Pauline Rowson's Blog - Posts Tagged "series"
The new Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, Footsteps on the Shore, due to be published on 27 January
Footsteps on the Shore the sixth in the Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery series of crime novels set in the Solent area on the South Coast of England is being published in hardcover on 27 January 2011. I have been promising to post details about this latest crime fiction police procedural featuring my hunky DI, Andy Horton so here it is.
Friday the thirteenth begins badly for DI Andy Horton when he wakes to find his Harley has been vandalized and his boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, has returned early from her secondment to HQ.
Then, convicted murderer, Luke Felton, released on licence, is reported missing and a decomposed corpse is washed up in Portsmouth harbour. But before Horton can get a grip on either case, he’s called to a house where a woman he’d only met the day before has been brutally murdered. Is missing Luke Felton the prime suspect, or is it his body in the mud of the harbour? Horton is under pressure to get results, but things are about to get much worse for the beleaguered detective …
Footsteps on the Shore is available to pre-order through The Book Depository web site for a fantastic discounted price I see. It's also available on Amazon, Waterstones and other on line bookshops and can be ordered through any high street or independent bookseller.
More information about this and others in the Andy Horton series can be found on my official web site.
Footsteps on the Shore
Friday the thirteenth begins badly for DI Andy Horton when he wakes to find his Harley has been vandalized and his boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, has returned early from her secondment to HQ.
Then, convicted murderer, Luke Felton, released on licence, is reported missing and a decomposed corpse is washed up in Portsmouth harbour. But before Horton can get a grip on either case, he’s called to a house where a woman he’d only met the day before has been brutally murdered. Is missing Luke Felton the prime suspect, or is it his body in the mud of the harbour? Horton is under pressure to get results, but things are about to get much worse for the beleaguered detective …
Footsteps on the Shore is available to pre-order through The Book Depository web site for a fantastic discounted price I see. It's also available on Amazon, Waterstones and other on line bookshops and can be ordered through any high street or independent bookseller.
More information about this and others in the Andy Horton series can be found on my official web site.
Footsteps on the Shore
Spent the weekend working on the plot of the new DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel (no.8 in the series)
I’ve spent the weekend wrestling with the plot of the DI Andy Horton crime novel I’m currently writing, which is number eight in the series, and I’m pleased to say that I finally won after several rounds. The outcome is looking satisfactory. It may seem strange to someone who doesn’t write novels and in particular crime novels that I have already written 80,000 words, so why the plot antics now? Surely, I must have worked it out. Well sort of but when I say wrestling with the plot, I mean I’ve been working out who really did it, why, when and how etc.. The first draft is on the PC, and, with the details I’ve been drafting up over the weekend I can now start working on the second draft, what luxury! This means going back through the novel, removing anything that isn’t necessary, adding depth, colour, character background, personalities and clues. Shaping it and honing it. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in.
Pauline Rowson to speak at U3A meeting about her crime novels
I'm looking forward to giving a talk this week on 16 November at the U3A group at Sarum, near Salisbury on how I write my crime novels and thrillers and about my DI Andy Horton marine mystery series of crime novels.
I've given quite a few talks to U3A groups around the country and really enjoy them. They are always such a delightful and receptive audience and I am looking forward to entertaining the U3A Sarum members on Wednesday. I've also got a couple more U3As lined up for next year. You can find out more about U3A on their web site, but briefly U3A stands for the University of the Third Age. It is a self-help organisation for people no longer in full time employment, providing educational, creative and leisure opportunities in a friendly environment. There are local U3As all over the UK.
While many fear public speaking I really thrive on it, guess it comes from my background in marketing and as a trainer and professional conference speaker.
