On Thursday 19 June I had the pleasure of speaking to members of a very friendly and welcoming U3a at Ringwood. Ringwood is an historic market town in Hampshire (England) located on the River Avon, on the western edge of the New Forest. It’s situated between Southampton and Bournemouth.

Apparently Ringwood had a long history of a thriving hand knitting industry. (I knew I should have taken my knitting). It became famous for its "Ringwood" woollen gloves, which were knitted in…

I'm often asked how I research my crime novels and in particular the police procedure and crime scene investigation side of things. I'm not married to a police officer or a former police officer (although I am married to a former fire-fighter) so I don't have inside knowledge except when it comes to fires, burnt bodies and serious road and other incidents which fire fighters attend, and they can all be incorporated into a crime novel, which indeed I have done.

So where do I…

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.…

I will be undertaking a book tour in the North East of England in April to publicise my latest crime novel to feature the flawed and rugged DI Andy Horton, Undercurrent,published by Severn House and to talk to readers about how I research, plot and write my novels.…

2012 was another busy and rewarding year with two new DI Andy Horton Mystery crime novels, (number seven and eight in the series published), A Killing Coast and Death…

All writers have different ways of working and finding the ‘perfect system’ for planning, researching, plotting, structuring and writing a novel is often a matter of trial and error until something clicks. That’s how it was for me anyway.

Before I struck on my 'perfect system' I tried all sorts of ways of compiling my research, plotlines, and character outlines, from using note books to wall maps, from card indexes to ring binders. None of them worked. The ring binders looked…

Each stage of writing a novel for me brings with it a range of different emotions. These range from excitement and frustration, to relief, doubt and fear, plus a whole lot in between.

I'm currently working on the tenth in the DI Andy Horton series and the theme is developing nicely.Eager to begin writing I don't wait until I have a complete outline. I don't even wait until I have conducted all my research and I certainly have no idea at this stage who the killer is and why. All I know…

I'm often asked how I research police procedures and police matters for my crime novels and while the DI Horton crime series certainly doesn't conform to policing in the real world  there is an underlying reality about some of the situations and procedures.



So where do I get my research from?



From talking to real live police officers, those working on the coal face and those who have also retired and my thanks here to the officers in the CID, the Major Crime Unit and the…

I want to say a huge thank you to the staff at the National Museum of the Royal Navy and the Library for all the help and time they gave to me today answering innumerable questions in aid of my research for the current DI Andy Horton marine mystery crime novel which is set in and around the museum in the Historic Dockyard Portsmouth. I learnt so much, all of it a great help.



A special thank you to Rowannah…

I love to conduct research.  This can be a thorn in a writer’s side, but I really enjoy this part of the creative process.  Just think about it… you learn something new every time you research.  You can actually learn a new fact today you didn’t know yesterday. 

It’s quite amazing when you begin to outline the story you want to write, you realize all the little details that you need to…

Hubby and I traveled to the Mackinac Bridge this weekend. It's something we've seen lots of times before, but I found that as I reached the closing scenes of the second Dead Detective Mystery, I needed to look at the bridge with a new purpose. The book is already past the date that I gave my editor for submission, but I needed to answer some specific questions: can a person get from the water onto the bridge, would the bridge workers be aware of a pedestrian, and could she get up onto the…

In researching my latest novel Silent Partner, I found myself immersed in the police K9 training world.  I wanted to create a main “cop” character that was also a K9 unit.  This was a challenge, but I felt that it…

Crime novelists generally write a novel a year. It’s what publishers want. Some big writers—and I mean, 25 million books sold—have told me their publishers and agents complain that if they don’t produce a book a year their readers will forget them.

In the case of such writers, some of those 25 million may have degenerative diseases and others may be plain stupid, but in all…

Here are some of the things I have learnt whilst writing a crime novel -

Anyone can fit inside a pop our cake. Most of these cakes aren't cakes after all. They may have frosting on the outside, but the rest is usually cardboard. This is a bit disappointing when you want your character to eat their way out of the cake.

 …

I’ve been writing in various genres for some time now, but only recently came to appreciate the link between research and inspiration. Yes, I know; it was probably always there, but I hadn’t really given it much thought until just a few years ago.…

by…

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 set on the south coast of England around the…