Crime, croissants and Happy Christmas with Clegg

I had a great time at the Christmas party this morning at the BBC Radio Solent studio in Southampton. Good fun, croissants, coffee and mince pies and Julian Clegg, of course.


I was talking to Julian Clegg on The Breakfast Programme about my marine mystery crime novels, the possibility of film and television adaptations and the recent news that they are to be translated into Turkish.

I met some interesting people including Hannah Watts, Young Ambassador for the London Olympic Games,an energetic and inspirational young person. She is to the left of Julian Clegg in the mauve top.

It was also nice to catch up with my friend and fellow author, Ali Sparkes. Ali is on the left holding her novel, Frozen in Time, which has been shortlisted for the Blue Peter Prize with me holding Dead Man's Wharf.

Thanks to Julian Clegg for all his support over the last year and to Talia Slack for her superb organisation and clip board, and to all involved with the programme including the canteen staff and guests for making it such an enjoyable occasion. 

Happy Christmas!

Happy Christmas

As 2009 draws to a close I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to my success as a crime writer, not least the wonderful people who have bought my novels, or borrowed them from the libraries, and those who have been kind enough to tell me how much they have enjoyed reading or listening to them.

I would certainly like to thank my publisher, Severn House, for their continued support and belief in me, so much so that they are publishing the new DI Andy Horton crime novel, ‘Blood on the Sand’ in February 2010 and the trade paperback of ‘Dead Man’s Wharf’ in the same month.

I have met some interesting and lovely people during the year at my talks and I'd also like to say a big 'thank you' to all library staff both in the UK and the USA for their continued support.

At the risk of this ending up sounding like an Oscar Award acceptance speech I'd better sign off now with my sincere wishes to you for a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday and a healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2010.

PS. There'll be more blog posts to follow yet in 2009.

I can't sign a Kindle (yet!) but readers will still want to read

Most authors don't mind how their work is read just as long as it is read. And, of course, they get paid for it, somewhere along the line.  Sales of e books are growing and will continue to grow as new devices come to the market, and that's great. All my crime novels are available as e books as well as in printed format, the more formats the merrier, I say. Deadly Waters and The Suffocating Sea are also available as audio books and MP3 downloads - a huge growth market.

Then there is large print, again a growing market as the population ages and more people become visually impaired (although the e book could help with its ability to increase font size).

Hardback is for those who want a special book to cherish and for the library market where books need to be durable.  And there are two types of paperback, trade paperback - a larger size which is popular in America and usually of better quality -and the cheaper mass market paperback. The reader can take his or her pick.

But there are occasions when an e book simply doesn't have the same appeal as the printed version. As an author you can't sign a Kindle and people will always want signed copies either for presents, or to cherish because it's signed and personally dedicated to them by their favourite author, and/or as an investment against the day when that author's work becomes 'hot'.

Does this mean that as e books become more popular the printed version will become more exclusive and precious? Or will it disappear altogether? Who knows? Perhaps all the formats I've mentioned above will survive, perhaps some will vanish. It will depend on what the market wants and how readers want to read.  But one thing is certain, people will still want to read, and they will still want to be entertained, intrigued, thrilled and moved by great stories.

Inspector Horton's patch in bid for City of Culture

My fictional detective, Inspector Andy Horton's home patch of Portsmouth, England has reached the finals of the bid for the UK's City of Culture 2013. The neighbouring cities of Chichester and Southampton are also on the list of 14 final hopefuls, which is great news because the heroes in my stand alone crime thriller novels, In Cold Daylight and In For the Kill also visit those cities.  My novels are set on the South Coast of England.

Portsmouth is my home town.  It is where I was raised and the primary setting for my contemporary marine mystery crime novels so I'm obviously going to be biased in rooting for it.  I am often asked why set my crime novels here?  Why not?  There is a belief in some publishing circles that only novels set in London are acceptable or will sell worldwide, but that is nonsense as many crime fiction fans know. Many are set in Yorkshire, Scotland, the Cotswolds and the West Country along with crime novels set in Venice, Sweden, Singapore or wherever. And my crime novels are indeed sold worldwide with translations also into Indonesian, Polish and soon Turkish and possibly Chinese!

