Pauline Rowson's Blog - Posts Tagged "police-procedural"

It was the 25th birthday party of the Southsea Afternoon branch of the Women's Institute last Wednesday and I was honoured to be their guest speaker. There was a great turn out at what is clearly a thriving branch of the WI. Well done ladies, thank you for asking me to talk to you about my crime novels and my marine mystery police procedurals featuring my hunky DI, Inspector Andy Horton.

My next public appearance is at the Oxfam Books and Music Shop in Fareham, Hampshire where I will officially kick-start the annual Oxfam BookFest on 3 July. I will be there between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30.a.m.

But before that, on 8 June 2010 at 7pm, I am giving a radio interview with Rob Richardson of Express FM. It is broadcast on 93.7 or you can listen live via the Express FM web site. I'm talking to Rob about my crime novels and how I write, although the interview was recorded last week and I can't recall exactly what I said now! Perhaps I'd better listen to it!

I had to re-record my interview with Rob Richardson of Express FM last week because a technical hitch unfortunately meant the original interview could not be transmitted. I didn't mind though. It's always good fun talking to Rob Richardson who also runs a very lively writing group and web site called Write-Invite which has some very exciting and rather unusual short story writing competitions.

My interview will be broadcast on Tuesday 6 July between 7pm and 8pm, on Express FM You can listen to it, if you wish, on their web site. I'm also due to be interviewed that morning on BBC Radio Solent, the Julian Clegg Breakfast Show, at 6.45 am. So from one end of the day to the other!

Meanwhile two of my crime novels have been chosen as Hot Holiday Reads on The Book Depository's web site. In Cold Daylight, a stand alone thriller and the third Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel, The Suffocating Sea, are being featured. The prices are good and The Book Depository offer FREE worldwide delivery. There is more information on my web site.

The new marine mystery police procedural novel is coming along quite nicely. I've written the first two chapters but there's still a lot of research to do yet before it all comes together.

One thing about writing a series (my Inspector Andy Horton crime novels) is that some of the character names are already set, i.e. Inspector Horton, Sergeant Cantelli, Superintendent Uckfield. Then there is DI Dennings, DCI Lorraine Bliss and others, so no need to think up new names for them. But every novel has a new crime and a new set of characters and coming up with names for them can often be quite tricky as can be remembering which names I've already used as well as the minor characters in my police procedurals, their rank and department.

When seeking inspiration for first names I turn to my little book of baby's names or more often look up web sites of baby's names. I also keep an ear out for any unusual or interesting names when meeting people and will jot these down. Working on the latest Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery (Footsteps on the Shore) I was stuck for a name for one particular character. He had several before I trawled through the A-Z and hit on Ashley. Yes, he was definitely an Ashley.

The other danger is over using a name. For some reason I seem to have a penchant for the name Eric, and when I did a search through previous novels I discovered that I’d used it before for different characters, albeit minor ones. So no more Erics.

As to surnames, I let my finger do the choosing and tend to pick these out of an atlas or street map. Then I see if it fits with the first name and the character. And the more novels I write the more I am in danger of repeating names, (it's easy to forget what you have already used) so I’m building a database in order to double check this. And a database of police officers used in my novels their rank, name, brief description and their department.

Readers also tell me that some novelists have too many characters surnames all beginning with the same letter and they find this very confusing. Now I scrutinise my work to check that not everyone has a surname beginning with the letter ‘C’. Not sure why I gravitate towards ‘C’ but I do. And my sister couldn’t get through Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code because she couldn’t pronounce the names, and not being able to pronounce them meant she couldn’t identify and believe in the characters. You might think that strange, but having raised the point at several talks, I’ve found many other readers echoing this sentiment. So it’s careful with the foreign names for me.

And what about the name of my main character Inspector Andy Horton, where did that come from? I've no idea. It just sprang to mind. It was only recently however that I was contacted by his namesake in the Hampshire Police Force. A polite e mail asked me whether he had inspired the name and/or the character. I replied saying that if he was indeed tall, blonde, fit and handsome then maybe? He replied saying he was tall, fit, dark and his wife thought him handsome. I was somewhat relieved to find the real Inspector Horton had a sense of humour, had recently been promoted and spelt his name Houghton.

Pauline Rowson web site http://www.rowmark.co.uk

First published in hardcover in the UK in February 2010 and the USA in May 2010, I am pleased that Blood on the Sand is to be published in paperback in September.

In the USA, Booklist said of Blood on the Sand, 'This is another solid entry in a consistently well written series. Like Ed McBain, Rowson works many subtle variations on the procedural formula (including very interesting relationships between Andy and a couple of his superiors). A definite winner in the crowded field of British procedurals.'

