I've always been grateful for the support other writers gave me when I was starting out myself, and so in spite of my conviction that I am the world's worst teacher, I do occasionally swallow my reservations and agree to lead a workshop. I don't believe anyone can be taught to be a writer, but sometimes it's possible to help someone make their writing better. I hope that's what happened when I recently gave a workshop on Character Development as part of the Proud Words festival in Newcastle. This is the only gay & lesbian literary festival in the UK, and it celebrates diversity in the most inspiring of ways. Certainly I had a lot of fun taking part, and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in innovative writing.

I've just come back from Norwich, where the local branch of Ottakar's staged their first-ever crime festival, Nicked in Norwich. They had a great line-up of authors and the festival ran until June 13th 2002. I had a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable audience, and it's a great store complete with coffee shop. They're hopeful that this will become an annual event; I can see crime fans suddenly developing an interest in boating holidays on the Broads...

Last month, I went to Amsterdam for my Dutch publisher Luitingh-Sijthof. In Holland, June is Thriller Month. The bookshops are piled high with crime fiction, and the newspapers produce special supplements covering every aspect of the genre. I spent two days doing media interviews and trade dinners, and I was taken aback by the level of enthusiasm shown by journalists. In the UK, it's a miracle if you can get one newspaper to take a serious interest in a visiting author. But I did twelve separate interviews for papers and magazines in Belgium and Holland, and my experience is far from exceptional. Jeffrey Deaver, who was there at the same time, was also booked from breakfast to bedtime. We couldn't even find time to have a drink together!

Italy, Spain & the US

April was a busy month for me, with trips to Italy, Spain, the US and Germany. We went to Venice for Easter, which was a good excuse to reread Michael Dibdin's Dead Lagoon and to discover Sally Vickers' Miss Garnett's Angel - not a crime novel, but a great read full of unravelling mysteries. I barely touched UK soil before I had to zip off to Barcelona, location scouting for a project (all will be revealed next month!). Next, I went to Philadelphia to take part in a symposium on crime writing with US writers Barbara Neely and SJ Rozan, both of whose work you should check out if you're interested in well-written books that come from slightly unusual perspectives. Barbara and SJ are great company, and the conversation was wide-ranging and often hilarious. The symposium itself was fascinating and stimulating, with the stimulation coming as much from intelligent and challenging questions from the audience as from my fellow writers. And it was a real bonus to spend a couple of days in Pennsylvania in perfect spring weather.

Munich

I travelled to Munich later in the month to take part in the German crime writers' annual festival, the Criminale. I was amazed at the energy of the organisers - the programme was astonishingly varied. They staged a marathon reading that went on round the clock for several days, earning them a place in the Guinness Book of Records. They had readings on city trams, debates in the paleontology hall of the museum, and a full programme for younger readers. I took part in a Ladies' Crime Night, which ended around midnight. The Germans have an apparently inexhaustible appetite for listening to writers read! I was also celebrating the publication of an anthology of my short stories in German, published by Droemer. Apart from a limited edition chapbook, it's the only time my short stories have been gathered together between a set of covers, and although it's a relatively slim volume, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many stories I've produced over the years. Sadly, there are no plans to produce such a collection in English - apparently, short story collections don't sell, according to publishers. Tell that to the Germans, who sold 20,000 copies in the first two weeks following publication...

Hull

My next engagement was a literary lunch in Hull, where I shared the platform with Amy Johnson's biographer and Pam Rhodes, the presenter of TV's Songs of Praise and herself a novelist. I hadn't been to Hull for years - not since I used it as a setting for a scene in Clean Break - and I was amazed by the regeneration in the city, especially around the docks. I can see I'm going to have to go back again and consider how I might make some murderous use of the fabulous new aquarium, The Deep.

If you're lucky enough to live in the STV/Grampian broadcast areas, you can see a documentary about me and my work on July 10th at 10.30pm as part of the Artery arts programme strand.

Next month, I'm teaching a course for the Arvon Foundation at their centre at Moniack Mhor in the Scottish Highlands. My co-tutor is the Edinburgh writer Frederic Lindsay, and Denise Mina is our guest reader. Arvon is a charitable foundation that organises writing courses at its three centres in Scotland, Yorkshire and Devon. The courses cover every aspect of creative writing and they're always led by professional practitioners in the field. The people who attend are invariably passionate about their writing - face it, you have to be passionate to spend a week shut away in the middle of nowhere at your own expense, being forced to work on your writing and having to endure the critiques of professionals and your fellow students. Arvon has quite a track record - one of the people who attended a course I taught a few years ago had her first novel published last year, for example. I wish I'd known about them when I was starting out.

