Newcastle Noir 2023 - December. One week to go when I meet up with my tribe

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/84d0324158.html?fbclid=IwAR3dWB7JCVQnTbz9L...

One week to go! 

Normally, I wouldn't post anything about an author event, but this appearance, flying in from Dublin  to this event is literally three years in the making.

I met the festival director, Dr Jacky Collins in 2019 at the Bloody Scotland Festival in Stirling. I was part of the final group of authors selected to pitch to a panel of editors and industry professionals;

https://bloodyscotland.com/announcements/pitch-perfect-2019/

Chatting to Jacky afterwards she asked would I like to do Newcastle Noir 2020? - I said I'd love to.

2020 was the nightmare of Covid and I couldn't travel.

2021 another outbreak, another lock down.

& then 2022 due to work commitments (I had just started a new job) I had to cry off. But the weather was so bad with winter storms, that some other authors couldn't make it. I couldn't have gone anyway. (There for the grace of god go I...!)

Then this year I was lucky to be recipient of a bursary from the Irish Writer's Union - enough to pay for flights and a hotel and Jacky, a credit to her patience, kept the initial offer open; it was a no-brainer.

So now, I've my flights booked, my accomodation sorted & in truth it feels like a school reunion. Suzy Aspley the winner of the 2019 Pitch Perfect will be there as will D.V. Bishop, the winner of the 2018 competition. It will be a kind of homecoming.

I'm going to be there as a fan of these great writers and the ones who will be featured.

Of course, I'm nervous; when you write, you write in a self-contained bubble.

Some people regard you as eccentric, some will tease and some will just plain slag you off, so I feel like I'm meeting up with fellow eccentrics, grafters and people who when they wake up every morning with a plot, s story or an idea try to put them onto paper. 

meeting up with my tribe.

If you are around Newcastle the weekend of the 7th - 10th of December, this looks like a great way to while away a cold winters day.

It may sound like an Oscar acceptance speech, but I would like to thank in advance; Dr. Jacky Collins, The Irish Writers Union, and my brilliant Scottish friends Gerald and Ann who gave me the lift from Galsgow Airport to Stirling in 2019 and gave me one of the best road trips in my life! (that will always stay with me)

and Newcastle City Libraries for hosting the event.

December 2 2023

My latest book is available on #Amazon & I'll have a few copies with me on the day 

"Gannim Yen"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kind-Drowning-Robert-Craven-ebook/dp/B093HFSW1J...