Visit my website at www.rowmark.co.uk for details of all my crime novels

I've been looking back through my blog posts and wondered what I had written on this day 19 July 2007. Well here is my entry but don't worry if you never read it (who would remember it anyway?) because I still had it in draft, the post never went live. I wonder why? So I thought I'd correct that four years later. 19 July 2007 "Flicked over to Legal TV yesterday ( yes it was on the air then ) and hey presto there I was talking about my forthcoming marine mystery, Deadly Waters , which will be released in hardback on 27 September 2007. And if you missed it on the box, then here's another chance to see me in action." You can also view this video, and many more interviews on my You Tube Channel or on my web site . Deadly Waters is the second in the DI Andy Horton series and has been published in trade paperback, mass market paperback, large print, as an unabridged audio book and e book and is also available on Kindle. Since thos...

The government review on public libraries in Great Britain has just been published. Libraries are increasingly facing spending cuts by local councils but they form a vital part of our communities and do a considerable amount to raise the level of literacy in the UK, as well as introduce the pleasure of reading to many, myself included.  If it hadn't been for my local library when a child I doubt I would ever have discovered Enid Blyton who kick-started my life-long passion for reading (and writing). The report concludes that  Britain's public libraries can still flourish if they offer free internet access, Sunday opening and a promise to provide any book in the national book collection. It also insists that councils must retain a statutory duty to provide a universal library service, which is good news. The government review, which has taken nearly two years, proposes library membership entitlement from birth (I thought that was already in existence) and a suggestion...

An important task for many writers is marketing themselves and their books. This cannot be left solely to the publisher who has a whole range of books to promote and usually across many genres.  In the larger publishing houses there are publicists whose responsibility it is to help promote certain authors, who are usually the 'bigger named' authors, (the A list) or those who have been given a huge advance that needs to be 'earned out' leaving great swathes of writers and books to their own devices. Many authors therefore need to take responsibility for their own marketing.  For me this is a pleasure because my professional career until now has been spent in marketing and PR, helping many businesses and charities to raise their profile and market their services and products. I have always loved the challenge of marketing and this applies to my books. There is a saying in business: people can't buy from you unless they know about you and the same applies to b...

I liked this article which appeared in the Daily Telegraph on line so much so that I left a comment on the site. Displaying books: more than just a good read : "Books really do help furnish a room - and the more of them the merrier, says Nicole Swengley." You can't do this with an e book, eh! Not that I am against e books, certainly not. I don't mind how people read just as long as they do read (and enjoy it). But are printed books going to be the next must have home accessory? I must admit to having books in almost every room in the house. OK so they're not in the bathroom or the hall, although they were in the latter until we re-decorated. And I know that many people take a book into the bath to read. Some readers have told me this is where they do their best reading, and ask if my books are bath proof. Some have even dropped them accidentally in bath water, and I've been told they have dried out nicely. I have been into houses where there are absolutel...

I'm normally better known as the author of several crime novels including my marine mysteries featuring my detective Inspector Andy Horton, and for my stand alone crime thriller novels, In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill .  But I am also the author of three marketing books published in 2009 by Crimson, and before that the author of several sales, marketing and self-improvement books, some of which are not currently in print but are available as audio books and e books . Imagine then my surprise while browsing my titles on Amazon to find that some of my marketing/self improvement titles are being sold second hand for the outstanding amounts of £32.00, £40.00, and a staggering £88.95!  (They were orginally £9.99) Have I become rare? Oh, if I only I was getting a royalty!

An innovative and exciting new web site recently contacted me regarding an interview. http://www.completelynovel.com/ is a free web application for everyone who loves books - writers, readers, publishers, agents, printers. In fact anyone in the books business. The interview is posted on the community page of the CompletelyNovel website - http://www.completelynovel.com/community . You will need to log-in to CompletelyNovel in order to see it there, but you can do so by going to http://www.completelynovel.com/ and using the following invite code: cnrowson Here is an extract from the interview: "Pauline Rowson's marine mystery crime novels may feature the 'flawed and rugged' DI Horton but there's nothing flawed about her company, Rowmark , which she set-up as a Marketing Agency before branching into publishing. By drawing on her marketing skills and publishing her own brand of fiction and business books, Pauline has learned a great deal about the industry. We wante...

