On Tuesday book bloggers from around Australia attended a “National Book Bloggers Forum” at the offices of Random House Australia (RHA) in North Sydney.
Digital gurus, editors and the RHA publicity team all pitched in. We were given insights about Search Engine Optimisation and how to use Google Analytics to drive relevant traffic to our blogs. We were told about up-and-coming titles and given a goodie bag full of books. Authors including Judy Nunn, Sneh Roy and Bruce McCabe spoke about their books and writing process. Throughout the day, Twitter was awash with the hashtag #NBBF14. In the breaks, and over a generous lunch, names, cards, twitter handles and blog URLs were swapped among participants.
I was especially interested in the pitches for thrillers, including Bruce McCabe’s debut Skinjob (in the goodie bag, so more of that another time) and Candice Fox’s forthcoming follow up to Hades, Eden.
Eden – no cover available – was introduced by publisher Beverley Cousins. Cousins pitched Fox as an “Australian Gillian Flynn”. I’m not convinced of that. Cousins was once editor for the Nicci French writing duo – from memory, she worked on Secret Smile, one of the creepiest of the NF books. To me, that’s a closer fit with Fox and Hades. (If you’ve read my reviews of Hades, Flynn’s Gone Girl, and my discussion of Nicci French’s writing, you’ll know what I mean.) Maybe Eden will be different.
In the open forum at the end, I asked whether there were any other bloggers who review crime and suspense novels. Only one person put up her hand, Debbish from Debbishdotcom. Most of the others, I think, specialise in YA and teen fiction, although I did come across a “vlogger” who reads classics, and there were at least two who specialise in nonfiction.
So where are all the crime fiction readers/bloggers? Maybe they all live in Melbourne?
And, while we’re at it, where were all the men? There were only two men among 35+ bloggers, a gender imbalance that caused Bruce McCabe to comment, “Who are the real readers out there? Spend one minute in this room and you’ll know.”
Do you read crime, thrillers and/or suspense fiction?
Bruce McCabe addresses National Book Bloggers Forum 2014 – photo courtesy of Dymmocks Books
Devoted Eclectic 
writenote1
/ May 22, 2014I read crime, suspense and thrillers! I just couldn’t put my hand up because I was in Perth.
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 22, 2014Maybe next year! Do you know of any forthcoming Aussie titles in the genre? I know Jaye Ford has one out later, Already Dead (which, surprisingly, RHA didn’t mention).
LikeLike
Debbish
/ May 22, 2014Ah yes… love my crime fiction. I was saying to someone there I think it’s because I started young – on Famous Five, Secret Seven, Trixie Belden etc… 🙂
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 22, 2014Me, too. Not so much Secret Seven, but Famous Five, Five Founder-Outers, Trixie Belden, Alfred Hitchcock Investigates series, Nancy Drew, before I graduated to Agatha Christie and Simenon in my early teens.
LikeLike
shelleyrae @ Book'd Out
/ May 22, 2014Geoffrey McGeachin’s latest is due out soon, St Kilda’s Blues, as is Nicole Trope’s, Secret in Silence, Greg Baron’s, Lethal Sky, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, Deadly Suspicion by Karen M Davis, Currawong Manner by Josephine Pennicott, What Came Before by Anna George, Present Darkness by Malla Nunn and Dawn Barkers Let Her Go and I just posted a review for The Scent of Murder by Felicity Young. There is also Hindsight by Melanie Casey. Subscribe to Random House’s Crime Thriller site to find more http://www.randomhouse.com.au/crime/
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 22, 2014Thanks, Shelleyrae. Great wrap-up on your blog, by the way. (I thought I was subscribed to that site, but it may be only to their general newsletter.)
LikeLike
perkinsy
/ May 22, 2014One factor that may have led to the fewness of men at the forum was that it was scheduled on a week day. That would have made participation by quite a few women difficult also.
I love reading P M Newton, but have been deterred generally from reading crime fiction by reading too many Agatha Christie when I was a young teenager (too superficial) and the salacious nature of some crime fiction (and the covers). I don’t want crime used for entertainment. Crime fiction has a valuable role in exploring the complexity of this social issue, the harm done by crime and looking deeper into humanity itself.
When is crime a crime? Bruce McCabe’s comments on the use and consequences of technology were interesting and prompted me to persist with his book.
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 22, 2014These issues really deserve their own posts! You could be right about men/workday, but some women took time off work because they considered it a priority. That may also reflect women’s greater tendency to do unpaid/volunteer work, I don’t know.
The point that really interests me, though, is about “using” crime fiction for entertainment. PM Newton and Angela Savage, as you know, have both touched on this because of the way women are treated. I unashamedly love to be entertained by crime/suspense/thriller fiction, but my delight in it also troubles me in some ways (as does my response to romance fiction). I guess I’d go right back to Philip Sidney’s Defence of Poesy on this one, that the aim is both “to teach and delight”. Moralising or philosophising without the page-turning thrill of the narrative makes it all to hard for me.
LikeLike
perkinsy
/ May 22, 2014You are right. The value of fiction is that it entices people to read it. There is no point writing an earnest treatise on some ethical point if it is too stodgy for people to read. There needs to be a balance. I feel that the balance is missing in some crime fiction. PM Newton nails it for me. I’m sure there are other crime fiction writers who also do a good job of this.
