CrimeFest 13
was buzzing as usual. It was great to catch up with some of my fellow
crime writers, meet lots of lovely crime fiction fans and meet up with
my publisher, Severn House.
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Before the Panel from left to right: J.C. Martin, Pauline Rowson, Kerry Wilkinson, Ann Cleeves, Kate Ellis
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The
panel session on Friday morning was well received by a lively audience
and my In the Spotlight Session later the same morning where I talked
about "
The Perfect System for Writing a Crime Novel" it was standing room only.
The panel session was chaired by
Ann Cleeves and appearing with me were crime authors;
J. C. Martin,
Kate Ellis and
Kerry Wilkinson.
We discussed many aspects of crime writing and our novels, including
why we chose to set them where we did, why we chose to feature cops, how
we research our crime novels and who our favourite fictional detectives
are.
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The panel line up: Pauline Rowson, J. C. Martin, Ann Cleeves, Kate Ellis, Kerry Wilkinson
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Not
surprisingly we have all chosen to set our crime novels in an area we
know, J. C Martin in London, Kerry Wilkinson in Manchester and mine in
the Solent area on the South Coast of England, particularly in
Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. But we all agreed that the areas we
chose have contrasts between rich and poor, providing a great canvas for
crime novels. I also mentioned that the contrast between the urban
environment of Portsmouth and the rural one of the Isle of Wight with an
ever changing sea separating the two provides me with another great
element for creating atmospheric crime novels
We
agreed that the Internet is a great asset for crime writers when it
comes to research and that the police are also extremely co-operative
and helpful. Both Kate Ellis and I also praised a great little book
called "The Crime Writer's Handbook - 65 ways to kill your victim - in
print" by Douglas Wynn. Very useful for anyone writing crime fiction.
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Pauline Rowson answering a question at CrimeFest
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When it came to choosing our favourite fictional detectives, Kerry
Wilkinson had to admit that he doesn't even read crime fiction which
drew a shocked gasp from the audience! J. C Martin opted for a detective
based in Malaysia while Kate Ellis and I went for the anarchic
Detective Superintendent Andy Daziel created by the late and very
talented Reginald Hill.
Not one of us has a police background so why did we choose to write
about cops? I think the consensus was that it wasn't so much we all
deliberately set out to choose to write about cops but somehow found
ourselves doing so.
I was asked what I was currently working on. Well, I am busy writing another
DI Andy Horton
crime novel, number eleven in the series, but I am also working on a
new hero, who is not a policeman for a new thriller series.
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Pauline Rowson taking a question at CrimeFest 13
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It
was a very enjoyable panel followed by a great In the Spotlight
Session where I talked about 'The Perfect System for Writing a Crime
Novel'.
Already looking forward to CrimeFest 2014.
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