Joining Stuff – CWA #crimewriting @The_CWA @BritFantasySoc @MishaHerwin @lynnyardley @JillsBookCafe @chataboutbooks1 @Penkhull_Press 

I have joined a lot of things over the years. Some are hobbyist groups and others professional bodies but all have taught me something valuable.

This week I finally took the plunge and joined the Crime Writers Association (CWA). With three novels in my Bunch Courtney Investigations series and three more to come, plus a number of short stories in crime anthologies (mainly Sherlock Holmes) I figured it was time I took that step.

Joining something like the CWA is really exciting as well as a touch scary. No matter how many things you have joined that nervous anticipation of being the new kid never quite goes away. Unlike some of the societies I have become a part of I do know quite a number of CWA members, which does make things a little less nerve wracking, but I still have that sense of nervous anticipation.

Doing the ‘joining stuff’ thing yet again set me wondering. Joining stuff was never something my parents did, so I have never been quite sure how or where I gained the habit and become such a great advocate over the years.

Thinking back my joining journey began with an after school ‘radio’ club (making crystal radio sets). It was a wrench to leave it when we moved away, especially as my new school offered only sporting after school activities. I did join the gym club for a few terms but as I managed to break several ribs and sustained two concussions in under a year (in later years I was diagnosed as dyspraxic) I decided maybe it wasn’t for me. Undeterred I carried on joining elsewhere. Girl guides (almost obligatory in the 1960s) came before Nork Youth club where many shenanigans ensued. Joining the Croydon Motorcycle club in my later teens was a far bigger eye opener!

Amongst my volunteering posts was a four year stint as stage manager for the Netherne Strollers; a theatre group staging performances for the Netherne Mental Health Trust. The Strollers disbanded when the Thatcher government closed most mental health hospitals and our theatre was demolished.

Professional bodies are another way of ‘joining stuff’. I was one, if not the, first women in the UK to become a qualified member of the Master Locksmiths Association. (I shan’t go into the furore that caused among the older of their male dominated ranks…)

Though I signed up for British Fantasy Society (BFS) in the late 1980s through my interest in reading fantasy and horror fiction it has undoubtedly formed a part of my professional development as a writer.

Without joining the BFS I would not have gained the confidence, nor the professional writing credits required, to become a member of the CWA. Exciting times.

What else the future brings who can tell but I have no doubt it will involve ‘joining stuff’ somewhere along the line.