NATIONAL CRIME WRITING MONTH

I have an enormous number of events now confirmed for the UK's National Crime Writing Month, which extends throughout June and the first half of July. I'll be visiting eighteen libraries in Yorkshire and the Midlands, as well as bookshops and other venues ranging from a castle to a tent! 

My first events are on Tuesday 4th June in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, and Handforth, Cheshire. My 'tour' concludes with a book festival in Nottingham on 14th July. I hope to meet lots of readers along the way! All library events feature a talk, Q&A and book sales. 

The new Cooper & Fry novel ALREADY DEAD is also published this month, with a launch in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on Thursday 20th June.

A full list of my dates is below, but watch out for updates here: 
http://www.stephen-booth.com/events.htm

Crime Writing Month schedule:

TUESDAY 4th JUNE, 2.30pm
Mexborough Library, John Street, Mexborough, South Yorkshire S64 9HS - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event. For tickets, phone 01709 582037 or email: mexborough.library@doncaster.gov.uk

TUESDAY 4th JUNE, 7.30pm
Handforth Library, The Green, Wilmslow Road, Handforth, Cheshire SK9 3ES - talk, Q&A and book signing. Tickets £3 (includes refreshments). Phone 01625 374060 or email: wilmslow.library@cheshireeast.gov.uk

THURSDAY 6th JUNE, 10.30am
Goole Library, Carlisle Street, Goole, East Yorkshire DN14 5DS - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event, but contact the library to reserve a place. Phone 01405 762187 or email: goole.library@eastriding.gov.uk

THURSDAY 6th JUNE, 2.30pm
Snaith Library, 27-29 Market Place, Snaith, East Yorkshire DN14 9HE - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event, but contact the library to reserve a place. Phone 01405 860096 or email: snaith.library@eastriding.gov.uk

WEDNESDAY 12th JUNE, 2pm
Sutton-in-Ashfield Library, Idlewells Centre, Manor Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 1BP - talk, Q&A and book signing. Phone 01623 556296 or email: sutton.library@nottscc.gov.uk

WEDNESDAY 12th JUNE, 7.30pm
Oakham Castle, off Market Square, Oakham, Rutland LE15 6DT - talk, Q&A and book signing. Tickets £3 (£2 concessions), booking recommended. Phone Oakham Library on 01572 722918 or email: libraries@rutland.gov.uk

FRIDAY 14th JUNE, 6.30pm
Wakefield Central Library, Burton Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF1 2DD - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event. Phone 01924 305376 or email: wakefieldlibrarymuseum@wakefield.gov.uk

TUESDAY 18th JUNE, 7pm
Long Buckby Library, Station Road, Long Buckby, Northamptonshire NN6 7QB - with Peter Tickler, author of the 'Blood in Oxford' series. Tickets £2 in advance, £3 on the door. To book a place, email: bucklib@northamptonshire.gov.uk or phone 0300 126 1000.

THURSDAY 20th JUNE, 7.30pm
Chesterfield Library, New Beetwell Street, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 1QN - launch event for ALREADY DEAD, with Waterstones Chesterfield.
Tickets £3 (£2 concessions) available from the library. Phone 01629 533400 or email: chesterfield.library@derbyshire.gov.uk

SATURDAY 22nd JUNE, 10am - 12noon
Bookworm, 1 Spa Lane, Retford, Nottinghamshire DN22 6EA - signing for ALREADY DEAD. To order a signed copy, phone 01777 869224 or email: sales@bookwormretford.co.uk 
Website: http://www.bookwormretford.co.uk/

SATURDAY 22nd JUNE, 2.30 - 4.30pm
Scarthin Books, The Promenade, Scarthin, Cromford, Derbyshire DE4 3QF - signing for ALREADY DEAD. Phone 01629 823272 or email: nickscarthin@gmail.com
http://www.scarthinbooks.com

TUESDAY 25th JUNE, 7pm
Biddulph Library, Tunstall Road, Biddulph, Staffordshire ST8 6HH - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event. For tickets, phone the library on 01782 512103 or email: biddulph.library@staffordshire.gov.uk

WEDNESDAY 26th JUNE, 7.30pm
Macclesfield Library, Jordangate, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 1EE - talk, Q&A and book signing. Tickets £3 including refreshments. Phone 01625 374000 or email: macclesfield.library@cheshireeast.gov.uk

THURSDAY 27th JUNE, 7pm
Burton-on-Trent Library, Riverside, off High Street, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire DE14 1AH - talk, Q&A and book signing. Tickets £2 for library members, £3 for non-members. Phone 01283 239564 or email: burton.library@staffordshire.gov.uk

FRIDAY 28th JUNE, 7pm
Rugby Library, Little Elborow Street, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 3BZ - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event. Phone 0300 555 8171 or email: andrewbutton@warwickshire.gov.uk

SATURDAY 29th JUNE, 12 - 2pm
Waterstones, 70-80 St Peter's Street, Derby DE1 1SR - signing for ALREADY DEAD. Phone 01332 296997.