IN COLD DAYLIGHT -my thriller about fire-fighters -has been selected as one of the books for World Book Day/Spread The Word. www.worldbookday.com/spreadtheword Yippee! I've made the long list so now all I have to do is get into the Top Ten and that's where I need your help. I need as many votes as I can to make it through to that Top Ten and you can vote on-line for what will be "The Most Talked About Book 2008." The short list is to be announced at the end of January, with the ultimate winner being announced on World Book Day on 6 March 2008. Each person who votes gets the chance to win £100 of National Book Tokens in a weekly Free Prize draw, so there’s an incentive to enter. If you would like to vote for my book then you can read about IN COLD DAYLIGHT at: http://www.worldbookday.com/spreadtheword/books/book-detail.asp?BookID=65 . And to give you a taster, here is a preview of the book. You can also read the first chapter by clicking on the above bar. “IN COLD DAY...

I've not quite got over my bout of guilt from flying to the Frankfurt Book Fair, but I'm recovering slowly, and glad to be back on sunny Hayling Island. By the way, that's not my boat in the picture of the Hayling pontoon at Langstone Harbour. Now that my brain is settling back into normal mode (whatever that is) I thought I'd share with you the wonders of the Frankfurt International Book Fair. This was my fourth visit to Frankfurt and for a time (three days for me, five for the poor suckers who had to stick it out to the bitter end) normal life was suspended. You are cocooned in this crazy, giant city of hurrying people, (except for the Italians, see below) along with hundreds of thousands of books, and teams of security guards scouring your handbags, briefcases and suitcases for the lost ark of the covenant It never ceases to amaze me just how many people across the world work within the publishing industry, and what worries me is how such an industry with an exceptio...

Yes, I let the side down. Blog action day for the environment and I was full of good intentions, but apart from registering my blog on their site, I did nothing. Worse still, I had to fly to Frankfurt for the Frankfurt Book Fair where I launched Deadly Waters on an unsuspecting international audience. I was going to travel to Frankfurt by train then Flybe decided to put on flights from Southampton airport, and as that is only a twenty-five minute journey from my home it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I loathe airports though and flying, and seeing all those aeroplanes made me think that changing the light bulbs in your house, or turning off your computer or television instead of leaving them on standby was just p*****g in the wind when it comes to fighting the environmental battle. We might just as well not bother. So I am definitely giving up flying. But that's only little me and with so many people travelling abroad on business and holidays, it won't stop. Can the ai...

Deadly Waters is now published and out there in the big wide World, although it's not officially published in the USA until January 2008. I've had a couple of readers e mail me who enjoyed it, which is always nice to know. I think my next DI Andy Horton novel is going to be published in March 2008, along with the paperback of Deadly Waters. I am now working on the fourth DI Horton crime novel and then it might be a thriller. I've got ideas for that already. Just regsitered for Blog Action Day on the environment - great idea http://www.blogactionday.org/ My thriller, In Cold Daylight, focuses on an environmental issue, but saying how and what might give the plot away! Going to give some thought to my stance for Blog Action Day, got several ideas...

Me in action, being interviewed on Legal TV, talking about my forthcoming marine mystery - published in UK 27 Sept. and in the USA in Jan 08.

Me in action, being interviewed on Legal TV www.legaltv.com by the lovely Raychel Harvey Jones. Talking about my forthcoming marine mystery, Deadly Waters, the second in the DI Andy Horton series.

I have chosen a title for the third Andy Horton novel but not sure if I will stick with it. At the moment it's called The Suffocating Sea , or perhaps The Killing Sea , mmm. Still mulling it over. Titles are really hard to come up with, and they do make a difference. I once met a crime reader when I was signing in Waterstone's who told me that she only bought crime novels with the word, 'death' or 'murder' in the title. Fortunately Tide of Death met her criteria so a sale. Not sure she has bought the other two though: In Cold Daylight and In for the Kill! I have started mapping out Andy Horton number four and am quite excited about it as I always am when starting a new creative process and a new book.

