CWA Debut Dagger Open for Submissions

Entries are being invited for the coveted CWA Debut Dagger Award. 

Authors shortlisted for the Debut Dagger come to the direct attention of interested literary agents and publishers. M W Craven who won the 2019 Gold Dagger for best crime novel for The Puppet Show was shortlisted a few years ago for the Debut Dagger. Entering, Craven said, changed his life, he said: “I’ve been able to leave my job and become a full-time writer. And all this success comes from entering the Debut Dagger in 2013.” 

The CWA website has a series of Debuts blog to inspire aspiring authors from those who’ve triumphed. It also features Crime Writing Tips, for advice, where author Cal Moriarty is creating a series of articles on novel-writing that entrants might find useful.  

To submit to the award, entries need to include the opening of a crime novel up to 3,000

words, together with a synopsis for the full novel of up to 1,500 words. Novels do not need to be finished, and you can still enter if you have self-published providing you’ve never had a traditional contract for a full-length novel. Debut authors must not already have an agent or contract at the time the competition closes. To enter there is a fee of £36. The winner will also receive £500. Deadline for submissions is 6pm on 29 February 2020. 

For those seeking professional feedback, the CWA provides the Criminal Critiques service. The Mini Critique is specially aimed at Debut Dagger entrants. If you want feedback in time to hone and polish for the deadline, the service is open until 19 Dec and then from 2 January 2020 and promises a speedy turnaround. 

Go to the Debut Dagger for the full rules and to submit your entry. For more details contact secretary@thecwa.co.uk before 19 December 2019 or after 2 January 2020.

Amer Anwar on setting in Western Fringes

When it came to a setting for my debut novel, there was only ever going to be one choice for me – Southall.

In fact, I had the idea for setting a novel there even before I thought of writing one myself.

I'd spent a lot of time hanging out there with friends in my teens and twenties and the area got under my skin. It was a place, like the Bronx or Harlem in New York, or East and South Central L.A. – part of a bigger city but with its own, distinct identity. And it was that identity, that difference and uniqueness that struck me as a perfect place to set a crime thriller.

Most people who’ve heard of Southall know it has a large Asian community – it didn’t get the nickname "Little India" for nothing – and the culture of the sub-continent is proudly acknowledged and celebrated there. Part of that pride stems from being a community that came together in the face of racial harassment and violence in the 1970s and early ’80s, to defend each other, putting aside any religious and class differences they might have had. It’s remained a very tight-knit community ever since.

At the height of the trouble, local men and youths formed vigilante groups to defend local homes and businesses from attack. Over the years, as the threat of violence against the community lessened, these groups were no longer needed, but smaller factions formed into what became criminal gangs.

At the time I was hanging out there with my friends, trouble between the gangs was rife. There were constant stories of gang fights and vendettas, with people regularly getting beaten, stabbed and shot – at times it was a pretty wild place.

The kids who were born and brought up there were very much a product of two cultures, equal parts Asian and British – Asian at home with their parents and elders but completely British at school and with friends. They were influenced by exactly the same movies, TV shows, fashion, music and books as their white counterparts – but with the addition of Bollywood and Bhangra too.

It was around this time I’d started reading Elmore Leonard and what struck me about his books were the characters – cool, funny, sometimes violent, operating on both sides of the law. Thing was, there were characters just like that right there in Southall. I thought somebody should be writing about them. I waited… and waited, thinking someone would do it – only no one did. I never imagined I’d be the one to do it.

From about the age of 16, I knew I wanted to write a novel. I wasn't sure what sort of novel or when I was going to write it, I just knew it was something I wanted to do. Then, hanging out in Southall, reading Elmore Leonard, hoping for a decent British Asian crime thriller and not getting one, I finally thought, What the hell? Maybe that's what I should write about. And think about it I did, on and off for the next 20 years, before I actually started writing.

Setting the book there wasn't a problem – I knew the place, I knew the people, I had a feel for it. The setting only really seemed to be a problem once the book was finished.

