Pauline Rowson's Blog, page 82

Blood on the Sand, an Inspector Andy Horton police procedural marine mystery crime novel is in paperback in September & the hardcover is selling for a small fortune!

The trade paperback version of Blood on the Sand,number five in the Inspector Andy Horton police procedural crime series,is being published at the end of September 2010. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon, where I have just been amazed to discover a first edition of the hardcover is selling for $295. Wow!

Blood on the Sand received a great review from Booklist in the States. It's set on the South Coast of England.

"Andy Horton’s Isle of Wight vacation is cut short when he encounters what appears to be the scene of a murder — and a woman who seems to be the killer, still holding the murder weapon. But there’s far more to it than that, and soon Andy is deep into an investigation that reaches far into the past."

Blood on the Sand

Authors band together in new Book Club initiative

Author Isabel Ashdown has launched an innovative new website called the Chichester Book Club, dedicated to introducing readers to books and authors in their region and she very kindly asked me to be one of the featured authors.

Chichester is in West Sussex in the south of England and features in my thriller In For The Kill. The beautiful Chichester Harbour is also the location for many of the Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery police procedural crime novels.

The Chichester Book Club Autumn selection, as featured on the web site, has a wide selection of books including my own crime novel The Suffocating Sea, the third in the Andy Horton series, Skeleton Hill by fellow crime writer Peter Lovesey and Isabel's own powerful novel, Glasshopper, set in Portsmouth in 1984 and with a photograph on the cover of Old Portsmouth, Andy Horton's CID patch.

Other writers joining us are Jane Borodale, Gabrielle Kimm, Alison MacLeod, Bethan Roberts, Jane Rusbridge and Tim Stretton, all authors with a connection to the Chichester region.

You can follow the Chichester Book Club at: www.chichesterbookclub.com Also on Facebook and Twitter.




In for the Kill


The Suffocating Sea: An Andy Horton Mystery

Working on the plot of the next Inspector Andy Horton police procedural marine mystery crime novel

Having used up tons of scraps of paper (re-cycled from having to print off reams of previous manuscripts) and having almost worn my pencil down to a stub, not to mention making my office look like a waste paper tip, I am now a great deal happier with the plot of the next Andy Horton police procedural marine mystery crime novel, which will be number seven in the series.

That doesn't mean to say that what I have mapped out will stay as it is, oh no, I could easily and most probably will change my mind by the end of the novel. Such is the life of a crime writer. As the characters become more alive so their motivations might suggest other actions. I might also delve into some research that will take me in another direction. It's all good fun, as they say.

I want to try and get as much of the first draft written as I can before having to work on copy edits and proofs of the sixth Andy Horton novel, Footsteps on the Shore, which my publisher tells me is due to be published in the UK in January 2011 and in the USA in March 2011. So it's back to work.

Dead Man's Wharf

I've added a new video clip to my profile here on Goodreads

In this new short clip I'm in discussion with Rob Richardson talking about how I research my police procedural marine mystery crime novels, featuring my rugged and flawed detective, Inspector Andy Horton. You can listen to more of my video clips here or on my official web site

Blood on the Sand

I've received the Turkish edition of my crime novel In Cold Daylight

I knew it was being published in Turkey but didn't know when.

I always get a buzz when I see one of my books translated into another language. This one looks good. The Turkish publisher has changed the title but I've no diea to what, perhaps someone who speaks Turkish might tell me.

In Cold Daylight is published by Babiali Kültür Yayinciligi and looking them up on Wikipedia, as one does, here is what they have to say about the company.

"Babiali Kültür Yayinciligi was founded in Istanbul in November 1999 and it started to publish books in 2000. It has extended its sphere of activities and brought important books into the Turkish market. Today it is one of the leading publishing companies in Turkey with popular authors and important books."

Well that's certainly nice to know. And it looks as though I am in good company along with fellow thriller writer, Harlan Coben. I haven't made it on to the Wikipedia list yet but if anyone would like to add my name to it please feel free.

