Pauline Rowson's Blog, page 74

I'm on the Pompey Bus on Express FM 25 Oct.in Havant, talking about my crime novels

This week The Breakfast Show at Express FM is on the road on the Pompey Bus turning up at different locations around the area, and on Tuesday 25 October it will be at Havant town centre where I will be climbing on board to join presenter Adrian Knight on his show.

The Pompey Bus will be turning up at different locations everyday during this week and the presenters will be giving out clues during the show to a secret password. The first person to knock on the door of the bus and give them the secret password for that day will receive a pair of tickets to a Portsmouth FC home game as a minimum.

I will be on the show some time between 8.30am and 9am and I'm looking forward to it and chatting to Adrian Knight. I'll be talking about my DI Horton Marine Mystery crime novels, set in the Solent area; my forthcoming talk at CSI Portsmouth on Writing a Crime Novel and my appearance at CSI Portsmouth on the panel debate in the afternoon with fellow crime writers Mark Billingham, John Harvey and Michael Ridpath when we join the police, crime scene experts and forensic psychologists to debate crime fiction versus crime fact.

More information on CSI Portsmouth here or on my official web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk

Hope some of you can tune into The Breakfast Show on Express FM. or on 97.3 FM

Writing a Crime Novel - new talk at CSI Portsmouth by Pauline Rowson

Unfortunately owing to personal circumstances Dr Neil McCaw whose talk was to be on Victorian Crime Fiction at CSI Portsmouth on Saturday 5 November has had to withdraw from the programme. I will be stepping in to take his place in addition to being on the panel event in the afternoon. I won't be talking about Victorian Crime Fiction though but about writing a crime novel. My talk will take place in the morning of Saturday 5 November between 10.00am - 11.00 am and again between 11.30am - 12.30pm. Sorry to disappoint all those who were looking forward to Dr McCaw's talk but hopefully I can make up for it in some small way.

Here are the details:

Writing A Crime Novel - plotting, researching and writing the crime novel

If you've ever wondered where crime writers get their ideas from, how they turn those ideas into complex plots and sub plots, how they research for their novels and how the fiction compares with the fact now is your chance to find out.

Pauline Rowson is the author of the DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novels set in the Solent area. She is an accomplished and entertaining speaker and draws the inspiration for her popular crime novels from the Solent area where she lives. Her crime novels have been highly acclaimed both in the UK and the USA and have been translated into several languages. She is also the author of two thrillers one of which the award winning In Cold Daylight was voted by the public as the third best read for World Book Day 2008


CSI Portsmouth Morning Programme 10.00 - 12.30 am - choose two sessions to attend, one between 10am- 11am and another between 11.30am - 12.30pm

Forensic psychology – How realistic is the forensic psychologist portrayed on television detective programmes and in crime novels? Lucy Wainwright will discuss this and many aspects of her fascinating work

Fingerprinting – Fact versus Fiction – Jane Aston from the Fingerprint bureau at Police Support Headquarters, Hampshire, gives an intriguing insight into how it really works.

True Crime – In Charge Of Murder – How a real murder case is worked, former Detective Superintendent Bob Bridgestock tells it like it is.


Writing A Crime Novel - plotting, researching and writing the crime novel, using the Solent area for setting and inspiration - Pauline Rowson author of the DI Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novels


CSI Portsmouth Afternoon Programme 2pm - 5pm

Join International best selling crime authors, Mark Billingham, John Harvey, Michael Ridpath and Pauline Rowson, and police and forensic experts: Dr Claire Nee, Dr Paul Smith, an expert in crime scenes; Hampshire Police – Major Crime Team Senior Investigator and Scene of Crime Officer for this lively panel debate where crime fiction meets crime fact.

4pm Book Signing and a chance to talk with the crime authors on an individual basis

CSI Portsmouth Tickets

Tickets on sale from the Box Office + 44 (0)23 9268 8685.

Tickets cost £5 for the morning and £7 for the afternoon with a discounted ticket of £10 for the whole day and includes £3 off the price of a book bought at the event.

Great to see DI Horton novel Footsteps on the Shore on London Underground Poster

I was thrilled to see my DI Andy Horton crime novel Footsteps on the Shore advertised on the London Underground and at major London Railway Stations alongside my fellow crime writer, Mark Billingham's book Good as Dead. This is to promote Portsmouth BookFest during which Mark and I are appearing at CSI Portsmouth on 5 November at John Pounds Centre, Portsmouth along with crime authors, John Harvey, Michael Ridpath, Bob and Carol Bridgestock and with the police, fingerprint team, forensic psychologists and crime scene experts. It promises to be a great day and tickets are selling fast.