Portsmouth, and the Solent area, is a vibrant place and full of contrasts, which makes for good detective and police procedural novels. Portsmouth has one of the highest areas of social deprivation in the UK.  It's a crowded island with its narrow streets of flat fronted terrace houses, its council estates and tower blocks on the one hand and the expensive apartments of Gunwharf Quays (Oyster Quays in my Horton crime novels) and large houses in Southsea and the historic Old Portsmouth on the other.  

It is a busy commercial and ferry port, with a fishing fleet and a prominent naval base. It boasts centuries of history and a great literary tradition with Charles Dickens having been born in Portsmouth in 1812 and his birthplace preserved as a musuem.  And then there is the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creator of the World's most famous private detective (sorry Poirot) who created  Sherlock Holmes in Portsmouth. Doyle lived in Portsmouth, penning his first and second Sherlock Holmes novels in the city. What an act to follow!!

Situated approximately seventy miles from London, Portsmouth has its villains and heroes. A multi-cultural city on the waterfront it is a rich source of material for my marine mystery crime novels. So forgive me if I cheer for Portsmouth to win the bid for City of Culture 2013.  But if Southampton or Chichester beat  Pompey to it I won't be too distraught.
 
UK cities bid for culture title: "The final 14 hopefuls for the UK's first city of culture in 2013 have been revealed ahead of the winner's announcement next year."

Monks, Murder and Mystery?

I've just returned from a delightful visit to Quarr Abbey, near Ryde, on the Isle of Wight as part of a specially-organised Christmas tour led by Father Luke Bell, who has written a book about the monks' daily routine, A Deep and Subtle Joy: Life at Quarr Abbey.  Along with me and my husband were approximately thirty people including a feature writer from the Daily Telegraph, who like us had crossed from the mainland.  She'd also travelled from London that morning while we only had a short drive to the Hovercraft before traversing the calm waters of the Solent.  There was also a photographer present from the Isle of Wight County Press.

Quarr Abbey plays a small part in my forthcoming marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand featuring my fictional detective, Inspector Andy Horton, which will be published in the UK in February 2010 and in America in April 2010. I won't say what part because I don't want to spoil the plot!  The tour as well as being highly informative and interesting also stimulated the little grey cells with ideas for future novels: a deathly tour maybe? Ghosts of  a monk's past life? Death in the cloisters? (Or has that been done?!) Who knows where one idea can lead?  The history of the abbey could also make the bones of an intriguing mystery novel, I suspect.

The original abbey founded in 1132, was the centre of life on the Island until its dissolution by Henry VIII. The stone was used for building castles including the one in Yarmouth. The monks returned in 1907 and a new abbey of glowing Flemish brick rose in its place. These days, bookbinding and bee-keeping play a major part of the economic life of the monastery and help it pay its way, along with donations and sales of books and the monks' paintings and other artistic efforts in the bookshop.

This visit was the first where individuals were invited to form a group to tour the abbey, and which included parts of the building not usually seen including the pilgrim chapel.  It was a calm small place of worship dimly lit and yet not dark, rather restful and still.  And although not heated it felt warm. Father Bell gave a commentary on the origins of Benedictine life, the history of the community at the abbey, the architecture of the church and the monks' daily routine, which consists of prayer and song seven times a day.

It is hoped that another abbey tour will follow during the Isle of Wight Walking Festival (8-23 May 2010) so, if you're interested keep your eyes open on http://www.isleofwightwalkingfestival.co.uk/ for further news.

There is also an abbey tea shop and bookshop, which are open most days in the run up to Christmas, and throughout the year.  And if you want to know or see more from this tour then it will be featured in the Isle of Wight County Press newspaper and in the Daily Telegraph, although I am not sure when.

All in all a bitterly cold but thoroughly enjoyable day.

