Granite Noir Day Two

 

Granite Noir day two:

Never have I had time to bake eighty-nine ginger biscuits (they keep for ages and it’s between two households, anyway, honest) on the morning of Granite Noir. Yet this year I could have my laptop chattering to me as I finished off the last few batches, then set the yogurt going and retire to knit another sock while listening to Theresa Talbot interview three newcomers, Femi Kayode, Saima Mir and Susie Yang. All three books sound pretty interesting – if I were there I suppose I might have splashed out on the paperbacks and had them signed (well, not Saima’s as it’s not out yet), but instead I looked on Amazon and thought one was a bit pricey but ordered the other. Not so good for book selling. I’m feeling a bit mean. But on the other hand I often don’t have time to queue to have books signed, and I’m not a great collector of signed books, so I might not have bought them anyway. I thought Theresa did a good job of balancing the three authors and coping with the occasional glitch.

Right, midday and I’ve realised I should have read more small print – I wanted to go to a workshop on developing characters over a series but it was limited numbers. There’s always something I forget to book! Shame, as the chap leading it is also a historical crime fiction writer, D.V. Bishop. I don’t know about him, but I need mutual support!

A terrific session at 2pm with S.J. Watson, Catherine Ryan Howard and Will Dean, chaired by Bryan Burnett whom I met last year. I remember seeing Will Dean’s first ever event at Granite Noir a few years ago and he’s gained assurance since then – all three of them were amusing and informative. I liked Will saying that the most valuable thing he ever wrote was his first novel, which he worked on and worked on and sent to agents and it never went anywhere – he’ll never publish it, he says, but it was his writing school.

 Straight on from that was Val McDermid talking with Andy Miller and John Mitchinson about Josephine Tey, chiefly about her book Miss Pym Disposes, which was one I’d never read (loved Brat Farrar, The Singing Sands and Daughter of Time, but I can’t remember The Franchise Affair so I’ll go back to that, too). A strange woman, Tey, leading a double life of domesticity in Inverness and theatrical weekends in London, different friends, different clothes, everything.

Then at 6, when I’d sorted out a new batch of knitting (taking a pause from socks) I watched Camilla Lackberg interviewed by Alex Clark. Entertaining, though she looked very monochrome in her black and white room! She’s a productive author with, she says, a strong work ethic, and she seems to be into everything – a film company here, an investment company there, five children, two series and standalones. I’m feeling like an under achiever …

Lastly, while we ate pizza, we had Jo Nesbo, interviewed by Jackie Collins (Dr. Noir) who had some technical problems to start with and had to recover from a flustery beginning. Some good questions came up about language, translations, and different perceptions of words in different countries. I wish my Norwegian was as good as his English – and I also rather wish he had taken his cap off. It was a bit distracting.

Zoom headache – enough for one day.