I am always keen to speak to groups including retirement associations, charities, and at libraries, Women's Institutes, to Reading Groups, professional organisations and at conferences and literary and book festivals so if you have an event and would like a speaker please do get in touch. You can also find out more about my public speaking engagements on my web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Footsteps on the Shore
I've given quite a few talks to U3A groups around the country and really enjoy them. They are always such a delightful and receptive audience and I am looking forward to entertaining the U3A Sarum members on Wednesday. I've also got a couple more U3As lined up for next year. You can find out more about U3A on their web site, but briefly U3A stands for the University of the Third Age. It is a self-help organisation for people no longer in full time employment, providing educational, creative and leisure opportunities in a friendly environment. There are local U3As all over the UK.
While many fear public speaking I really thrive on it, guess it comes from my background in marketing and as a trainer and professional conference speaker.
I am always keen to speak to groups including retirement associations, charities, and at libraries, Women's Institutes, to Reading Groups, professional organisations and at conferences and literary and book festivals so if you have an event and would like a speaker please do get in touch. You can also find out more about my public speaking engagements on my web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Footsteps on the Shore
Delighted to be helping to celebrate National Libraries Day on Saturday 4 February when I will be at Portsmouth Central Library between 10.30am to 12.30pm.
I'm delighted to be involved in helping to celebrate National Libraries Day on Saturday 4 February when I will be at Portsmouth Central Library between 10.30am to 12.30pm.
I'll be talking about my marine mystery crime novels and thrillers which are set in the Solent area, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and there will be the opportunity to win signed copies of my books with a murder mystery quiz hunt for clues around the library, and the chance to be named as a character in one of my forthcoming DI Horton crime novels.
National Libraries Day is a celebration of libraries across the UK. Events and activities will take place in a variety of libraries including in schools, colleges, universities and public libraries in the UK in the week leading up to and on National Libraries Day on Saturday 4 February.
I'm a great supporter of libraries. I owe them a debt of gratitude because if it hadn't been for my local library in Portsmouth as a child I doubt I would ever have discovered a life long passion for reading and for writing. I’m looking forward to meeting lots of people and helping the library service to celebrate on 4 February.
Tickets can be purchased at any library in Portsmouth or by contacting libraries@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Tickets cost £3.00.
Pauline Rowson is the author of the popular marine mystery police procedural crime series featuring DI Andy Horton, set on the South Coast of England in the Portsmouth, Isle of Wight and Solent area.
A Killing Coast, the seventh in the DI Horton series is published by Severn House in hardcover in the UK on 26 January 2012 and in the USA on 1 May 2012.
“Deserves mention in the same breath as the work of Peter Robinson and John Harvey.” Booklist Starred Review of Footsteps on the Shore
Pauline Rowson's website: http://www.rowmark.co.uk
I'll be talking about my marine mystery crime novels and thrillers which are set in the Solent area, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and there will be the opportunity to win signed copies of my books with a murder mystery quiz hunt for clues around the library, and the chance to be named as a character in one of my forthcoming DI Horton crime novels.
National Libraries Day is a celebration of libraries across the UK. Events and activities will take place in a variety of libraries including in schools, colleges, universities and public libraries in the UK in the week leading up to and on National Libraries Day on Saturday 4 February.
I'm a great supporter of libraries. I owe them a debt of gratitude because if it hadn't been for my local library in Portsmouth as a child I doubt I would ever have discovered a life long passion for reading and for writing. I’m looking forward to meeting lots of people and helping the library service to celebrate on 4 February.
Tickets can be purchased at any library in Portsmouth or by contacting libraries@portsmouthcc.gov.uk
Tickets cost £3.00.
Pauline Rowson is the author of the popular marine mystery police procedural crime series featuring DI Andy Horton, set on the South Coast of England in the Portsmouth, Isle of Wight and Solent area.
A Killing Coast, the seventh in the DI Horton series is published by Severn House in hardcover in the UK on 26 January 2012 and in the USA on 1 May 2012.
“Deserves mention in the same breath as the work of Peter Robinson and John Harvey.” Booklist Starred Review of Footsteps on the Shore
Pauline Rowson's website: http://www.rowmark.co.uk
How long does it take you to write a crime novel?