So, taking a look at the publisher's web site Babiali Kültür Yayinciligi I found my novel and then punched in my name in their search field and there I am - photo and all.

I hope people in Turkey enjoy reading Gün Isiginin Ayazinda . And just for good measure I've put the blurb on In Cold Daylight , which was shortlisted for the World Book Day Prize in 2008, below in English.

Fire fighter Jack Bartholomew dies whilst trying to put out a fire in a derelict building. Was it an accident or arson? Marine Artist Adam Greene doesn't know, only that he has lost his closest friend. He attends the funeral ready to mourn when another funeral intrudes upon his thoughts, and one he has tried very hard to forget for the last fifteen years. But before he has time to digest this, or discover the identity of the stranger stalking him, Jack's house is ransacked.

Unaware of the risks he is running Adam soon finds himself caught up in a mysterious and dangerous web of deceit. By exposing a secret that has lain dormant for years Adam is forced to face his own dark secrets, and as the facts reveal themselves the prospects for his survival look bleak. But Adam knows there is no turning back; he has to get to the truth no matter what the cost, even if it means his life.

Thinking is an essential part of writing

You think about the plot and sub plots. You think about the characters and their motivations. You think about the weather and the time of year the novels takes place. And you think about the locations. In fact you think about everything there is to think about when writing a novel, and rather than spending my time sitting in a room and staring out of a window thinking, I prefer to do most of mine while walking. Not only does this help to keep me fit but it's a well known fact that exercise also improves one's mental powers.

In addition, thinking while walking has the added advantage of getting good location description, as well as providing descriptions of the weather. It also means coming across some very interesting characters, who might inspire a character/s in my novel. These aren't necessarily main characters but usually secondary or walk-on characters. It might be just a glimpse of someone walking over the Downs, strolling along the promenade between Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, or striding out along the Hayling Island Coastal Path. Or it might be someone I end up talking to on the train, or in a cafe or shop.

The other morning on the train from Shanklin to Ryde (after a seven mile walk)I made a study of people's toes and found it quite fascinating. Of course this can only be carried out in the summer months in England. There were deformed toes, tattooed toes, dirty toes, painted toe nails and toes with long nails, (mine were safely ensconced in walking boots). As a creative writing exercise I could simply list these and ask students to form visual descriptions of the owners of the toes and then pen character sketches of them. It would be fascinating to see what the students came up with.

Then I made a study of the faces belonging to the toes, surreptitiously I might add, I didn't want to be accused of staring. There were youthful faces, worried faces, alcoholic faces, and vacant faces. And that's just the edited version of the descriptions I tucked away in my mind. It's all good stuff for the next and future Andy Horton marine mystery crime novels.

Blood on the Sand, the fifth in the Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime series is to be published in trade paperback in September by Severn House.

First published in hardcover in the UK in February 2010 and the USA in May 2010, I am pleased that Blood on the Sand is to be published in paperback in September.

In the USA, Booklist said of Blood on the Sand, '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.'

In the UK, Eurocrime said, 'The very tight plotting was very impressive and make me want to look out for further books by this author. A very enjoyable read.'

This is the fifth in the series and the sixth, Footsteps on the Shore, will be published early in 2011. I am now writing the seventh in the Andy Horton series.

So here are the Andy Horton marine mystery crime novels (police procedurals) in order:

Tide of Death
Deadly Waters
The Suffocating Sea
Dead Man's Wharf
Blood on the Sand
Footsteps on the Shore (2011)

Choosing names for characters in novels - Pauline Rowson explains how she approaches this in her crime novels

One thing about writing a series (my Inspector Andy Horton crime novels) is that some of the character names are already set, i.e. Inspector Horton, Sergeant Cantelli, Superintendent Uckfield. Then there is DI Dennings, DCI Lorraine Bliss and others, so no need to think up new names for them. But every novel has a new crime and a new set of characters and coming up with names for them can often be quite tricky as can be remembering which names I've already used as well as the minor characters in my police procedurals, their rank and department.

