Four Men In Search Of A Plot, Waterstones Sauchiehall Street, 4 November, 2016.
Friday, 4 November, 2016
Waterstones, 153 Sauchiehall Street, G2 3EW
An evening of intrigue when four Scottish crime writers will be discussing and answering questions about all aspects of crime novels, including plotting, writing, plus general death and destruction.
With G.J. Brown, Neil Broadfoot, Mark Leggatt and Douglas Skelton
G. J. Brown lives in Scotland but splits his time between the UK, the U.S.A. and Spain. He’s married with two children. Gordon once quit his job in London to fly across the Atlantic to be with his future wife. He has also delivered pizzas in Toronto, sold non-alcoholic beer in the Middle East, launched a creativity training business called Brain Juice and floated a high tech company on the London Stock Exchange.
He almost had a toy launched by a major toy company, has an MBA, loves music, is a DJ on local radio, compered the main stage at a two-day music festival and was once booed by 49,000 people while on the pitch at a major football Cup Final.
Gordon has been writing since his teens and has four books published – his latest, Meltdown, being the second in the Craig McIntyre series. Gordon also helped found Bloody Scotland – Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival.
Neil Broadfoot knew he wanted to be a writer the day his primary school teacher gave him a plain jotter with a scalded pink cover and told him: “This is where you write down your stories.” This was a relief to the young Neil, who until that point had been holding his stories in his head and working on them every night.
He began writing horror stories in his teens after a bet from his best friend that he couldn’t write anything that would truly terrify him. After reading one story late at night, the friend in question ran home from streetlight to streetlight, too scared to stray into the dark. Almost better than a five-star Amazon review. Almost.
Training as a journalist, Neil went to work for local then national papers, covering some of the biggest stories of the time; from 9/11 to invasion of Iraq, the MPs’ expenses scandal, the release of the Lockerbie bomber and the fall of Gadaffi.
Turning from poaching to game-keeping after 15 years, Neil moved into PR and communications, advising a range of organisations in the public and private sectors, including the Scottish Government. He’s also a regular panellist at crime writing festival across the country, and has presented a true crime feature on STV Edinburgh.
Neil’s first novel, Falling Fast, which introduced readers to crime reporter Doug McGregor and sometime friend DS Susie Drummond, was shortlisted for both the Dundee International Book Prize and the Bloody Scotland Book of the Year award. His second, The Storm, received critical acclaim from best-selling authors and readers alike, and solidified his position as a writer “destined for crime success”. His third Doug and Susie novel, All The Devils, is due to be released in August.
An adopted Fifer, Neil lives in Dunfermline with his wife, Fiona – also a former journalist – and daughter Alexandra. They also have four dogs, so it’s safe to say it’s never dull in the house. This, however, offers ample opportunity for Neil to slip into his neighbours’ braai hut to discuss plot details over a traditional Scottish beverage.
Mark Leggatt is the author of Names Of The Dead, The London Cage, and The Silk Road, a series of international thrillers which weave fact and fiction across the globe.
Mark was born in Lochee, Dundee and currently lives in Edinburgh. He is a member of the Crime Writers Association in the UK, The Society of Authors, Scottish PEN, and the International Thriller Writers in the USA. He is the Debut Author Programme Membership vice-chair for the International Thriller Writers.
A former specialist in Disaster Recovery for oil companies and global banks, his career has taken him around Europe, especially France, where he lived for a number of years. European history and modern global conspiracy lie at the heart of his work, and are the backdrop for the adventures of former CIA technician Connor Montrose.
In September 2012, Mark won an entry to the Bloody Scotland Crime Festival, and was invited to deliver a pitch to an audience and publishing panel. Since then, he has appeared at Bloody Scotland, Thrillerfest in New York in 2015, and Glasgow’s International Literary Festival Aye Write!
Mark will be next appearing at Thrillfest XI in July 2016, held at the Grand Hyatt, Manhattan, New York, as part of the International Thriller Writer’s Debut Author Programme. Names Of The Dead and The London Cage be on sale at the event, followed by a signing session.
Douglas Skelton is the author of 11 true crime and criminal history books and four novels in the Davie McCall series, tough thrillers set in Glasgow. Among other things he’s been a bank clerk, shipping clerk, office clerk and a journalist (Clerk Kent?)
He’s also investigated real crime for Glasgow solicitors and helped expose a notorious miscarriage of justice.
He has presented crime features on STV Glasgow, commented on real-life crime on BBC TV and radio and appeared in various documentaries.
For a few years he was a film critic for a local newspaper in Glasgow, interviewing a number of stars, including Charles Dance, Phil Collins and ‘Supergirl’ Helen Slater. He also once handed on Vanessa Redgrave a cup of coffee.
Some years ago he wrote and produced a half hour drama for cable TV which won a Royal Television Society award and he was once suspected of helping to break a prisoner out of prison.
He will begin a new thriller series in September with ‘The Dead Don’t Boogie’, featuring off-beat hero Dominic Queste.
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