It's always a scary moment when I press that send key and the completed MS for the next DI Andy Horton crime novel wings its way through the ether to my publisher, but yesterday was D Day and off DI Horton number eight went. I always think, could I have spent a bit longer on it? Should I have changed this or that? But there comes a point when you've done all you can and it's time for a fresh pair of eyes to be cast over it.
I'm often asked how long it takes me to write a crime novel and I usually answer about nine months. I started writing the eighth in the DI Horton series on 13 April 2011 and five revisions later there it is completed, so just over nine months seems to be a comfortable timescale for me and allows me to have one crime novel a year published. I was also pleased to have completed this DI Horton bang on time because I promised my editor he'd have the completed novel in January 2012.
And what does DI Horton get up to in this new crime novel? Ah, you'll have to wait a bit longer to find out. Perhaps when my editor gives the green light on it I'll publish the title and blurb here. Meanwhile, number seven in the series, A Killing Coast, was published this month in hardcover, hopefully that will keep Horton fans satisfied until the next instalment.
A Killing Coast
When a body is found floating in the sea off Portsmouth harbour, Detective Inspector Horton initially judges it to be an accidental death. Soon though, to his dismay, he discovers he’s got it very wrong. Accused of being incompetent by his boss, and with the head of the Major Crime Team coming down heavily on him, Horton wonders if he’s allowed his ongoing investigation into the disappearance of his mother over thirty years ago to cloud his judgement. With no clear motive for the murder, Horton is sucked into a baffling investigation that he is determined to resolve despite the odds. Not only does he need to find a brutal killer, but Horton now has to prove to himself, and others, that he is still up to the job.
A Killing Coast
I'm often asked how long it takes me to write a crime novel and I usually answer about nine months. I started writing the eighth in the DI Horton series on 13 April 2011 and five revisions later there it is completed, so just over nine months seems to be a comfortable timescale for me and allows me to have one crime novel a year published. I was also pleased to have completed this DI Horton bang on time because I promised my editor he'd have the completed novel in January 2012.
And what does DI Horton get up to in this new crime novel? Ah, you'll have to wait a bit longer to find out. Perhaps when my editor gives the green light on it I'll publish the title and blurb here. Meanwhile, number seven in the series, A Killing Coast, was published this month in hardcover, hopefully that will keep Horton fans satisfied until the next instalment.
A Killing Coast
When a body is found floating in the sea off Portsmouth harbour, Detective Inspector Horton initially judges it to be an accidental death. Soon though, to his dismay, he discovers he’s got it very wrong. Accused of being incompetent by his boss, and with the head of the Major Crime Team coming down heavily on him, Horton wonders if he’s allowed his ongoing investigation into the disappearance of his mother over thirty years ago to cloud his judgement. With no clear motive for the murder, Horton is sucked into a baffling investigation that he is determined to resolve despite the odds. Not only does he need to find a brutal killer, but Horton now has to prove to himself, and others, that he is still up to the job.
A Killing Coast
What's on in May for crime author Pauline Rowson
May is going to be a busy month not only will I be writing the ninth in the DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime series but I'll also be giving a couple of talks.
May also sees the publication in hardcover in the USA of the seventh in the DI Andy Horton series A Killing Coast which was published in the UK in January 2012.
Like my other crime and thriller novels this is set in the Solent area on the South Coast of England, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.
On 2 May I'll be attending the committee meeting of the Crime Writers' Association having just been voted onto the commmittee.
On 9 May, I'll be guest speaker at the Basingstoke and Old Basing U3A which I'm really looking forward to.
I'm also looking forward to appearing at Waterstones Newport, Isle of Wight on 15 May, where I'll be talking about my DI Horton marine mystery crime novels and my thrillers after which I'll be signing copies of my books. The event begins at 6.30pm and tickets cost £3.00 refundable against the purchase of one of my novels.
Then on 17 May I'll be interviewed on Angel Radio at 91.5 fm or you can tune in via their website.
On May 25 I'll be appearing at Crimefest 2012 at the Royal Marriott Hotel, Bristol.
