Charity Literary Lunch In Aid Of Cancer

I am delighted to say that I will be the guest speaker at a charity luncheon being held on behalf of the Wessex Cancer Trust. The lunch is taking place on 17 November at The Concorde Club on the outskirts of Southampton, close to Southampton Airport.

The Wessex Cancer Trust supports many aspects of cancer care, including leading edge research, the improvement of patient facilities, purchase of much needed equipment, patient grants, complementary therapy and counselling services.  It has raised millions to help support and improve cancer services in the Wessex region, which includes the Isle of Wight, Channel Islands, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset.

It has also gained support of many well-known personalities, and Vice Presidents of the Trust include gardening expert, Alan Titchmarsh, news presenter, Sally Taylor and sporting personalities including Matthew Le Tissier, Lawrie McMenemy and David Duckham. So I'm in good company just as long as the audience don't ask me to kick a football or dig up a garden! Announcing the news though I could handle. But then they'd probably rather hear me talk about what I know and do - write crime novels.

Tickets are selling fast so if you do want to come along and support the charity, (and hear me speak, of course) then please contact Mary Kernick at marykernick@btinternet.com

I'll be talking about my crime and thriller novels and signing books. The Literary Lunch, as it is grandly titled, is 12.30pm for 1.00pm. Tickets cost £20.00. There is free parking, a cash bar and raffle. Hope to see some of you there.

Twitter, crime novels, library and Lee

My visit to Lee-on-the-Solent Library yesterday was great.  It's a lovely library built in the 1930's and recently refurbished, though I guess it's had many refurbishments since it was opened! There was a nice sized crowd, about twenty, which for a small library was good, and one gentleman, who is one of my followers on Twitter, had travelled many miles to hear me speak, which was really nice of him.  The rest of the people were from the local area.

I thought I'd post some photos of my talk. The next one I have scheduled is on 17 November at The Concorde Club, Southampton in aid of the Wessex Cancer Trust and is a lunch time talk. More details on my web site.

Thank you to Ann Davidson and Lee-on-the-Solent Library for organising my talk and to all the lovely people who came and bought my books.

Here I am reading the prologue from In For The Kill.

Me with some of the audience.  I'm showing how I work out plots and characters, which is in pencil, on scraps of A4 paper, tied together by a marvellous invention - the india or treasury tag!

Library, Lee And The World's Largest Liner

Lee-on-the-Solent Library is my destination this afternoon to give a talk about my marine mystery crime novels and my life as a writer. It's a lovely little place with a High Street set just off the seafront. I'll be able to gaze across the Solent, which of course, is Inspector Andy Horton's patch, to the Isle of Wight beyond, getting a view of the western part of the Island and Cowes - a different view of the Island compared to that seen from Portsmouth and Hayling Island where we look across to Ryde and the eastern reaches of Bembridge. I haven't featured Lee in my crime novels, but there's time yet.  The Andy Horton I am currently writing, ( number six) is coming along a treat. 

It's a shame though that the World's biggest liner has sailed.  It was anchored off Lee-on-the Solent (and not Southampton as the Daily Telegraph reported). The Oasis of the Seas is longer than four football pitches and cost £800m. The 6,296-passenger Oasis of the Seas dropped anchor at Lee-on-Solent to allow 300 shipyard workers to get off the vessel on Monday afternoon.  Maybe there's another plot in there somewhere!!

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone this afternoon and will hopefully have some photographs to post here later today or tomorrow.

It's here - the cover for the new Inspector Horton crime novel

I've just received the cover image for the new Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel which is being published by Severn House on 26 February 2010. I hope you like it. The design follows through from my previous crime novels by using the marine theme.


Blood on the Sand is the fifth in the crime series to feature the flawed and rugged detective and is set on the Isle of Wight rather than Horton's usual patch in Portsmouth.
 
It is being published in hardcover in the UK and the USA and is already availabe to pre-order through Amazon.

Signing copies for the Rocky Appeal

I’ve just returned from signing copies of my novels at the Rocky Appeal shop based in Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth.

The Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust £3 million Rocky Appeal is for new state of the art digital keyhole operating theatres which will have features that are the first of their kind in the United Kingdom and will be sited in the new, re-developed Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth. Since launching the new appeal they have raised £1 million, a fantastic achievement. Well done to everyone.  Only another £2million to go! Glad to have helped in some small way.

Audrey Buckner, Rocky Appeals Administrator with Pauline Rowson

CrimeFest to link with the Times

Avid crime fiction readers and crime writers in particular will welcome the news that The Times has linked with CrimeFest for 2010 to provide media coverage for this exciting convention. The Times will also be covering the Crime Writers Association (CWA) Dagger awards, which includes the CWA Dagger in the Library. 

I was long listed for the Dagger in the Library Award in 2008, a fact I discovered by accident from the Internet.  However, unbeknown to me, I was not meant to tell anyone, don't ask me why, but it's some kind of big secret until the shortlist is announced.  I got slapped knuckles for broadcasting my joy at being put forward by librarians in the UK, and I still detect an icy wind blowing in my direction from certain quarters of the CWA.  Still they didn't expel me so that's something I suppose.

Anyway to get back to CrimeFest.  For those of you who haven't heard of it it was first organised in June 2008 and has become one of the most popular dates in the crime fiction calendar. The annual convention draws top crime novelists, readers, editors, publishers and reviewers from around the world and gives delegates the opportunity to celebrate the genre in an informal atmosphere.

I am delighted to say that I will be at CrimeFest 2010 which takes place in Bristol between 20th - 23rd May 2010. I hope to see you there.

P.S. Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned the CWA Dagger Awards link up with The Times. It might be a secret too.  Oh well, too late now... just don't let on you heard it from me. OK? Blame the link below.

CrimeFest to link with the Times: "The Times is to become the media partner for..."

A fitting place for a crime

I visited Ventnor Library today, and for those of you who have no idea where Ventnor is it’s on the beautiful Isle of Wight (IOW), which is situated across the Solent from Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, where Inspector Horton of my marine mystery crime novels does his best to catch villains and make the streets a safer place for law abiding citizens.  And no, there wasn't a body in the library, at least not a dead one but lots of very lively people making use of the facilities including a group of children who were listening intently to a story being told them.

The Isle of Wight features in one of my crime thriller novels, In For The Kill and in my new Inspector Horton, Blood on the Sand, which will be published by Severn House on 26 February 2010. And just in case anyone from Southampton or Lymington is reading this blog then I had better quickly add that the IOW is also situated across the Solent from both Southampton and Lymington.

Anyway, to get back to Ventnor Library. I recently read a Twitter announcement from Ventnor Blog that the library had received a copy of my latest detective police procedural featuring Inspector Horton, Dead Man’s Wharf. I thought it was so good of them to announce this on the Twitter world (of which I am a member – you can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/PaulineRowson) that while on the IOW for the last couple of days I thought I’d drop by and say ‘hello’. I received an extremely warm welcome from the librarian and staff and it was a pleasure to see the very interesting and unusual little library that had once been a small theatre and a gentleman’s club before becoming a library.

Ventnor Library is hoping to put together a display of the history of the library and is looking for memories and photographs, which can be displayed in the library for all to share. So if you have a story to tell do get in touch by calling them on + 44 (0)1983 852039 or e mailing them via their web site

Ventnor is a Victorian town built on a series of terraces and it looked magnificent this morning with a rising tide and an easterly wind sending the waves crashing on to the small sandy beach and booming against the base of the cliffs exploding spray like sparks from a million Catherine Wheels. The air was so pure and clear, the horizon a limitless picture of blue-grey ocean and I enjoyed a hilly walk along the coastal path westwards taking in the tiny and picturesque Steephill Cove. All in all a good morning.

I hope the people of Ventnor enjoy reading Dead Man’s Wharf as much as I enjoy visiting their town and coastal paths.

The END – or is it?

I was asked the other day how I feel when I tap out the immortal words THE END at the completion of a novel.