The third in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series, The Last Temptation was published on February 4th. So far, the reviews have been good, but more importantly, the readers have been voting with their wallets and have taken it into the hardback fiction top ten at no. 7. That's if you believe the Sunday Times list. However, I've seen other lists that place it at 6 and 8, so who knows which is correct. Either way, I'm thrilled. It's also gone into the bestseller list in Australia within days of publication. That makes The Last Temptation the most successful book I've published so far in terms of sales. And for me, that's a marker that counts highly, because nobody parts with hard-earned cash lightly!

Click here for more about The Last Temptation

2002 got off to a good start for me, with news that the New York Times had blundered by leaving Killing The Shadows off its list of Notable Books of the Year. They apologised very politely and printed a notice of their error, which probably attracted more attention than inclusion on the original list would have!

Click here for more about Killing The Shadows

Many of Val McDermid's books are available on Audio Cassette and Audio CD - To find out what is available and how to order them click here

Scotland
Next destination on the tour was Scotland. (I'm amazed they let me back across the border after the Sunday Herald's dramatic photo of me brandishing a meat cleaver...) I was booked in to spend a couple of days at the HarperCollins warehouse in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, where Marie and Janis and David took it in turn to stand over me with a big stick while I signed stacks of copies for bookshops all over the UK. Yes, I know it means you don't get the chance to touch the hem of my garment, but you do get a signed copy. I love going to the warehouse - I guess it appeals to the big kid in me who is fascinated by the mechanized process that takes books from an order phoned in by a bookseller to a parcel disappearing into the night on an ANC truck.

While I was in Scotland, I did various media interviews - Radio Clyde and Radio Scotland among them - though my TV interview with STV's Seven Days current affairs programme was bounced because of the death of Princess Margaret. Still, if you're going to be out-diva'ed, it could have been by someone with a lot less class... I also did gigs at Waterstone's in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow and Princes Street West End in Edinburgh. But the highlight of the trip had to be my guest slot in fellow writer Denise Mina's pub quiz team. Yes, we won. By one point. Why did we win by one point? Because I knew the name of the pub at the beginning of Treasure Island. How sad is that? What is even sadder is that I find this important enough to pass on to you.

Just shoot me now.

While I was in Scotland, I also took the chance to make a quick side trip to St Andrews, where I did a bit of background research for the new book. The Distant Echo opens in St Andrews in 1978/9, so I wanted to spend an afternoon browsing the back numbers of the local paper, just to get a feel of the period and find out what stories were in the headlines. And what were the students of St Andrews taking to the streets over in the winter of 1978? They were howling in outrage at the decision of the University Senate to award an honorary degree to the leader of the Trades Union Congress, whom they described as an 'economic illiterate'. This at a time when the rest of the student body of Scotland were marching to protest at the cutting of student grants... St Andrews really is another country.

Other Events
I also did events at Crime in Store in London and Borders superstore in Ellesmere Port to promote The Last Temptation. Again, I had great audiences. People came along whom I hadn't seen for the best part of twenty years, and it was wonderful to renew those old acquaintances and friendships. I've been genuinely touched by the kind things people have said about the books and by the obvious enthusiasm that many of you have for my work. Thanks to everyone who was able to come along to an event for making this a very special tour. I had great fun, and I hope you did too.

Click here for more about The Last Temptation

I'm speaking at a symposium at Swarthmore College in Philadelphia on April 6th with fellow crime writers SJ Rozan and Barbara Neely. Then I'm going to Germany on April 18th to take part in the Criminale in Munich with a panel of German crime writers.

I've got a new short story out in the March issue of Woman & Home. It's called The Wagon Mound and has its seeds in a drunken anecdote I was told by a friend who works for the British Council. I know the Council likes its writer tours to have impact, but I'm not quite sure if this is what they have in mind...

Val is on 'The Message' again - this Friday (8 March 2002) at 4.30pm (GMT). BBC Radio 4, presented by Jenni Murray. It's Radio 4's weekly look at media stuff. If you can't get to a radio, you can hear it on the internet via www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/themessage

Val says, "I'm appearing on BBC Radio 4's The Message this Friday (8th March 2002) at 4.30pm. As before, people can hear it on the website either live or archived for the week: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/themessage Also, in the main archive they can listen to chunks from old programmes. If they know what date I was on, they can find bits of me...

Killing The Shadows named as one of the books of 2001 by The Washington Post.

Click here for more about Killing The Shadows

"We've added another gig to the tour schedule, at Crime in Store in Bedford Street, London on Monday February 11th in the evening, so if you're anywhere near central London, I hope you can come along to that."