The edited life & times of a writer in 2009

At this time of the year I like to look back over the year's major writing achievements and activities (before looking forward to the coming year) so I thought I'd do a quick round up of all that has happened regarding my writing in 2009.  Hope it doesn't bore you, but if it does you can always click off.

February 2009

The Suffocating Sea, the third Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, was published in trade paperback in February 2009. It was chosen as one of the Top Ten BEST OF BRITISH CRIME FICTION by The Book Depository, the fastest growing book distributor in Europe.

I was on Angel Radio, Havant.  I was also on Wolf Radio, Wolverhampton talking about my crime novels and the unsolved murder of my Great Aunt Martha Giles who was killed fifty years ago, and my thwarted efforts to get the case re-opened.

March 2009

The mass market paperback edition of Deadly Waters was published in March 2009. The second in the marine mystery series to feature my fictional detective, Andy Horton. This has already been published in hardcover and trade paperback in the UK and USA, and as an unabridged Audio Book.

I was on the Mike Powell show on BBC Radio Solent and BBC Southern Counties

I was also guest speaker at Mengeham WI Meeting, Hayling Island.


April 2009

In April 2009 The Suffocating Sea was published by Isis as an unabridged Audio book in CD and cassette format and as an MP3 download.

Dead Man's Wharf, the fourth Inspector Horton crime novel was published in hardcover in April 2009.

It was the only British novel in July reviews to be given a star-rated review from top USA book reviewer, Kirkus Books and hailed as an 'exemplary procedural.’

I was on BBC Radio Solent – The Julian Clegg Breakfast Show, and Isle of Wight radio with Alex Dyke

While at The London Book Fair I had a surprise visit from Paul Daniels – yes, the magic man.





May 2009

Lots of speaking engagements in May including being guest speaker at The Intercontinental Hotel, Park Lane, London at the Pink Ladies Lunch in aid of Breast Cancer.  I also travelled to Cornwall to give talks at St Ives Library and St Austell Library.

June 2009

A book signing at The Hayling Island Bookshop, my home patch. It was great to meet some faithful fans as well as introduce the novels to some new readers.

July 2009

This was followed in July with a guest appearance at Hayling Island Library's grand re-opening after a major refurbishment programme.

Two of my motivational/communication books were published in Chinese and Turkish. Being Positive and Staying Positive and Communicating with More Confidence





August 2009

August saw the publication of three of my new business books published by Crimson.

Successful Marketing, Successful Sales and Successful Customer Service.






September 2009

September, and a successful tour in the North East of England with talks at Newcastle City Library, North Shields Library and at the Richmond Walking & Book Festival with top crime writers Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell and Peter Robinson.

I was also invited to the Mayor of Havant’s Civic reception and grand re-opening of the Spring Arts & Heritage Centre in Havant.

I was on BBC Radio Solent.

October 2009

The Suffocating Sea was published in Large Print.

Over forty people joined me for afternoon tea and a talk at the 60+ Festival at Portsmouth Central Library

November 2009

Another busy month for talks and charity.  There was an author talk at Lee-on-the-Solent Library and a visit to the Rocky Appeals shop at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth where I signed copies of In Cold Daylight donated to raise money for the Portsmouth Hospitals Rocky Appeal shop. They were snapped up raising £90.00 for new digital keyhole operating theatres.

Then on 17 November I was guest speaker at a charity lunch held on behalf of the Wessex Cancer Trust and helped to raise £800.00 for the charity.

December 2009

Turkish Delight - Turkish Publisher Babiali Kultur Yayinciligi of Istanbul bought the rights to In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill which are to be published in Turkey in February and March 2010.









All in all it's been an eventful year! And it's not over yet! On Christmas Eve I will be on the Julian Clegg Breakfast Programme some time between 7.30am and 9.30am.

All photographs, except book covers, taken by my minder, chauffeur, escort and all round brilliant husband, Bob Rowson.

New Video Uploaded - Pauline Rowson reads from Tide of Death

Tide of Death is the first in the marine mystery series of crime fiction novels, featuring the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton.

Why do we write?