I was delighted that my crime novel, the sixth in the DI Andy Horton crime series, Footsteps on the Shore was longlisted for the eDUNNIT AWARD at CrimeFest 2012.
CrimeFest is a convention for people who like to read an occasional crime novel as well as for die-hard fanatics. First organised in June 2008, CrimeFest is now 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.
On Friday 25 May I'll be taking part in a lively panel debate between 9am and 9.50am at the Royal Marriott Hotel, Bristol. There will be plenty of time for questions, followed by a book signing.
All in all a busy month.
A Killing Coast
May also sees the publication in hardcover in the USA of the seventh in the DI Andy Horton series A Killing Coast which was published in the UK in January 2012.
Like my other crime and thriller novels this is set in the Solent area on the South Coast of England, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth.
On 2 May I'll be attending the committee meeting of the Crime Writers' Association having just been voted onto the commmittee.
On 9 May, I'll be guest speaker at the Basingstoke and Old Basing U3A which I'm really looking forward to.
I'm also looking forward to appearing at Waterstones Newport, Isle of Wight on 15 May, where I'll be talking about my DI Horton marine mystery crime novels and my thrillers after which I'll be signing copies of my books. The event begins at 6.30pm and tickets cost £3.00 refundable against the purchase of one of my novels.
Then on 17 May I'll be interviewed on Angel Radio at 91.5 fm or you can tune in via their website.
On May 25 I'll be appearing at Crimefest 2012 at the Royal Marriott Hotel, Bristol.
I was delighted that my crime novel, the sixth in the DI Andy Horton crime series, Footsteps on the Shore was longlisted for the eDUNNIT AWARD at CrimeFest 2012.
CrimeFest is a convention for people who like to read an occasional crime novel as well as for die-hard fanatics. First organised in June 2008, CrimeFest is now 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.
On Friday 25 May I'll be taking part in a lively panel debate between 9am and 9.50am at the Royal Marriott Hotel, Bristol. There will be plenty of time for questions, followed by a book signing.
All in all a busy month.
A Killing Coast
A hero with real problems is the key to creating a good crime series says Pauline Rowson
DI Andy Horton has been described as 'an especially good series hero, a likable fellow with plenty of street smarts and the requisite personal baggage - an abrasive supervisor (DCI Lorraine Bliss) and an antagonistic soon to be ex wife.' Booklist (USA) Footsteps on the Shore.
Heroes in detective novels are often ordinary people with their own set of problems and the key to producing a successful crime novel is not necessarily that the hero saves the world, aka James Bond, but that he also learns something about himself along the way. Putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances builds tension and readers tend to support characters in which they recognise certain traits they have themselves.
For me it is also important to write the stories I like to read and that is crime and thriller novels that have good strong characters and an intriguing and often complex plot that stimulates 'the little grey cells'. I don't do gratuitous violence and I don't write hard boiled crime. That isn't to say there aren't gory bits in the novels but I am not out to shock but to entertain. And I certainly get great satisfaction when people ask me if my detective Andy Horton is going to get back with his wife, Catherine? Will Andy find out the truth about his mother's disappearance? Who is Andy's father? These are not the main strands of the novels - nine now in the series - but they are the things that have shaped Andy Horton and made him what he is and therefore affect his decisions and his interactions with his colleagues and the villains.
In my view readers want to get stuck into a good crime novel that provides entertainment and a puzzle which they can solve at the same time as caring and feeling for the characters. It is my aim to achieve this in the DI Horton series and in my thrillers. I hope my readers enjoy reading about their exploits as much as I enjoy writing them.
Undercurrent, the ninth in the DI Andy Horton series is published by Severn House and available in hardcover in the UK and the Commonwealth. It will be published in the USA on 1 May 2013 when it will also be available as an ebook.
Undercurrent
Heroes in detective novels are often ordinary people with their own set of problems and the key to producing a successful crime novel is not necessarily that the hero saves the world, aka James Bond, but that he also learns something about himself along the way. Putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances builds tension and readers tend to support characters in which they recognise certain traits they have themselves.
For me it is also important to write the stories I like to read and that is crime and thriller novels that have good strong characters and an intriguing and often complex plot that stimulates 'the little grey cells'. I don't do gratuitous violence and I don't write hard boiled crime. That isn't to say there aren't gory bits in the novels but I am not out to shock but to entertain. And I certainly get great satisfaction when people ask me if my detective Andy Horton is going to get back with his wife, Catherine? Will Andy find out the truth about his mother's disappearance? Who is Andy's father? These are not the main strands of the novels - nine now in the series - but they are the things that have shaped Andy Horton and made him what he is and therefore affect his decisions and his interactions with his colleagues and the villains.
In my view readers want to get stuck into a good crime novel that provides entertainment and a puzzle which they can solve at the same time as caring and feeling for the characters. It is my aim to achieve this in the DI Horton series and in my thrillers. I hope my readers enjoy reading about their exploits as much as I enjoy writing them.
Undercurrent, the ninth in the DI Andy Horton series is published by Severn House and available in hardcover in the UK and the Commonwealth. It will be published in the USA on 1 May 2013 when it will also be available as an ebook.
Undercurrent
Video Uploaded - Pauline Rowson talks to Xan Phillips about Undercurrent, no. 9 in the DI Andy Horton series
I've uploaded a new video. In this latest interview I am talking to Xan Phillips about Undercurrent, the ninth in the DI Andy Horton series of marine mystery crime novels set in Portsmouth and the Solent area of England, the rugged and flawed detective, DI Horton, and the area in which I set the novels
Undercurrent, the ninth in the DI Horton marine mystery crime series is published by Severn House in hardcover in the UK and Commonwealth. It will be published in hardcover in the USA on 1 May 2013 when it will also be released as an e book and available on Kindle, Nook and Kobo.
Undercurrent
Undercurrent, the ninth in the DI Horton marine mystery crime series is published by Severn House in hardcover in the UK and Commonwealth. It will be published in hardcover in the USA on 1 May 2013 when it will also be released as an e book and available on Kindle, Nook and Kobo.
Undercurrent
Who else writes like? Choosing crime novels
It is sometimes difficult to find a new author and one whose novels you think you might enjoy but libraries are a great place for dipping your toe in the water, or rather for letting your fingers do the choosing and there is also a handy little book that can help with that. I came across this when I was appearing at Chichester Library recently with fellow crime authors Peter Lovesey and Simon Brett and it's called Who Else Writes Like?
I opened the book (which was available on the counter for library visitors to check out) and found my entry right under J. K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, who it has been revealed recently is also a crime author under the name Robert Galbraith. What a good place to appear!
Reviewers have compared the DI Horton novels to American writers, Ed McBain and Joseph Wambaugh and their British counterparts John Harvey and Peter Robinson both of the latter mentioned in the directory Who Else Writes Like?
My crime novels are also compared to those written by Colin Dexter, Ann Cleeves, Robert Barnard, Graham Hurley, Dorothy Simpson and Neil White.
There is also a good website called Fantastic Fiction where it is suggested that if you like Peter James and Stephen Booth, amongst other crime authors, you might like the DI Horton series.
So if you're looking for crime novels to try I hope this helps.
Undercurrent
I opened the book (which was available on the counter for library visitors to check out) and found my entry right under J. K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, who it has been revealed recently is also a crime author under the name Robert Galbraith. What a good place to appear!
Reviewers have compared the DI Horton novels to American writers, Ed McBain and Joseph Wambaugh and their British counterparts John Harvey and Peter Robinson both of the latter mentioned in the directory Who Else Writes Like?
My crime novels are also compared to those written by Colin Dexter, Ann Cleeves, Robert Barnard, Graham Hurley, Dorothy Simpson and Neil White.
There is also a good website called Fantastic Fiction where it is suggested that if you like Peter James and Stephen Booth, amongst other crime authors, you might like the DI Horton series.
So if you're looking for crime novels to try I hope this helps.
Undercurrent