Thursday 31st January 2002
Launch at Manchester Deansgate, Waterstones
The event will be at 7pm in the newly-expanded Event Room.

Val will be reading from her new book, there will be a question and answer session and, of course, she will be signing books...

You can book tickets for this event by ringing the shop on 0161 837 3000 (switchboard) or 0161 837 3030 (direct line to the Crime Desk, though they may be busy serving customers!). Alternatively, Waterstones have just started an online service, both to inform customers of forthcoming events and to enable them to book/reserve tickets. Simply email to: publicity@waterstonesbooks.co.uk calling the email "register online" you will be added to the emailing list. You can also request tickets on this email address.

Wednesday 6th February pm 2002
Waterstones, Glasgow

Thursday 7th February pm 2002
Waterstones, Princes Street, (West End shop) Edinburgh - Don't get confused and go to the East End shop!

Monday 11th February 10am 2002
BBC Radio 4 Womans Hour

Monday 11th February pm 2002
Crime in Store in Bedford Street, London

Wednesday 13th February pm 2002
Borders, Ellesmere Port

Click here for more about The Last Temptation

"On Feb 22nd, I'm taking part in the Readers & Writers Workshop book programme on BBC Knowledge, one of their digital channels. I'm sorry, I don't know the time, but I'm in discussion with fellow Scottish women crime writers Denise Mina and Alex Gray with a live audience. Well, as live. We filmed it yesterday... Love V"

If you've got any free time next Friday (1 Feb 2002) at 4.30pm (GMT) and can get BBC Radio 4 - turn it on! Val is on The Message, presented by Jenni Murray, it's Radio 4's weekly look at media stuff. If you can't get to a radio, you can hear it on the internet via www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/themessage

"I'm appearing on BBC Radio 4's The Message next Friday (1st February 2002) at 4.30pm. As before, people can hear it on the website either live or archived for the week: www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/themessage Also, in the main archive they can listen to chunks from old programmes. If they know what date I was on, they can find bits of me...

If you've got any free time next Friday (28 Dec 2001) at 4.30pm (GMT) and can get BBC Radio 4 - turn it on! Val is on The Message, presented by Jenni Murray, it's Radio 4's weekly look at media stuff. If you can't get to a radio, you can hear it on the internet via www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/themessage

The Girl Who Killed Santa Claus features in the January 2002 edition of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine www.themysteryplace.com Out now!

Val is back from her US visit - November 2001

'I'm heading off to the US at the end of October 2001. I'll be Guest of Honour at the Magna cum Murder convention in Muncie, Indiana on the weekend of 26th/27th/28th October.'

'I began at the Magna cum Murder convention in Muncie, Indiana. No, I don't know where it is either, even having been there. But it's well worth the trip. Held annually on the last weekend of October (which allows for a certain amount of Hallowe'en silliness) and sponsored by Ball State University, it's a gathering of about 250 writers and readers that majors in intimacy and good humour. The organiser, Kathryn Kennison, is a one-woman powerhouse of energy and imagination who makes damn sure that everyone is having the time of their lives. I was Guest of Honour, which meant I was feted from the minute I arrived to the minute I left. The convention features a unique mix of author panels and interviews coupled with the presentation of academic papers which are surprisingly accessible and entertaining as well as being illuminating. I was interviewed by British/Canadian author Michelle Spring, who made it very easy for me to look good! And Master of the Revels Lev Raphael gave me the sort of encomium that would make a more modest person blush, so I felt thoroughly indulged by the whole thing.

As well as the more serious stuff, we indulged in some knockabout fun too. After the banquet on Saturday night, we held a balloon debate. I was representing Raymond Chandler, which meant I was thrown out of the balloon first. I wasn't upset about this in the least. I just pulled out a gun and shot my fellow panellists. It's OK though, it was only a toy ray gun from Walmart, though Kathryn did offer me her husband's Glock... The debate was won by Agatha Christie, ably represented by Barbara D'Amato, narrowly defeating Dorothy Cannell's sprited if anarchic championing of Josephine Tey. And on Sunday morning, we held a riotous version of Millionaire -- Who Wants To Be a Best-Selling Author. Parnell Hall took the Chris Tarrant role, though he wasn't nearly orange enough, and attempted to keep control of an unruly panel of authors. They let me win, which was nice of them. Now I'm awaiting the million-dollar contract that was supposed to accompany my victory. Yeah, right, that'll happen...'