The timing of the question was quite eerie because I was just reaching the final pages of the copy edits of my latest DI Horton marine mystery crime novel Blood on the Sand which is being published by Severn House in February next year. It is the fifth in the Inspector Horton series. Reaching the end of this my feelings were relief mixed with anxiety: is it good enough? Should I re-write one more time? Could I have changed anything? Too late…I’ve pressed the send button and it’s gone to my editor. The next time I’ll get to review this will be at proof reading stage and all the anxieties over what, if anything, I should have changed will return. But by then it really is too late to make changes.

So how do I feel when I tap out the immortal words THE END at the completion of a novel? (Although I don’t actually tap out THE END).

It really depends on which draft I am writing. After the first draft there is a feeling of elation - I have finally managed to reach THE END after bashing out, as quickly as I can, somewhere between 80,000 to 100,000 words. With the second draft comes a greater sense of satisfaction that all the ends are beginning to tie up neatly. The third and fourth drafts fine tune the novel and by the time I’ve reached the fifth and sixth I’m beginning to know it backwards, upside down and inside out and can no longer see where the glaring holes are – time to get a second opinion from my editor. But always, no matter how many drafts it takes to get to the final version, when I reach THE END I feel a shiver up (or should that be down?) my spine. This can be a shiver of satisfaction or excitement or both, and if I feel that then hopefully my readers will feel it too. And I’m pleased that Inspector Andy Horton has survived another case and will live to solve a new one in the next novel.

Tea, talk and guide dogs

It was a great session this afternoon at the 60 + Festival held in Portsmouth, UK. I talked to a packed room of forty five adults and three lovely guide dogs - two black labradors and one golden retriever - who were very interested in my novels and my life as a writer, one especially so that he joined in with little grunts and groans.


As there were a number of visually impaired people present, it made me realise the importance and potential for audio books and for Large Print.

Two of my novels are currently available as talking books: The Suffocating Sea and Deadly Waters and I'm hoping that more will become available in time. They are in CD or casette format and as downloads. They are also available in Large Print.

There was a fairly strong feeling that talking books should be read by the author! An interesting point and something that I would consider, although the current narator, Gordon Griffin does a splendid job.

Thanks to Portsmouth City Council and Portsmouth Library for organising the event and for the scumptious cake and tea! Enjoyed by everyone except the guide dogs - sorry boys, but you were working!
 
P.S. I expect you were hoping for a picture of the guide dogs - bad luck, you got me!

Large print, Amazon and the Frankfurt Book Fair

I received the large print edition of The Suffocating Sea, the third in the DI Andy Horton series of marine mystery crime novels last week, and it looks good. This will now be on sale on line or to order through bookshops and also available on loan through libraries. In addition, The Suffocating Sea is available as a talking book, which can be bought as a download or in cassette and CD format, or on loan through the library service. And, of course, it is in paperback and hardcover.

"DI Horton is called to investigate a suspicious fire on board a boat, but as soon as he arrives at the marina he experiences a premonition so strong that it’s almost audible. As he views the charred remains of the dead man he knows instinctively that this investigation will be like no other, and he’s right. Soon Horton is forced to confront the past, not just the victim’ past, but the mystery surrounding his mother’s disappearance over thirty years ago. As the pieces of a long ago puzzle begin to unravel, it soon becomes clear to Horton that this is one case someone is determined he should never solve – masterminded by a dangerous adversary who will stop at nothing to prevent the truth from coming out... "


Selected as the "Best of British Crime Fiction" by The Book Depository


Which brings me on to reviews.  The reviews are back on Amazon.co.uk along with the ratings, not sure whether to be pleased or peeved. Both really, pleased with the good reviews and peeved about the bad ones, but as a crime fiction writer you must expect both good and bad reviews, what one person thinks is a killer read another can consider rubbish. My Inspector Horton novels have been described as police procedurals and detective novels, murder mysteries, fast-paced and action-packed, an entertaining read not a hard-bolied, gruesome read. I'm glad Amazon has sorted out their technical glitch.

