Pauline Rowson's Blog, page 83
June 28, 2010
Radio Interviews and the marine mystery police procedural crime novels
I had to re-record my interview with Rob Richardson of Express FM last week because a technical hitch unfortunately meant the original interview could not be transmitted. I didn't mind though. It's always good fun talking to Rob Richardson who also runs a very lively writing group and web site called Write-Invite which has some very exciting and rather unusual short story writing competitions.
My interview will be broadcast on Tuesday 6 July between 7pm and 8pm, on Express FM You can listen to it, if you wish, on their web site. I'm also due to be interviewed that morning on BBC Radio Solent, the Julian Clegg Breakfast Show, at 6.45 am. So from one end of the day to the other!
Meanwhile two of my crime novels have been chosen as Hot Holiday Reads on The Book Depository's web site. In Cold Daylight, a stand alone thriller and the third Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel, The Suffocating Sea, are being featured. The prices are good and The Book Depository offer FREE worldwide delivery. There is more information on my web site.
The new marine mystery police procedural novel is coming along quite nicely. I've written the first two chapters but there's still a lot of research to do yet before it all comes together.
My interview will be broadcast on Tuesday 6 July between 7pm and 8pm, on Express FM You can listen to it, if you wish, on their web site. I'm also due to be interviewed that morning on BBC Radio Solent, the Julian Clegg Breakfast Show, at 6.45 am. So from one end of the day to the other!
Meanwhile two of my crime novels have been chosen as Hot Holiday Reads on The Book Depository's web site. In Cold Daylight, a stand alone thriller and the third Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novel, The Suffocating Sea, are being featured. The prices are good and The Book Depository offer FREE worldwide delivery. There is more information on my web site.
The new marine mystery police procedural novel is coming along quite nicely. I've written the first two chapters but there's still a lot of research to do yet before it all comes together.
June 21, 2010
Most writers identify with Iris Murdoch's struggle to "write something good"
A new archive of letters by Iris Murdoch has revealed her struggles with her early, unpublished novels. This comes as no surprise because every writer struggles to begin with and some are plagued with insecurities for most of their writing life wondering if each novel is good enough.
The correspondence between Iris Murdoch and French novelist Raymond Queneau spans 29 years and reveals a woman riddled with self-doubt who was at times filled with "hatred and contempt" for her prose and wondered if she would "ever write something good".She was thought to have attempted between four and six novels before her first book, Under the Net, was published in 1954.
Most writers experience false starts and write for years without publication, learning their craft and finding their style. I was writing fiction for many years and had written five novels before I was published in fiction, although my first unpublished novels were regional sagas before I turned to crime fiction writing and found my style and my niche.
My first attempt at a suspense novel got me a literary agent but no publisher, and my second effort created Inspector Andy Horton and won a prize in a writing competition. Three years later Inspector Andy Horton appeared in the first of my marine mystery crime series, Tide of Death first published in 2006. Since then I have had five published in the Inspector Horton series and two crime thriller novels published, In For The Kill and In Cold Daylight. My crime novels have been hailed as 'exemplary' police procedurals in the States and my writing likened to that of Ed McBain. But I don't think the insecurities ever go away.
Despite good reviews every writer wonders about the worthiness of their work, and of course, along with increasing sales of your novels come the bad reviews. But all that goes with the territory. You write not for the critics but for your readers and most of all for the sheer joy of writing - at least I do.
I can also identify with Iris Murdoch when she says: "While I am writing it, it's always surrounded by such an aura of creative aspiration and joy, clairvoyance and what not, it seems better than it is. Then afterwards the light is withdrawn and it seems quite dead and worthless. Just now I'm still in the clairvoyant stage and knowing the secrets of the seas."
I am sure that most writers will understand exactly what she means.
The correspondence between Iris Murdoch and French novelist Raymond Queneau spans 29 years and reveals a woman riddled with self-doubt who was at times filled with "hatred and contempt" for her prose and wondered if she would "ever write something good".She was thought to have attempted between four and six novels before her first book, Under the Net, was published in 1954.
Most writers experience false starts and write for years without publication, learning their craft and finding their style. I was writing fiction for many years and had written five novels before I was published in fiction, although my first unpublished novels were regional sagas before I turned to crime fiction writing and found my style and my niche.
