PERFECT PEACE is the second novel of my PERFECT WORLDS series, and it’s also my longest novel to date, logging in at around 156,000 words.  Not only that, it’s the single seed that the whole projected series grew from.

It began as a simple idea that kept surfacing in my mind, usually as I was dropping off to sleep at night.  I honestly don’t know where it came from – I like to think that it was a message from the ether, from the place where all true and good creative thoughts emerge. …

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As occasional readers of this blog or visitors to my website may know, I am currently involved in the on-going process of writing a series of full-length crime/mystery/suspense novels gathered together under the umbrella title of PERFECT WORLDS.  I have two titles already completed and e-published, a third underway, and a fourth still in the planning stage, but today I think I’d like to talk about the first in the series, PERFECT DAY.

The whole PERFECT WORLDS project began when I…

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I had great time entertaining the ladies of the Young at Heart Club (part of Brandon Care) on Wednesday 5 February. They certainly lived up to their name. They were a very lively bunch.

Against the backdrop of fierce winds, torrential rain and thunder I talked about murder mystery and mayhem. Very appropriate

I spoke of how I get the ideas for my…

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Okay, so the moment has arrived – it’s finally time to begin your incredible new project.  The idea for this masterwork, previously a tiny, dry seed sleeping in your mind, has suddenly begun to sprout.  Urgent stems have thrust their way into the sunlight and reached for the sky, buds have formed, leaves have unfurled, roots and tendrils have surged in all directions at once, and the whole thing is growing at a geometric rate.  New characters are introducing themselves to you on a regular…

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Time frames in novels, and particularly when writing a series, as I do with the DI Andy Horton novels, are a tricky thing. There is ‘real time’ and there is ‘fictional time’.

In ‘real time’ I write two DI Horton novels a year whereas in ‘fictional time’ the current novels are set over a period of sixteen months, which means there are an awful lot of murders in Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, making it…

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CrimeFest 13 was buzzing. It was great to catch up with some of my fellow crime writers, meet lots of lovely crime fiction fans and meet up with my publisher, Severn House.

The panel session on Friday morning was well received by a lively audience and my In the Spotlight Session later the same morning where I talked about "The Perfect System for Writing a Crime Novel" was standing room only.…

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My fictional detective, DI Andy Horton, is based in Portsmouth and the Solent area on the South Coast of England. The Solent is the busiest waterway in Europe and one of the busiest in the world with around one million commercial and naval shipping movements and in excess of 10 million pleasure craft movements per year, so it's a brilliant area in which to set a series of crime novels, with plenty of inspiration and lots of activity.

The DI Horton marine mystery crime novels…

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 I was interviewed…

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Brattleboro, Vt., is a bucolic town — pricked with picturesque church steeples — and home to a vibrant arts community. So it's an unlikely setting for gruesome murder and gritty crime, but that's just what goes on in Archer Mayor's Brattleboro-based Joe Gunther detective series.

Mayor is something of an unlikely character himself. Never mind his New England blue blood background — Mayor has had some grisly jobs. He works as a death examiner for the state's medical office and…

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Time frames in novels, and particularly when writing a crime series, are a tricky thing.  There is 'real time' and then there is 'fictional time'.  In 'real time’ I write one DI Horton a year whereas in ‘fictional time’ the novels are currently set over a period of a year.



Tide of Death,…

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I interview fictional cops on my blog "Paula's Coppers." Who better to talk about the case than the cop? I've had so much fun doing these interviews and have met so many wonderful cops.

This week I interview Lt. Taylor Jackson from So Close the Hand of Death by J.T. Ellison.

I need some more cops to interview.

Please check out my blog at http://www.paulapetty.com/paulas-coppers.html. and let me know if…

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I'm delighted to announce that my second marine mystery contemporary crime novel, Deadly Waters, featuring my fictional detective, Inspector Andy Horton, has been selected as one of ten titles to be featured in a special independent bookshop and library promotion in the UK from 10 February to 10 March aimed at promoting new and burgeoning talent called Exclusively… Continue