This was a question I saw on Facebook the other day: 'Why do we write?' I know why I write - because I love the act of creating something.  But many of us write, if not books then stories, letters, blogs, even Twitter is a form of writing and expressing oneself.  The art of writing, and therefore reading, is far from dying out.  If anything the Internet has encouraged huge numbers of people to write, and even greater numbers to read.  Of course, the manner in which we write and read and what we write and read has changed considerably over the last fifty years. But it's still a way of connecting and that's why we write.

It gives me great satisfaction to see a story take shape, the characters come alive and the tale unfold. It is tangible and unique.  And that is why I also love knitting and dressmaking. There is great delight in creating something unique, even if you are following a pattern that others have used you still fashion it in your own style, much like the crime novel.  The crime novel has been around for many years and is by no means unique, but the characters you create are, and so is the manner or style in which you relate your story. To me DI Andy Horton's world is real and I get immense satisfaction when readers ask me if he will get back with his wife, or if he will gain access to his daughter, and when is he going to find someone to love?

I've spent my life writing: my first adventure novel when I was eleven, and then a career in marketing and public relations, before writing several marketing and motivational books, as well as fiction, before my crime novels and thrillers were first published in 2006. I have used the written word to help people communicate with their customers and each other more effectively, and to entertain and intrigue.

I also love giving talks to groups of people, entertaining them with how I write and tales about my crime novels, and my life as a writer. So, perhaps there's a bit of an actress in me too!

Speed Networking Event Photographs

On 25 November I took part in a speed networking event for young students designed to help them examine career options involving English. Here, as promised are a couple of photographs from that event.


The event was organised by the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Education Business Partnership. There was only one school present, The City of Portsmouth Boys School, and only twelve students but the event was still worthwhile and enjoyable.

The students aged between 14 and 16 were spilt into groups of four and spent fifteen minutes talking to me and asking questions about my crime novels and my writing career before moving on to talk to other business people present. 

I enjoyed it and, from the feedback, so did the boys, which is more important. I was impressed by their intelligent questions and their ambitions, which included, for some of them, writing a book but when they were all much older (very sensible) and after establishing careers as an engineer, pharmacist, doctor, or journalist ( far more practical).  I wish them all well and thanks to the EBP for inviting me to take part.

The perfect system for writing a novel

"Once they find a favourite way of getting their words on paper - or screen - novelists normally stick with it, says Philip Hensher," in the Daily Telegraph recently, and that is true because it takes a writer some time to evolve the perfect system that works for him or her. It did with me anyway.

Before I struck on the 'perfect system'  I tried all sorts of ways of compiling my research, plots and character outlines, from using note books to wall maps, to A4 folders.  None of them worked. The A4 folders looked nice and neat, all properly indexed, but because of my civil service training my mind told me that something in a file, was 'filed away,' actioned, finished with and a novel is a work in progress, or at least it is with me until I am holding the actual printed book in my hand.  Notebooks worked for a while but I got tired of flicking through various pages trying to find the precise piece of information I needed, when I needed it. And they weren't much use for containing the research pulled off the Internet, and from other sources.   Wall maps were soon a no,no. They looked messy and very rapidly got covered with notes pinned over them. So what next?

I'm not really sure how I evolved my current system of working but gradually it came together so that now all my plot lines and character outlines are executed in pencil on recycled bits of A4 paper.  The plot lines and each character outline is held together by a treasury tag (or India Tag).  The individual characters have their name flagged up at the top of the paper. The research from various sources is then tagged on to that character and/or the plot line, and all this stays on my desk in a three tiered tray system until the novel is finished and sent to my editor, when it moves to a table behind my desk and sits there while it progresses to the printed version and I turn to writing the next novel.  Nothing is filed away until the novel in question has been printed. 

As to the actual writing tool - then it is straight on to the computer for me, so easy for editing.

Developing the method that works for a writer is much like developing his or her style of writing. It takes time, and trial and error until something clicks and, as the man says, once you find what works for you, you usually stick with it.

