January 2018: I’d been working on my debut novel, Original Sins, for, ahem, ‘quite some time’ and finally had what I could at least begin to regard as a finished draft. But what to do with it? I really had very little idea of how to get agents, publishers – or anyone at all, really – interested. So, when I saw a notification about the CWA Debut Dagger I thought: why not? I really didn’t expect to get anywhere, but I had taken on board some sterling advice from another writer: Less than 2% of writers who submit might be published – but 100% of the ones who don’t definitely won’t… I sent in my entry, crossed my fingers, and got back to that draft.

Receiving the email headed ‘Congratulations!’ telling me I was longlisted a couple of months later was exciting enough – but when a follow-up arrived with the news that I was shortlisted I was beyond delighted and, tbh, a bit astonished. And attending the gala dinner was such a big thrill that it almost didn’t matter whether I won or not – luckily, as it turned out… 😊

January 2026: So, seven years later and various events – not least the small matter of a world pandemic – have interfered with the process of bringing that first draft to publishable form. Dea has checked in regularly over that time to find out how things were progressing, and I’ve prevaricated as much as I reasonably could without things getting actively embarrassing. I’ve signed with and parted (amicably) with an agent, forged a career in screenwriting, had four plays produced, branched out into children’s writing, and adopted a cat.

But Original Sins is finally to be published, in February this year, by Into Books.

It’s just been featured on a national newspaper’s Ones-to-Watch list , which is, of course, exciting. I will always be grateful for the encouragement and validation the Debut Dagger nomination brought at that early stage, without which, who knows? It’s also opened a number of doors along the way and it was very helpful both in nailing the publishing deal and in securing interest in a TV adaptation (watch this space…)

So, advice to those thinking about entering for the Emerging Author Dagger? Read the Tips and Tricks, they’re invaluable – and do check out Caroline Arnoul’s brilliant advice on how to craft that synopsis. Make sure you’ve honed and shaped and polished your extract till it shines like the undoubted little diamond it is. And in a nutshell: go for it. You have nothing to lose – and so, so much to gain.

Original Sins, by Linda Duncan McLaughlin, published by Into Books on 19 February. Find it here.