Had an e mail from Juliet Doyle. http://www.julietdoyle.com/about.php Thank you Juliet for the kind comments you made about my blog and I hope you enjoy my novels. Juliet gave me an idea, why not put up some pictures of where I live on beautiful Hayling Island, and where some of my crime and thriller novels are set. So here they are. I live just 400 yards from a stunning nature reserve and coastal path with lots of rare flowers and birds. So here's Hayling looking on to Langstone Harbour, the setting for my new Andy Horton detective novel due out in hardback on 27 September 2007, published by Severn House. In the centre of the picture you can just make out the mulberry where the body of a woman is discovered. The photo below has been taken by the Hayling Ferry, which ploughs i ts way between Hayling South and the south eastern most tip of Portsmouth. It is a small ferry, that only takes passengers and cyclists. You board it from a pontoon to the right of this photograph. http:/...

Just finished the third revision of the third DI Andy Horton marine mystery novel (as yet untitled) and it's coming along a treat. I think I've finally got all the plot strands sewn up, but sometimes it's difficult to see because you are so close to it. Now I've started the fourth revision, and I hope the last before it whizzes it's way to my editor.

My latest thriller, In For The Kill , is featured amongst the great and the good, Ian Rankin and Lee Child, in Bertram's Summer Reading Catalogue on Page 9. You can pick up a copy in your local independent bookshop and there are some great 3 for 2 offers.

Read an interesting article in The Bookseller magazine this week, about a blog dedicated to shedworking so thought I'd take a look. Interesting blog with some lovely pics of sheds, or rather outside offices. It is something I've always longed to have but at the moment I work from a bedroom in the house, although we do have a summer house (pictured here) and I sometimes work in there, so maybe that counts. Take a look at http://www.shedworking.co.uk/ if you want to see some interesting and unsual sheds!!

The Solent area is on the map in Indonesia with the publication in Indonesian of my marine mystery thrillers, In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill . Dioma Publishing, one of the largest publishers in Indonesia, bought the translation rights to In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill at the Frankfurt Book Fair last October. Just received my gratis copies and they are fantastic, even though I don’t understand a word the covers look good! Dioma has kept the titles and my name in English. It is really exciting to see my books translated into another language and to think that readers in Indonesia will be reading all about my heroes exploits in the Solent area.

The Richard and Judy Book Club it might not be but I was delighted to be asked to appear on a brand new programme on Legal TV http://www.legaltv.co.uk/ featuring Crime Writers. Yesterday was filming day and my husband and I travelled to Birmingham. We had decided to go by train, but couldn't park the car anywhere within five miles of the train station, so found ourselves driving the 320 mile round trip. It might not sound much to anyone reading from America, but on Britain's congested roads habituated by homicidal maniacs who think they are competing at Silverstone, and juggernauts the size of small buildings determined to overtake on a hill, it is a nightmare. But we got there and met the delightful and talented young producer, Nina, and the effervescent and beautiful presenter and journalist, Raychel Harvey-Jones, a girl from the welsh valleys destined to go far, you mark my words! http://www.raychelharvey-jones.com/ It was raining bucket loads when we arrived and the temper...

Well, what a day! The sea was calm, the sky was blue, the Captain was handsome, the crew were magnificent, and the customers kept coming, as we sailed back and forth the Solent on the Wightlink Ferry, St Clare, on 31 May. I think this must be the first eight-hour marathon book-signing event on board a car ferry. My book signing session was the brainchild of The Hayling Island Book Shop, who organised it all and set up a mobile bookshop on board. I was promoting my latest marine mystery thriller, In For The Kill, which is set on the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and the south. It was a great day. I enjoyed meeting readers and also went on the bridge with the Captain. Marie and Colin Telford of the Hayling Island Bookshop did a fantastic job, and as ever my husband, Bob, was there to help and support me. Thanks go to them, to the Wightlink crew, especially to Kerry Jackson, Sue Hemmings, Sam Woodman and Captain Monk and Captain Meadway. And also to Chris Clode for his PR and helping to mak...