I'm on BBC Radio Solent Christmas Eve

I've been invited to the Christmas Party at BBC Radio Solent on Christmas Eve. I will be appearing on the Julian Clegg Breakfast Show between 7.30am to 9.30am talking about my crime novels, which are primarily set in the Solent area, though my protagonists do venture further afield from time to time. (96.1 & 103.8FM & DAB Digital Radio.)

Last year I was chosen as one of BBC Radio Solent's 100 Lives Project for 2008. The project offered a snapshot of life in the 21st century by following the lives of 100 people over the year. However, once the project had finished, culminating in a grand party in the BBC canteen on 17 December 2008, I was asked by Julian Clegg if I'd like to continue to be featured on the radio throughout the year. Of course I jumped at the chance. I've been interviewed about my writing and novels on Julian Clegg's popular breakfast show several times throughout 2009.

The Christmas party at BBC Radio Solent will be broadcast live on Christmas Eve, beginning at 6.30am. If you're up and about that early in the day and living in the BBC Radio Solent area then I hope you are able to tune in.

Isle of Wight, Ideas and Inspirations For Novels

In for the Kill my crime thriller novel featuring Alex Albury is set on the Isle of Wight, just five miles off Portsmouth on the south coast of England. It is a beautiful Island with lots of lovely walks and spectacular coastal views, very popular as a holiday resort in the spring and summer months, and heaven for walkers and cyclists, as well as becoming increasingly famous for its music festivals. The pace of life is slower and the Island has one of the best sunshine records of any part of Britain. It is only twenty three miles by thirteen miles and can be reached by boat, Hovercraft,(Hovertravel) or ferry (Red Funnel or Wighlink). The stretch of water between the mainland and the island is reputed to be one of the most expensive in the UK! But it's well worth the visit.

My new DI Horton marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand, which is being published in February 2010, is also set on the island. Horton has sailed into Bembridge Harbour on holiday but not for long. Soon he's embroiled in a new murder mystery and is joined on the island by the Major Crime Team: coarse mouthed and Alpha male, Superintendent Uckfield and the human memory man and super efficient Sergeant Trueman.  And of course, Sergeant Cantlelli makes the trip despite his sea sickness! 

And I've been on the Isle of Wight (IOW) today, walking. The sun was shining and it was lovely though a little chilly. I visisted my static caravan at Sandhills, Whitecliffe Bay, which is my holiday home and where I also do a fair bit of writing on my netbook when there. It is closed for the winter months, opening again on 1 March for eight months. Looking forward to it.

I was told by the staff at Sandhills today that I was featured in the IOW County Press a couple of weeks ago with a photo and a mention of my crime novels. The article was about the literary lunch talk I gave in Southampton in aid of Wessex Cancer Trust. So that was nice.

Walking around Bembridge Harbour, with a choppy high spring tide rushing in, I noticed the fire fighters were there and discovered they were desperately trying to prevent one of the houseboats  - a real feature of the harbour, and where Alex Albury my hero in In For The Kill lives - from sinking. Apparently there was a hole in the middle of the houseboat.  No one was on board... but what if..... OK, so you know what's coming next, a whole new idea for a marine murder mystery story. Could it be another Alex Albury crime thriller? Possibly. This is where inspiration and ideas come from, from what I see and what I hear.

I had lunch sitting by the lagoons at Brading Marshes (look out for them in Blood on the Sand) and then I walked to St Helen's to catch the bus back through Seaview to Ryde. Well I had walked from Lake that morning about six miles in total, which for a winter's day was enough.  The ten minute hovercraft trip across to Portsmouth was a bit of a choppy ride, so I kept my eyes shut until we landed!

Now, with my little grey cells recharged by the fresh Isle of Wight sea air, and an idea for a new novel logged in my note book, it's a quick catch up on my e mails, Twitter and Facebook etc.  then on with writing the next DI Horton novel.

