The Society of Authors meeting in London on Monday was fascinating for many reasons: the venue, the characters in the audience, the panel and what they said. I’ve picked out some quotes from the panel of experts (a publisher, an agent and a book wholesaler) and thought I’d let you decide who said what with the offer of a FREE signed edition of one of my novels if you guess correctly. But first a little more about the event.
The
Conway Hall,… Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on October 9, 2008 at 3:52am —
1 Comment
I’m off to the Society of Authors AGM in London today. I’ve been a member for almost ten years and although I don’t get to attend every meeting or function I have used the society’s extremely helpful service on publishing copyright and contracts. The SOA has (as its web site declares) been serving the interests of professional writers for more than a century, and has more than 8,500 members writing in all areas of the profession. These include novelists, textbook writers, ghost writers,…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on October 6, 2008 at 8:32pm —
No Comments
The Women Into Business conference went really well. Seventy women turned up across all age ranges some who were already running businesses and others who were about to start, or were thinking of running their own business. It was a very inspiring morning with speakers including yours truly. I was delighted to talk to so many of the women there and pass on any tips and advice about marketing and building a business. And I was thrilled that so many…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on October 6, 2008 at 1:08am —
No Comments
I'm preparing for a talk I am giving tomorrow at a Women Into Business conference in the UK. I am the keynote speaker so I need to make sure that I kick-start the conference on the right note. There are going to be ninety women there and all keen to start, or who are thinking about starting, their own business. Of course there are people around who think that now is not a good time to be doing so, but I started my own marketing and training company in the UK in 1992 three days before Black…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on October 1, 2008 at 11:20pm —
No Comments
I opened the Sunday Times Culture Section this morning and scanned the television programmes for the week, looking for anything remotely interesting that I might be bothered to watch. Then I saw it. Someone had televised my thriller IN FOR THE KILL to be aired on Sunday 28 September at 9pm on ITV. Did I blink and miss signing the contract with the production company? Was I so drunk celebrating the option that I completely blacked out on this deal? Or…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 29, 2008 at 1:48am —
No Comments
There was a buzz in the town of Havant in Hampshire (England) when I turned up this morning at Havant Arts Centre to give my talk. Not, I hasten to add, because I was speaking, but because of the wide range of interesting events being held. I am really pleased the literary festival is being greeted so enthusiastically because it is the first one to be staged in this area, and I know the organizers have worked tremendously hard to pull it off.
I wasn’t sure how many people to expect.…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 28, 2008 at 4:13am —
No Comments
It's always a pleasure to do radio interviews, especially if you're having a bad hair day, and if you need to get up before the crack of dawn to arrive at the studio on time and haven't put on much make-up, or had a caffeine fix. Why? Because, of course, you've guessed it, no one can see you. Only now I'm going to break that rule by posting a photograph of myself and the presenter, Julian Clegg. He's a great guy and a very professional and talented…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 27, 2008 at 2:23am —
No Comments
I attended the photo shoot for the publicity for the Havant Literary Festival (Hampshire, UK) this morning with fellow authors, Brian Clarke and saga writer, Dee Williams. ( I'm on the right holding a copy of THE SUFFOCATING SEA.) The children are from Warblington Senior School. The photograph was for The News, Portsmouth's daily newspaper. An article is to appear in Wednesday's edition and hopefully on line.
As part of the festival I'm giving a…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 24, 2008 at 3:31am —
No Comments
I'm on the radio twice this week. On 23 September I will be on
Angel Radio which is a station dedicated to 'snap, crackle and no pop.' It is run primarily by older people who have created a unique radio service for lovers of vintage music and nostalgia. You can listen to it on the web site
www.angelradio.co.uk or on 101.1FM. The station has listeners from all over the UK and the USA, so I'll get a chance to…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 23, 2008 at 4:14am —
No Comments
I have just received copies of the Polish translation of my thriller
In For The Kill. (The Polish version is on the left, and the English one on the right in case you have any doubts!) It's always exciting to see your work in another language.