It’s the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, and this year I won’t be going, although my novels are on the Frankfurt Book Fair web site with details of the rights available. It looks as though it might be a lively book fair in terms of protests. Frankfurt is putting extra security measures in place, in anticipation of the protests. At least five groups, including Tibetan activists, have registered with the city to carry out protests. Under German law, protesters must register, but do not need permission, to carry out demonstrations. Let’s hope everything goes off peacefully!

I am looking forward to the London Book Fair though in April 2010, which I will be attending. I know it seems a long way off, but boy, doesn’t the time fly past. And by then I’ll have a new Inspector Andy Horton out called Blood on the Sand. Can’t wait to see the cover design. Not sure when it will be ready, but I’ll post it here. I might also post an extract of chapter one before it's published.

Back to this week though, and on Thursday I’m giving a talk and book signing at the 60+ festival being held in Portsmouth. I will be at Portsmouth Central Library on 15 October at 2.30pm. So, if you’re over 60 and a resident of Portsmouth do come along…

Apart from that it’s on with the writing. Inspector Andy Horton number six is coming along nicely.

A stange thing has happened on Amazon

Yes, Amazon has lost all the customer reviews for my marine mystery crime novels: Tide of Death, Deadly Waters, (mass market paperback version), In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill. They have simply vanished from the Amazon web site while others stubbornly stick for some of my other books. Have I done something to upset Amazon I wonder?


The customer service people at Amazon tell me: ‘We are currently experiencing some technical issues which are affecting customer reviews and ratings, some disappearing from the site. We can confirm that we are aware of this and our technical team is investigating the issue. As soon as the issue is resolved, your reviews will re appear on the website as they were before they disappeared.’

Now I don’t mind losing the bad reviews (and every writer gets them) but they’re not the ones that have vanished. I particularly wanted to lose the review that says Deadly Waters is utter tripe! But sod’s law means that one is sticking along with the other reviewer who particularly objects to the word ‘autopsy’ because it is American. Ah well. You can’t win them all and one man’s meat is another man’s poison – but then I’ve probably got that wrong too!

I wonder if the glitch has been caused because my books have been swamped with reviews (good and bad) and Amazon can’t handle them! No, I don’t think so either. Hope the reviews come back soon especially the ones from those people who have loved my crime novels, and, yes, there are some. If you’ve posted a review and it’s not showing yet then I apologise on behalf of Amazon. Let’s hope the technical glitch gets sorted soon, and the IT guys and girls can unearth the reviews and ratings, dust them off and put them back on the amazon.co.uk site, good and bad for all to see.

Meanwhile you can read some reviews on my official web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk/

Announcing the NEW DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel

I’m delighted to announce that I have just signed a contract with Severn House for the publication of the fifth DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery crime novel, BLOOD ON THE SAND, which will be published on 26 February 2010 at the same time as the paperback version of DEAD MAN’S WHARF.

And for those of you who would like a taste of what is to come for Andy Horton look no further…

Blood On The Sand by Pauline Rowson - The fifth Inspector Horton Marine Mystery Crime novel

Inspector Andy Horton’s holiday peace is shattered when stepping out across an abandoned golf course on the Isle of Wight on a cold, grey January, he finds himself facing a distraught young woman with a gun in her hand leaning over a corpse in one of the discarded bunkers. When she professes to be the dead man’s sister and psychic, Horton’s old adversary, DCI Birch, is convinced she is mentally disturbed and the killer, but Horton is not so sure. He feels a strange affinity towards the woman, and a sense of recognition even though he’s convinced they’ve never met. When it’s revealed that the dead man was working on a top-level environmental project on behalf of the European Commission, Horton is urged by Superintendent Uckfield to go undercover. His mission is to trap a clever killer.  Then another death changes everything. With no clear suspects, and a confusion of possible motives, a frustrating, complex case is complicated still further by Horton’s growing feelings and concern for the woman. As he goes in search of the truth, aided by Sergeant Cantelli, Horton uncovers a web of intrigue that ripples down the years, and which someone is determined should never be revealed.