I'm also now giving a talk at CSI Portsmouth on Writing the Crime Novel. Looking forward to it.

Full programme and booking details can be found on my website at http://www.rowmark.co.uk CSI Portsmouth 2011.

Footsteps on the Shore

I'm compiling questions to ask the crime authors and crime experts at CSI Portsmouth. Post your questions & I'll put them to panel

On Saturday 5 November in Portsmouth a group of top crime authors and crime experts will come together to debate and discuss crime fiction versus crime fact at CSI Portsmouth. There is the chance for the audience to put their questions to the panel on the day but if you can’t be there (or even if you can) what questions would like to ask? I would like to compile a list of your questions to put to the authors and experts

You can post your question:

* here

* send me a message or post on my Facebook Page

* post your question on the CSI Portsmouth event page on Facebook

* send it to me on Twitter using the hashtag #csiportsmouth

Or post it on my web site on the Contact Us Page at http://www.rowmark.co.uk

I will put these questions to the appropriate panel member/s. I’ll post their answers after the CSI Portsmouth event

You can address your question to an individual panel member (see below) just tell me who, or it can be a general question connected with crime fiction or crime fact.

The crime authors are:

Pauline Rowson
John Harvey
Mark Billingham
Michael Ridpath

The crime experts are:

Nick Bettesworth – Major Crime Unit - Hampshire Police
DS Martin Chudley – Scene of Crime Officer – Hampshire Police
Dr Claire Nee- Forensic Psychologist - University of Portsmouth
Dr Paul Smith – Crime Scene Expert – University of Portsmouth

Profile of the panel members are on my web site http://www.rowmark.co.uk on the CSI Portsmouth 2011 page, where you can also find full details of the programme and ticket information.

So start posting your questions now…

Award winning crime author John Harvey to join crime author Pauline Rowson at CSI Portsmouth, 5 Nov.

I’m delighted that award wining crime author, John Harvey has agreed to be on the afternoon panel at CSI Portsmouth, where crime fiction meets crime fact, at the John Pounds Centre, Portsmouth on Saturday 5 November.

I consider it a privilege to be appearing with a crime writer whose novels I have enjoyed and admired. And flattered that my own DI Horton crime novels have been compared to John Harvey's Frank Elder novels by reviewers in the States.

John Harvey began writing in 1975, and now has over 100 published books to his credit, most recently a collection of short stories, A Darker Shade of Blue. The first of his celebrated Charlie Resnick novels, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times as one of the 100 most notable crime novels of the last century. Flesh and Blood, the first of three Frank Elder novels, was awarded both the British Crime Writers’ Association Silver Dagger and the US Barry Award in 2004. In 2007 he received the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for Sustained Excellence in Crime Writing, and in 2009 he was made an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Nottingham. In addition, he has written many scripts for television and radio.

You can read more about John Harvey on his web site http://www.mellotone.co.uk/

"Joining John Harvey and Pauline Rowson are crime authors Mark Billingham and Michael Ridpath for the afternoon panel are crime experts from Hampshire Police, Forensic Psychologists from the International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology and crime scene experts from the University of Portsmouth."

More details including programme can be found on http://www.rowmark.co.uk at CSI Portsmouth 2011.

Tickets on sale from the Box Office + 44 (0) 23 9268 8685.

Tickets cost £5 for the morning and £7 for the afternoon with a discounted ticket of £10 for the whole day, which includes £3 off the price of a book bought at the event.

Pauline Rowson

Had a great interview on Express FM this morning

I was on Express FM this morning talking to Darren Gamblen about my DI Horton crime novels including the latest in the series, Footsteps on the Shore, which is now published in paperback and as an e book.

I was also promoting the forthcoming CSI Portsmouth event where I will be appearing on a panel with crime writers, Mark Billingham, John Harvey and Michael Ridpath and police and forensic experts to debate crime fiction versus crime fact. It promises to be a really great day's entertainment with lots of speakers both from the world of crime fiction and crime fact. More information about CSI Portsmouth on my web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk

Pauline Rowson

I'm appearing on Portsmouth Live TV today with fingerprint expert Jane Aston

I will be appearing on Portsmouth Live TV on the Adrian and Sally Show on Friday 30 September at 4pm and this time I am delighted that I will be joined by Fingerprint expert, Jane Aston from Hampshire Constabulary. We'll be chatting to Adrian and Sally about crime fiction versus crime fact in this short taster of what will be on offer at the exciting forthcoming CSI Portsmouth event at John Pounds Centre, Portsea, Portsmouth on Saturday 5 November.