My first attempt at a suspense novel got me a literary agent but no publisher, and my second effort created Inspector Andy Horton and won a prize in a writing competition. Three years later Inspector Andy Horton appeared in the first of my marine mystery crime series, Tide of Death first published in 2006. Since then I have had five published in the Inspector Horton series and two crime thriller novels published, In For The Kill and In Cold Daylight. My crime novels have been hailed as 'exemplary' police procedurals in the States and my writing likened to that of Ed McBain. But I don't think the insecurities ever go away.
Despite good reviews every writer wonders about the worthiness of their work, and of course, along with increasing sales of your novels come the bad reviews. But all that goes with the territory. You write not for the critics but for your readers and most of all for the sheer joy of writing - at least I do.
I can also identify with Iris Murdoch when she says: "While I am writing it, it's always surrounded by such an aura of creative aspiration and joy, clairvoyance and what not, it seems better than it is. Then afterwards the light is withdrawn and it seems quite dead and worthless. Just now I'm still in the clairvoyant stage and knowing the secrets of the seas."
I am sure that most writers will understand exactly what she means.
June 18, 2010
Translation rights have been sold to China for two of my crime novels
Translation rights have been sold to China for two of my crime novels, Tide of Death, the first in the Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery series, and In Cold Daylight, a crime thriller novel about the cover up over the mysterious deaths of firefighters killed in the line of duty. They are to be published in China later this year by Guizhou People’s Publishing House of Guizhou in the People’s Republic of China and I'm looking forward to receiving my author copies.
The deal was done through my Agents in China, Chengdu Rightol Media & Advertisement Co Ltd.
The deal was done through my Agents in China, Chengdu Rightol Media & Advertisement Co Ltd.
June 14, 2010
It's Independent Booksellers Week and National Crime Fiction Week in the UK
Does that mean you should dash out and buy a crime novel from an independent bookshop? Why not if you enjoy reading a good crime novel. And if you don't read crime fiction then you could still pop into your nearest independent bookshop and buy a book - any book will do, you might help to save this rare breed from extinction (independent booksellers that is, not crime writers). And that is what these dedicated days and weeks are for really - a marketing ploy to help stimulate business and raise awareness.
And it seems there are a growing number of them: World Smile Day (I'm all for that, but why need a special day - smiling is great for relieving stress, we should all try it any time). Then there's Farmhouse Breakfast Week, (I'm not kidding), National Chip Day (that should go down well in the UK) and Love Your Tax Officer Day. I made that last one up. I'm all in favour of these special days and weeks, after all it gives me something to write about. But there is a good reason behind many of them and that is to help raise money for good causes. OK, so crime fiction writers are not exactly a good cause or an endangered species but then I'm not sure chips are either.
Happy Independent Booksellers Week and National Crime Fiction Week.
Mystery|4156289]
And it seems there are a growing number of them: World Smile Day (I'm all for that, but why need a special day - smiling is great for relieving stress, we should all try it any time). Then there's Farmhouse Breakfast Week, (I'm not kidding), National Chip Day (that should go down well in the UK) and Love Your Tax Officer Day. I made that last one up. I'm all in favour of these special days and weeks, after all it gives me something to write about. But there is a good reason behind many of them and that is to help raise money for good causes. OK, so crime fiction writers are not exactly a good cause or an endangered species but then I'm not sure chips are either.
Happy Independent Booksellers Week and National Crime Fiction Week.
Mystery|4156289]
June 11, 2010
Plotting begins in earnest for the next Inspector Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel
I've begun the plotting for the next Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel which means there are bits of paper scattered all over my office/study. I usually work out plot and characters in pencil using spider grams and plot lines and I've got the basics of the next Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel number seven in the series, mapped out.
The idea for this novel has come from several sources but a newspaper article forms a major part of it, which is linked with the location of course, which in my case is the Solent area on the south coast of England where my novels are set. I won't say what that article is because, like most writers, I am rather superstitious - the more you talk about a novel in progress the more likely it is to become dead in the water.
There's a long way to go yet before I can start creating it on the computer though. I need to start working on the characters now and, as they begin to take shape, so too will their actions and motivations, which in turn will drive the plot further.
Then there are the sub plots. Will they stand alone or will they form part of the main plot? And the back story: will Andy discover more about his missing mother? What's happening in Barney Cantelli's life and with Superintendent Uckfield? Will DI Dennings still be lumbering about on the major crime team? It's all a bit messy to begin with, but exciting as the new story unfolds.