TUESDAY 2nd JULY, 5.30pm
Coventry Central Library, Smithford Way, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 1FY - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event. Phone 02476 832314 or email: central.library@coventry.gov.uk

WEDNESDAY 3rd JULY, 7pm
Tadcaster Library, 10 Station Road, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire LS24 9JG - talk, Q&A and book signing. Tickets £2. Phone the library on 0845 034 9542 or email: tadcaster.library@northyorks.gov.uk

THURSDAY 4th JULY, 7pm
Congleton Library, Market Square, Congleton, Cheshire CW12 1ET - talk, Q&A and book signing. Tickets £3.50. To book a place, phone 01260 375550 or email: congleton.library@cheshireeast.gov.uk

SATURDAY 6th JULY, 11.30am - 1.30pm
Waterstones, 27 Frenchgate Centre, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN1 1LJ - signing for ALREADY DEAD. Phone 01302 329142.

SUNDAY 7th JULY, time tbc
Cliffhanger Outdoor Festival, Graves Park, Hemsworth Road, Sheffield S8 8LL - reading in Friends of the Peak District story telling tent. Admission to festival £7.50 for adults, accompanied children under-16 free, car parking £3. http://www.cliff-hanger.co.uk/whats-on/story-tent/

MONDAY 8th JULY, 6.30pm
Leeds Central Library, Calverley Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS1 3AB - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event, but book a place by phoning 0113 247 6016.

TUESDAY 9th JULY, 2pm
Mansfield Library, Four Seasons Centre, Westgate, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG18 1NH - talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE event. For more details, phone 01623 651337 or email: mansfield.library@nottscc.gov.uk

THURSDAY 11th JULY, 2pm
Tickhill Library, Castlegate, Tickhill, South Yorkshire DN11 9QU - talk, Q&A and book signing. To book a place, phone 01302 742871 or email: lesley.nicholson@doncaster.gov.uk

SUNDAY 14th JULY, 2.30pm
Gedling Book Festival 'Crime Day', Civic Centre, Arnot Hill Park, Arnold, Nottingham NG5 6LU. Talk, Q&A and book signing. FREE admission and free parking. Festival includes book stalls, refreshments, children's activities and live music. Festival programme: http://www.newwritersuk.co.uk/gedling.html

* National Crime Writing Month is a promotion by the UK Crime Writers' Association. All of their events can be found here: http://www.crimewritingmonth.co.uk 

NOW OUT IN PAPERBACK - DEAD AND BURIED

The latest Cooper & Fry novel DEAD & BURIED is published in paperback this week. It's available from all good bookshops (and some you might not approve of very much!).

DEAD AND BURIED has a bit of a Dante's 'Inferno' theme going on, particularly highlighted in the opening scene on Oxlow Moor. So I'm very glad that we managed to get DEAD AND BURIED out in paperback a full month ahead of a book called 'Inferno', which is written by a certain Dan Brown. Now people can assume that he copied my idea, rather than the other way round!

I continue to see and hear a lot of comments about the ending of DEAD AND BURIED - such as the reviewer who said the book has "an unexpected and genuinely shocking climax", or the readers on Goodreads who've written: "another brilliant read, with a seat of your pants ending to this one" and "the powerful finale means this is a definite 5 stars". 

Of course, the ending was largely what propelled me into the story for the next book in the series, which is published in June. If you've already read DEAD AND BURIED, I'm sure you'll want to know what happens next - just as I did!

Well, the next book ALREADY DEAD (number 13 in the Cooper & Fry series) is all done and dusted now - editing finished, proofs read, cover finalised (see below), and it's ready to go into production. In fact, June 20th isn't really all that long to wait now, is it? Just nine weeks, according to my calendar. A teenager in Pennsylvania once slept for longer than that in a single session, so I'm sure it'll pass in a jiffy.

Meanwhile, I'll be getting on with writing Book 14. Of course, I never imagined when I started writing the first Cooper & Fry novel, BLACK DOG, that the series would reach this stage. The fact that there are now thirteen books about these two young Derbyshire police detectives is entirely due to my interest in the characters, which fortunately many readers seem to share. 

If you'd like to know a bit more about where Ben Cooper and Diane Fry originally came from, you can read a piece I wrote called 'How I Met My Detectives', which is currently featured on the Crime Vault website:

http://www.thecrimevault.com/exclusives/stephen-booth-how-i-met-my-detectives/

You can buy a copy of the DEAD AND BURIED paperback online here:

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-And-Buried-Cooper-Fry/dp/0751545694/stephenbootho-21

Waterstones:http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/stephen+booth/dead+and+buried/9025989/

WH Smith:http://www.whsmith.co.uk/Products/Dead-and-Buried-v-2-Cooper-and-Fry-2+Paperback+9780751545692

The Hive: http://www.hive.co.uk/book/dead-and-buried/16928563/

Or visit your local bookshop, of course!

