child, Karin Fossum and Ian Rankin), the line-up of attending writers is expanding to include more and more quality names. One of these is Natasha Cooper, our Gala Dinner Toastrix. Ticket numbers to the Gala and Buffet Dinners are limited but still available.
Though the programme won't be posted on the website until a month or two before CrimeFest, it is slowly taking shape. Our Featured Guest Authors will be interviewed and invited to share their (or their sleuth's) favourite piece of music, book, film and television programme. As 2008 is the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth we will have one or two panels celebrating one of the greatest thriller writers of all time. We'll also be inviting some of the attending authors to talk about which crime writers influenced them. And, besides all the usual and unusual panels, there will be ones highlighting debuting and translated authors.
In addition to the Last Laugh Award for Best Humorous Crime Novel we will be instituting a prize for Best Audio Crime. The winning recipients will receive a commemorative piece of Bristol Blue Glass, and one voter for each award will win a prize. Details on how to vote will be included in our next newsletter.
For delegates wishing to make CrimeFest a weeklong holiday, visit TRIPS/WHAT TO DO page. Again, tickets numbers are limited but still available, and the trips offer a wonderful opportunity to see some of the best bits of Britain.
Finally, registered delegates have been sent the booking codes for the Bristol Royal Marriott, the convention hotel. Only registered delegates will receive the booking codes, but the recommended budget hotels can be booked by anybody, and prices start at £29. For information about the hotels go to CRIMEFEST HOTELS.
That's it for now, except to extend you all the very best Season's Greetings and a best wishes for a criminally good 2008.
Cheers,
Adrian Muller & Myles Allfrey,
CrimeFest co-hosts.
Monday, 10 September 2007.
Hi all,
This is the first of the newsletters for CrimeFest, a new international
crime fiction convention from the organisers who brought you the 2006 Left
Coast Crime convention in Bristol.
The dates for CrimeFest are 5-8 June, 2008, and the venue will be the
Marriott Royal Hotel in Bristol, UK. The registration fee is £125 and
includes attendance to all panels, a book bag, a programme, and a light
breakfast on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The featured Guest Authors are Lee Child, Karin Fossum and Ian Rankin.
Following the success of Left Coast Crime (LCC) in Bristol last year, we
thought that was the end of it. However, we soon began receiving repeated
requests from readers, authors and publishers to make it a reccurring event.
As LCC is an American convention, and the UK visit was a one-off occasion,
that was not an option. So, instead, we are organising CrimeFest, a
convention we hope will be a biennial event.
We feel very fortunate with our Guest Author line-up. Lee was such a splendid Toastmaster at the 2006 LCC that inviting him back as a featured author was a no-brainer. Following Boris Akunin's appearance in Bristol we
wanted to continue honouring mainland-European authors at CrimeFest, and
with Karin Fossum we have one of the top Scandinavian crime writers. And what to say about Ian? We are lucky to get him at one of the most interesting moments in his career: 2007 will see the last of his Inspector Rebus novels, so what will follow? Find out at CrimeFest.
Many other crime writers are also set to appear. Natasha Cooper will be the Toastrix at the CrimeFest Gala Dinner. (We liked Val McDermid's Denver Bouchercon Toastrix title so much that we stole it for CrimeFest—this is a
'crime' fiction convention after all.) And Donna Moore, our British Fan
Guest of Honour at the 2006 LCC, returns to CrimeFest as an award winning
author. For an up-to-date list of who is participating, visit ATTENDING AUTHORS.
The pre- and post-LCC trips in 2006 were very popular. For delegates interested in turning their CrimeFest visit into a holiday, we have again organised a number of excursions. If you are interested in visiting the locations of 'Hot Fuzz' (Wells), 'Barry Lyndon' and 'Pride & Prejudice' (Stourhead Gardens), or the glorious Cotswolds, these trips are for you. The outings include lunches with Michael Jecks and Rebecca Tope, authors who set their novels in the West Country and the Cotswolds respectively. Go to TRIPS/WHAT TO DO for more information.
Recognising that many crime readers are also aspiring writers, CrimeFest is organising a crime writing workshop. Tutoring the workshop will be Peter Guttridge and Janet Laurence. Both authors have taught many successful workshops, including ones for the prestigious Arvon Foundation. All delegates will have the opportunity to enter the British Crime Writers' Association's Debut Dagger Competition. (All winners, and many short-listed participants, have gone on to be commercially published.)
Just as LCC has the Lefty Award, so will CrimeFest have the Last Laugh Award. This award for Best Humorous Crime Novel has not been presented in the UK for some years now, and we felt this area of crime fiction has gone unappreciated in Britain for too long. All registered delegates will be allowed to cast their vote for the crime novel that made them laugh loudest in 2007.
We will be promoting CrimeFest at the Alaska Bouchercon so, please, stop by to say hello. We will have more information about the convention and the excursions. There will also be a special CrimeFest/Bouchercon promotion for those who want to register.
Organising LCC in Bristol felt like we had thrown a big party for everyone who loved crime fiction. For those who attended in 2006, please, come and join the fun again. For those who missed it, here is your second chance!
We look forward to seeing you.
Cheers,
Myles Allfrey & Adrian Muller,
CrimeFest co-hosts.
