Criminal activities by Tracy Darnton

 As last month's blog (read here) was about the return of YALC, this month is a look at my first trip to Harrogate for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. 

Yes, I have travelled to the dark side with the grown ups. And it was good. 

I loved:

The festival feel. The event tents and bar are set up in the grounds of the Old Swan Hotel, famous as the place Agatha Christie checked into when the whole country was worried about her disappearance. I'm a sucker for outdoor fairy lights and the whole place looked great. 

Relaxation zone

Who doesn't want to lounge in a deckchair reading a book?

The whole town enters into the spirit of it.

including fabulous local Imagined Things Bookshop 

and Oxfam

Waterstones at the festival sells all the guest author books and hosts signings. 

The vibe set by the festival chair Denise Mina and the sponsor director Simon Theakston was warm and friendly. The panels were stacked with interesting people and there were in-depth interviews with mega stars like Tess Gerritsen.  I see why crime fans go back year after year. 

I'd been worried that the late night quiz would be cliquey and way too difficult but it was entertainingly hosted by Val McDermid and Mark Billingham and our little team did pretty well. (Still kicking myself that I couldn't remember what type of dog Snowy is (Tintin's sidekick). 

Aside from the pride of seeing my talented friend Emma Styles on the New Blood panel chaired by Val McDermid, the stand out session for me was Lynda La Plante interviewed by Denise Mina. If ever you get the chance to see her, grab it. 

We had an accommodation package 

and everything was included in the Rover Ticket without the hassle of booking individual events. 

The freebies! Got to love a tote bag stacked with books for starters. By the end I had too many to drag home on the train. 

Engaging promotions. Publishers with money to spend on their promotional activities (Yes!!!)

eg Escape Room experience, book themed cocktails with Charlie Higson, afternoon tea with Katy Watson and Rosemary Shrager, red rose which was the key to a book giveaway, proofs and samplers galore. 

Escape room corner in the The Crime Vault

BUT

It was pricey! 

The hotels had seen better days.

The food at the Murder Mystery Evening was dire. 

Coming so soon after YALC, I definitely missed the diverse/younger audience and authors. 

Too much queuing in the drizzle to get into the events tent.

Finally, in my humble opinion, it needs a YA thriller panel.

So cliffhanger moment... Will I go back? 

I'm dying to. 

Tracy Darnton is the author of YA thrillers The Truth About Lies, The Rules and most recently Ready or Not. She's still ploughing through the pile of thrillers she picked up in Harrogate. 

YALC's back - Tracy Darnton

YALC's back! 

Last weekend saw the return of the Young Adult Literary Convention after an absence of three years. Set up in 2014 by then Children's Laureate,  Malorie Blackman to celebrate teen and young adult books, and tap into the fandom overlap with London Film and Comic Con attendees, it has an atmosphere all of its own.

Olympia

For those who've never shared a lift with Chewbacca, Wonder Woman and a Dr Who enthusiast, or wondered if they should buy an inflatable Jabba the Hutt outfit or a replica sword, or contemplated joining in with Cosplay, prepare to be surprised. 

YA authors can struggle to get on the bill at children's lit festivals unless they're already incredibly successful so it's great to have a packed festival where the big American and British names in YA appear alongside debuts and mid-list authors on panels,

as well as deliver workshops and have signings with ticketed queues. 

Obviously a welcome marketing opportunity but also a time to socialise and meet up with all your Twitter author friends, and interact with the bloggers and readers who support your books. 

UKYA thriller writers assemble

In the space of five minutes in my signing queue there were readers from Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain.  Publishers have stalls with their latest books, activities and competitions:

and Waterstones sell the books of all the speakers.  

Many of the attendees are writers so there's also a popular Agent Arena running 1-2-1s, sessions on working with editors or how to get into publishing.  Workshops I attended this year included an Escape Room experience with Bryony Pearce; how to write a thriller with Sophie McKenzie; a mindful creative session with Sita Brahmachari and illustrator Natalie Sirett based on their book When Shadows Fall; and my own Release your inner teen with free curly wurlies where I was very grateful to the man with the white beard that I was not the oldest in the room. 

In addition to YALC royalty of Juno Dawson and Holly Bourne, this year had highlights of an in-depth interview of Jacqueline Wilson by Non Pratt, and the mega fandom around Heartstopper and Alice Oseman. It was fabulous to see a UKYA book attracting so much attention. I spoke to fans who queued from 5 am to get their place in her signing queue. 

So, what didn't work so well at this YALC compared to the others I've been part of? 

The usual part of the Olympia conference centre for YALC has been knocked down for redevelopment so we were on the balcony area around the LFCC hall. It was crowded and noisy! For anyone who struggles with constant background noise like me, it was a challenge to hear all participants, especially in workshops. I missed the usual quiet zone of beanbags and people reading their books. YALC used to have its own much quieter entrance - with no queue in the heat so that was much trickier for attendees this time. 

And I missed the merch or previous years, but then I'm a tote bag fanatic. (And yes, inevitably I did come back with Covid). 

So there you have it - the world of YALC. If you're reading YA, writing YA or just want a dose of popular culture, put it in your diary for next year. 

Tracy Darnton is the author of YA thrillers Ready or Not, The Rules and The Truth About Lies. She is having a well-earned lie down.