To see exclusive pix of Val's road trip, and another take on it, go to www.ruthdudleyedwards.com and look under the heading: MAGNA CUM MURDER MUNCIE, INDIANA 26-28 October 2001

On Monday 29th October, I'm appearing at an event organised by the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Pittsburgh (www.mysterylovers.com). On Tuesday 30th October, I'm appearing at reception in Baltimore. On Wednesday 31st October, Ian Rankin and I are appearing together at 6pm at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

'At the crack of dawn on Monday morning, I piled into the Ball State University people carrier with Michelle Spring and Ruth Dudley Edwards for our road trip from the Midwest to the Eastern Seaboard. Kathryn's long-suffering husband Dick was at the wheel, while Kathryn slid effortlessly into the role of Den Mother, supplying her brats in the back with chocolate and regular stops at McDonalds to keep our spirits up. Five hours and several rounds of Botticelli and The Minister's Cat later, we arrived at a palatial country club in Medina, just outside Cleveland, where we had lunch with 186 Friends of Medina Library. Michelle, Ruth and I held a panel discussion followed by a book signing, both of which were greeted with overwhelming enthusiasm.

After lunch, it was back in the van for the three and a half hour drive to Pittsburgh. By now we'd settled into our roles as the three kid sisters and the long-suffering parents, and in between asking 'Mommy, are we there yet?' we sang everything from the Battle Hymn of the Republic to Dusty Springfield's Greatest Hits, via songs from the shows and a pretty spirited attempt at three-part harmony on the Beach Boys' 'Fun, Fun, Fun.' If we'd had a drink, we'd have been dangerousÉ Wee Three (as Ruth, Michelle and I will henceforth be known) were joined by fellow Brits Peter Lovesey and Magdalen Nabb for an event at the Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, PA.

Next morning, we made a presentation to the local purchasing librarians in a bid to persuade them that there is more to British crime fiction than Agatha Christie. If nothing else, they now know that there are some very weird people out there committing all sorts of strange murders. Well, fictionally, at least. We had to say goodbye to Ruth at the airport, then it was back in the van for another long drive. We ended up in Baltimore (and not in a good part, initially. We sent Michelle into a service station to buy a map and Dick thought he was going to have to ram raid it to get her out of there, as she was immediately surrounded by panhandlers...) where local authors Sujata Massey and Laura Lippman had organised a wonderful party in our honour in Sujata's elegant home, a sprawling Victorian mansion complete with smoking porch. We were surrounded by readers, booksellers and journalists, all intent on having a very good time, which was something we were happy to go along with. Thankfully, we didn't trash the place, which probably means I can go back to Baltimore. In the morning, Laura took me on a pilgrimage to Fells Point, the district of Baltimore where the much-lamented Homicide: Life on the Street (probably the best US cop series of the 1990s) was filmed. I can heartily recommend the Eggs Benedict at the Blue Moon Café.

My Washington adventure began with an event at the Smithsonian Museum in the heart of DC. Ian Rankin and I appeared as part of the Writers at the Smithsonian season, and a couple of hundred people turned out to hear us in conversation. We wondered if the Smithsonian should have invested in simultaneous translation, because when we're together, Ian and I both slide inexorably into much thicker Fife accents than we normally have, and I'm not convinced that the audience made sense of everything we said. Still, they laughed in more or less all the right places and they bought lots of books, which we like in an audience.'

I'll be staying in Washington until Sunday November 3rd, participating in the Bouchercon, the World Mystery Convention (www.bouchercon2001.com) where I will probably be found in the bar... I've been nominated for two awards for A Place of Execution -- the Anthony Award, which is voted for by the 1500 attendees at the convention, and the Macavity, which is awarded by the subscribers to Mystery Readers Journal.

Washington felt much more edgy and subdued than the other places I'd been in. Not surprising, after the events of September 11th. The stations are patrolled by armed National Guards officers as well as the Amtrak transport police, and the roads round the Pentagon, which I had to pass en route to my hotel, had armoured vehicles and tanks by the roadside. In general, there was an atmosphere of anxiety and suspicion that I've never known in the US before. It's also clear that a lot of businesses are suffering, particularly hotels, bars and restaurants. Staff were genuinely welcoming and thrilled that we Brits had made the journey. People were really putting themselves out for us -- for example, the deli across the street from the convention hotel opened specially on the Saturday just to cater for those of us who found our way there to dive into their great breakfasts.

On Thursday, I did my first panel, with Laurie King and Dana Stabenow. We'd been given the title Kiss Me, Kate, presumably because we all write characters called Kate, rather than as an inducement to perform musical theatre. We didn't have much to say about that, so we threw the designated topic in the bin and indulged in a spirited conversation about why we do what we do. If the audience enjoyed it half as much as we did, then honour must have been satisfied.