Quick recap

Here is the full list of the DI Horton series in order:

I’m also hard at work on the next one!

Guest appearance

I was delighted to be asked to the Mayor of Havant’s reception and the grand opening of the newly refurbished arts and heritage centre in Havant, Hampshire, called The Spring, on 2 October.

The photograph shows the Mayor of Havant Jackie Branson (left), with Pauline Rowson (centre) and Amanda O'Reilly (right) Director of The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre.





The mayor of Havant, Jackie Branson, was entertaining all the mayors from around Hampshire and the Isle of Wight – twenty two of them I believe. It is a tradition that each mayor takes it in turn annually to host an event and to give a small gift to every mayor. As it was Havant’s turn this year (my borough council) and as the mayor had read one of my marine mystery crime novels she opted to give each mayor a signed copy of the second DI Horton novel Deadly Waters, set in nearby city of Portsmouth.

It was a very enjoyable event with a tour of the newly refurbished arts and heritage centre, a short performance by two members of the Bench Theatre, an unexpected and short speech by yours truly, followed by tea and cake.




The photograph shows Mayor Jackie Branson and Pauline Rowson centre, and members of the Bench Theatre left and right.

Mini Book Tour a Great Success

There was certainly a welcome in the hillside and on the banks of the River Tyne for me in the north of England this week during my mini book tour, which kicked off at Newcastle City Library and ended at The Richmond Walking and Book Festival. I met some fantastic people who made me very welcome and very kindly bought tons of my books. Thank you.

Newcastle

The new city library at Newcastle is most impressive and a million miles away from the libraries of old and certainly those of my childhood where nothing above a whisper was permitted. Arranged on several floors with one of those glass lifts through the centre of it, Newcastle Library has air conditioning, computer suites, a thriving café, self service issuing of library books, a massive local collection and a large performance centre and meeting rooms.

The Newcastle of today is also a million miles away from the Newcastle of old with its thriving ship building and coal industry and I felt a little sorry for it and nostalgic for what it had lost. The centre of the City though has some fantastic old buildings and the river is magnificent with its bridges. I’m now going to watch again for the hundredth time that classic thriller, The Clouded Yellow, starring the wonderful Trevor Howard (that voice!) and Jean Simmons, which was filmed in the City in 1950 and released in 1951, and try and pick out the landmarks around the river with its steps and cobbled pavements.

Thank you to Sheila Naughton for inviting me to talk at this thriving library in the heart of a city full of very friendly people.





North Tyneside

North Tyneside Library was my next stop and a complete contrast to the Newcastle City Library in design. Here the library is in the traditional style located in an older building and situated on the edge of an extremely pleasant square of impressive architecture and a delightful park, the layout and style reminding me of the centre of London but without the traffic and hordes of people. In fact it was very, very quiet. It was also a very damp evening, but nevertheless many people turned out to hear me talk about my books and how I write my marine mystery crime novels. They all made me extremely welcome and were very warm and friendly.

The success of this event was due to the most efficient organisation skills of Ruth Walton at the library. Also a huge thank you for the massive box of chocolates, which made it safely back on the aeroplane to Southampton airport and onward to home on Hayling Island .

Before North Tyneside Library we toured a little of the coast ending up driving through Whitely Bay, only problem was we couldn’t see much of it because of the mist and rain, which was a pity, but it reminded me of another all time classic film featuring The Likely Lads duo of Bob and Terry (Rodney Bewes and James Bolam) 1976.

Richmond – North Yorkshire

Premier Inns once again performed to their usual standard, which, after a couple of false starts, was splendid and after a good night’s rest it was down to the delightful market town of Richmond in North Yorkshire and the cricket club where I was talking at a literary lunch. It was all very civilised, relaxed and enjoyable and huge thanks to independent bookseller Philip Wicks of Castle Hill Bookshop for inviting me to talk at The Richmond Walking & Book Festival.