When seeking inspiration for first names I turn to my little book of baby's names or more often look up web sites of baby's names. I also keep an ear out for any unusual or interesting names when meeting people and will jot these down. Working on the latest Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery (Footsteps on the Shore) I was stuck for a name for one particular character. He had several before I trawled through the A-Z and hit on Ashley. Yes, he was definitely an Ashley.

The other danger is over using a name. For some reason I seem to have a penchant for the name Eric, and when I did a search through previous novels I discovered that I’d used it before for different characters, albeit minor ones. So no more Erics.

As to surnames, I let my finger do the choosing and tend to pick these out of an atlas or street map. Then I see if it fits with the first name and the character. And the more novels I write the more I am in danger of repeating names, (it's easy to forget what you have already used) so I’m building a database in order to double check this. And a database of police officers used in my novels their rank, name, brief description and their department.

Readers also tell me that some novelists have too many characters surnames all beginning with the same letter and they find this very confusing. Now I scrutinise my work to check that not everyone has a surname beginning with the letter ‘C’. Not sure why I gravitate towards ‘C’ but I do. And my sister couldn’t get through Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code because she couldn’t pronounce the names, and not being able to pronounce them meant she couldn’t identify and believe in the characters. You might think that strange, but having raised the point at several talks, I’ve found many other readers echoing this sentiment. So it’s careful with the foreign names for me.

And what about the name of my main character Inspector Andy Horton, where did that come from? I've no idea. It just sprang to mind. It was only recently however that I was contacted by his namesake in the Hampshire Police Force. A polite e mail asked me whether he had inspired the name and/or the character. I replied saying that if he was indeed tall, blonde, fit and handsome then maybe? He replied saying he was tall, fit, dark and his wife thought him handsome. I was somewhat relieved to find the real Inspector Horton had a sense of humour, had recently been promoted and spelt his name Houghton.

Pauline Rowson web site http://www.rowmark.co.uk

Pauline Rowson reads from the fifth Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand

I've posted a new video here, which is also on my You Tube channel and my official web site. It's an extract from my radio interview with Rob Richardson of Write-Invite, on Express FM, in which I read from my latest Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, Blood on the Sand. The fifth in the Andy Horton series.

It's taken from the beginning of the novel, what they call a police procedural in the US, and I guess it is as Inspector Horton has a new crime to solve in the Solent area of England, this time mainly on the Isle of Wight. Blood on the Sand is currently available in hard cover on sale and in libraries. It will be published in paperback at the end of September.

Here's the blurb on 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 it’s revealed that the dead man was working on a top-level environmental project on behalf of the European Commission, Horton is urged by Superintendent Uckfield to go undercover. His mission is to trap a clever killer, but he soon finds his own life in danger... Then another death changes everything. With no clear suspects, and a confusion of possible motives, a frustrating, complex case is complicated still further by Horton’s growing feelings and concern for the woman. As he goes in search of the truth, aided by Sergeant Cantelli, Horton uncovers a web of intrigue that ripples down the years, and which someone is determined should never be revealed.

I hope you enjoy listening to it.Blood on the Sand

Writing first drafts of novels - exciting, tense and frustrating

Authors differ on their approach to writing first drafts, some love it, some hate it and many are somewhere in between. Me? Well, I find writing first drafts exciting, tense and very often frustrating. Exciting because it is fresh unchartered waters and although I have a basic plot outline and character sketches I'm still not sure where the tide will take me and which shore my novel will wash up on. Tense because I am in a hurry to write it as fast as I can while my head is full of ideas. And frustrating because I can't write quickly enough.

I try to resist editing too much as I write the first draft because editing 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 and the characters and plot grow, some editing is inevitable. I resist the temptation though to revise every paragraph, sentence and word, that can come later.

The aim is to write the first draft as quickly as possible. So a good rule, which I therefore try to follow (although not always successfully) is to begin each day from the last sentence I wrote the preceding day. So far I am up to chapter four of the new Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel, another police procedural, and just over 10,000 words. There's a long way to go yet, but at this stage I am pleased with the how it is progressing.