Historical crime fiction is a popular genre – but how do we write it? This session will guide people through the process and alert them to the potential pitfalls of writing the past. Advice will be given on picking periods and building convincing but relatable characters (and outfitting them to solve crimes). Discussion will then get bloodier: what kind of crimes do readers expect and how do we make them period-appropriate? What methods of detection were available? Whose story are you telling – and how best can you tell it? A constant throughout the session will be situating “detectives” in an authentic historical world, rich in smells, sights, and sounds.

Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a Ph.D. investigating Elizabethan slander. In addition to academic chapters and articles, he writes historical crime fiction and popular nonfiction focusing on the Tudor and Stuart eras. When not writing, he teaches English Literature at the University of Strathclyde.