I was in very good company too with fellow crime writers, Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, and Ruth Rendell – including me that’s the four R’s or the Fab Four?!!

I had a great time. Talked to lots of readers of my books and introduced my work to many new readers. I hope you all enjoy my marine mysteries and my visit as much as I did.

This afternoon I’m on home turf and off to the Lord Mayors Civic Reception as a guest at the opening of our newly refurbished Arts Centre in Havant for tea and cake. Never a dull moment, eh!

Being Positive in Chinese and Turkish

Most readers of this blog know me for my crime novels but I am also the author of several marketing and motivational books. Two of my books have just been translated into Chinese and one into Turkish, and I now have copies so I thought I'd wave them about here.

My books entitled Being Positive and Staying Positive and Communicating With More Confidence have been merged with author Brian Lomas's book Stress and Time Management to become one book now available in Chinese, called
Be A Champion.

In addition Being Positive and Staying Positive has now been translated into Turkish and on sale in Turkey.

For all my marketing, motivational, and communication books you can visit my official web site http://www.rowmark.co.uk/  You can, of course, find details on all my crime novels there too!




Now in Chinese and Turkish

Mini tour of the North

Next week I'm off to the North of England on a mini tour with speaking engagements lined up. I'm looking forward to it. I shall be at the brand-spanking-new, state-of-the-art Newcastle City Library on Tuesday 29 September at 2pm, followed by a visit to North Tyneside Central Library in the evening at 7pm. Then the next day it's off to North Yorkshire where I am talking at a lunch event at The Richmond Walking and Book Festival on 30 September 2009 at 11am at the Richmond Cricket Club - howzat!


I'll be answering questions about my novels and signing books. I hope to meet lots of people on my travels including perhaps my partners in crime at the book festival, Peter Robinson, Ruth Rendell and Ian Rankin, and maybe do some research for a new thriller which is rumbling around in the back of my mind. But first I've got to finish revising Blood On The Sand, which will be the new Inspector Andy Horton Marine Mystery crime novel to be published in February 2010. I also need to complete the one I am currently writing, which will follow that. Not sure of a title for it yet but it's another Horton marine mystery.

The Richmond Walking and Book Festival, now in its third year, runs from 25 September to 4 October and includes music, films, slideshows, literary lunches, historical strolls and theatre. A full programme can be found on the web site http://www.booksandboots.org/index.html

Tickets for my lunch event cost £12.50 and include the talk, lunch and coffee. For full details and a booking visit http://www.booksandboots.org/walkingbookfest09.pdf

For FREE tickets for Newcastle City Library on 29 September at 2pm contact Newcastle City Library on 0191 277 4100 and for North Tyneside Library on 29 September at 7pm contact 0191 200 6968.

Hope to meet some of you there!

Novel Ideas-bomb scares and steam trains

Ideas for novels come from a variety of sources: overheard conversations, stories relayed by others, personal experience, locations and the news. I recently mentioned the Windsurfing Festival on Hayling Island as a potential idea for an Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, well here's another idea that popped into my Google Reader - Murder on the Hayling Seaside Express? For the first time since 1963 a steam passenger train is to return to Hayling Island.

Steam Train Comeback at the Hayling Seaside Railway!:
And another recent event locally was the unexploded bomb trawled up by a fisherman in the Solent.

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/No-dramas-as-bomb-team.5641471.jp

So far so good but how do you turn these into a novel of approximately 80,000 words? That's the difficult part. 

I usually start with an idea and then ask myself a series of questions around that idea, for example - what could happen when the steam train comes to Hayling?  Could there be a body found on it? If so who? How did it get there?  Or was someone pushed under the steam train and no one saw it happen? How did the bomb get  into the Solent? How old was it? What type? Is there a story behind it?  Or perhaps there's a story around the fisherman finding it?

The idea for In Cold Daylight came from an overheard conversation in the fire station where my husband was a fire-fighter.

In For The Kill was sparked by a visit to the Isle of Wight and seeing the signs for the prisons there.

