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What's on in 2021? The words 'who knows!'spring to mind. After 2020 no one can predict
what the forthcoming year will bring, we hope and pray that it will be
better than 2020. For me 2021 will be filled with writing. I'm delighted
to say that two of my crime novels will be published - the Art Marvik
mystery thriller 4, DEAD SEA in March 2021 and the third 1950 set
Inspector Ryga mystery DEATH IN THE NETS in Autumn 2021 so something
for my readers to look forward to. And for DI Andy Horton fans
there will be another. I am currently writing number 16 in the series
and that will be completed in 2021 and published early 2022 (God
willing!). Lots more news and articles in January's newsletter below.
Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year. Pauline.
New Year Honour for crime author Pauline Rowson No,
I haven't been given a Damehood, but I am honoured, and delighted to be
featured on the Portsmouth Literary Map, designed and compiled by Dr
Mark Frost, of the English Department at the University of Portsmouth.
I'm
honoured because I am in such great company of both past and present
writers all with connections to the vibrant coastal City of Portsmouth,
UK. The illustrious company of past literary connections include Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle, H G Wells, Charles Dickens, Nevile Shute, James
Riordan and Rudyard Kipling. Living literary figures include me, my
fellow crime author, Graham Hurley, Neil Gaiman, and Michelle Magorian.
The
map pinpoints the locations of all the DI Andy Horton crime novels
along with extracts from each of the DI Andy Horton books (15). It also
gives you the locations of where I was raised, went to school and
worked! Although it was a childhood ambition of mine to
become a published author I never dreamed that one day many people
across the world would read and enjoy my crime mystery novels and that I
would feature alongside such illustrious writers. My thanks to all my
readers and supporters and to Portsmouth University for including me in
this wonderful roll of honour.
Three of my DI Andy Horton crime novels, DEAD MAN'S WHARF, BLOOD ON THE
SAND and LETHAL WAVES are set during the month of January, so what better time to talk about them!
 It’s difficult to explain where all the threads of this crime novel came
from (or indeed any of my crime novels come to that) but I start with
an idea, usually a location – the wharf in this instance – and begin to
ask myself questions: how does it feature in this crime novel? Is a body
found there? If so whose? How did it get there? Why was he/she killed?
What other pressing cases does Horton have to investigate? Are they
linked or are they separate? Then there is the matter of
Horton’s personal and professional life. Horton is still reeling from
the startling discovery (The Suffocating Sea #3) that the disappearance
of his mother, Jennifer, thirty years ago was not as he thought, a
single mother abandoning her child because she didn’t want a kid in tow,
but could be linked to an international criminal. (If you've read A DEADLY WAKE no. 15 you'll know the truth!)
DEAD MAN'S WHARF like my other crime novels is multi-layered and
soon Horton is drawn into a complex investigation that holds danger for
him and Cantelli.
BLOOD
ON THE SAND ( no. 5 in the DI Horton series) opens on a cold grey
January morning in Bembridge Marina on the Isle of Wight, where Andy
Horton has decided to put in on his small yacht. It's hardly the sailing
season but after a difficult Christmas - his first spent apart from his
young daughter, Emma - and following some tough criminal
investigations, Horton, has decided to take a few days break. He also
needs time to think through the startling revelations he's uncovered
about his mother's disappearance thirty years ago.
But he barely gets the time to do so when walking across the abandoned
golf course on the Duver near Bembridge Marina he finds himself facing a
distraught young woman with a gun in her hand leaning over a corpse in
one of the discarded bunkers.
The inspiration for LETHAL WAVES (13) came from seeing one of the
regular ferry services sail from Portsmouth into the Solent and out
around the Isle of Wight on its way to the Channel Islands, the Condor
Commodore Clipper Ferry.
I started with the idea of a body on that ferry, that of a woman who is
found dead in her locked cabin when the ferry docks at Guernsey in the
Channel Islands. Of course I asked Condor for their permission to allow
me to have a fictitious body on their ferry and was delighted when they
agreed and even more so when they offered to give me free reign of the
boat and the opportunity to question their staff in aid of my research.
And talking about inspiration here's a video from a talk I gave some time ago at Sandhurst Library - from inspiration and ideas to plot lines
This is one of my most watched videos on my You Tube Channel. In
this extract I am talking about the inspiration behind my DI Andy
Horton crime novels set against the ever changing backdrop of the sea in
Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight and how I develop ideas into plot
lines.
 The
prescribed wisdom states that novels are either plot driven or
character driven. What, you may ask is the difference? And it's a very
good question. Essentially character driven novels centre around the
protagonist's journey, his or her internal thoughts, the experiences
he/she undergoes, the choices he/she makes which ultimately drive and
affect the plot. Whereas plot driven novels focus on yes, you've guessed
it, the plot. Here the protagonist takes a particular action which drives the plot and there are plot twists and turns as a result, action and conflicts which in turn drive the
plot to its outcome. If that sounds rather confusing then don't worry,
you are not alone. For me the distinction between the two is rather
blurred although essentially critics and reviewers will say that my
novels are plot driven and I agree to an extent. But the two aspects -
character and plot - are invariably interlinked.
I know many people are missing their social gatherings and I am missing giving talks to groups and entertaining the
lovely audiences. There are no talks for me booked so far this year, 2021, although I have been asked if I might be available to speak
later in 2021 and I would be delighted to do so. Can't wait in fact. I am
sincerely hoping that we can soon resume these events. If you would like to enquire about me giving a talk in 2021 and 2022 then please do get in touch.
Where to buy Pauline Rowson's books Pauline
Rowson's books are available from all good booksellers in paperback,
hardback, as an ebook, on Amazon Kindle, Kobo, Google Books and Apple Books. Some are also available as audio books.
They can also be loaned from libraries in the UK, Commonwealth
and the USA.
Buy from your local bookshop
For more news, details of all Pauline Rowson's books, videos and articles visit www.rowmark.co.ukPlease feel free to contact us with any comments or queries. We welcome your feedback.You can share this information with others by passing it on to your friends and contacts. If
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replying to this e mail and putting 'Unsubscribe' in the subject line. If you would like to contact Pauline either reply to this e mail or contact her via her website at Contact Us.
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