UNLEASH YOUR DARK SIDE!!

Ahem....

Bestselling author, Louise Phillips, is holding an 8-week course on successful Crime Fiction writing, commencing March 2020 IRISH WRITERS CENTRE

UNLEASH YOUR DARK SIDE

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Learn the secrets of successful crime-fiction writing with bestselling and award-winning crime author, Louise Phillips.

On this course, participants will receive in-depth analysis of all aspects of great crime fiction, including the creation of memorable characters, planning, pace, dialogue, and narration.

Many of Louise’s students have achieved great publication success, with some becoming International Bestsellers.

ABOUT LOUISE

Louise Phillips is the bestselling author of five psychological crime thrillers. All five novels have been nominated for Best Crime Novel of the Year in the prestigious Irish Book Awards. Her second novel, The Doll's House, won the award. Louise’s work has formed part of many literary anthologies, and she has won both the Jonathan Swift Award and the Irish Writers’ Centre Lonely Voice platform, along with being shortlisted for the Molly Keane Memorial Award, Bridport UK, and many others. In 2015, she was awarded a writing residency at Cill Rialaig Artist Retreat, and she was also a judge on the Irish panel for the EU Literary Award. In 2016, she was longlisted for the prestigious CWA Dagger in the Library Award in the UK, and her first two novels, Red Ribbons and The Doll's House, were published in the US. Her latest novel, The Hiding Game, was published in September 2019 to critical acclaim, and was nominated in the An Post Irish Book Awards for Best Crime Novel of the Year 2019. 

For Booking Details etc click HERE

Drum Roll...Cover Reveal!!!

DRUM ROLL...

Or something like that....

SO EXCITED to REVEAL the cover of THE HIDING GAME...Publication Date September 5th....

Now off to light candles, bite fingernails, or generally panic that you like it!!...

#TheHidingGame

"A young girl on trial, a twenty-five-year-old murder, and a small town willing to do anything to keep its secrets safe..."

LIZ NUGENT

“Phillips is back with a most intriguing and compelling story of grief, loss, memory and the quest for the truth. With rich characterisation and a lively setting, this story will enthral you to the end.”

PATRICIA GIBNEY

“The Hiding Game is filled with characters who will grab you by the throat from beginning to end. Absolutely gripping storyline, expertly crafted, an addictive page turner. I loved it.”

KAREN PERRY

“The Hiding Game has everything you would expect from a Phillips novel – a pacy crime procedural full of twists and turns, with poignant insights into the emotional bond between mother and child. A cracking good read.” 

CATHERINE RYAN HOWARD

“A riveting, ripped-from-the-headlines legal thriller set in A Small Town in the USA with dark secrets and murky lies…which Phillips has pulled it off not only with authenticity, but aplomb.

ARLENE HUNT

“Phillips is at the top of her game. The Hiding Game is riveting, thought provoking and compulsive. A five-star read.”

ANDREA CARTER

“A gripping courtroom drama with a courageous new heroine in Heather Baxter. Pacy, tightly plotted and full of suspense. The Hiding Game was worth the wait!”

CORMAC O KEEFFE

“Phillips sends us down into a rabbit hole of buried trauma, disjointed memories, fractured relationships and ruptured lives in the search for justice and redemption. An undoubted master of the psychological thriller.”

SINEAD CROWLEY

“Phillips makes a very successful trip Stateside with ‘The Hiding Game’. The oppressive nature of life in a small town adds tension as Phillips draws together the strands of this tightly plotted family thriller.”

The Creative Process - Mind Maps!

Before Christmas I edited my current work in progress (TRUST NO ONE) from 65,000 words down to under 50,000. The script became shorter, but a lot better. (I’m one of those sad people who love editing!)

Earlier this week, I picked up the script to start writing again. I realised I needed a plan to reach the finish line (better known as the end!).

The plan turned out to be a series mind maps!

This pic may not look like 3 days of work, but the content will be the next 8 weeks of writing!!

And just to prove I’m not the only writer who uses such tactics….here’s a pic of J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series…..

Do you want to write a novel???

Do you want to write a Novel? Have you a great idea, but you don't know where to begin?

If the answer is yes, join me in February at the Irish Writers Centre for 10 weeks of 'BEGIN YOUR NOVEL' Course. Since starting creative writing classes a couple of years ago, six of my students have been awarded Irish & International publishing deals, and 4 others, are currently signed with agents.

You can book or register your interest online or by phoning (01) 8721302

Online Link - HERE

A Novel Start!

Do you want to write a novel? Have you a great idea, but don't know where to begin? Have to started a novel, but got lost along the way? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, join me in February at the Irish Writers Centre for 10 weeks of 'Begin Your Novel' Course.

Full details HERE

The Murky Middle!!!

