Uncertainly for Our Book Festival – But a Fabulous Programme Awaits
Local book lovers may be wondering, with the ongoing Coronavirus crisis, what is happening about BeaconLit, our local book festival.
At the time of writing, the festival committee, volunteers who organise the event in support of Ivinghoe Library, had planned to have Early Bird tickets for BeaconLit 2020 (the eighth festival) on sale from March. Instead, they found themselves in a no man’s land of uncertainty. A fantastic line up of bestsellers, award winners, rising stars and more is on board, but the safety of attendees, participants and volunteers is paramount. It is obviously way too soon to offer tickets for sale with any certainty; but on balance it is just a little premature to pull the plug on the festival altogether yet.
After much debate, we decided to keep BeaconLit 2020 on the calendar for 11 July for now but continue to monitor the situation and government advice. Whatever happens, and whatever the situation by the time you read this, we hope you will want to join us – whether at BeaconLit 2020 on 11 July or at a later date, or for BeaconLit 2021. Heaven knows, a great book festival will be just the job for so many people when we finally emerge from this most difficult of situations.
We are hoping that, subject to commitments at the time, we will be able to present most of our current line up, which has something for everyone:
- The ever-popular New Voices panel showcasing the some of the most exciting debut authors around and featuring Eve Smith, Ruby Speechley and Sophie Ward.
- Sunday Times Bestsellers Ruth Hogan in conversation with the BBC’s Adina Campbell.
- Characters: Debate and Create – a workshop with author and creative writing tutor Morgen Bailey.
- Historical fiction panel with some of the top names in the genre: Antonia Hodgson, Laura Shepherd-Robinson, William Ryan and Antonia Senior
- Sunday Times Bestseller Cara Hunter in conversation with fellow crime writer Dave Sivers
- And more! Including free parking on Ivinghoe Lawn, refreshments, bookstall and signings, goodie bags and book bag draw.
Meanwhile, we have been thinking of additional ways to maintain interest and offer some little treats to book lovers. We will continue keeping in touch with our loyal supporters and the public via our emailing list, our website, social media and local press. Our website is at www.beaconlit.co.uk, where you can sign up for e-newsletters with all the latest news. If you would like to email, through our Contact Page, an expression of interest in the festival, or a message of support, that would be much appreciated.
Do take care of yourselves.
Very best wishes
Avril, Dave, Jacquie, Mark, Morgen and Rachel
BeaconLit Festival Committee
SERIAL KILLER STALKS TRING IN PITSTONE AUTHOR’S NEW CRIME NOVEL
Pitstone crime fiction author Dave Sivers’ latest novel is a serial killer chiller set in Tring and Hemel Hempstead. It is the first of a new series featuring Detective Inspector Nathan Quarrel.
In Ink opens with a body being found outside a church in Tring. Alastair Murdoch suffered before he died. But what really disturbs DI Nathan Quarrel is the Tarot card motif adorning the body: The Fool. Just 24 hours later, another body turns up – a different card, but from the same pack. Unless Quarrel can decipher the meaning behind the cards and the connection between the victims, more will follow in a twisted agenda of abduction, pain and death.
In Ink is available from Amazon in paperback and Kindle eBook.
Dave grew up in West London and has been writing all his life. His previous eight books include five to date in his popular series featuring Aylesbury based detectives Lizzie Archer and Dan Baines. He is currently working on Archer and Baines book 6. He is also co-founder of Ivinghoe’s annual BeaconLit book festival.
He said of his new series, “Archer and Baines have plenty more stories to tell, but I wanted to rediscover the fun of creating a new cast of characters and I hope readers will enjoy meeting Quarrel and his team as much as I did.”
In Ink was released on 15 May and has already featured in some of the Amazon Kindle bestseller charts, including a top 20 spot in the ‘Vigilante Justice’ category.
You can buy Dave’s new book at https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B087NHP5HX.
Keep up with Dave’s writing news by subscribing to his newsletter at http://davesivers.co.uk/subscribersclub or follow him on Facebook at davesiversauthor1 or in Twitter @davesivers.