Tide of Death, The Suffocating Sea, Deadly Waters and Dead Man’s Wharf are all originally inspired by locations around the coast of Portsmouth, Hayling Island and the Solent.

Ideas for characters and sub plots can also come from news or magazine articles. It's only by continually asking open questions such as who, what, where, when, how and why can I begin to flesh out the characters, the theme and the plot. Sometimes I run down blind alleys, sometimes one idea or question sparks another. It's all ifs and maybes until some months later and much hard graft I have something that resembles a marine mystery crime novel.

What make's a good crime novel?

Ask this question of crime fiction fans and you'll get varied answers. Some like the gritty gruesome, others prefer cozy comfortable. Some enjoy a literary style crime novel, others a racy, action-packed page turner. Reading about exotic locations turn some readers on whilst others enjoy 'home spun' tales. Then there's historical or contemporary, detective or private eye, male protagonist or female... But all crime fiction fans will agree they want great, believable characters and a cracking good plot. Saying this is easy, writing and delivering it time and time again is more difficult. But then that's the challenge and the enjoyment of writing.

Creating and developing a complex main character that the reader can have empathy with is vitally important. The reader must want to trust him or her, feel his/her pain and disappointments and root for him/her throughout the novel. And it's not just the main character but the supporting cast, and the villains and the walk-on roles who all need characteristics that are believable even if they are eccentric. The cast must be real to the writer and therefore real to the reader.

The plot needs to have twists and turns and to surprise the reader. But the plot and surprises spring from the characters' actions and motivations so we're back once more to creating great characters.

Writing a crime novel also takes fantastic organisational skills because all the bits of the plot and sub plots need to add up. If you change one thing on revisions then you find you have to change everything.

And all this takes hard work, which is what I should be doing now. But before I get back to Inspector Andy Horton and crew in the latest marine mystery crime novel here's a final note. In addition to the above the crime novel must also be well-written, have memorable settings, a mixture of narrative and realistic dialogue and a central theme. Being a crime writer is never dull.

Researching crime novels

How do you research your crime novels? I'm often asked this question.  My research is conducted by talking to experts, consulting the Internet and relevant books, and of course visiting the police.  But one source of information on what it's really like for the police out there in the big bad world today is a great blog, written by an Inspector. It's entertaining, thought-provoking, upsetting and can sometimes make me despair.  The post below is particularly illuminating and great background for my Inspector Horton Marine Mysteries.  It's written by a 'real live cop' with passion and clearly communicates his dedication to his job.  You might want to check it out! 

What Really Matters At The Top: 

 

Walking, knitting and audio books

Below is a link to a very interesting and well written article on one person's experience of the pleasure of hiking and listening to audio books at the same time.  While this may be abhorrent to some, others might find it relaxing and enjoyable.

As an author whose books are also in audio book format,( the latest is The Suffocating Sea)  I find this most encouraging. I too am a walker, and a knitter (read the article), and I find that both help me work through my plots - especially when I am at a difficult stage in the crime novel. I can let my mind go into freefall at the same time as doing something productive ( knitting a jumper) and getting beneficial exercise, walking. Though I don't yet do all three at the same time, or should I say four - now that would be a feat!

http://www.themillions.com/2009/09/on-walking-and-reading-at-the-same-time.html

A busy Autumn ahead

It's official, Autumn is here (according to the Metrological office in Great Britain) and it's shaping up to be a lively time with several book signings and talks lined up, as well as the release of The Suffocating Sea (an Inspector Horton Marine Mystery) in Large Print and news when the NEW Andy Horton crime novel, Blood Upon The Sand, will be published.


September kicks off with a trip to the north of England where I will be giving talks at Newcastle Library and North Shields Library on 29 September. Then it's off to North Yorkshire to join fellow crime writers, Ruth Rendell, Ian Rankin and Peter Robinson at the Richmond Walking and Book Festival where I will be talking at a lunch on 30 September.

In October I'll be at Portsmouth Library on the 15th, then it's Lee-on-the-Solent Library on 4 November and Southampton on 17 November where I will be guest speaker at a lunch in aid of Wessex Cancer Trust.