Oadby Creative Fortnight

Oadby Library in Leicestershire will be staging a fortnight full of creative events during April. 

You can kick off the fortnight on Monday 15th April (7.30pm) by spending an evening with me, when I'll be talking about the Cooper and Fry series and the writing process.

Tickets for the evening are £8, including refreshments. For more information, or to book a place, contact Oadby Library on 0116 305 8763 or email: mark.newman@leics.gov.uk

The full programme for 'Get Creative Fortnight' is available here:
http://www.leics.gov.uk/getcreative.pdf

* If you'd like me to take part in an event for your local library, bookshop or festival, just send an enquiry, giving as many details as possible of date, location & type of event, to: events@stephen-booth.com

Nottingham Festival of Words

This year, the city of Nottingham will get its first ever book festival with the launch of Nottingham Festival of Words.

Next weekend (Saturday 16th February) I'll be taking part in 'Arsenic and Nottingham Lace', a crime and noir panel as part of the festival. Also on the panel are local authors Niki Valentine, Danuta Reah and David Belbin.

Admission is by festival day or weekend pass. Make sure you book now!

The full festival programme is here: 
http://nottwords.org.uk/resources/nottsfest2012-lowres.pdf

SATURDAY 16th FEBRUARY, 11.15am - Nottingham Festival of Words - 'Arsenic and Nottingham Lace' crime and noir panel with Niki Valentine, Danuta Reah and David Belbin at Nottingham Trent University's Newton Building, Goldsmith Street, Nottingham NG1 4BU. Entry with day or weekend pass, tickets available from Nottingham Tourism Centre on Smithy Row, by phone on 0844 477 5678, or online through the festival website: http://nottwords.org.uk/

During the summer, I'll also be taking part in the first ever Gedling Book Festival, which will be held in Arnold in July. 

For details of more forthcoming events, please visit the website:

http://www.stephen-booth.com/new events.htm

TOP HARD price reduction

The ebook of my standalone Nottinghamshire crime novel TOP HARD has been reduced in price! It's available for Kindle, Kobo, Nook, iPad etc. A trade paperback print edition is also out there.

"Top Hard" by Steve on Ganxy

Crime evening at Cambridge

Warm up in the chilly weather with a great crime evening taking place at Heffers Bookshop in Cambridge on Thursday 13th December (6.30pm). 

Books, wine, goody bags, prizes are available, and all of these 10 crime authors will be there to chat to readers: 

Stephen Booth, Jayne-

Marie Barker, Alison Bruce, Mark Edwards, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Elly Griffiths, Kate Rhodes, Michelle Spring, Peter Tickler, Len Tyler.

http://twitpic.com/be2b33 

Tickets are £4 redeemable off the cost of a book on the night. Phone 01223 463200 for tickets or more details. 

This is a Mystery People event:

http://www.mysterypeople.co.uk/

Chellaston Library project, Derby

Readers in the Derby area have two chances to hear me talk about my writing career and the Cooper and Fry novels with a series of events highlighting the facilities of Chellaston Library in the south of the city. The first 'Evening with Stephen Booth' takes place on Tuesday 6th November (7pm start).

I'm honoured to be appointed Chellaston Library Champion by Derby City Council's library services, and I'll be helping to draw attention to the importance of community libraries like Chellaston and the range of facilities available for library users in the area. 

We all know that libraries are a vital part of many communities. They provide a place to meet, chat to like-minded people, make new friends, or join a club. They offer free access to books, online databases and computers, information about starting a business or writing a CV and job clubs for job seekers. You can read with your kids, help them with their home work, and be a reading role model.

Derby City Council have added over 48,000 new items to their shelves in the past year, including all the latest bestsellers. Fiction, non fiction, large print, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers are all available, as well as craft clubs, author talks, writing workshops and story times for children, a quiet space to work or study, space to sit down and read a newspaper or magazine. From a writer's point of view, libraries are also important as a place where readers discover new authors.

On Tuesday 6th November, I'll be at Chellaston Library to talk about how I became a writer, about why libraries have been so important to me personally, and why I support them. This will be followed by a question and answer session. The evening starts at 7pm. 

This is a FREE event! All are welcome, but booking is recommended. You can phone the library on 01332 702614 for details, or email chellaston.library@derby.gov.uk
or book a place online here: http://stephenbooth1.eventbrite.com/

Chellaston Library is on Barley Croft, off High Street, Chellaston, close to the A514 in the south of Derby. The postcode for your satnavs is DE73 6TU, and you'll find car parking close by. There's a detailed map on the event page:

http://stephenbooth1.eventbrite.com/

For more details about the library's facilities and opening times, click here: http://www.derby.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/libraries/derby-libraries/chellaston-library/

Following the November event, I'll be back at Chellaston Library in February to talk in more detail about my novels and the Cooper and Fry series. Watch out for more details!