A little bit of Turkish delight for crime novels

Two of my crime thriller novels are to be published in Turkish in the New Year. Turkish Publisher Babiali Kultur Yayinciligi of Istanbul has acquired the rights to In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill The deal was done through my literary agent in Turkey, Filiz Karaman of Nurchian Kesim Literary Agency who last year sold rights to one of my non fiction titles, Being Positive and Staying Positive, which was published in Turkish in March this year.

In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill are to be published in February and March 2010. They are stand alone crime novels set in the Solent area and the Isle of Wight and have already been translated into Indonesian and Polish.

I’m tickled pink about this. It will be really exciting to see them translated into Turkish and I hope they do well over there.

A hard day's slog but I got there in the end

My wrists ache, my shoulders are sore, my brain was spinning all night and I feel guilty because I didn't e mail or phone any of my friends, I barely looked at Facebook and Twitter, and my husband got about half a dozen words out of me - which might be a blessing, of course, as far as he's concerned. Why?  Because I was grappling with the plot of the next DI Horton marine mystery crime novel, and couldn't for the life of me fathom out who had done it! 

That might sound weird, as I'm the author, surely I should know, but this often happens.  I have several suspects in the frame, then I start thinking, 'no, it's too obvious it's him,' or 'It can't be her because she's got no motive.'  I could, of course, invent motives aplenty, but it's got to ring true. Now, after bashing out a sketchy end on my keyboard yesterday evening, considering it overnight and looking at it in the fresh light of day, I believe it will work.  I hope it will work. Yes, I'm sure it will work and give my readers something to get their teeth into.  Only the next revision, which I shall start today, will prove whether or not I'm right.

How to get your novel into Asda

Most authors would love to see their books sold in supermarkets because that usually means  increased sales. But there's not a lot of space for books in supermarkets and it costs the publisher vast amounts to get what shelf space there is, so only the top names are carried and promoted.  But now all is revealed on how to crack this particular nut and it comes straight from the mouth of the key book buyer in one of the major supermarkets - Asda.

In an article in The Bookseller  "Publishers look for angels for salvation as new genre emerges" Asda book buying manager, Steph Bateson, is quoted as saying: "We are still seeing misery (memoirs) working but there are fewer mis-mem titles and more angels books. Dogs is another crossover—a book that combines mis-mem, angels and dogs is our perfect paperback."

So here's my cunning plan for getting the next DI Horton marine mystery crime novel stocked in Asda:

A reality TV personality is murdered on the day her misery memoir is published. The flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton is called in to investigate, but he's blocked at every turn, until an Angel arrives in the form of a Springer Spaniel to help him crack the case.  

Do you think it will work?

Do you ever get stuck?

It was a refreshing experience today to take part in a speed networking event for school pupils aged 14-15 years. The event was organised by the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Education Business Partnership.There were twelve young boys present (and one teacher) from City Boys School in Portsmouth.  They were bright, polite, enthusiastic and asked intelligent questions about my novels and how I write. 

The questions they asked me included: where do you get your ideas from?  How do you plan your novels? Do you ever get stuck?

And here is an abbreviated version of the answers I gave:

Where do you get your ideas from?

Anywhere and everywhere. Locations, overheard conversations, newspaper and magazine articles, the tales people tell me. Ideas can come from anywhere and are never a problem, the hard part is turning them into plots that will last for 80,000 to 100,000 words.

How do you plan your novels?

I write my plot lines in pencil on recycled A4 paper, held together with treasury tags. The research I do is added to this.  I also work out my character outlines in pencil usuing spidergrams.  I manage to draft the plot lines usually to about chapter six or seven and then get stuck, so I leave it there and begin to write the novel directly on to a computer.  As the characters develop they begin to come alive and their actions and motivations often then drive the plot.  Then it's back to the plot outline to flesh it out further and do more research while continuing with the creative writing almost at the same time.

Do you ever get stuck?

Yes.  When I do I return to my plot lines and characters and ask myself some questions, for example, what if X does this instead of that where would that take the story? Or what would X really do in this situation?  Do I need to do some more research to help me develop the story?  Should another character be involved in this story? I just think over various options and go down various avenues until I come up with one that works.

