How was Bloody Scotland? (part 1)

Well, the short version to that question is: absolutely brilliant! The longer answer's coming in 2 parts...

Day 1: Friday 9th September
Hubby and I arrived in Stirling for lunch, after which I contacted Gordon Brown, one of the organisers, to say I was there and to ask what time I should register. He texted me back, telling me to go to the Albert Halls for ~4pm and we could sort out registration later. As it turned out, he didn't need me to go to the Albert Halls at all (he thought I was going for a rehearsal, but I was due to rehearse on Saturday). However, it did mean that I got to meet some of the other Crime in the Spotlight authors and hear them read their extracts, which was excellent. Rehearsals over, we all toddled back to The Golden Lion to register and have this picture taken of us in the Waterstones book shop in the hotel:

Photo by Eoin Carey for Bloody Scotland
L-R Sandra Ireland, Stephen Watt, me, Eva Holland
Liz Mistry, Daniel Pembrey

It was great to meet some of the other Crime in the Spotlight Authors and chat to them. I met some of the others on the Saturday (but sadly don't have a photo  of it).

Since I was going to two shows that evening, I caught up with hubby again for us to grab a quick dinner before going in to see Caro Ramsay and Stuart MacBride. I sat with Stephen Watt and had a good natter with him before the show started. Oh, and Book Donors were giving away free books so there was quite a bit of trading and people swapping around to get the book they wanted.

Caro Ramsay and Stuart MacBride were very funny!

Photo by Eoin Carey for Bloody Scotland

The next session was Chris Brookmyre and Mark Billingham. Before they started, Stephen did his Spotlight slot and was amazing. He read a couple of his crime poems which were breath-taking. Here's another corker of a picture by Eoin Carey, of Stephen, mid-reading:

Photo by Eoin Carey for Bloody Scotland

Chris Brookmyre and Mark Billingham were absolutely priceless! I was worried I would lose my voice from shrieking with laughter. Unfortunately, their act was so close to the bone that I don't think I can share much with you without causing offence. I think Bloody Scotland would be struggling to show too many pictures from the end either! This one is from about halfway through...

Photo by Eoin Carey for Bloody Scotland

Before the show got started, I was chatting to two fabulous women. Unbeknownst to all three of us, we were snapped by Eoin Carey during the show:

Photo by Eoin Carey for Bloody Scotland

Show over, I went back to my hotel to try and get a good night's sleep before day 2, when I would have my Spotlight slot. Tune back in next week to read all about how that went!

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