Pauline Rowson's Blog, page 75

Crime time television and radio appearances for Pauline Rowson in September

I will be appearing on Portsmouth Live TV on the Adrian and Sally Show at 4pm on Friday 2 September and on BBC Radio Solent on Friday 9 September talking to Julian Clegg on his very popular Breakfast Show. I'm looking forward to both interviews, when I'll be talking about the publication in paperback and as an e book of the latest DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, Footsteps on the Shore, which has received good reviews in the UK and the USA.

I'll also be announcing the line up of top UK crime authors who will be appearing with me at CSI Portsmouth on Saturday 5 November, where crime fact meets crime fiction in this exciting and entertaining day's event.

Tune into Portsmouth LiveTV via the Internet on Friday 2 September to watch my interview and on BBC Radio Solent on 9 September at 6.45 am via the web site or on 96.1 FM or 103.8 FM to hear me chatting to Julian Clegg.

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.

DI Horton marine mystery crime novel, Footsteps on the Shore, coming soon as paperback and 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, is to be published in paperback in August by Severn House Paperbacks and as an e book in September by Severn House Digital.

Footsteps on the Shore has received some great reviews from the States, and readers have been kind enough to tell me how much they have enjoyed reading the hardcover version which was published in January in the UK and in May in the USA. It was given a starred review by Booklist who said:

"It deserves mention in the same breath as works in the upper echelon of American procedurals (those by Ed McBain or Joseph Wambaugh for example) and their British counterparts, including the work of Peter Robinson and John Harvey. Procedural fans who haven’t already read Rowson should be encouraged to do so in the strongest possible terms." Booklist, Starred Review

Footsteps on the Shore is 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 paperback version of Footsteps on the Shore is published on 25 Aug 2011 and the e book on 1 September.

Footsteps on the Shore by Pauline Rowson

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

I've nearly finished writing the first draft of the next in the DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime series

I've now written 70,000 words of the next DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel which will be number eight in the series. Number seven, A Killing Coast, is scheduled for publication in hardcover early in 2012. As soon as I have the jacket image and more information on the publication details of A Killing Coast I will obviously post them on my official web site. Meanwhile there is the paperback and e book version of the sixth in the DI Horton series, Footsteps on the Shore, to come, more about that on my web site next week.

I was looking back on my blog to last year's entries when I was writing A Killing Coast and saw that on July 2 2010 I had written 10,000 words so I'm pleased that I am so far ahead with this new Horton novel, which I have promised to get to the publisher in January 2012. So far, so good.

Writing a first draft is always exciting but it is also irritating because I am so keen to get everything on to my PC as quickly as possible, while my head is swimming with the plot and sub plots.

I try to resist editing too much as I write the first draft because this slows down the creative process and it is very easy to get hooked on editing and therefore postpone finishing the novel. However, because I research as I go along some editing is inevitable.

Now, on this new Horton novel, I am at the stage when I am eager to bash out the final few chapters as quickly as possible, which I should be able to do over the next week, or couple of weeks at the outside. Then I can have the wonderful pleasure of going back through the novel, adding character details, refining plot and sub plot, adding colour and depth, inserting clues and red herrings, and making sure that everything ties up and Andy Horton lives to fight another crime in DI Horton marine mystery crime novel number nine!

Top crime authors appearing at CSI Portsmouth to be announced soon

The speakers are now in place for the exciting CSI Portsmouth event on Saturday 5 November 2011 where, during a packed day, crime fact meets crime fiction as top crime authors and crime experts come together to debate crime, answer questions and provide the audience with an informative and entertaining day.

This will be the second CSI Portsmouth and if it's anything like last year's it should again prove to be a resounding success. The event is part of Portsmouth Bookfest and all I can say at this stage is that we have a great line up of top British crime authors. More will be announced shortly. You can also join the Portsmouth Bookfest mailing list to be kept updated with this and other events.

Last year I was on a panel with crime writers Simon Brett, Peter Lovesey, Graham Hurley and June Hampson and I'm really looking forward to the panel event this year when I will again be sharing the platform with some of my favourite crime authors.

You can read all about CSI Portsmouth, Crime Fact Meets Crime Fiction on my web site where there are also photographs from the 2010event.

So don't forget, if you're a fan of crime fiction or crime fact, or enjoy watching the CSI programmes or detective programmes on television, or are simply curious and looking for great entertainment put that date in your diary:

CSI Portsmouth Saturday 5 November 2011, Portsmouth, England.

Crime Fiction Festivals and Conventions - Harrogate, Crimefest and CSI Portsmouth

Crime has descended on the otherwise respectable spa town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Not a crime wave as in the criminal sense, although that could always happen, but an invasion of crime fiction writers and crime fiction fans. Yes, the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Festival , or the Harrogate International Festival as it is now called, has kicked off and runs until 24 July 2011 at the Swan Hotel, Harrogate.

There are some great crime authors there including Lee Childs, Linwood Barclay, and Lisa Gardner plus many of my crime writing buddies from the Crime Writers' Association. Unfortunately I can't make it but keep threatening to. Maybe next year.

Meanwhile, I will certainly be at Crimefest 2012, from 24-27 May at the Royal Marriot Hotel, Bristol. Crimefest 2012 will be celebrating its fifth anniversary and already has lined up Lee Childs and Jeffrey Deaver. So I'll be in splendid company and I'm really looking forward to it and meeting up again with readers of DI Andy Horton and my thrillers from the UK, America, Canada and Australia as I did this year.

Before then there is CSI Portsmouth 2011 on Saturday 5 November which is looking very exciting. We have some top crime authors lined up who I hope to be able to announce shortly and along with them forensic psychologists, police and fingerprinting experts. Keep your eyes peeled for more details here, on my Twitter feed or Facebook page and also on my official web site

Blood on the Sand

Tide of Death, the first in the DI Andy Horton series of crime novels set in the Solent area of England and my thriller, In Cold Daylight, have now been published in China.

Tide of Death, the first in the DI Andy Horton series of crime novels set in the Solent area of England and my thriller, In Cold Daylight, have now been published in China.

Tide of Death was first published in 2006 and hailed by Amazon in the UK as the Best of British Crime Fiction in that year.

In Tide of Death it is Horton’s second day back in Portsmouth CID after being suspended for eight months following a damaging accusation of misconduct while working undercover on an operation to expose a pornography smuggling ring. Whilst out running in the early morning he trips over the naked battered body of a man on the beach. PC Evans has been stabbed the night before, DCI Uckfield is up before a promotion board and Sergeant Cantelli is having trouble with his fifteen-year-old daughter. But Horton’s mind is on other things not least of which is trying to prove his innocence. Beset by personal problems and aided by Cantelli, Horton sets out to find a killer who will stop at nothing to cover his tracks. As he gets closer to the truth, and his personal investigations start to uncover dark secrets that someone would rather not have exposed, he risks not only his career but also his life…

Since then DI Andy Horton has gone from strength to strength with six more published in the series, the latest being Footsteps on the Shore, which is available in hardcover.

Number seven, A Killing Coast is to be published by Severn House in January 2012, and I am currently writing the eighth in the series. Many of the DI Horton crime novels are also available as e books, on Kindle, as unabridged audio books, and in Large Print (and in paperback) all bringing new readers to the series.

In Cold Daylight has also recently been published in China. It was voted the third most popular novel in a public poll by readers for World Book Day 2008.

In Cold Daylight is loosely based on a true story. It is a fast-paced thriller about one man's quest to discover the truth behind the deaths of fire fighters. When fire fighter Jack Bartholomew dies whilst trying to put out a fire in a derelict building, his closest friend, marine artist Adam Greene sets out to discover the truth behind his death and those of other fire fighters from the same watch. Soon Adam soon finds himself caught up in a mysterious and dangerous web of deceit. By exposing a secret that has lain dormant for years he is forced to face his own dark secrets, and as the facts reveal themselves the prospects for his survival look bleak. But for Adam it is too late to turn back; he has to get to the truth no matter what the cost, even if it means his life.

I hope the Chinese people who buy the two novels that have been translated enjoy reading them.

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Footsteps on the Shore

Blood on the Sand, the fifth in the DI Horton Series Now Published as an Unabridged Audio Book

July sees the publication as an unabridged audio book of the fifth in the marine mystery series of police procedural crime novels featuring the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton Blood on the Sand.

Read by the accomplished actor, Gordon Griffin, Blood on the Sand is published by Isis Publishing and is available in cassette and CD format and as a download.

Blood on the Sand is published in the UK and the USA by Severn House and has received rave reviews in the States. Reviewer Booklist says: '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.'

Set in the Solent area and the Isle of Wight, Blood on the Sand is already published in hardcover, trade paperback and mass market paperback. It will also be available in Large Print in December 2011.

Blood on the Sand
Inspector Andy Horton’s holiday peace is shattered when stepping out across an abandoned golf course on the Isle of Wight on a cold, grey January, he finds himself facing a distraught young woman with a gun in her hand leaning over a corpse in one of the discarded bunkers. When she professes to be the dead man’s sister and psychic, Horton’s old adversary, DCI Birch, is convinced she is mentally disturbed and the killer, but Horton is not so sure. Soon he is uncovering a web of intrigue that ripples down the years, and which someone is determined should never be revealed.

The others in the DI Andy Horton series that have been published as unabridged audio books are: Deadly Waters, The Suffocating Sea and Dead Man's Wharf.

Blood on the Sand

Pauline Rowson interview with Alex Dyke BBC Radio 20 June

On 20 June I'll be appearing on the Alex Dyke Show on BBC Radio Solent on his Big Hour slot between 12.00 and 13.00. I'll be chatting to Alex about my DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novels and my thrillers set in the Solent area and Portsmouth. You can listen live via the BBC Radio Solent web site or on 96.1 FM or 103.8 FM.

Hope some of you can join us.

National Crime Writing Week in the UK, crime author Pauline Rowson celebrates the genre

National Crime Writing Week kicks off today in the UK and runs until June 19, 2011. This doesn't mean that everyone should start writing crime fiction and neither does it mean that us crime writers will be furiously scribbling away during the week to meet some magical target, or because it's the only week of the year when we can write. No, the purpose of National Crime Writing Week is to celebrate the crime genre and to encourage those who wouldn't normally read a crime novel to give it a go, or those who are crime fiction fans to perhaps try a different crime writer from their usual tipple. And there is so much to choose from.

There's British crime novels, American crime novels and a whole range in between (and not just Swedish either, but French, Italian, Danish, Egyptian and so many more). Then there's a huge range of crime novels within the genre: cosy and romantic; hard boiled and gritty; detective and private investigator; historical, futuristic, and contemporary. There are also thrillers and novels set against a vast swathe of backgrounds from the sea ( my own) to the Lake District, Yorkshire, Scotland, and everywhere in between. There's something to suit every one's palette.

My marine mystery crime novels in the DI Andy Horton series are usually classed as police procedural although I see them as detective novels. They are set in the modern day and against the backdrop of the sea on the south coast of England; the Solent area and Portsmouth.

I've also written two stand alone thrillers: In Cold Daylight, which was voted number three by the public in a World Book Day poll and In For The Kill.

There are many events taking place around the UK by crime writers during National Crime Writing Week. You can also look for crime authors on the Crime Writers' Association website.

Whatever you're reading,enjoy it.

Footsteps on the Shore