Red Horse Publishers based in Poland bought the translation rights to three of my crime and thriller novels earlier this year and…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 16, 2008 at 3:07am —
No Comments
I’m giving a talk tomorrow at Bracknell Library in Berkshire, Hampshire, and I am looking forward to it. It is always good to connect with people, and at these types of events to discuss books (not only mine but other writers) and to discover what people like and why they like them. It also helps to provide me with ideas for possible future books, plays and screenplays. And it reminds me who my audience are i.e. who I am writing for and why I write.…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 11, 2008 at 11:27pm —
No Comments
I’ve just finished writing the first draft of a new DI Horton marine mystery crime novel with a feeling of relief and exhilaration. Of course, this is nowhere near the finished version, in fact there are chunks missing at the end of the novel (although the last chapter is there of a kind), and not all the facts tie up and certainly the clues and red herrings aren’t all in place. But now I feel released from that great sense of urgency to get everything down on paper (or rather computer screen)…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on September 9, 2008 at 1:09am —
2 Comments
I have just returned from giving a talk to a local reading circle. It was their fourth anniversary of meeting and they wanted to mark it with the visit of a 'live' author. Think I qualify on those grounds - though sometimes I'm not so sure about the 'live' bit. They were a lovely and lively group of women (sadly their only male member had recently left to go into a nursing home). It was a pleasure to meet them all. I talked about how I write and read…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on August 20, 2008 at 3:24am —
No Comments
OK so this blog entry has little to do with crime but I thought some of you might find it entertaining. Choosing a book's title is always a tricky job. Sometimes it comes to me in a flash, and at other times it will take me ages to come up with something appropriate and catchy. Choosing a non fiction book title is easier because it usually reflects the contents of the book, (though not always- some business books have really zany titles.) But there are none quite so wacky as those featured in a…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on August 19, 2008 at 3:05am —
No Comments
The plot line in my thriller, In Cold Daylight, which was shortlisted for the World Book Day Prize 2008, is turning out to become more of a reality than I envisaged when I first started researching and writing it some years ago, probably because it was based on a true story which I overheard my husband's fire fighting colleagues discussing on the station one day.
In Cold Daylight is centred around several fire fighters from one watch dying of…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on August 13, 2008 at 1:01am —
No Comments
When a body of a woman was found in Portsmouth Central Library, on the evening of 25 July 2008, I and fellow crime writer,June Hampson were on hand to help solve the puzzle, but we were banned from doing so. Why? Because this was a murder mystery evening organised by library staff. And a hugely successful event it was too.
Over sixty guests were asked to follow a trail of clues scattered around the three floors of the library to uncover the…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on July 27, 2008 at 9:05pm —
1 Comment
I've just returned from a meeting with Portsmouth Library to discuss the final planning for the Murder Mystery evening to be held this Friday. It sounds as though it is going to be great fun. Tickets were sold out almost immediately and there is a waiting list for the next one! So well done Portsmouth Library. I'm looking forward to it. They'll be Pimms on the balcony after the event and time for guests to buy signed copies of my books if they wish. I only have a very small part to play in the…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on July 23, 2008 at 4:23am —
No Comments
Yesterday I was invited to talk at a businesswomen’s networking lunch sponsored by the legal firm, Warner Goodman in aid of the magnificent and worthwhile charity, Kids. My talk was on my unusual route from businesswoman to best selling crime writer and how I apply my marketing and PR skills to the business of being an author. For many years I ran a marketing agency, have been a professional trainer and public speaker and publisher, all of which come…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on July 17, 2008 at 5:08pm —
No Comments
PUBLISHING NEWS, THE UK book trade weekly magazine, is to cease publication. The news has just popped into my in box. The statement says that the publication, founded in 1979, has been hit by the same problems that have affected all magazines and newspapers, as advertisers have shifted increasing proportions of their spend to online and direct sales. Being in the 'book business' I have worked with Publishing News for about the last ten years and will miss them. Good luck to the editorial staff…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on July 16, 2008 at 5:14pm —
No Comments
Well the
Crime Writers' Association Awards evening is now over (10 July 2008) and the winner of the Duncan Lawrie Dagger is Frances Fyfield. Well done to Frances. Well done also to Craig Russell who won the Dagger in the Library Award, which, now the hush-hush secrecy is all over and done with, I can reveal that I was nominated for it. OK, so I didn't make the shortlist but I was delighted and excited to get to the long list having not been around in crime…
Continue
Added by Pauline Rowson on July 14, 2008 at 12:54am —
No Comments
