Fiona Cummins is the award-winning author of the DC Saul Anguish series of crime novels. In this workshop she will be covering the basics of how to get started as a crime, thriller or mystery fiction writer with a focus on idea generation. The workshop is paired with a resource document written by the author, which will be available to download in advance of the workshop.

What will you do in the workshop?

The two-hour workshop will include discussion to help demystify the genres as well as shorter exercises and a longer exercise aimed at supporting those who are new to writing crime, thriller and mystery fiction.

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is aimed at writers who have yet to try to write a crime, thriller or mystery fiction novel, but have been actively writing in other genres and forms. The workshop is open to all and will be recorded for access purposes.

About Fiona

Fiona Cummins is an award-winning former journalist and a graduate of the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course. Rattle, her debut novel, was the subject of a huge international auction and has been translated into several languages. It received widespread critical acclaim from authors and reviewers. She has since written bestsellers The Collector, The Neighbour, When I Was Ten and Into the Dark in which she introduces DC Saul Anguish, a brilliant young detective with a dark past. Fiona lives with her family in Essex.

About Case Closed

Case Closed is a new programme created in partnership with the C&W Literary Agency to find and develop new Crime, Thriller and Mystery Fiction writers from diverse backgrounds. The programme will include three writing workshops and one seminar about submitting to agents. In July we will be launching a First Chapter competition for unpublished and unagented writers based in the UK who are from a background underrepresented in UK publishing. Attendance for at least one of the workshops and/or reading the resource document will be a requirement of entry. For more information, please visit the programme page here: https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk/projects/case-closed-crime-thriller-and-mystery-fiction-cw-literary-agency/ 

We are also running a short survey to gain more insight on barriers and what support we can offer to those writing in these genres. Please visit here to complete it: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/case-closed

Image Description

A composite rectangular image. On the left, a black-and-white photo of author Fiona Cummins. Fiona is a white woman with windswept dark brown hair. She wears a black high-neck top, and has black framed glasses and red lipstick. She is outside, with the grey sky visible behind her. On the right, bold text reads: CASE CLOSED: CRIME, THRILLED AND MYSTERY FICTION DEMYSTIFIED A C&W AND SPREAD THE WORD PROGRAMME. At top right corner is a C&W logo with grey and green font. At bottom right, a Spread the Word logo with a megaphone.

Fiona Cummins, author and workshop leader for the Case Closed programme.