Bouchercon kicked off formally with an opening ceremony and awards celebration, at which I was awarded the Macavity for Best Crime Novel of 2000 for A Place of Execution. The accolade is voted on by the members of Mystery Readers International, and it was a particular thrill for me to win it because the very first event I ever did with US readers was at an MRI event at the home of Janet Rudolph, who runs MRI and edits its prestigious Mystery Readers Journal. It was Janet and her fellow enthusiasts who persuaded me to attend my first Bouchercon in 1994, and that was the convention that marked the real start of my building a US readership. I came away from that Bouchercon with a contract for paperback publication of the Kate Brannigan novels and a deal with Spinsters Ink for the Lindsay Gordons. So it felt almost like coming full circle to win the Macavity.

Most of Bouchercon was a blur of meetings, both professional and personal. There were upwards of 1300 people there, and it's the biggest social gathering for crime writers anywhere. This year, there were over 20 British authors in attendance, as well as more than 150 US writers. The guests of honour included Sue Grafton, Peter Lovesey and Michael Connelly, which demonstrates the breadth of styles represented there. It's a great opportunity to discover new writers, and the book room features dozens of specialist dealers from all over the US. The only problem is how to get home all the books one acquires over the weekend.

The high point for me at this year's Bouchercon was winning the Anthony Award for best novel for A Place of Execution. The Anthony Awards -- and the convention itself -- are named in tribute to Anthony Boucher, who was the most notable mystery critic of his generation. The awards are voted on by those who attend the convention, and it's a huge honour for me to have been chosen this year. The people who attend Bouchercon are voracious readers who are hugely knowledgeable about the genre, so winning their votes is a real compliment for an author. Even the hotel bar staff were buying me drinks afterwards! (no snide comments, please.)'

On Sunday 4th November, I'll be going on to New York, where I'm doing an event at Partners & Crime on Monday November 5th. fireworks on Greenwich Avenue!'

'On Sunday, I headed up to New York on the train. It was heartbreaking to see that familiar skyline without the twin towers. It brought back the tragedy of September 11th as nothing else could have done. I've been coming to New York since 1979, and it dawned on me that I had never seen Manhattan without the WTC dominating the skyline. Just walking around the city, the absence of the towers struck me again and again. New York is struggling hard to get back to normal, but it's undeniable that the usual buzz of the city that never sleeps is turned down low. Restaurants where you couldn't get a reservation two months ago are half empty. Catching a cab is a matter of seconds, even at the busiest time of the day or night. And the stores are quiet, desperately staging sales in a bid to bring the customers back. Talking to my friends and colleagues, it's clear that they're still somewhat numb, still not sure how to process what has happened to their city. It'll take years for people to get over this, if they ever do.

My time in New York was spent visiting bookstores and signing their stock, and in meetings with my publishers. I also did a reading and signing at the ever-friendly Partners & Crime on Greenwich Avenue, followed by the inevitable social gathering in a nearby bar where I could top up my Sea Breeze levels.

All in all, it was a great trip. It's exciting to see how well my books are doing in the US now, and I know that next summer's publishing blitz by Minotaur will really stamp my presence on the bookshops there. But there were moments of sadness too, and I'll remember those as much as the moments of triumph.'

October 21, 2001 - New York Times.com
'Killing the Shadows': Death Imitates Art By CHARLES TAYLOR

There's no denying the queasy, almost sexual excitement that's part of the lure of serial-killer thrillers, and in her vivid and adept new novel, the Scottish writer Val McDermid delivers a serial-killer thriller that mounts in tension while at the same time making readers aware of their complicity in craving the grisly shocks the genre provides. It's a double-tracked approach that would derail a lesser writer and make an inferior book choke on its contradictions. But, as Stephen King did in ''Bag of Bones,'' McDermid is trying to address the inhumanity that's all too easy for popular writers to lapse into as they seek to titillate an increasingly jaded readership. McDermid is too sophisticated a novelist to preach or condemn. Maybe this is because in two previous books, ''The Mermaids Singing'' and ''The Wire in the Blood'' (fine, intelligent, gripping thrillers both), she herself was not above occasionally indulging in the genre's gruesome trappings...

'A Place of Execution has been published in Swedish, Italian and Bulgarian. On a recent trip to Bulgaria, I was thrilled to see it in pride of place on so many of the bookstalls. They don't have many bookshops there -- most of the book-buying is done on market stalls, and there's huge enthusiasm for popular Western literature.'

Click here for more about A Place of Execution