Writers, Festivals & Reviews - An author's life

Some Watford Writers after my talk on submissions. In other news, I received details from Harrogate Crime Festival today. And reviews are starting to come in for Dead End (out in May) - see below.

Dead End Reviews

Great review of Dead End by Barry Forshaw in Crimetime - "an encounter that will take them into the darkest recesses of the human psyche" !
http://www.crimetime.co.uk/mag/index.php/showarticle/1816
And here's the link to the review by Marie Muldoon in New Books Magazine - "I am really impressed and am now Leigh Russell's number one fan!"
http://www.newbooksmag.com/reviews/6338-9379/review.php
Graham Smith of Crimesquad has also reviewed Dead End and here's a preview he sent me - "A macabre read, full of enthralling characters and gruesome details which kept me glued from first page to last." Dead End is published in May.

Good News

I've been invited to participate at HARROGATE FESTIVAL. This is a huge honour for any author of crime fiction and I'm absolutely thrilled. http://www.harrogate-festival.org.uk/crime/

The Goal Posts are Moving Again

The goal posts are moving again…

Once I would have grabbed at the chance of having a third novel published. With my first two titles still selling, am I becoming an established author, successful at last in my own small way? Dead End will soon be going to print, ready to hit the shelves next month. (What happened to the past six months? Publication date has been so far off for so long and now, suddenly, it’s almost here – How did that happen?)

When Cut Short was due for publication I remember being wildly excited. The whole episode felt like one huge party. It was such fun being a published author! To my surprise, the publication of Road Closed was, if anything, even more exciting. Now I was a real author with not one but two books to my name. (Is that the laughter of authors with multiple titles to their names?)

But with Dead End about to hit the shelves, everything feels different. It could be the after effects of pneumonia, but suddenly this author lark doesn’t seem like so much fun any more. Is it because third time around I know how much hard work lies ahead, with the publication of a new title? The promotion, book signings, talks, panels, interviews, and endless phone calls and emails… and the reviews! There have been 3 so far, all good, but that’s just the beginning…

I’m reminded of the Neil Sedaka song about missing the hungry years. The publication of Cut Short was such a thrill, but how can we measure success when the goal posts keep moving?

What has been your experience of publishing second and subsequent books? Did your excitement heighten or fade with each new title?

Review of DEAD END

DEAD END has received its first review, in New Books Magazine.
"Dead End is the first book I have read by Leigh Russell but it won't be the last! This psychological thriller is apparently the third in a series featuring DI Geraldine Steel but can be read as a stand alone novel. I, however, will be buying the first two and reading them immediately. I am an avid reader but have become a bit jaded of late but I found this book gripping. The writing reminded me of authors like Tess Gerritsen and Mo Hayder. I found the narrative well written and at times terrifyingly brutal. The tension slowly builds as the twists and turns develop and as the story unfolds I could not put this book down. I was really impressed and am now Leigh Russell's number one fan!"
http://www.newbooksmag.com/reviews/6338-9378/review.php

Another digression

This blog is supposed to focus on my life as an author of crime novels, but I can't resist sharing the beautiful flowers I received this week. Sadly the purple tulips a friend brought me last week have gone but they were fabulous as well. Yes, lots of purple flowers with my spring daffodils! They cheered me up while I was feeling low - as did all the good wishes I received online. Thank you.

Blogging again

In some ways writers are similar to visual artists, in their close observation of details. Painters seeing a landscape might rearrange the composition in their heads, select colours for a canvas, respond to light and shade (I’m guessing here.)
As a writer even the most mundane detail transforms into words in my head – a carrier bag flapping in a gust of wind, the smell of earth beneath dry leaves – anything can be used to help set a scene somewhere in a book.
Recently I had a very different experience of noticing detail, spending a week in hospital suffering from pneumonia. Looked after by a wonderful team of NHS staff, I was reminded how much I take for granted every day. That first cup of NHS tea when I was able to drink, the feel of dry sheets after I managed to dislodge my drip which leaked in the bed, the joy of eating a piece of toast!
Not much about crime writing here but I have been a bit off the case recently - although I did have a clear view of the hospital car park, deserted after dark. One night I watched a lone figure hurry along the walkway and couldn’t help thinking “What if…”
…a second figure leaps unexpectedly from the shadows, brandishing a knife, and the patient becomes an unwilling witness, three floors up. Before she can move or cry out the victim staggers and falls, the assailant vanishes into the darkness… The patient presses her buzzer and watches as the victim bleeds to death far below in the deserted car park…