I've also got some events booked for 2010.  You can see all my events here, and on my official web site And, of course, I'll keep you updated with new book releases and more.

Hope to meet some of you on my travels.

An extract from The Suffocating Sea

I've uploaded a new video on my web site and on my You Tube Channel and you can also listen to it here.





I discuss the outline of the third Inspector Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel and read an excerpt from Chapter One.

The Suffocating Sea was chosen as one of the top ten 'Best of British Crime Fiction' by The Book Depository. It, like the others in the series is set in the Solent area on the south coast of England.

Novel Ideas, Windsurfers And Algae

This week two news items popped into my in box which could spark ideas for plots.

The National Windsurfing Festival, this year, is to be held at the Inn On The Beach, Beachlands, Hayling Island, on 5-6 September 2009.

The National Windsurfing Festival, supported by Havant Borough Council, is now the largest windsurfing event of the national calendar. And of course, Hayling Island is the birthplace of windsurfing. I can often see the windsurfers from my bedroom window as they whiz across Langstone Harbour on a windy day.

Talking of which, Langstone Harbour was in the news yesterday as one of the places suffering from this outcrop (hope that's the correct word) of algae, which is threatening to choke wildlife along the south coast of England. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8209315.stm That would be terrible.

I'm fortunate to live just yards from the Hayling Nature Reserve and beautiful Hayling Billy Coastal walk. So I do hope something can be done to prevent any kind of environmental damage.
Anyway back to ideas and the windsurfing festival. Maybe I'll get myself down there with Inspector Andy Horton and see what crime he can solve! Or perhaps I can make a crime novel out of the choking algae...Mmmm, now I wonder...

Heroes

I’m often asked by readers whether my tough, earthy character, the flawed and rugged Inspector Horton in my marine mysteries, is based on anyone I know. Well the inspiration for Andy Horton comes from my lifelong love of heroes both fictional (James Bond for one) and real, in particular my fire fighter husband and the men I have met on his watch and in the Hampshire Fire Service. These fearless men also provided me with the idea for my crime thriller novel, In Cold Daylight which is in fact dedicated to them and to all fire fighters, ‘the true heroes.’ Fire fighters go in to dangerous situations and risk their lives when everyone else is rushing away and my husband has had some very near misses in his career.

Inspector Andy Horton is like this. He fearlessly charges in and gets himself into all sorts of difficulties in order to see that justice is done. He’s fit, brave, and a maverick, but he’s also self-contained and controlled with a disturbing past that has made him reluctant to trust and to reveal more of himself than he needs to sometimes earning him a reputation of being cold and unfeeling.

In Cold Daylight, is not an Inspector Horton novel though but a stand alone crime thriller novel, which was inspired by a conversation I overheard on my husband’s watch one day. The fire fighters were discussing the unusually high number of their colleagues who had contracted cancer and they believed it was from exposure to hazardous chemicals in the line of duty. This was never investigated. In the UK the link between fire fighters and cancer is conveniently ignored whereas in America, Canada and Australia it is finally being researched and acknowledged allbeit slowly and with a fight. I decided to take this idea and blend the facts of this case within a dramatic fictional plot, creating a powerful novel, which I am pleased to say was shortlisted for the World Book Day Prize 2008 in the UK.

Instead of featuring a brave fire-fighter hero though in In Cold Daylight, I chose to tell the story through the eyes of a man who is the opposite. This is marine artist, Adam Greene's journey through overcoming depression, a nervous breakdown and leaning on the prop of his strong-willed, ambitious wife as much as discovering why his best friend, fire fighter, Jack Bartholomew, was killed in the line of duty before he can reveal the cause of his own – and his colleagues’ cancer. In a cryptic message orchestrated before his untimely death, Jack has left a trail of clues that will lead Adam into a labyrinth of lies, secrets and conspiracy.

For fire fighters everywhere, and all those who risk their lives to help others, I salute you, ‘the true heroes.’