Crime & Thrillers Weekend

1 - 3 May 2020

The Booking Form for the next event will be available here from early 2020.

Now the dust has settled on the seventh Crime & Thrillers Weekend, 3-5 May 2019, we can reflect on another full, fun and successful festival with some outstanding author talks full of insight and belly-laughs; excellent workshops on writing and publishing; quiz and film fun in the evening and great craic and networking over numerous meals and drinks for those staying residentially in the Old Brewery.

Plans are already afoot for the 2020 event so keep an eye on this page if you're interested in attending. You can book the residential package and not have to think about meals, travel or accommodation or simply reserve tickets for any individual elements you fancy. All will be revealed later on...

SHORT STORY WRITING COMPETITION - The Results...
The inaugural crime and thrillers short story writing competition in 2019 proved to be a HUGE success, with over 40 entries from all over the world (seriously!) winging their way to our office. There were a multitude of creative takes on the compulsory title - 'The One Hundred Steps' (after the beautiful and legendary Cromarty walk up the South Sutor) - and with such a high standard, our three judges (Vee Walker, Barbara Henderson and Neil Lancaster, who were also our Spotlight Authors in 2019) had quite a task on their hands.

There were two categories: under 18 (1000 words) and 18+ years (2000 words) and entries were judged anonymously with a winner and runner-up in both categories. Due to the high quality, the judges also awarded seven Commended prizes to those entries they felt deserved special recognition. Certificates and prizes were awarded by Ian Rankin during the final Crime & Thrillers session on Sunday 5th May and the two winning stories were read aloud to a captivated audience.

Congratulations to everyone that took the time to enter - it was greatly appreciated! And even bigger congrats to our winners, as listed below. Unfortunately, due to future plans for them, we are unable to publish the winning or runner-up entry in the Over 18 category but you can enjoy the Under 18 winning story by clicking link below.

Under 18 Category
Winner - Sorley Rochford (age 10), Cromarty. Read the story here.
Runner-Up - Rebekah Macpherson (age 12), Culbokie.

Over 18 Category
Winner - Neil Hepburn, Inverness
Runner-Up - Louise Mangos, Switzerland

Commended
Sandy Thomson, Cromarty
Judith Williams, Southampton
Victoria Richards, Inverness
Gary Ross-Jordan, Isle of Lewis
Carol Walker, Inverness
Alison Campbell, Avoch
Martha Hubbard, Estonia

We will be launching a brand new short story writing competition as part of Crime & Thrillers Weekend 2020 at the beginning of next year - keep your eyes peeled!

For information on the 2019 competition, you can still see the full details, terms and conditions and an entry form, download here in Word or as a pdf.