In the UK, Eurocrime said, 'The very tight plotting was very impressive and make me want to look out for further books by this author. A very enjoyable read.'

This is the fifth in the series and the sixth, Footsteps on the Shore, will be published early in 2011. I am now writing the seventh in the Andy Horton series.

So here are the Andy Horton marine mystery crime novels (police procedurals) in order:

Tide of Death
Deadly Waters
The Suffocating Sea
Dead Man's Wharf
Blood on the Sand
Footsteps on the Shore (2011)

In this new short clip I'm in discussion with Rob Richardson talking about how I research my police procedural marine mystery crime novels, featuring my rugged and flawed detective, Inspector Andy Horton. You can listen to more of my video clips here or on my official web site

Blood on the Sand

Having used up tons of scraps of paper (re-cycled from having to print off reams of previous manuscripts) and having almost worn my pencil down to a stub, not to mention making my office look like a waste paper tip, I am now a great deal happier with the plot of the next Andy Horton police procedural marine mystery crime novel, which will be number seven in the series.

That doesn't mean to say that what I have mapped out will stay as it is, oh no, I could easily and most probably will change my mind by the end of the novel. Such is the life of a crime writer. As the characters become more alive so their motivations might suggest other actions. I might also delve into some research that will take me in another direction. It's all good fun, as they say.

I want to try and get as much of the first draft written as I can before having to work on copy edits and proofs of the sixth Andy Horton novel, Footsteps on the Shore, which my publisher tells me is due to be published in the UK in January 2011 and in the USA in March 2011. So it's back to work.

Dead Man's Wharf

The trade paperback version of Blood on the Sand,number five in the Inspector Andy Horton police procedural crime series,is being published at the end of September 2010. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon, where I have just been amazed to discover a first edition of the hardcover is selling for $295. Wow!

Blood on the Sand received a great review from Booklist in the States. It's set on the South Coast of England.

"Andy Horton’s Isle of Wight vacation is cut short when he encounters what appears to be the scene of a murder — and a woman who seems to be the killer, still holding the murder weapon. But there’s far more to it than that, and soon Andy is deep into an investigation that reaches far into the past."

Blood on the Sand

A new video has been uploaded to my official web site, my You Tube Channel and here. In this latest video, I'm talking to Rob Richardson about the creation of my detective, Inspector Andy Horton who features in my marine mystery police procedural crime novels set in the Solent area on the South Coast of England. Rob is doing his hardest to make me laugh, and succeeding during the interview which was recorded for the radio and internet station Express FM.

You can listen to the video here, or on my web site or on You Tube along with many other of my videos where I discuss developing characters, research, my crime novels and how I write. There are also two interviews with Raychel Harvey Jones. Hope you enjoy watching and listening to them.

Hailed in the US as 'exemplary procedurals,' there are five novels in the Andy Horton series with the sixth, Footsteps on the Shore to be published early 2011. I'm currently working on the seventh in the series.

Yesterday I gave a talk to a packed audience of the U3A group in Waterloovile, Hampshire about how I write my police procedural marine mystery crime novels featuring Inspector Andy Horton and my thrillers. They were a great crowd and I was delighted to answer their questions and sign so many books.

Next week I'm off to the West Midlands and will be speaking at Perry Common Library in Birmingham and Burton-upon-Trent Library. I'm really looking forward to it. There is more information about these events, including contact details, and my forthcoming appearances and speaking engagements on my official web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk . You can also read more on my personal blog at http://www.paulinerowson.com

I have been giving talks and speaking in public for many years. It's an aspect of being a novelist I particularly enjoy, entertaining others and helping budding writers. If anyone reading this would like to book me to speak at an event you can contact me through my official web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk

Tide of Death

I'm participating in a speed networking event with pupils from Springfield School in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK this morning. It’s looking at the use of language in the workplace and is organised by the Education Business Partnership in Portsmouth who have recruited a number of business people from the area who use language in their profession.

The speed networking is taking place between 11.25 am and 12.25 pm with lunch afterwards. I, and other professionals, each sit at a table and spend around 10 minutes with the group of students who ask us about our careers, then a whistle is blown and the next lot of students arrive. This happens 6 times within the hour.

I think I might be hoarse and very weary by the end of it if it’s similar to the last time I did this event, answering questions about my marine mystery police procedural crime novels and how I write! Still, it's very rewarding and enjoyable, for me, at least, not sure what the students think of it! And I’ll have time to recover my voice before my next speaking engagement on 22 October, which is to the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.