In for the Kill
The idea for this novel has come from several sources but a newspaper article forms a major part of it, which is linked with the location of course, which in my case is the Solent area on the south coast of England where my novels are set. I won't say what that article is because, like most writers, I am rather superstitious - the more you talk about a novel in progress the more likely it is to become dead in the water.
There's a long way to go yet before I can start creating it on the computer though. I need to start working on the characters now and, as they begin to take shape, so too will their actions and motivations, which in turn will drive the plot further.
Then there are the sub plots. Will they stand alone or will they form part of the main plot? And the back story: will Andy discover more about his missing mother? What's happening in Barney Cantelli's life and with Superintendent Uckfield? Will DI Dennings still be lumbering about on the major crime team? It's all a bit messy to begin with, but exciting as the new story unfolds.
In for the Kill
June 7, 2010
Talks, public appearances and radio interview - Pauline Rowson talking to Rob Richardson at Express FM
It was the 25th birthday party of the Southsea Afternoon branch of the Women's Institute last Wednesday and I was honoured to be their guest speaker. There was a great turn out at what is clearly a thriving branch of the WI. Well done ladies, thank you for asking me to talk to you about my crime novels and my marine mystery police procedurals featuring my hunky DI, Inspector Andy Horton.
My next public appearance is at the Oxfam Books and Music Shop in Fareham, Hampshire where I will officially kick-start the annual Oxfam BookFest on 3 July. I will be there between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30.a.m.
But before that, on 8 June 2010 at 7pm, I am giving a radio interview with Rob Richardson of Express FM. It is broadcast on 93.7 or you can listen live via the Express FM web site. I'm talking to Rob about my crime novels and how I write, although the interview was recorded last week and I can't recall exactly what I said now! Perhaps I'd better listen to it!
My next public appearance is at the Oxfam Books and Music Shop in Fareham, Hampshire where I will officially kick-start the annual Oxfam BookFest on 3 July. I will be there between 10.30 a.m. and 11.30.a.m.
But before that, on 8 June 2010 at 7pm, I am giving a radio interview with Rob Richardson of Express FM. It is broadcast on 93.7 or you can listen live via the Express FM web site. I'm talking to Rob about my crime novels and how I write, although the interview was recorded last week and I can't recall exactly what I said now! Perhaps I'd better listen to it!
May 27, 2010
Blurb, title and final revisions for the sixth Inspector Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel
The sixth in the Inspector Andy Horton series of marine mystery crime novels has now been sent to my publisher. And as to the title? Well here it is and a preview of things to come for Andy Horton.
Footsteps on the Shore by Pauline Rowson
An Inspector Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel
Friday the thirteenth begins badly for Inspector Andy Horton when he wakes to find his Harley has been vandalized and his boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, head of CID, has returned early from her secondment at 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? Exacerbated by the fact that he is being stalked by someone he suspects of having a connection with his missing mother and complicated by the fact that the case brings him into contact with his estranged wife, Horton begins to cut corners. Soon he is the subject of an official complaint giving DCI Bliss the much-needed excuse to kick him off her team. With the clock ticking on what looks like being his last case in Portsmouth CID, Horton is under pressure to get results unsure that finding the convicted murderer will help him save his job.
More on my personal blog http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Blood on the Sand
Footsteps on the Shore by Pauline Rowson
An Inspector Andy Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel
Friday the thirteenth begins badly for Inspector Andy Horton when he wakes to find his Harley has been vandalized and his boss, DCI Lorraine Bliss, head of CID, has returned early from her secondment at 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? Exacerbated by the fact that he is being stalked by someone he suspects of having a connection with his missing mother and complicated by the fact that the case brings him into contact with his estranged wife, Horton begins to cut corners. Soon he is the subject of an official complaint giving DCI Bliss the much-needed excuse to kick him off her team. With the clock ticking on what looks like being his last case in Portsmouth CID, Horton is under pressure to get results unsure that finding the convicted murderer will help him save his job.
More on my personal blog http://www.rowmark.co.uk
Blood on the Sand
May 22, 2010
A hot day and a red hot Crimefest 2010 - my appearance on a panel with other crime writers
A boiling hot day in England (the first of the year) and being closeted inside a stuffy Marriott Hotel in Bristol was not the best place to be. But Crimefest, an international convention of crime writers and crime fiction fans, beckoned and I was delighted to be asked to appear on a panel on 21 May 2010 with other crime writers to talk about my crime novels and answer questions from the delegates.
