Are you writing a police procedural?
Led by author Caroline Green, this event has been designed to delve into everything you need to know about writing, and publishing, police procedurals. Across a day we will be investigating the key essentials of crafting a story and characters that will have your reader unable to stop turning those pages.
Join us at Bloomsbury Publishing's London offices for a day of masterclasses and panel discussions that will cover research, authenticity, suspense and the submission process. Authors Kate London and Tony Kent will share their experiences as writers and as people who have worked within the criminal justice to help you write credible detectives and criminals. And you'll have the chance to hear from an agent and an editor who will share what makes a piece of work standout to them.
Schedule
09.00-09.30: Registration
09.30-11.00: Masterclass - Writing Police Procedurals with Caroline Green
How do you create believable fictional police officers? How much research should you do, and where do you even start? We will look at how to make your characters live off the page and get the right balance between authenticity and entertainment.
Teas, coffees, biscuits
11:30-12:30: Seminar 1 - Panel with Kate London and Tony Kent
Kate and Tony will talk about their background as a detective constable and a criminal lawyer respectively, and how this has informed their writing. They'll use their experience of the criminal justice system and writing, to share their top tips for writing detectives and criminals that are credible and avoid stereotype.
Sandwich lunch provided
13:30-14:30: Masterclass – Creating Suspense with Caroline Green
How to make sure your book is a gripping read, filled with heart-stopping moments and plenty of tension. Tips, techniques and written exercises to help hone your skills and take your police procedural to the next level.
14:30 -15:30 Seminar 2 - Publishing Panel
Caroline Green will speak to agent Hannah Todd and to editor Phoebe Morgan about the submission process, what they are looking for and how to make your work standout.
Caroline Green is an award-winning writer for young people and a Sunday Times/ USA Today bestselling adult author. She has published twelve books; mainly writing as Cass Green and CS Green. She is the Writer in Residence at East Barnet School and Pentonville Prison, and teaches creative writing for various organisations, including City University and Writers and Artists. Caroline lives in North London with her husband and a more-than-slightly-mad golden retriever.
Author of the Dempsey & Devlin series and creator of the ‘Killer Intent universe’, Tony Kent writes fast-paced, high-octane political and legal thrillers filled with expertly drawn characters, edge-of-your-seat intrigue and action so real that it jumps off the page.
Dubbed ‘The British Baldacci’, Tony calls on his unusual life experience as a top criminal barrister and former champion boxer to bring a striking authenticity to his books: Killer Intent, Marked for Death, Power Play and now No Way to Die.
Kate London graduated from Cambridge University and moved to Paris to train in theatre. In 2006 she joined the Metropolitan Police Service where she stayed for eight years. She qualified as a detective constable and finished her service working on the Met's homicide command. In August 2014, Kate resigned from the Police Service in order to dedicate herself to her crime writing and was named runner-up in Harper Bazaar's 2019 short-story competition. Her latest novel, The Misper, was published by Atlantic Books in August 2023.
Phoebe Morgan is the Commercial Fiction Publishing Director at Hodder and Stoughton, where she publishes a range of fiction including crime and thrillers, romance, and general fiction. Authors she has published and worked with include numerous Sunday Times and Kindle bestsellers such as Abigail Dean, Catherine Cooper, Caroline Green, Cara Hunter, C.L. Taylor, Lucy Score, Stephanie Garber, Sophie Hannah, Ashley Flowers, Melanie Blake, and more. She was shortlisted for Editor of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2022, and has won both a Trailblazer Award in association with the London Book Fair and the Bookseller Shooting Star Award in 2021. She is also the author of four thrillers published by HarperCollins, with a fifth out in May 2024. She writes about the publishing industry at www.phoebemorganauthor.com and you can find her on Twitter @Phoebe_A_Morgan.
Whilst studying a joint honours publishing and English language degree at Oxford Brookes University, Hannah Todd started her career at an editorial company. Working to introduce authors, agents and editors, Hannah quickly discovered that it’s the people of publishing that make it such an interesting industry. Having graduated with First Class honours, she secured her first in-house publishing job at Bookouture and then went on to work at Canelo, Avon, One More Chapter and Head of Zeus, cultivating a specialism in digital publishing.
Hannah joined the MM Agency in 2021. Outside of work and reading, she is learning to roller-skate and embroider but not at the same time.
Hannah is looking for commercial fiction across all genres including women’s fiction; police procedurals; clever thrillers; cosy crime; romantic comedies; accessible historical fiction focusing on 20th century and including dual timeline novels; sagas; emotional issues-led fiction. If you can make her laugh, cry or fall in love then you’re onto a winner!
This event is priced at £125 (incl. VAT). This fee is payable in full online, though please note that payment instalment plans are available for all W&A events, writing courses and editing services. Contact W&A Admin on events@writersandartists.co.uk so that we can find a payment schedule that works for you.
If this event is Sold Out, please look out for more How to Hook an Agent dates by visiting our Events homepage. If you would like to be added to the waiting list for this particular event, please email events@writersandartists.co.uk and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
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Accessible to All
It’s of real importance to Writers & Artists that our events and courses remain accessible to all.
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It’s of real importance to Writers & Artists that our events and courses remain accessible to all. Writers & Artists has made one bursary place available for this event as part of our accessibility scheme. Please visit our bursaries page to find out how to apply for bursaries to the course
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This event will take place at the offices of Bloomsbury Publishing, which is fully accessible. If you’d like to attend but have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, then please email AccessWA@bloomsbury.com
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Joining instructions and full guidance will be circulated by W&A Admin in the days leading up to the date of the event.
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Supplementary materials will be made available to all participants on the day of the event. This will include written text and visuals. Please contact us in advance so that we can make arrangements to be sure all documents appear in a format that works for you.
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There will be no recording of this event, so please be sure to bring a notebook or laptop to make the notes you need.
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Food will be provided at this event. Please be sure to respond to the joining instruction emails from W&A Admin if you have any dietary requirements
