Most of you know......at least I think most of you know.......that my Dad makes his living as a crime writer. Well, he was contacted to say that his novel 'Snakehead' had made it to the final seven of the Prix Intramuros Award.....he didn't even know he had been nominated. It turns out that Prix Int
ramuros is part of a crime-writing festival in Cognac and means 'within the walls' and the award is actually voted for by jail inmates!! The prize is decided by juries from seven different jails across France who are then brought to Cognac - each writer who reaches the final is expected to spend a day behind bars being quizzed by the inmates who will then use their insights into crime to chose a winner.
So my Dad arrived in Cognac on Friday where he met the other finalists. The 'condemned' novelists got their last meal in a local château and the following morning they were taken to the prison......were they were quizz
ed for 12 hours by the prisoners!!! (and he did it all in French!!)Guess what!!.......HE WON!!! (Woooo hooooo!!!!!)
Now I may be slightly biased in saying this but I reckon he deserves it......the amount of research he does for every novel is incredible and before he wrote Snakehead (which is the fourth in his Chinese series, features bio-terrorism and opens with the discovery of a truck full of dead Chinese immigrants......I'm not going to say any more in case you want to read it) he went to the states and actually visited death row......he walked the green mile......and even saw where they administer the lethal injection!!
I am very proud - well done Dad!!
