London Festival of Writing

Charlotte Mansfield — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Okay, so I know it's a bit late to talk about this, but don't judge me, summer has been crazy!

In mid-June, I went to the London Festival of Writing, hosted by Jericho Writers. If you're starting your writing journey and haven't checked them out, I highly recommend it. The festival is three days of speeches, workshops, competitions, networking for anyone on their writing journey. There was advice on everything from editing your finished draft, to self-publishing, to world-building in children's books. You could sit at a table with an industry expert, or chat to fellow writers about how mystifying marketing is.

I have to admit, I didn't know what to expect. This was the first time I'd been to any kind of writing conference, and the whole thing felt a bit daunting. I only went for one day of the conference, partly because I thought three days would be too much info for me to take in, but principally because I'd booked theatre tickets for the Saturday before the conference was announced. In retrospect, I'm glad I only went for the Sunday. For my first time at a conference, it was a bit overwhelming, and I left with my head full of ideas and information that it took a while for me to process.

Highlights:

Making some connections with fellow writers. I now have an email friend who I discuss marketing ideas with, which is so helpful.
Talking to people in the industry and getting a better grasp of how things work.
Getting a full MS request from an agent - this is a big one for me. It may not go anywhere, but it did give me the validation that I'm on the right track.

Lowlights:

Actually, nothing. I found it all really valuable. Even the lunch was good.

So, in conclusion, I would definitely go again. I may even look out for other festivals to go to. Writing can be a really lonely activity, and it's so great to connect with people in a similar situation.

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Why Cosy Mysteries?

Charlotte Mansfield — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I've always loved cosy mysteries. Possibly because both my parents loved crime fiction. My mum was into PD James, and had all of her books, along with almost all Agatha Christie novels. It's not just the books I love either - I've seen every episode of Murder, She Wrote more than once. At University, I took a module in Crime Fiction as part of my English degree, and quickly established that I'm far more of a Dorothy L Sayers fan than a Val McDiarmid one, but I never though I'd actually start writing mysteries myself.

I probably wouldn't have, if it hadn't been for long car journeys between London and Cornwall when my mum became ill. The road signs we were constantly going past started sounding like characters in a book, and I began to give them personalities. Once I'd done that, I realised I wanted to tell their story, and have them live somewhere other than my head.

Enter: well-meaning, but occasionally out-of-his-depth, Barton Stacey.

Cosy mystery characters I love:

Miss Marple (obviously! you have to watch out for little old ladies)

Jessica Fletcher (a one-woman plague, but still awesome)

Agatha Raisin (I love her chaos in the cosy Cotswolds)

Who are your favourite cosy mystery characters? I'd love to know, so please comment below.

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Charlotte Mansfield | Updates

London Festival of Writing

Why Cosy Mysteries?