When the idea for the Newcastle Noir Blog Tour was conceived, it was to promote the festival that was due to take place next weekend. Like so many other events, it has had to be cancelled, but we are still shouting out about virtual events that will be taking place on the You Tube channel Newcastle Noir You Tube.
One of the events that takes place is the awarding of the Lindisfarne Prize for Debut Crime Fiction, set up by bestselling local crime author Louise Ross, writing as L.J Ross, with the support of Newcastle Noir. This is the second year of the prize and I was excited to be able to interview Louise Ross about the inception of the prize, and catch up with last years winner Cressida Downing.
Louise, what was your inspiration to set up the Lindisfarne Prize.
Firstly, I wanted to support the arts in the region where I was born, and which has been so good to me. I’m a great believer in paying things forward, and with the Lindisfarne Prize I wanted to create an accessible opportunity for storytellers of all ages and backgrounds to pursue their dream to write, whilst also celebrating regional talent.
The winner gets £2500 as well as an editorial and mentoring service and funding towards a year’s membership of industry associations. Do you think this would have been helpful when you were starting out?
I was very fortunate with the success of my first novel, but this is not always the case and so, for many writers at the beginning of their careers, I hope the offer of financial support and the invaluable offer of industry mentorship and membership will give this year’s winner the confidence to strike out with their work.
What kind of response have you had this year?
If I was overwhelmed by the positive response last year, I’m even more so, this year. We’ve had hundreds of entries and I know that all the judges are as excited as I am to read them.
What are you looking for in a winning entry?
I’m looking for a natural aptitude for storytelling. Spelling and grammar can be polished, but coming up with a novel idea and having the raw ability to execute the story is quite rare.
Do think more needs to be done to help an encourage new writers?
I think that, particularly in the strange times in which we find ourselves, reading and writing has never been more important. Writers have the ability to transport a reader from their ordinary lives, which is a great social asset during difficult moments, and it should be valued.
This is the second year that you have run the Lindisfarne Prize. Last year Cressida Downing won the prize, what made her work stand out?
Cressida is a natural writer, with an incredible ability to weave a richly textured story. There were many fabulous entries but, ultimately, hers was the story each of us wanted to finish.
I was lucky enough to be at last year’s award ceremony and got to meet Cressida at the event and learn more about her book, and today I welcome her to my blog.
Cressida, what made you decide to enter the competition?
My mother sent it to me. I felt I had to enter as it was called the Lindisfarne Prize and my book was set on Lindisfarne, and a crime book! I’d not started writing it but had been doing research and thinking I would get around to it sometime. I must admit that without the competition, I would probably have still been thinking about it and never starting!
What was the premise of your book.
It’s set in Lindisfarne Priory in 1495. My protagonist is a female scribe called Linnet. She becomes convinced that a monk did not die by accident and tries to find out what did happen and who is responsible. At the same time, her past is catching up with her and her refuge on the island is threatened.
One year on, how has the support the prize gave you helped in completing your book?
I was grateful to the prize before I was even shortlisted as it gave me the impetus to get started on the first few chapters and work out most of the plot. With the money from the prize I have taken a bit of time off from my job to get the first draft written. I’ve also gone on a course on medieval literature at the British Library, met ravens at a bird sanctuary, and bought a medieval ink-making kit!
Once I’d finished my first draft, I sent it to Paul Jones at Cheshire Cat Books, who gave me a lot of very useful feedback. It’s great to have a professional opinion at this stage to help you to start to really shape what you’ve written.
What are your future plans regarding your writing, have you started you next book yet?
After this first book is redrafted, I would like to start on book two! I’ve got an idea for a sequel that starts with something that should be impossible, I just need to untangle it and get the plot working…
I am grateful to Louise Ross for her initiative in setting the Lindisfarne Prize up, she’s a great writer and so generous with her help.
Being a huge fan of historical fiction, I am looking forward to reading Cressida’s book.
To find out more about the Lindisfarne Prize click the link Lindisfarne Prize
We don’t have as many literature festivals, or author events in the North East as in many other places in the UK, so events like Newcastle Noir, and authors like Louise Ross are so important in our region, championing all Northumbria and North Tyneside have to offer.
L.J Ross released her first book Holy Island January 2015 and reached number one in the Amazon UK and Australian charts. Since then, she has released a further sixteen novels, all of which have been top three global bestsellers and fourteen of which have been UK #1 bestsellers. Louise has garnered an army of loyal readers through her storytelling and, thanks to them, several of her books reached the coveted spot whilst only available to pre-order ahead of release. Her eleventh novel, The Infirmary, is a prequel story and is also available as a major Audible Originals audio-drama starring Tom Bateman, Kevin Whately, Bertie Carvel, Hermione Norris and Alun Armstrong. In addition to her DCI Ryan series, Louise has created a new series of thriller novels based around the central character of ‘Dr Alexander Gregory’, whose work as a psychological profiler takes him around the world. The first two books, Impostor and Hysteria, were both #1 bestsellers and were narrated in audio by the actor Hugh Dancy. She is also writing several standalone romantic suspense novels featuring strong female protagonists which will be available in 2020.
The novels are available to purchase in e-book, paperback and audiobook formats on the Amazon store, as well as in libraries and book shops around the world.
We don’t have as many literature festivals, or author events in the North East as in many other places in the UK, so events like Newcastle Noir, and authors like Louise Ross are so important in our region, championing all Northumbria and North Tyneside have to offer.
There may be only a virtual festival this year, but I hope you will have a look and defin consider coming to Newcastle next year to see Newcastle Noir in full swing. To find out more about the festival and what it offers take a look at the website Newcastle Noir Website
Very interesting. I did not know much about this prize at all. Thanks for sharing your insights on it.