The WIP is standing at 65,000 words and growing slowly. Too slowly. The word count isn’t being helped by all this Going OutOut.

Sunday saw me attend Crime at the Coast at Torquay Museum. Crime isn’t a genre I read all that often but I have been known to indulge occasionally. A couple of friends wanted to go and another was appearing on a panel so I sacrificed another day of writing to go along.

I’m so glad I did, it was a fabulous day.

There were various panels discussing the importance of setting, getting the historical details right and the different types of crime genre. It was well attended, we were able to have a look around the museum and even had lunch. Plus, there was lots of time to chat with readers and writers.

I haven’t been to Torquay in living memory so it was good to see a different part of Devon. On the previous evening I’d watched part one of the excellent Lucy Worsley documentary about Agatha Christie so I was well-primed for a bit of Devon-based crime. If you see what I mean.

Had to laugh when I spotted these two. I’m currently writing a dual narrative set in Roman Britain and contemporary Devon and, for a moment, worried my characters had followed me …

It was a good day, only spoiled by a throwaway ’joke’ about romance writers. Why writers of other genres perpetuate outdated and misogynistic cliches about their comrades who happen to write romance, I’ll never understand.

However, it was great to listen to informative, clever and funny crime writers and it’s always a treat to hear how other writers hone their craft.

Thank you to all those who took part and to the hard working museum staff who made it happen. Maybe it’s time to hunt out that cosy crime I had an attempt at last year?

Love,

Georgia x