I'm hoping to post some photographs from the event when they are sent over to me, next week.

Crime novels raise money for charities

I've just heard that sales of one of my novels and a talk I gave at a literary lunch have raised over £900 for two charities: the Portsmouth Hospitals Rocky Appeal and the Wessex Cancer Trust.

I donated copies of my crime thriller novel, In Cold Daylight, to the Portsmouth Hospitals Rocky Appeal shop where they were snapped up within one week thus raising £90.00 towards the Three Peaks Challenge being undertaken by staff at the hospital to raise money for new digital keyhole operating theatres.

The appeal aims to raise £3million for the new state of the art space age keyhole surgeries in Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, England. These new theatres will be the most advanced in the UK and will enable surgeons to use keyhole surgery to remove complex gastric and colon cancers, hernias, spleens, and appendices; and to perform transplants as well as gynaecology, kidney and bladder operations and surgical procedures giving immediate benefit to patients including less pain, smaller scars amd faster recovery times.

Over £800 was also raised at a charity literary lunch on 17 November in aid of the Wessex Cancer Trust. I was the guest speaker and talked to a packed audience about my writing and my crime novels.

The Wessex Cancer Trust is an independent charity which 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. The 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.

This is great news and I'm delighted to have helped two such worthwhile charities to raise much needed funds in my own small way.

A good day's writing

Yesterday, as the rain and wind bashed against the window of my office I escaped into the world of DI Horton in the new crime novel I’m writing, as yet untitled. It will be the sixth in the marine mystery crime series featuring Inspector Horton and my eighth crime novel. Blood on the Sand, the fifth Horton novel, is due to be published on 28 February 2010, and Dead Man’s Wharf (number four) will be out in paperback also in February 2010.

I managed to unravel the plot lines of this new Horton novel, which once again is set in Portsmouth on the south coast of England, and get on with some fluent creative writing. Now I'm eager to return to it, which is what I shall do after catching up on my Twitter and Facebook updates and writing my blog entries. The wind continues to roar across the garden from the reaches of Langstone Harbour close to where I live, and every now and again the rain comes down like stair rods. Not a day to be out and about and certainly not a day to be at sea. I'll leave all that to Andy Horton as he solves yet another complex crime set against the backdrop of Portsmouth Harbour.

National Crime Fiction Week 2010

National Crime Fiction Week is taking place in 2010 for the first time. The Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain (CWA), of which I am a member, is organising a celebration of crime writing during the week of 14-20 June 2010.  It also coincides with Independent Booksellers Week in the UK.

During the week members of the CWA, including yours truly, will take part in readings, discussions, readers' group events and workshops all over the country. So keep an eye out here for my events or on my official web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk/

The crime genre is very broad so there should be something for every crime fiction fan.

Telling students how it is - the life of an author

I'm talking to a group of young students from Portsmouth schools next week at a speed networking event about my career in writing and my life as an author.  I'll also be telling them about the peculiar world of publishing and answering their questions. It should be fun! 

The event is designed to help young people examine career options involving English.  It is being organised by the Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Education Business Partnership and will be held at the Langstone Technology Park on Wednesday 25 November from 10.30am to 12.30pm.

Students aged between 14 and 16 will be spilt into groups of four and will spend fifteen minutes talking to various business people including yours truly.  They'll be asking questions about possible career options- becoming an author might be one, who knows. I wanted to be an author from the age of ten, and have spent my entire career involved in writing both in marketing and PR and then writing and publishing business and motivational books until I became a published fiction author.

After fifteen minutes a whistle is blown and the students move on to the next person. Also taking part in the event are a journalist and poet. I'm looking forward to meeting them and the students.

This is an opportunity to support the development of young people and hopefully nurture future business talent. It’s also an excellent opportunity to promote links between the business community and schools.

Guest speaker, stormy weather and DI Horton revisions

Another stormy day on the south coast of England and another day of catching up with my writing, although I need a little sort out of the plot lines first. Nevertheless the next DI Horton is steaming along. I aim to finish this second draft by Christmas and then it will be revision time until, hopefully, it is ready in March.