I've talked a lot in the past about the murky middle of a novel. It's where you've managed to get the essentials of the story down by introducing the fictional novel world to the reader, one with an array of characters, insights and a sense (albeit full of questions) of where the story is going - AKA Act 1. 

Act 3, is the final segment of the story when I have a reasonably good idea of how it all will end, but I can change my mind at a moment's notice.

The one sandwiched in the middle, is Act 2, which I refer to as the murky middle.

It gets even murkier when you're like me and you don't plot your story. Nor, do I know what my character are going to do next. Right now, I also have a whole load of things planted in the script that may or may not have an influence on the outcome. And yes, I know, people like the wonderful Jeffrey Deaver know the whole story before they even write a single word. But alas, the process is different for everyone. 

Despite hating the murky middle, because it is at times, DIRECTIONLESS, and I have to write and rewrite myself out of many a cul-de-sac, I secretly like that some weird and often wacky surprises happen in these troubled murky waters, even if like this morning, I have conversations like this with my partner.

ME:    'I have a word count of 1,500 words to do today.'

HIM:   'That's good.'

ME:    'No, it isn't.'

HIM:   'Why not?

ME:    'Because I've no idea what I'm going to write.'

HIM:   'Don't worry about that, you've been there before.'

ME:    'That doesn't help. What if I can't think of anything?'

HIM:   'You will.'

ME:    'That doesn't help either.'

Thankfully I squeezed the 1,500 words out....so I guess he was right, but there's still tomorrow! 

A Beautiful Death!

I got back to my novel writing today - Yippee!!! And for any of you curious people out there, the current working title is A BEAUTIFUL DEATH...

Here are a few lines about it..

"A BEAUTIFUL DEATH once again features criminal psychologist Dr Kate Pearson, who faces the biggest investigation of her career -  a story of ordinary people drawn into an extraordinary cult with fatal consequences and a fallout no one sees coming."

Mslexia 2013 Women's Novel Competition

'Fiction is such a world of freedom. If you want someone to fly, they can fly.' Alice Walker

1ST PRIZE: £5,000

Judging Panel:

Kirsty Lang, arts journalist and presenter of BBC Radio 4's Front Row 
Val McDermid, award-winning novelist, journalist and short story writer 
Charlotte Robertson, literary agent at Aitken Alexander Associates

The three finalists will be offered free professional feedback by The Literary Consultancy.

The 12 shortlisted authors will be invited to meet literary agents and editors at a special networking event in London.

The competition is open to unpublished women novelists writing in any genre for adults, including literary fiction, women’s fiction, young adult fiction, science fiction, fantasy, chick-lit, crime fiction, thriller, historical fiction... but not nonfiction or fiction for under 13s. To constitute a novel, your book must total at least 50,000 words.

Closing date: 23 September 2013

Please note: This is NOT an annual competition. The next adult novel competition will not be until 2015 (TBC).

READ THE COMPETITION RULES

ENTER THE COMPETITION

Novel Writing Month - November Calling

Okay this is a pretty cool way of getting your words to flow onto the page.  I could give you a long introduction about how this happens, but the article below pretty well covers it.  Suffice to say, when you take those doubting gremlins away, not allow them time to sneak up on you, and keep yourself busy writing, the words, your story, happens. 

Why not check it out - its far better than watching too much television!

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30.
Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.
Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. This approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.
Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.
As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.
In 2010, we had over 200,000 participants. More than 30,000 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo super stardom forever. They started the month as auto mechanics, out-of-work actors, and middle school English teachers. They walked away novelists.
So, to recap:
What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month’s time.
Who: You! We can’t do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let’s write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together.
Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era’s most enchanting art forms! To give yourself permission to write without obsessing over quality. To be able to make obscure references to passages from our novels at parties. To stop being one of those people who say, “I’ve always wanted to write a novel,” and become one of those people who can say, “Oh, a novel? It’s such a funny story–I’ve written three.”
When: You can sign up anytime to add your name to the roster and browse the forums. Writing begins 12:00:01 November 1. To be added to the official list of winners, you must reach the 50,000-word mark by November 30 at 11:59:59. Once your novel has been verified by our web-based team of robotic word counters, the partying begins.

SIGN UP LINK HERE

 

The CWA Debut Dagger

Fancy a stab at crime writing?

Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Competition for 2011 - will run from 30th October 2010 to 5th February 2011.

This Award is open to all writers who have not had a novel published commercially. Entrants are required to submit the first 3000 words of their crime-themed novel, plus a 500/1000 word synopsis.   The short-listed entries are not only circulated to all the editors and agents who are members of our Association, but also to an increasing number who contact us asking to see the list.   Since its inauguration,  two dozen winners and short-listed authors have obtained publishing contracts.  It's a wonderful opportunity for would-be crime writers to jump the slush pile and get their work seen by leading editors and agents.  

Further details can be found on www.thecwa.co.uk (click the 'Debut Dagger' link).