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 23, 2014Did you see the link that PM Newton tweeted this morning? An article in The Guardian, “Why women are hooked on violent crime fiction”. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/21/women-violent-crime-fiction-explore-threats
LikeLike
perkinsy
/ May 25, 2014No, just read it. I had no idea that some women liked that kind of thing. I don’t.
LikeLike
Bec Graham
/ May 23, 2014I’m a big YA fantasy reader, but I am thoroughly looking forward to reading Hades and Eden. I’m trying to break out of my reading rut. As much as I love my favourite genre, I really need to break out and try reading something different.
That being said, Skinjob is at the very top of my TBR pile!
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 23, 2014Thanks for dropping by, Bec. I’ll look forward to your reviews. If you do review Fox’s books, it would be great to add them to the AWW challenge. And I’d be interested to hear if you know any YA Aussie suspense authors. Have you read Rebecca James’ Beautiful Malice? She’s one Aussie suspense writer who writes crossover YA/Adult.
LikeLike
Bec Graham
/ May 23, 2014Oh, that’s an Aussie author? I’ve walked past that book so many times! I think I’ll have to add her to my monstrous TBR pile 🙂
I will definitely get to Fox eventually, but I have no idea when. So many books!
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 23, 2014Yep, Wendy James’ sister. That’s one of the reasons I started the AWW challenge – because I wanted to find out who the Aussie writers were! (And there are so many good ones.)
LikeLike
Bec Graham
/ May 23, 2014There are! I just wish I knew more about them. I adore Belinda Alexandra. Have you read Sapphire Skies? I’m deciding when to add that to the list
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 23, 2014I haven’t read any of hers. You started following the AWW challenge blog, didn’t you? That should help you get to know them. And there’s always the separate review listing page to check out recent releases and reviews: http://auswomenwriters.weebly.com/index.html
LikeLike
Bec Graham
/ May 23, 2014I thought I had! I’ll double check. Thanks for the link! 🙂
LikeLike
annabelsmith
/ May 27, 2014I almost never read crime, mostly because I am a bit of a sissy and hate to read about murders, especially if they include sexual violence against women, which they often seem to. Like Yvonne, I find the idea of crime as entertainment disturbing. I occasionally read a suspense/thriller if I’m looking for a super page-turner and/or I’ve heard heaps about it. I recently read max Barry’s Lexicon which won the Aurealis (Australian Sci-fi) award. It was a ripping suspense novel, very intelligent – I would highly recommend it. I also recently read Patrick Somerville’s This Bright River which was as twisty and exciting as Gone Girl but much smarter and more plausible. He’s a US writer though and it sounds like you’re looking for recommendations closer to home.
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 27, 2014Thanks for commenting, Annabel, and the recommendations. You’re right, Aussie authors are my preferred option, preferably women. But I’m also looking to find more of the Aussie crime/suspense fiction reading community. It’s such a popular genre for readers, but there don’t appear to be many dedicated book bloggers in the genre. Maybe there are more challenges reviewing crime fiction? (Danger of spoilers with such plot-drive books, perhaps.)
LikeLike
whisperinggums
/ May 31, 2014I tussle with the idea of crime and violence as escape too, like Annabel. I can handle realistic grimness and misery but not escapist … There’s a fine line here I know but in my head I know what I mean! Peter Temple’s a The broken shore is an example of the former. It dealt with real issues in rural Australia, particularly to do with indigenous – nonindigenous relationships but reading crime as a genre over and over doesn’t do it for me. I’m inconsistent though as I do watch crime TV.
Oh, and how I would have loved to have been there.
Any SEO tricks? I read all about it but some things I just don’t get and some recommendations seem contradictory. A post on that would be great.
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 31, 2014Thanks for commenting WG. It’s tricky, isn’t it? I watch crime TV, too, and the odd movie: recently I’ve been absorbed by The Bridge on SBS. There always seems to be some added element, some point of social interest, in good quality crime fiction/drama. I agree about Peter Temple’s The Broken Shore – and I’d add P M Newton’s books in that category, too. They are far more than “mere” entertainment, but they are also entertaining. As for SEO tips, I’m discussing/experimenting with that on my Lizzy Chandler blog, with another post due up today. So far, it has been more miss than hit.
LikeLike
whisperinggums
/ May 31, 2014What are you experimenting with? It probably takes time to build up?
Yes, we are watching The bridge too. I watch crime more for the relationships and the issues than the crime itself. I often can’t tell you what exactly is going on, though I usually get the gist!
LikeLike
Lizzy Chandler/Elizabeth Lhuede
/ May 31, 2014The tech gurus at Random House gave us several tips and I’m experimenting with implementing them and discussing my trial and error process along the way. (We have a renewed Aussie Book Blogger group on Facebook, so for now it’s a conversation we’re having.) Here’s last week’s link where I mention several of the blogging tips. I have another post going up this morning on the question, “Do images drive traffic to your blog?” And yes, I’m sure it’ll take time – and some thought.
http://lizzychandler.com/2014/05/24/jonquils-pancakes-and-books-an-experiment-in-discoverability/
LikeLike