I explained how I write my marine mystery crime novels yesterday at a charity lunch in aid of the Wessex Cancer Trust, which was held at The Concorde Club on the outskirts of Southampton. I was guest speaker and there was a good crowd there.  The lunch was splendid and at the last count they had raised £800 for the charity, which is great news.


I signed tons of books and introduced my novels to new readers.  I hope they enjoy them.

It is almost my final event before Christmas.  I have one more to undertake next week, and that is sharing my experiences of being an author with some senior school children who have an interest in and a talent for English.  Should be fun.  More on that later.  For now it's back to DI Andy Horton number six - I must think of a title for it soon!

Dead Man's Wharf soon to be in paperback

The trade paperback version of Dead Man's Wharf is being published by Severn House (that's the larger sized paperback) on 28 February 2010, which happens to be my birthday! 

Dead Man's Wharf  is the fourth Inspector Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel.


Horton and Cantelli are called to a nursing home where a resident claims she’s been attacked by an intruder. Ready to dismiss it as senile ramblings, Horton then discovers that her room-mate has died, the dead woman’s belongings are missing and her son, convicted for armed robbery, has been found dead in his cell. Soon Horton is caught up in a complex investigation that has far-reaching international implications.

It received an excellent review in the USA and hardcover copies have sold out in the UK, with only a handful still available from on line book retailers and imported from the States. Even I can't get any copies from my publisher so unfortunately I can't sell any signed copies.  But there will be plenty of paperbacks and signed copies will be available to purchase through my official web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk/.

You can also get signed copies of my other novels via my web site - ideal for Christmas presents!

Below are some technical details on Dead Man's Wharf

ISBN: 9781847511324
Category: Crime & Mystery
Dimensions: 141W 222H mm
Price: £10.99
Edition: Trade Paperback

Thank you, Enid Blyton

I'm often asked who inspired me to write and there can only be one answer to that question: the late and very great Enid Blyton.

Coming from a non book, working class household if it hadn't been for my local library and Enid Blyton I would never have discovered the joy of reading and then writing. She allowed me to escape into another world so far removed from my own. I didn't care that the children in her novels were middle class, that's what made them special to me along with their wonderful adventures, of course: The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, The Pole Star Family. Now, as an author of six crime novels, and a new one to be published next year both in the UK and the USA, I owe her an enormous debt of gratitude.

Enid Blyton, died aged 71 in 1968.  She has sold 600 million books which are still selling and despite the middle class establishment of her day, the BBC and the so called 'educators' belittling her work she gave pleasure to millions of children. After training as a teacher, she got her first break thanks to her husband Hugh Pollock, who worked at the London publishers George Newnes and helped her publish her first stories in 1924. She was fortunate to have an in, and being a businesswoman she exploited it mercilessly. I can't say I blame her, others have done it and still do. 

Her business acumen, including an awareness of marketing, publicity and branding, helped her become the most popular children’s author of the era, who is still hugely popular today. She used the launch of her own magazine to help spread her fame,oversaw the design of her books and developed her own unique symbol of her signature on every cover. No doubt if the Internet and social networking had been around in her day she would have found ingenious ways to capitalise on it.

She was a workaholic, with an incredible drive to achieve. A true Type A personality even down to her lack of maternal instinct. But she gave us great stories and the joy of reading and for that I will always love her, and be grateful to her, despite what anyone says, writes or screens on television.

Thank you, Enid Blyton.

The full archive on Enid Blyton can be seen at www.bbc.co.uk/archive

Page proofs have arrived for the new Inspector Horton crime novel

The page proofs have arrived for the new Inspector Horton crime novel Blood on the Sand which is being published on 25 February 2010. This is the final stage before the novel goes to print and perhaps the most nerve racking (apart from publication that is) because it is too late to make major changes, or even too many small ones apart from typo corrections and glaring errors.

So now the novel stands as it is. A deep breath is taken before I finally sign it off which will hopefully be next week. In between I am continuing to work on the next Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel.