Pauline Rowson's Blog, page 12
March 17, 2019
I'm always looking for a good place to put a body!
When I’m not pounding the keyboard or plotting my crime novels I’m walking the coastal paths and by ways of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, looking for a good place to put a body! A fictional one that is. I can't pass a boatyard, beach or bay without thinking there must be a dead body or a skeleton here somewhere. One day I’m sure I’m going to be arrested or locked up as a psychopath and if that happens then I hope either of my heroes, the enigmatic and flawed Portsmouth based detective, DI Andy Horton, or the rugged ex-marine, Art Marvik, will come to my rescue because, in fact, it would be their fault if I found myself in such an awkward position. Read more
March 12, 2019
Video - Miss You London Book Fair
glimpse of only a portion of the years I've been going to the London
Book Fair.
March 10, 2019
Secret doors, hidden rooms and ten ghosts – is this the setting for a new crime novel?
Is this the next setting for a DI Andy Horton crime novel? Or perhaps a totally new one. Contemporary or historical crime? There was plenty of material for me when I went on location research at the small, unique Georgian Theatre in Portsmouth, Groundlings Theatre. I was treated to a tour of it by Richard Stride, artistic director and owner. Groundlings Theatre is a Grade II * historic listed building built in 1784 in the waterfront city of Portsmouth. It is a truly atmospheric place with secret doors, hidden rooms and ten ghosts! And along with the ghosts it still has a lot of the original features such as original floorboards and fire places. It was founded by philanthropic patrons, John Shakespeare (very apt) and 5 merchants, with the aim of educating the poor (boys) downstairs, in the Beneficial School, while upstairs was used by high society for meetings, concerts and theatre.
Read more
March 4, 2019
As you've never seen me before
No, not this picture, you've seen ones like this before, you'll have to read on and scroll down to find out what I mean, but here's the background to it.Read more and see the caricature
March 1, 2019
What's on in March 2019
In March I'll be busy working on DI Andy Horton number 15 in the series, talking to Hamble Valley U3A about my crime novels and crime writing, featuring Art Marvik mystery DANGEROUS CARGO and doing some location research for a new crime novel. Read more
February 22, 2019
Join me for my talks at Hampshire Libraries
I'll be meeting readers and giving a talk about my crime novels at three Hampshire Libraries in April, May and June this year.I will be at Andover Library on Thursday 25 April, Fareham Library on Friday 17 May and at Totton Library, Southampton on Thursday 20 June at 2pm. I will be talking about the secrets of successful crime writing, explaining how I plot, research and write my crime novels set on the South Coast of England.
Read more
February 14, 2019
On location with DI Andy Horton in FOOTSTEPS ON THE SHORE
Locations inspire me and so it was with FOOTSTEPS ON THE SHORE, number six in the DI Andy Horton mystery series now available in paperback, as an ebook, on Amazon Kindle, on Kobo and as an unabridged audio book.
This time my inspiration for the police procedural mystery Footsteps on the Shore came from a Roman castle at Portchester, at the north end of Portsmouth Harbour, the best preserved Roman fort north of the Alps! Other locations used in this novel are the Hayling Coastal Path and the Hard at Portsmouth Harbour.
Read more
February 10, 2019
Footsteps on the Shore DI Andy Horton #6 relaunched
I'm delighted that the DI Andy Horton crime novel FOOTSTEPS ON THE SHORE hailed as 'a detective novel in the tradition of Rankin and Harvey,' has been re-launched in e book format and on Kindle and Kobo at a new reduced price! It is also available in paperback for those of you who like the feel of a book. And, if you prefer to listen to a crime audio book, then FOOTSTEPS ON THE SHORE is also available as an unabridged audio book narrated by Gordon Griffin.Footsteps on the Shore is number six in the Inspector Andy Horton crime series of currently fourteen with DEAD PASSAGE, the latest Horton mystery, being published in paperback and as an e book in October 2018.
Read more
February 7, 2019
Is there such a thing as writer's block?
According to Wikipedia writer's block is 'a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work, or experiences a creative slowdown. The condition ranges from difficulty in coming up with original ideas to being unable to produce a work for years.'
I've no doubt that many writers have suffered from this kind of creative constipation and I have been asked at my talks if I indeed have ever experienced the condition. At present, with nineteen published crime novels to my name, another to be published in 2019, the next DI Andy Horton 15 written, and the fourth in the Art Marvik mysteries penned, the answer is 'no' I am pleased to report. (Although who can say what the future might bring?)
Read more
February 3, 2019
The recipe for a series of successful crime novels
A flawed and rugged hero cop, a strong cast of diverse characters set them against the ever changing sea of the Solent on the South Coast of England, mix with mystery and toss in a dead body or two and you have the the perfect recipe for an entertaining crime series - the DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novels.
Women readers often tell me they are in love with DI Andy Horton (join the queue) and men like him because he's an action guy - he's fit, fearless and forty. Rugged and flawed Andy Horton is a maverick cop who is tough on villains and prepared to take risks in his search for justice. He's been raised in children's homes after his mother abandoned him as a child. He has a desperate need to belong and yet is always on the outside. Being alone is his greatest fear, yet he is alone.
Read more
