My debut novel, a crime thriller called The Trail

Region:

North West

Notice Period:

Emergency (maybe less than one week's notice)

Type:

Fulltime writer and smallholder

Fee:

Paid: £50-£75 plus mileage

Category:

Humanities

Updated:

24^th September 2019

Tagged:

Crime Author | Crime Thrillers | Police | Crime Writing

The Trail will be published by Unbound in spring 2020.

A missing enquiry leads Manchester DCI Rick Castle to Nepal.

My talk is the story of the book . . .

The Long Road to Publication

• A fully illustrated talk

• My writing journey o Magazine articles on mountaineering o Memoir From Cop to Coppicer o Thrillers

• Inspiration for The Trail o Police career o Nepal / mountaineering o Bee-keeping

• The Long Road to Publication o Arvon / an MA in Creative Writing / writing groups o Agents and the standard publishing route o Unbound – a new hybrid publisher

• A short reading from the book

I live in Hayfield, Derbyshire, and I wear 2 hats, writer and smallholder.

Firstly, I am a writer.

I used to be a police officer, starting in London and finishing as a DI at Moss Side. When I left the police I started writing and have been writing ever since. Six manuscripts including a memoir, From Cop to Coppicer.

And after 10 years of trying, I’ve recently secured my first publishing deal for a crime thriller called The Trail – to be published by Unbound in spring 2020.

The Trail – A missing enquiry leads Manchester DCI Rick Castle to Nepal.

Secondly, I am a smallholder.

I manage a smallholding of 5 acres. There is a large veg garden, an orchard, and a fruit cage. We have solar panels, a wood pellet boiler and spring water.

We are self-sufficient in growing fruit and vegetables. We also have chickens and bees, and rear turkeys at Christmas! We try to do things sustainably, and use limited mechanical power, and no pesticides. Currently, we are experimenting with more perennial vegetable crops, trying to move away from sowing and planting every year.

My passion is fruit trees, especially apples. I have developed an orchard of over 50 varieties of apples, pears and plums, and I am aiming for 100. I graft all my own trees, and this year I experimented with apple crossing (trying to create a new variety). I am in the Northern Fruit Group.

We have kept bees for six years. We keep dual-purpose chickens, and regularly hatch new broods of chicks.

I offer a variety of tours, courses and lectures.

Tours include a general Smallholding Tour, a Fruit Tree Tour, and a Green Tour. Courses include An Introduction to Apples, Whip ‘n’ Tongue Grafting, Crossing and Winter Pruning. Details of these can be found on AirBnb experiences.

Other Talks on SpeakerNet by James Ellson

• Eating Sprout Stalks: 15 Steps to Self-Sufficiency
• I Ate My Last Herefordshire Russet This Morning (An Introduction to Growing Apple Trees)