I met my fellow crime writers; J.D. Goodhind, Neil White, Linda Regan and Lindsey Davis, in the Green Room, a rather dark basement room in the hotel, prior to appearing on our panel. For a moment I thought I'd stepped into a murder mystery scene from Midsomer Murders and half expected Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) to appear from the gloom. But there were no dead bodies’ only live and lively authors, and it was good to meet up and get to know one another a little before the public appearance.
I very much enjoyed participating in a panel discussion entitled No More Heroes: Today's Sleuths & Crime Solvers. (Apparently the title is a punk song, but that by-passed me). However, we quickly dismissed the title because all our main characters are heroes. I was asked why my hero is a man and not a woman, or rather why I write from the male point of view, which I've discussed on this blog before. I don't know why, it's just the way I write and all my crime novels are written with a male lead character. My hero is Inspector Andy Horton, an extraordinary guy fighting crime in the Solent area on the south coast of England. He should follow proper procedure, as his bosses demand, but it never quite works out that way! I just love heroes (perhaps that comes of being married to a fireman!) and I adore Andy Horton.
There was a difference of opinion between me and Linda Regan. She likes a lot of sex and violence in her novels whereas I prefer to write novels that do not contain gratuitous violence or explicit sex. OK, so there are gory bits in my Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novels and there is a bit of sex in my crime thriller In For The Kill but nothing that could be classed as hard boiled.
It was a lively discussion with some good questions from the audience many of whom had travelled from as far as Canada and America. One lady asked the question, 'Do you ever get bored with your characters?' The answer to that is no. If you do then you need to stop writing about them.
I met some lovely people after the event and had a chance to chat to them about what they like about crime fiction. A puzzle to solve, great characters, atmospheric settings, action packed novels it varies as much as the genre does, and that’s what’s so exciting and fascinating about both writing and reading crime fiction.
A very enjoyable time was had, and now it's back to putting the final touches to the next Inspector Horton Marine Mystery crime novel, number six in the series, before I embark on fleshing out the ideas I have for number seven. http://www.rowmark.co.uk
I met my fellow crime writers; J.D. Goodhind, Neil White, Linda Regan and Lindsey Davis, in the Green Room, a rather dark basement room in the hotel, prior to appearing on our panel. For a moment I thought I'd stepped into a murder mystery scene from Midsomer Murders and half expected Inspector Barnaby (John Nettles) to appear from the gloom. But there were no dead bodies’ only live and lively authors, and it was good to meet up and get to know one another a little before the public appearance.
I very much enjoyed participating in a panel discussion entitled No More Heroes: Today's Sleuths & Crime Solvers. (Apparently the title is a punk song, but that by-passed me). However, we quickly dismissed the title because all our main characters are heroes. I was asked why my hero is a man and not a woman, or rather why I write from the male point of view, which I've discussed on this blog before. I don't know why, it's just the way I write and all my crime novels are written with a male lead character. My hero is Inspector Andy Horton, an extraordinary guy fighting crime in the Solent area on the south coast of England. He should follow proper procedure, as his bosses demand, but it never quite works out that way! I just love heroes (perhaps that comes of being married to a fireman!) and I adore Andy Horton.
There was a difference of opinion between me and Linda Regan. She likes a lot of sex and violence in her novels whereas I prefer to write novels that do not contain gratuitous violence or explicit sex. OK, so there are gory bits in my Inspector Horton marine mystery crime novels and there is a bit of sex in my crime thriller In For The Kill but nothing that could be classed as hard boiled.
It was a lively discussion with some good questions from the audience many of whom had travelled from as far as Canada and America. One lady asked the question, 'Do you ever get bored with your characters?' The answer to that is no. If you do then you need to stop writing about them.
I met some lovely people after the event and had a chance to chat to them about what they like about crime fiction. A puzzle to solve, great characters, atmospheric settings, action packed novels it varies as much as the genre does, and that’s what’s so exciting and fascinating about both writing and reading crime fiction.