Jane Aston is one of the experts on hand during the day and she will be giving a fascinating talk in the morning, providing an intriguing insight into how the fingerprint bureau really works.

Jane will reveal how fingerprints are formed and how they are unique and therefore ideal for identification. She will point out some of the clues they use to discover which digit or part of the palm or even foot they are looking at and describe how they make identifications. She’ll cover the processes used in the Fingerprint Bureau and the use of Ident1 the National Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS) and how the facts compare with the fiction frequently seen in television detective dramas and featured in crime novels. Do fictional detectives really get the results of fingerprints within hours? Join Jane Aston on Saturday 5 November at CSI Portsmouth to discover the answer to this question and many more.

Meanwhile join Jane Aston and myself on the Adrian and Sally Show on 30 September at 4pm chatting to Adrian Knight and Sally Cronin . You can tune in to watch it at Portsmouth Live TV.

Footsteps on the Shore

Box Office is now open for tickets for the exciting 2011 CSI Portsmouth event

Join four internationally acclaimed crime authors: Mark Billingham, John Harvey, Michael Ridpath and Pauline Rowson and experts from the Crime Scene Investigation team and Fingerprinting Bureau of Hampshire Constabulary and experts from the International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology to discuss crime fiction and fact in a packed day of events at John Pounds Community Centre, Portsmouth on Saturday 5 November at CSI Portsmouth

The afternoon will see a lively discussion between the above mentioned crime authors and crime experts with questions from the audience and a chance to meet the authors afterwards.

The morning programme consists of talks from some great experts in Victorian Crime, Fingerprinting, forensic psychology and a talk by former Detective Superintendent Bob Bridgestock who will be telling audiences how he has used his experience of twenty-six murder investigations, and countless investigations to shape his crime novels featuring Jack Dylan, written in partnership with his wife Carol, who also worked with the police as a support worker for seventeen years.

There will be a chance for you to see how the fingerprinting bureau works and have your fingerprints taken, as well as talk to the crime authors to find out how they come up with their intricate plots and research their novels.

A mobile bookshop, provided by The Hayling Island Bookshop will be selling signed copies of the authors’ books.

Portsmouth CSI 2011 is on Saturday 5 November at John Pounds Community Centre, Queen Street, Portsmouth, England

Tickets cost £5 for the morning and £7 for the afternoon with a discounted ticket of £10 for the whole day which also includes £3 off the price of a book bought at the event.

Tickets are on sale from the Box Office at + 44 (0) 23 9268 8685.

CSI Portsmouth is part of Portsmouth BookFest is a festival of popular literature organised by The Hayling Island Bookshop and Portsmouth City Council and runs from October 17 to November 13.

Footsteps on the Shore, the sixth in the DI Andy Horton series of marine mystery crime novels, has been published as an e book

Footsteps on the Shore, the sixth in the DI Andy Horton series of marine mystery crime novels set on the South Coast of England has been published as an e book by Severn House Digital and is now available on Kindle both in the UK and in the USA and on Nook at Barnes & Noble. It has also recently been published in paperback ( August 2011).

Footsteps on the Shore has received critical acclaim in America, I'm delighted to say, along with my other crime novels featuring the flawed and likeable series hero DI Andy Horton. The hardcover version was published in January in the UK and in May in the USA, and the paperback was published in the UK in August and I think will be available in the USA in November.

It's number six in the DI Andy Horton series of police procedural crime novels and like the others is set against the backdrop of the sea in the Solent area on the South Coast of England, in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.

The next and seventh crime novel in the DI Andy Horton series, A Killing Coast will be published in early 2012 and I'm currently writing number eight in the series.

Footsteps on the Shore

Sisters in Crime issue reading and blogging challenge

Sisters in Crime, a non-profit organization with the mission to “promote the professional development and the advancement of women crime writers to achieve equality in the industry” has thrown down the gauntlet for a reading challenge and one for lovers of crime fiction.

Sisters in Crime has 3,000 or so members worldwide and welcomes anyone who enjoys a good mystery. To celebrate its 25th anniversary at Bouchercon, it wants to blow the trumpet for women’s contributions to crime fiction so has thrown out this challenge:

Easy challenge: write a blog post about a work of crime fiction by a woman author; list five more women authors who you recommend.

Moderate challenge: write five blog posts about works of crime fiction by women authors. For each, mention another woman author who writes in a similar vein.

Expert challenge: write ten blog posts about works of crime fiction by women authors. For each, mention three similar women authors whose works you would recommend.

Deadline: whenever.

If you take up the challenge and are on Twitter then you can Tweet, using the hashtag #SinC25.

Now all I've got to do is decided which level of challenge to take up.

The Suffocating Sea: A DI Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel