Pauline Rowson's Blog, page 78
April 5, 2011
Last night I finished DI Andy Horton number seven in the series
Last night I finished the final edits on the DI Andy Horton crime novel, number seven in the series, and pressed the send button. Yes, it's whizzed its way to my editor and will pop into his e mail this morning.
Looking back at my notes I see that it took me ten months to write. I started it on 12 June 2010. I would like to have written it in nine months and my aim with the next DI Andy Horton (no.8) is to have it finished by Christmas, which gives me eight months. I'm starting it today- in fact I've already started pulling together the outline. I like to set myself deadlines because I have always worked to deadlines and they're great for focusing the mind.
Hopefully DI Andy Horton number seven won't require too much re-working, if any, apart from checking copy edits and proofs - fingers crossed, but I'm glad now to have another eye cast over it because after living with it for ten months it's very difficult to be objective and spot the gaps. By now I could practically recite the novel backwards.
And the title of this DI Andy Horton? Ah, I'll announce that and give you the blurb soon.
Footsteps on the Shore
Looking back at my notes I see that it took me ten months to write. I started it on 12 June 2010. I would like to have written it in nine months and my aim with the next DI Andy Horton (no.8) is to have it finished by Christmas, which gives me eight months. I'm starting it today- in fact I've already started pulling together the outline. I like to set myself deadlines because I have always worked to deadlines and they're great for focusing the mind.
Hopefully DI Andy Horton number seven won't require too much re-working, if any, apart from checking copy edits and proofs - fingers crossed, but I'm glad now to have another eye cast over it because after living with it for ten months it's very difficult to be objective and spot the gaps. By now I could practically recite the novel backwards.
And the title of this DI Andy Horton? Ah, I'll announce that and give you the blurb soon.
Footsteps on the Shore
April 1, 2011
In for the Kill, a fast-paced thriller now published in Turkey
I was pleased to receive the Turkish edition of my thriller In For The Kill at the weekend. In For The Kill is published in Turkey by Babıali Kültür Yayıncılığı one of the country’s leading publishers.
In For The Kill is a compelling, gripping tale of what happens to one man when someone steals his identity
Alex Albury has it all: a successful public relations business, a luxurious house, a beautiful wife and two sons. Then one September morning the police burst into his home and arrest him. Now, three and a half years later, newly released from Camp Hill Prison on the Isle of Wight, Alex is intent on finding the man who framed him for fraud and embezzlement. All he knows is his name: James Andover. But who is he? Where is he? Alex embarks on his quest to track down Andover, but with the trail cold he is frustrated at every turn. Worse, he finds himself under suspicion by the police. The pressure is on and Aex has to unearth the answers and quick. But time is running out. For Alex the future looks bleak and soon he is left with the option - to kill or be killed
Babıali Kültür Yayıncılığı also published my other stand alone thriller novel, In Cold Daylight last year. I hope the books are doing well in Turkey and have found new readers who enjoy them.
You can find more information about these thrillers, my other crime novels featuring my flawed DI Andy Horton and all my books on my web site http://www.rowmark.co.uk
In for the Kill
In Cold Daylight
In For The Kill is a compelling, gripping tale of what happens to one man when someone steals his identity
Alex Albury has it all: a successful public relations business, a luxurious house, a beautiful wife and two sons. Then one September morning the police burst into his home and arrest him. Now, three and a half years later, newly released from Camp Hill Prison on the Isle of Wight, Alex is intent on finding the man who framed him for fraud and embezzlement. All he knows is his name: James Andover. But who is he? Where is he? Alex embarks on his quest to track down Andover, but with the trail cold he is frustrated at every turn. Worse, he finds himself under suspicion by the police. The pressure is on and Aex has to unearth the answers and quick. But time is running out. For Alex the future looks bleak and soon he is left with the option - to kill or be killed
Babıali Kültür Yayıncılığı also published my other stand alone thriller novel, In Cold Daylight last year. I hope the books are doing well in Turkey and have found new readers who enjoy them.
You can find more information about these thrillers, my other crime novels featuring my flawed DI Andy Horton and all my books on my web site http://www.rowmark.co.uk
In for the Kill
In Cold Daylight
March 25, 2011
Interview with Pauline Rowson on Angel Radio 31 March 12-1pm 91.5fm
Next week I have an interview on Angel Radio and I'm looking forward to chatting to David Nove about my crime fiction novels and thrillers between 12.00 and 1pm on 31 March on 91.5 fm.
Angel Radio accentuates the positive aspects of being an older person and provides a radio station for older people to run themselves. It is unique in that it specializes in playing music made before1960. It provides entertainment, information, reminiscence therapy, mental and physical stimulation, self-esteem, bereavement therapy, and friendly voices with natural personality, all produced by older people specifically for an audience aged 60 years and over. No other radio station in Europe provides this all encompassing service for older people.
But you don't have to be over 60 to be on the radio! or to listen to it and I know that many younger people really enjoying listening to the 'vintage music', much as they enjoy watching 'vintage films' and wearing 'vintage clothes.' I also know that Angel Radio has listeners all over the World including Europe, Australia and the USA.
I'll be chatting to David Nove about my police procedural crime novels featuring the flawed and rugged DI Inspector Andy Horton and my stand alone thriller novels, In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill on Thursday 31 March between 12.00 and 1pm on 91.5fm or listen via the Angel Radio website.
Blood on the Sand, a DI Andy Horton crime novel, is set on the Isle of Wight.
In For the Kill a fast-paced, action-packed thriller is also set on the Isle of Wight.
For details on all my crime and thriller novels and my other books visit my web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Blood on the Sand
In for the Kill
Angel Radio accentuates the positive aspects of being an older person and provides a radio station for older people to run themselves. It is unique in that it specializes in playing music made before1960. It provides entertainment, information, reminiscence therapy, mental and physical stimulation, self-esteem, bereavement therapy, and friendly voices with natural personality, all produced by older people specifically for an audience aged 60 years and over. No other radio station in Europe provides this all encompassing service for older people.
But you don't have to be over 60 to be on the radio! or to listen to it and I know that many younger people really enjoying listening to the 'vintage music', much as they enjoy watching 'vintage films' and wearing 'vintage clothes.' I also know that Angel Radio has listeners all over the World including Europe, Australia and the USA.
I'll be chatting to David Nove about my police procedural crime novels featuring the flawed and rugged DI Inspector Andy Horton and my stand alone thriller novels, In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill on Thursday 31 March between 12.00 and 1pm on 91.5fm or listen via the Angel Radio website.
Blood on the Sand, a DI Andy Horton crime novel, is set on the Isle of Wight.
In For the Kill a fast-paced, action-packed thriller is also set on the Isle of Wight.
For details on all my crime and thriller novels and my other books visit my web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Blood on the Sand
In for the Kill
March 20, 2011
Different stages of a writing a novel create different emotions
I am now at the final stage of the DI Andy Horton marine mystery police procedural novel, number seven in the series, and I am checking the words and phrases and making sure that everything hangs together. This should take me probably one more week depending on other commitments then it will be off to my editor.
At this stage I get the feeling of relief mixed with anxiety: is it good enough? Should I re-write one more time? Could I have changed anything? Too late when I’ve pressed the send button and it’s gone to my editor. I also experience a sadness. I've lived with Andy Horton and Sergeant Cantelli, with alpha male, Superintendent Uckfield and the ice maiden, DCI Lorraine Bliss for well over six months and I'm sorry to leave them. Solution? Start the next DI Andy Horton. The ideas are there and soon I'll be mapping out the plot lines and thinking about sub plots and with this stage comes a feeling of excitement and exhilaration. I enjoy watching it come to life.
With the second and third drafts come a greater sense of satisfaction that all the ends are beginning to tie up neatly and I can really put more flesh onto the bones.
And by the time I reach the END I feel pleased that Inspector Andy Horton has survived the case, has learned perhaps more about his past, and will live to solve another case soon.
Dead Man's Wharf
At this stage I get the feeling of relief mixed with anxiety: is it good enough? Should I re-write one more time? Could I have changed anything? Too late when I’ve pressed the send button and it’s gone to my editor. I also experience a sadness. I've lived with Andy Horton and Sergeant Cantelli, with alpha male, Superintendent Uckfield and the ice maiden, DCI Lorraine Bliss for well over six months and I'm sorry to leave them. Solution? Start the next DI Andy Horton. The ideas are there and soon I'll be mapping out the plot lines and thinking about sub plots and with this stage comes a feeling of excitement and exhilaration. I enjoy watching it come to life.
With the second and third drafts come a greater sense of satisfaction that all the ends are beginning to tie up neatly and I can really put more flesh onto the bones.
And by the time I reach the END I feel pleased that Inspector Andy Horton has survived the case, has learned perhaps more about his past, and will live to solve another case soon.
Dead Man's Wharf
March 14, 2011
Why is crime fiction so popular, particularly amongst women readers?
I was recently asked this question by a journalist and although the percentage of women who read crime fiction is higher than men, I am pleased to say that I have both male and female readers of my crime and thriller novels.
So why are so many people drawn to reading crime fiction?
In crime fiction we know that justice will be done and the case will be resolved and that doesn’t always happen in real life. In crime fiction the villain either gets caught or gets his/her comeuppance but in real life the evil and manipulative, the guilty can get away with it as in the case of the unsolved murder in my own family in 1959. A man was charged for the murder of my great aunt but was acquitted at trial. The case was investigated by Scotland Yard and has never been re-opened leaving the family with a great big question mark over their lives. Crime fiction though can give us a resolution. It can also give us an insight into what makes people tick.
I am fascinated by personalities, behaviour and motivations and I like to bring this into my crime novels featuring my rugged and flawed detective, DI Andy Horton and into my thriller novels, In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill. I’m probably the only person in the world who doesn’t mind the nutter sitting next to her on the bus. I’ll be thinking where and how can I weave this character into a crime novel.
The crime genre is popular because people are fascinated by people and crime fiction covers so many facets of human nature. The same goes for true crime. It’s a kind of voyeurism, the ghoul factor that causes people to stand and gawp at an accident or incident. Me though, I’m a real coward. I run a mile from reading true crime. Give me crime fiction any day where I can see that justice is served and my hero triumphs!
Dead Man's Wharf
So why are so many people drawn to reading crime fiction?
In crime fiction we know that justice will be done and the case will be resolved and that doesn’t always happen in real life. In crime fiction the villain either gets caught or gets his/her comeuppance but in real life the evil and manipulative, the guilty can get away with it as in the case of the unsolved murder in my own family in 1959. A man was charged for the murder of my great aunt but was acquitted at trial. The case was investigated by Scotland Yard and has never been re-opened leaving the family with a great big question mark over their lives. Crime fiction though can give us a resolution. It can also give us an insight into what makes people tick.
I am fascinated by personalities, behaviour and motivations and I like to bring this into my crime novels featuring my rugged and flawed detective, DI Andy Horton and into my thriller novels, In Cold Daylight and In For The Kill. I’m probably the only person in the world who doesn’t mind the nutter sitting next to her on the bus. I’ll be thinking where and how can I weave this character into a crime novel.
The crime genre is popular because people are fascinated by people and crime fiction covers so many facets of human nature. The same goes for true crime. It’s a kind of voyeurism, the ghoul factor that causes people to stand and gawp at an accident or incident. Me though, I’m a real coward. I run a mile from reading true crime. Give me crime fiction any day where I can see that justice is served and my hero triumphs!
Dead Man's Wharf
March 10, 2011
What inspired me to write crime fiction is a question I'm often asked
I loved adventure and mystery novels when I was young, and this has continued throughout my adulthood with crime fiction. I adore heroes and I think most women do and most men want to be one. I like tough but caring men, which is probably why I married a man who was first an RAF police officer and then a fire fighter.
My DI Andy Horton is modelled on a combination of many firemen I have met: strong, fit, cool, resourceful, fearless. Think of fires, 9/11, tube disasters and train crashes. It's the firemen who go in when everyone else is running away. They don't think twice at risking their lives. DI Horton is like this, he goes charging in risking his life, often when he shouldn't or when procedure tells him differently. He’s very much an action man and that’s another reason why he appeals to both men and women readers, or so they tell me.
Andy Horton first appears in Tide of Death. Since then he has gone on to solve many crimes as he attempts to unravel his complicated personal life and search for the truth behind his mother's disappearance when he was just ten. The last in the current series of six in the DI Andy Horton marine mystery series, Footsteps on the Shore, was published in January 2011 and I am currently writing number seven, so there's a lot more of DI Andy Horton yet to come.
For all the novels in the DI Andy Horton series and my stand alone thrillers visit my web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Tide of Death
My DI Andy Horton is modelled on a combination of many firemen I have met: strong, fit, cool, resourceful, fearless. Think of fires, 9/11, tube disasters and train crashes. It's the firemen who go in when everyone else is running away. They don't think twice at risking their lives. DI Horton is like this, he goes charging in risking his life, often when he shouldn't or when procedure tells him differently. He’s very much an action man and that’s another reason why he appeals to both men and women readers, or so they tell me.
Andy Horton first appears in Tide of Death. Since then he has gone on to solve many crimes as he attempts to unravel his complicated personal life and search for the truth behind his mother's disappearance when he was just ten. The last in the current series of six in the DI Andy Horton marine mystery series, Footsteps on the Shore, was published in January 2011 and I am currently writing number seven, so there's a lot more of DI Andy Horton yet to come.
For all the novels in the DI Andy Horton series and my stand alone thrillers visit my web site at http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Tide of Death
March 7, 2011
How to write compelling crime fiction workshop
On Saturday 18 June between 10am and 4pm I will be running an interactive workshop on How to write compelling crime and thriller novels at Quay Arts Centre on the Isle of Wight.
I thought it a lovely way of celebrating and contributing to National Crime Writing Week an initiative organised by The Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain (CWA), of which I am a member.
During the week members of the CWA will take part in readings, discussions, readers' group events and workshops all over the country.
So if you want to know how to write crime fiction or wish to improve your crime writing skills then do come along. And it's not just for those who live on the Isle of Wight.
There are plenty of ways to travel to the lovely Isle of Wight by Wightlink car ferry from Lymington in the New Forest to Yarmouth, or from Portsmouth to Fisbourne, either with your car or as a foot passenger. Or from Southampton to Cowes on the Red Funnel ferries. The quicker routes are by Wightlink Fastcat from Portsmouth to Ryde, and by Red Jet Hi-Speed from Southampton to Cowes. There is also an excellent Hovercraft service provided by Hovertravel from Southsea to Ryde.
Why not make it a weekend break and explore some of the beautiful Isle of Wight coastline. I can guarantee it will provide you with lots of inspiration.
How to write compelling crime fiction - Workshop 18 June 2011 10am to 4pm
This interactive and fun workshop is packed with lots of practical advice and tips on constructing plots and sub plots; building believable characters; generating suspense and tension, adding red herrings and clues, and exploring writing techniques that will grip editors, agents and readers alike.
For more details visit http://www.quayarts.org/ or http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Dead Man's Wharf
I thought it a lovely way of celebrating and contributing to National Crime Writing Week an initiative organised by The Crime Writers' Association of Great Britain (CWA), of which I am a member.
During the week members of the CWA will take part in readings, discussions, readers' group events and workshops all over the country.
So if you want to know how to write crime fiction or wish to improve your crime writing skills then do come along. And it's not just for those who live on the Isle of Wight.
There are plenty of ways to travel to the lovely Isle of Wight by Wightlink car ferry from Lymington in the New Forest to Yarmouth, or from Portsmouth to Fisbourne, either with your car or as a foot passenger. Or from Southampton to Cowes on the Red Funnel ferries. The quicker routes are by Wightlink Fastcat from Portsmouth to Ryde, and by Red Jet Hi-Speed from Southampton to Cowes. There is also an excellent Hovercraft service provided by Hovertravel from Southsea to Ryde.
Why not make it a weekend break and explore some of the beautiful Isle of Wight coastline. I can guarantee it will provide you with lots of inspiration.
How to write compelling crime fiction - Workshop 18 June 2011 10am to 4pm
This interactive and fun workshop is packed with lots of practical advice and tips on constructing plots and sub plots; building believable characters; generating suspense and tension, adding red herrings and clues, and exploring writing techniques that will grip editors, agents and readers alike.
For more details visit http://www.quayarts.org/ or http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Dead Man's Wharf
February 28, 2011
Crime Time Event with Pauline Rowson at the Isle of Wight Festival
Tickets are now on sale for my event at the exciting and vibrant Isle of Wight Festival in April. You can read about my event and other events taking place over the weekend of 15-17 April at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight on the website but below is a taster.
"Murder, treachery, deceit and betrayal set against the backdrop of the south coast and the Solent? It must be another case for DI Andy Horton. His creator, novelist Pauline Rowson, combines her fascination with mystery and adventure with a love of the sea and in doing so has created a whole new genre of crime fiction – the marine mystery.
Her rugged and flawed hero from Portsmouth CID not only has complex and bloody crimes to solve, he has his demons to face from his own past and is battling for access to his daughter. Pauline will reveal what inspires her and how she researches and writes her novels at Isle of Arts on Sunday 17 April at 4pm."
For tickets visit the online box office: http://artsisle.org/tickets or via the telephone hotline 01983 862596 (open Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm).
Other events include American TV comic Rich Hall, the Hamsters blues band, Edward Fox’s one-man interpretation of the witty characters from Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles, and an evening with film guru Barry Norman.
The festival will be supported by exhibitions and cultural events, including arts, photography, comedy, drama, film and literature. It runs from April 15 to 17.
In For The Kill
"Murder, treachery, deceit and betrayal set against the backdrop of the south coast and the Solent? It must be another case for DI Andy Horton. His creator, novelist Pauline Rowson, combines her fascination with mystery and adventure with a love of the sea and in doing so has created a whole new genre of crime fiction – the marine mystery.
Her rugged and flawed hero from Portsmouth CID not only has complex and bloody crimes to solve, he has his demons to face from his own past and is battling for access to his daughter. Pauline will reveal what inspires her and how she researches and writes her novels at Isle of Arts on Sunday 17 April at 4pm."
For tickets visit the online box office: http://artsisle.org/tickets or via the telephone hotline 01983 862596 (open Monday to Friday, 10am-4pm).
Other events include American TV comic Rich Hall, the Hamsters blues band, Edward Fox’s one-man interpretation of the witty characters from Anthony Trollope’s Barchester Chronicles, and an evening with film guru Barry Norman.
The festival will be supported by exhibitions and cultural events, including arts, photography, comedy, drama, film and literature. It runs from April 15 to 17.
In For The Kill
February 25, 2011
Revising and revising, the DI Andy Horton crime novel (number seven) is nearly finished
I have spent most of the week working on revisions of the DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel number seven in the series and today I will continue with it. I'm currently working on the last three chapters. Once this is done it will be back to the beginning again to ensure that the novel flows and all the clues are there, and they are if you look for them; it may be just a hint, a throw away line in a conversation, or something tucked in the middle of a list or in a dialogue, but clues and red herrings abound.
I'll also be re-examining the characters, perhaps adding a little more colour to them, now that I know their motivations so well, and then ensuring that the novel has pace and the sequence of events is accurate taking into account the quirks of the characters and Andy Horton's constant desire to go off on his own and solve crimes his way and not his boss's way.
There is a certain pleasure in going back over the novel, questioning each word and passage, checking that each chapter finishes on a hook compelling the reader to read a little bit more... and more... I'm enjoying the revisions. Then it will be off to my editor with fingers crossed that he likes it, while I start on DI Andy Horton crime novel number eight.
And do I have a title for this current Andy Horton crime novel number seven? Ah, you'll have to wait and see...
Dead Man's Wharf
I'll also be re-examining the characters, perhaps adding a little more colour to them, now that I know their motivations so well, and then ensuring that the novel has pace and the sequence of events is accurate taking into account the quirks of the characters and Andy Horton's constant desire to go off on his own and solve crimes his way and not his boss's way.
There is a certain pleasure in going back over the novel, questioning each word and passage, checking that each chapter finishes on a hook compelling the reader to read a little bit more... and more... I'm enjoying the revisions. Then it will be off to my editor with fingers crossed that he likes it, while I start on DI Andy Horton crime novel number eight.