A very enjoyable time was had, and now it's back to putting the final touches to the next Inspector Horton Marine Mystery crime novel, number six in the series, before I embark on fleshing out the ideas I have for number seven. http://www.rowmark.co.uk
May 17, 2010
Just finished the penultimate revision of next Inspector Horton crime novel
I've just finished the ?nth revision of the new Inspector Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel - the sixth in the series to feature my flawed and rugged detective whose patch is the Solent area on the South Coast of England. My office looks like a bomb's hit it with notes and paper strewn all over the place, and I have e mails piling up in my in box needing answers, and blogs to write, but I had to crack on and finish it. Now I'm almost there. Yes, almost because I need one final read through before it goes off to my editor.
I've also been struggling to find a title for this crime novel but have now come up with one and tested it on a couple of readers without revulsion. I'll tell you it later. Book title and blurb on Andy Horton number six to follow... soon.
The Suffocating Sea
I've also been struggling to find a title for this crime novel but have now come up with one and tested it on a couple of readers without revulsion. I'll tell you it later. Book title and blurb on Andy Horton number six to follow... soon.
The Suffocating Sea
May 7, 2010
Some tips for writing a novel
Many people love writing and many would like to tackle writing a novel but are not sure how to do it. The Internet is packed full of writing advice and there are conferences and courses where you can pick up some valuable tips. Of course, this is no substitute for actually doing it. So here are a couple of tips for anyone wishing to dip their toes in the water.
Start writing
No excuses. Start writing. Make time to write. That could be early morning before you go to work or get the children up, lunchtimes, evenings or just a couple of hours at the weekends, but you must write. Rather obvious, I know. When I was working full time and running my marketing and training business I could only write on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. But I was fortunate to be doing that and religiously I would write, because I loved doing so. I didn't have a word count. I just did the best I could for that day. I also carried a Dictaphone with me while working, and when stuck in traffic jams travelling between client appointments I would dictate my ideas, plot outlines etc. into it and would jot down characters and plots in a notebook during my lunchbreaks. I still always carry a notebook with me and now have the luxury of being able to write every day.
Write the first draft quickly
The first creative draft is often the most enjoyable and the most painful because you have so much in your head that you want to get down on to paper or computer screen and yet you might have gaps in the plot and in character development. I also like to research as I write my marine mystery crime novels so that will hold things up a bit. However, the key is to get an outline down as quickly as possible probably within four months. This will be a very rough draft with incorrect spellings, missing words and the character motivations and descriptions not fully formed. The key is in letting the creative juices flow, just brain dumping them on to the page.
Don't give up on it
You'll have good days and bad days but don't give up. Set yourself a goal to finish that first draft no matter what. Also give yourself a time frame to work to: four months, a year, two, whatever suits you. If you get stuck either write through it, go for a walk, do some gardening or cleaning, knitting, sewing or anything you enjoy but which also lets your mind continue working in the background. Then return to your writing. And keep writing.
Blood on the Sand
Start writing
No excuses. Start writing. Make time to write. That could be early morning before you go to work or get the children up, lunchtimes, evenings or just a couple of hours at the weekends, but you must write. Rather obvious, I know. When I was working full time and running my marketing and training business I could only write on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. But I was fortunate to be doing that and religiously I would write, because I loved doing so. I didn't have a word count. I just did the best I could for that day. I also carried a Dictaphone with me while working, and when stuck in traffic jams travelling between client appointments I would dictate my ideas, plot outlines etc. into it and would jot down characters and plots in a notebook during my lunchbreaks. I still always carry a notebook with me and now have the luxury of being able to write every day.
Write the first draft quickly
The first creative draft is often the most enjoyable and the most painful because you have so much in your head that you want to get down on to paper or computer screen and yet you might have gaps in the plot and in character development. I also like to research as I write my marine mystery crime novels so that will hold things up a bit. However, the key is to get an outline down as quickly as possible probably within four months. This will be a very rough draft with incorrect spellings, missing words and the character motivations and descriptions not fully formed. The key is in letting the creative juices flow, just brain dumping them on to the page.
Don't give up on it
You'll have good days and bad days but don't give up. Set yourself a goal to finish that first draft no matter what. Also give yourself a time frame to work to: four months, a year, two, whatever suits you. If you get stuck either write through it, go for a walk, do some gardening or cleaning, knitting, sewing or anything you enjoy but which also lets your mind continue working in the background. Then return to your writing. And keep writing.
Blood on the Sand
