New Roads: Crimefest Writers, and Camilleri’s Sicily

Posted by Prof. Brian Stoddart on June 18, 2013 · 8 Comments 

After three days of an excellent crime fiction convention, what’s the next move? Go to Sicily and the province of Ragusa to visit the setting for Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano novels and home to the TV series, of course.
Um, how did this happen?
After a lifetime of research and a string of non-fiction books, I’m writing a crime novel. Crime fiction has long been my default reading away from professional demands, with “crime and place” set in distinctive locations high in the priorities. I swear I knew my way around Venice before I first went there, by reading Donna Leon and walking with Inspector Brunetti (who these days is a touch tired, almost tiresome). Following the rule that says write what you know, my novel is set in 1920s Madras in India, and is now in heavily edited second draft.
Thinking I needed pressure to produce the thing, I entered the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger competition. That meant producing the first three thousand words plus synopsis, which was all sent off.
Given I would be in the UK anyway, it seemed logical to go to Crimefest 2013 (http://www.crimefest.com/ ) where the Debut Dagger shortlist would be announced. In late May, then, Sandi and I turned up in Bristol for what, it occurred to me, was my first non-academic, non-professional meeting in a very long time. .
For three days, we enjoyed an exhausting schedule of panels and interviews across all aspects of the genre, meeting writers already prized and discovering new talent.
One great moment was meeting William (Willie) McIlvanney whose three Laidlaw books (I now have a signed copy of the first) sparked the Tartan Noir movement made famous by Ian Rankin, Christopher Brookmyre, Kate Atkinson, Alan Guthrie, Stuart McBride, Lyn Anderson and many others, including the articulate Denise Mina whose joint session with Willie was sparkling. McIlvanney eschews the Tartan Noir tag, thinking it a marketer’s rather than writer’s tag and, rightly, considers his books as social novels that just happen to have a cop and crim storyline. Speaking as wonderfully as he writes, he delivered everything with his self-deprecating, deadpan Scottish humour. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Books/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=William%20McIlvanney&page=1&rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AWilliam%20McIlvanney ).
Three things stood out at this convention.
First, the atmosphere was far more collegial than most academic conferences I ever attended. Bar the very exceptional ego, published writers were more than happy to meet aspiring ones and be extremely encouraging.
Second, there were a lot of writers there, at times outnumbering readers. This was a chance to speak with fellow writers, sharing the industry’s production agonies and pains. One night, Sandi and I found a tiny, out of the way Italian restaurant. We left after a great meal, to spy off in another corner a gaggle of European authors, mainly Scandinavian, come to Bristol, as it were, to talk to each other. Most nights, and even afternoons, a gathering of stars could be seen in and about the bar.
Many “readers” were veterans of the now-regular crime fiction festivals in the UK and the USA, especially, with declaring Crimefest to be the one they enjoy most. So do the writers.
Third, the writers say breaking in and through is tough, but keeping up the pace almost more so, especially as publishing and reading undergoes massive technical and social change. For that reason, most have dark humoured stories about getting a break or publishers wanting them to write something different in order to meet mainstream markets. That was insightful for the many aspiring writers in the audience.
The friendly atmosphere made it easy to speak with writers. I mentioned to Jeff Siger that I liked his Chief of Police Kaldis series set in Mykonos. ( http://www.jeffreysiger.com/ ). Jeff was open and friendly, kindly introducing us to several people throughout the conference, including all those who run the Murder Is Everywhere blog. (http://murderiseverywhere.blogspot.it/ ). It was not so much meeting a writer as making a new friend.
William (Bill) Ryan I had already met at the London launch of his new Korolev novel set in Stalinist Russia. For anyone writing historical fiction set in the twentieth century, he is an excellent role model: solid research, good feel for the period, strong characters, believable plots, and good pace. (http://www.william-ryan.com/ ). That launch, incidentally, was at Goldsboro Books in Cecil Court, a rich source for signed editions of crime books. (https://www.goldsborobooks.com/about-us.html . The bookshop is owned by David Headley, of whom more later.
Then there was Stav Sherez. (http://stavsherez.com/ . A Dark Redemption, set in London, is excellent, and the recently appeared Eleven Days looks as good. A brilliant moderator for an early panel, he was very approachable and we had a few good discussions over the days. He is definitely worth a “Follow” on Twitter. His hairstyle is distinctive, and a recent tweet reported a woman in a bank telling him he appeared to be from outer space. His only response was “have you ever been to Alpha Centauri?”
The Michael Stanley partnership was instructive. (http://www.detectivekubu.com/ ). South Africans Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip both had academic careers before writing the Inspector Kudu books based in Botswana. They talked about how they made the transition, and again were open in introducing us to other people, like Annamaria Alfieri who, in her early seventies, is making a new career as a writer. She was very encouraging to aspirant writers.
The blockbuster writers present were Jeffrey Deaver and Robert Goddard, with the interview featuring the latter another convention highlight. It was fascinating to hear Goddard say that the late Michael Dibdin, creator of the Aurelio Zen series, had a strong influence on him. Dibdin remains one of my favourites. (http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Dibdin/e/B000APLL6M ).
By sheer chance I sat next to Ruth Downie for the entertaining special session on the making of the TV series, Sherlock. We discussed e-books and industry changes, and that had me downloading to Kindle the first in her Medicus series set in Roman Britain, something I would not have done otherwise. Am I glad I did. It is brilliant. A contemporary-style dialogue applied to back then carries the story and plot in compelling fashion. (http://rsdownie.co.uk/ ). Unexpectedly, Ruth says her style guide is Elmore Leonard, so now I must re-read him, rather than simply watching Justified which is based on a couple of his stories.
At the other end of the scale, with me, were people like new friend Rob Darke. After a career in customs and excise and computer systems and several other things he retired, bought a Harley trike, and begun writing full time. http://www.robertdarke.com/index.html ). We shared tales about the struggle for the breakthrough.
The biggest learning curve came in spending ten minutes each with three of the top crime fiction agents: Camilla Bolton, Broo Doherty and David Headley. For a modest fee, they read the opening three thousand words written by each of us who signed up for the session. Waiting outside was daunting, a reminder of interviews past, but the trio were terrific, having read the work and made notes, providing constructive criticism that showed why they are the best. And they were encouraging, even while emphasising high standards and a tough way ahead.
One, at least, of them wants to hear back so I have already rewritten the first four chapters to purge unnecessary characters, tighten the dialogue, heighten the storyline and increase the atmosphere.
As usual, it all made sense when they explained their reactions, the only question being why had I not seen it all earlier? It was no surprise, then, when later that day I did not make the Debut Dagger shortlist. Among those who did, many had published in other fields, been shortlisted before, or written a lot of fiction. There was a touch of disappointment, inevitably, but well offset by the agents’ positive comments from the morning, so going off to Sicily to write seemed a good idea.
But, in all truth, this was no Hemingway/Jack London/Jack Kerouac instant odyssey. The trip was planned in advance and followed an earlier visit, stimulated by Andrea Camilleri’s wonderful novels. After the agent session, it seemed an even more perfect thing to do.
So Bristol cool morphed into the early summer heat of Pozzallo beaches, Agrigento ruins, Modica hill country and various Montalbano sites: the TV house at Ponta Lucca (it’s green, was it not cream in the series?), the seaside walk at Donnalucata, the brickworks at Sampieri, and all the rest. Watching Pozzallo close for three hours every afternoon, then opening in time for the evening promenade was straight out of the novels. The promenade itself requires sipping local wine on the steps of Sapori Doc, a magnificent wine bar, while watching a string of Camilleri characters pass by.
Camilleri’s earlier Montalbano novels, especially, provide a master class in character creation, plot development, cultural contexting, and landscape description. It is usually hot, lunch is long and leisurely, food is a preoccupation along with wine, gossip is rife, there is much noise, the Mafioso provides a permanent backdrop, and people are larger than life. He captures the atmospherics.
So much so that he has created a tourism industry. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2013/jun/07/british-tourists-trail-inspector-montalbano ). Thousands of Italian and international tourists now come to see the Inspector’s territory, and the bookshop owner in Ragusa Ibla tells me Montalbano is now a big part of her sales. Among those is Giovanni Sarto’s Italian/English Montalbano: I Luoghi della Fiction (http://www.giovannisarto.it/ ) and the little tourist guide, A Spasso Con Montalbano. Just up the road at La Rusticana Restaurant (where the TV series crew eats regularly and where some scenes have been set) the story is similar: most customers come because of Montalbano, including the German couple with their small dogs whom we saw a couple of days earlier at Villa Romana further across the island.
Now any writer would like that impact.
Can I do the same for Madras, now called Chennai? Probably not, but Bristol and a return trip to Camilleri country have reinforced to desire to try. Stay tuned.

Filed under Andrea Camilleri, Uncategorized · Tagged with Annamaria Alfieri, Broo Doherty, Camilla Bolton, Crimefest, David Headley, Donnalucata, Jeffrey Siger, Michael Stanley, Modica, Ragusa, Rob Darke, Ruth Downie, Stav Sherez, William McIlvanney