And do I have a title for this current Andy Horton crime novel number seven? Ah, you'll have to wait and see...
Dead Man's Wharf
February 22, 2011
An Interview about the DI Horton Marine Mystery Police Procedural Crime Novels
The book lovers website Lovereading features an interview with me about the inspiration behind my crime thriller novels and the DI Andy Horton series of marine mystery crime novels.
You can read the full interview on their web site but below is a snippet from it.
"Every known murder scene has a detective combing for clues. Every detective has a prime enemy - and it's not the criminal. For the detective, the first enemy is often the crime scene itself. It is here that the battle begins to uncover the grim truth about the murder. And a detective's nightmare crime scene has got to be a place where all the best clues could be swept away by the tide. There couldn't be a better place to set a crime story.
Pauline Rowson is well aware of the pull of murky watery places for the twisted criminal mind. She has created a whole new crime subgenre - the marine mystery featuring her flawed and rugged detective, Inspector Andy Horton.
So who is this detective, Inspector Andy Horton?
“DI Andy Horton is fit, flawed and rugged. He has been left psychology scarred after his mother walked out on him when he was ten leaving him to be raised in children’s homes and with foster parents. He has a desperate desire to belong and yet is always on the outside. Just when he thinks he's found happiness, Catherine, his wife, chooses to believe an allegation of rape while Horton was working undercover. In Tide of Death, the first in the series, Horton is back on his own again and in each novel in the series along with a new crime to solve, Horton goes in search of the truth about his mother’s disappearance.”
Why is the sea so important in your crime and thriller novels?
“The sea creates a very atmospheric setting for the crime novels. It gives them a sense of place. In my novels it has almost become a character in itself. It's alive, it's beautiful, it's calming but it's also dangerous, misleading and evil. No matter how much you think or wish you can control it, you can't. Sometimes you need to go with the flow and other times swim against the tide and the trick is knowing when to do which. Andy Horton hasn't quigot it sussed, or when he thinks he has something happens to throw him completely off course."
The Inspector Andy Horton series in order: Tide of Death, Deadly Waters, The Suffocating Sea, Dead Man's Wharf, Blood on the Sand and Footsteps on the Shore.
Crime thriller novels: In Cold Daylight, In For the Kill.
For further details visit my web site
Dead Man's Wharf
You can read the full interview on their web site but below is a snippet from it.
"Every known murder scene has a detective combing for clues. Every detective has a prime enemy - and it's not the criminal. For the detective, the first enemy is often the crime scene itself. It is here that the battle begins to uncover the grim truth about the murder. And a detective's nightmare crime scene has got to be a place where all the best clues could be swept away by the tide. There couldn't be a better place to set a crime story.
Pauline Rowson is well aware of the pull of murky watery places for the twisted criminal mind. She has created a whole new crime subgenre - the marine mystery featuring her flawed and rugged detective, Inspector Andy Horton.
So who is this detective, Inspector Andy Horton?
“DI Andy Horton is fit, flawed and rugged. He has been left psychology scarred after his mother walked out on him when he was ten leaving him to be raised in children’s homes and with foster parents. He has a desperate desire to belong and yet is always on the outside. Just when he thinks he's found happiness, Catherine, his wife, chooses to believe an allegation of rape while Horton was working undercover. In Tide of Death, the first in the series, Horton is back on his own again and in each novel in the series along with a new crime to solve, Horton goes in search of the truth about his mother’s disappearance.”
Why is the sea so important in your crime and thriller novels?
“The sea creates a very atmospheric setting for the crime novels. It gives them a sense of place. In my novels it has almost become a character in itself. It's alive, it's beautiful, it's calming but it's also dangerous, misleading and evil. No matter how much you think or wish you can control it, you can't. Sometimes you need to go with the flow and other times swim against the tide and the trick is knowing when to do which. Andy Horton hasn't quigot it sussed, or when he thinks he has something happens to throw him completely off course."
The Inspector Andy Horton series in order: Tide of Death, Deadly Waters, The Suffocating Sea, Dead Man's Wharf, Blood on the Sand and Footsteps on the Shore.
Crime thriller novels: In Cold Daylight, In For the Kill.
For further details visit my web site
Dead Man's Wharf