Set firmly in the Asian community, it was always going to feature an Asian cast of characters. I wanted to write something that really represented the Southall that I knew. Unfortunately, this seemed to be an issue when it came to finding a publisher. A London crime novel, with an all-Asian cast of characters was surely only going to appeal to Asian readers, wasn't it? One editor commented that they could, "never visualise it breaking out to a broad audience". I wonder what “broad” actually means in that context? Male? Female? Young? Old? For all the talk of diversity, the result seems to be more like tokenism. A few black and Asian characters are fine but more than that and the book suddenly becomes too ethnic. Too niche. Personally, I have more faith that readers will be able to see beyond that.

I wrote Western Fringes to be a crime thriller first and foremost. The characters and setting are important but should never get in the way of that. Fortunately, early signs are that the book is being very well received – and, even more pleasingly, by a very broad audience too.

Today’s guest blog is by Amer Anwar who won the CWA Debut Dagger in 2008.  His debut novel is Western Fringes and is set in West London.  You can find more information about him on his website. You can also follow Amer Anwar on Twitter @ameranwar and find him on Facebook.

Western Fringes by Amer Anwar

A Sikh girl on the run. A Muslim ex-con who has to find her. A whole heap of trouble.  Southall, West London. After being released from prison, Zaq Khan is lucky to land a dead-end job at a builders' yard. All he wants to do is keep his head down and put the past behind him.  But when he's forced to search for his boss's runaway daughter it quickly becomes apparent things aren't all to do with family arguments and arranged marriages as he finds himself caught up in a deadly web of deception, murder and revenge.  With time running out and pressure mounting, can he find the missing girl before it's too late? And if he does, can he keep her - and himself - alive long enough to deal with the people who want them both dead?

Russell James Returns, Naked

I am always invigorated when I get a chance to read a narrative by writer Russell James, who Ian Rankin refers to as ‘The Godfather of British Noir’. I first met Russell when he was Chair of The Crime Writers Association [CWA] at the Dead-on-Deansgate Crime Convention in 2001. Many of us recall those events fondly, hosted by Waterstones Bookstore in Manchester; which were the precursor to the Theakstons Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. I recall the friendship that resulted with Ed and Cathy Wright following the Saturday Dinner following Russell James presenting the CWA Debut Dagger to the former Naval Man from Arkansas, turned Crime Writer, Ed Wright.

I was asked by the NY Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America [MWA] to write about my memories of Ed Wright, as well as the importance of organisations such as CWA and MWA for writers and readers alike.

Read More Here

Though based in California, Ed’s award winning crime fiction was first spotted by the British, thanks to the CWA Debut Dagger Competition; in fact many American and Canadian writers have made it big first in Great Britain, before breaking out on their their native shores, such as Meg Gardiner, Linwood Barclay, Gillian Flynn and many others.  

Over the years, it has been good to bump into Russell James at various events when our diaries cross, and I am always keen to see what he’s been up to in his writing, as well as his reviewing for Shots.

In time for Christmas, I see Russell has a new work entitled Mother Naked.

For Ruth’s 100th birthday the family gathers in a remote hotel. They deplore her scandalous past – but might they have worse secrets of their own?

 Ruth worked at the Windmill in her youth and behind her back is criticised by the family as an ex-stripper notorious for her complicated love-life. They say that in the war she drove her first husband to kill himself, and that she married her second husband only to provide a father for her young son.

Her four children now range in age from 60 to 75 and their working lives are virtually over. The eldest, Freddie, born to Ruth’s first husband, has in the last ten years put on a lot of weight. His son and daughter are there, but he no longer talks to his son. His sister Lucy stands aloof, nursing her drinks, while Charles, five years younger and the richest in the room, has come with his new wife, a Lithuanian half his age – much the same age as his two sons. Noticeably missing is Ruth’s even more successful youngest son, Jack, now Lord Jack, considered an outsider by the others and assumed not to be their father’s son.

As the rain teems down outside and the hotel staff keep serving drinks it seems the guest of honour may never arrive, during which time her children and their own children reveal family secrets. Well plied with drink they do not hold back and are more garrulous than they ought to be. By the time Ruth does arrive we have learnt that their true histories are not as they would have us believe. They are not always as they believe themselves to be. So can we believe what they say about Ruth?

Read More Here

Russell James is an innovator when it comes to literary foils and tools, so Click Here to read behind the scenes of Mother Naked, and can be downloaded to Kindle Here or purchased on Papyrus Here

Read more about the world of Russell James Here

C J Carver and her 5 Inspirational Snacks

CJ Carver is the bestselling author of seven crime fiction novels including Blood Junction. She has won the CWA debut dagger and the Barry Award for Best British Crime Fiction. She has been a long-distance rally driver and is the founding judge for Women’s World Car of The Year. Her latest novel is Spare Me the Truth. We persuaded her to tell us her 5 inspirational snacks and why.

1)    Warmed almond croissant and creamy cappuccino

This one is for writer’s block.  Not that I have – thankfully - suffered from such a thing,

but I’ve definitely come to an occasional T-junction in my book and before I know 

whether to turn left or right, I find I need some mental energy to drive me in the right 

direction.  Cafés are perfect for this, and while I allow the sugar, protein (yep, almonds 

are good for you, right?) and caffeine do its work, I people watch, doodle, and by the

time I get home I’m refreshed and ready to take the right (or is it left?) turn.

2)   Iced water

Drinking iced water and splashing it on your face apparently triggers the stimulating

hormone adrenaline, which boosts blood flow to the brain.  I say apparently as I haven’t

tried it yet, just read about it.  Instead, I drink tea.  Lots of it, because it’s incredibly

important that I get a break from time to time, not just to re-energise my brain but get 

my body moving.  I’ve tried drinking beer, wine and coffee to see if they boost my 

writing, but no, they don’t.  It’s tea that does it for me.

3)    Maltesers

One of the easiest snacks that can be eaten in the car.  Not that I’m advocating eating in 

the car as it distracts the driver and can be dangerous.  However, during the ideas and 

into the plotting stage, Maltesers nestled between my thighs so I don’t have to take my 

eyes off the road (my High Performance Instructor will go berserk if he reads this), I find 

the combination of sugar to my system and the effect of movement on my eyes from the 

countryside flashing past kicks in the right side of my brain.  The creative side.  This is 

when the best of ideas flow.

4)    Nothing.  Just Air.

Writing slightly hungry is excellent for creativity.  Even better though, is inducing what

could be termed the “artistic coma”.  I lie down on the sofa, flat on my back, and quiet

my mind.  I lie there looking at the ceiling, or the big piece of abstract art I have on my 

wall, not quite asleep but not quite awake.  After a while, maybe fifteen or twenty 

minutes, I feel a surge of energy and am quite awake.  I go straight to my computer and 

write.  This is when I usually come up with plot twists that have even me blinking in 

surprise.

5)  70% dark chocolate

 When I’m fed up with air and writing slightly hungry – usually when my characters are tucking into a full English breakfast or a burger – and I need something small but satisfying, I reach for the dark chocolate.  I break the bar into squares and put it on a plate.  I usually only need three or four squares – they’re 50 calories a square, or so it tells me on the packet – and they hit the spot, taking away my hunger and giving me a bit of a boost without filling me up and deadening my brain, which a larger snack would do.  Perfect.

Spare Me The Truth by C J Carver (£12.99 Zaffre Publishing) published 7th April

Dan Forrester, piecing his life back together after the tragic death of his son, is approached in a supermarket by a woman who tells him everything he remembers about his life - and his son - is a lie. Grace Reavey, stricken by grief, is accosted at her mother's funeral. The threat is simple: pay the staggering sum her mother allegedly owed, or lose everything. Lucy Davies has been forced from the Met by her own maverick behaviour. Desperate to prove herself in her new rural post, she's on the hunt for a killer - but this is no small town criminal. Plunged into a conspiracy that will test each of them to their limits, these three strangers are brought together in their hunt for the truth, whatever it costs. And as their respective investigations become further and further entwined, it becomes clear that at the centre of this tangled web is a threat more explosive than any of them could have imagined.

More information about C J Carver and her work can be  found on her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @C_J_Carver. You can also find her on Facebook.