Held in one of Bury St Edmund’s most impressive buildings, the Unitarian Meeting House in Churchgate Street, it was a pleasure to attend and indeed feature in the Literature Festival on the 27th October 2019. It was a first for me to be talking with a backdrop of a sweeping wooden staircase circling up to a substantial wooden pulpit! It was very atmospheric with the light streaming in through the tall windows and Waterstones there with a table of festival authors’ books.
We had a wonderful audience with plenty of interest and questions, as Jackie, Rachel and I talked about our independent approaches to publishing and our various experiences. Our different genres lend themselves to contrasting methods of reaching our audiences, for example – Rachel writes post apocalyptic adventure for Young Adults, Jackie writes literary fiction as well as being a playwright, and I write contemporary crime novels set in Suffolk. That’s quite a mix of styles, and led to a lively talk about ebooks, paperbacks, audiobooks and the stage. We could have talked for far longer than our allocated time – it always feels good when you leave an audience wanting more!
I’m delighted to be taking part in the Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival when it returns to the town this October with a whole host of exciting events, talks and discussions on literature, publishing and the like.
I’ll be ‘in conversation’ with award-winning local playwright and novelist, Jackie Carreira, (her new novel, The Seventh Train, was released in April 2019) about the highs and lows of independent publishing – sharing our experiences and offering our tips on how to avoid the common pitfalls of the process.
Details:
Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival 25th – 27th October 2019
This is a photo I took last weekend of a Waterstones window display. To be more specific it was the window of their Buttermarket branch in Bury St Edmunds. It was rather nice to see my name and latest crime novel on a poster in a bookshop window – namely Waterstones.
I didn’t think to check if the poster gave the correct information. That is to say – I will be in the Bury St Edmunds Waterstones bookshop, Buttermarket branch, with my crime novel ‘Utterly Roasted’ on Saturday the 24th August from 10 am to 4 pm. A book signing and meet the author event.
I hope that if you are in Bury St Edmunds on that Saturday and pass this Waterstones window display, you will drop in to say hello. I’d love to see you. I’ll be the one with a neat pile of books with burnt orange/apricot covers stacked on a small table. I hope it will be a sunny day to reflect the warmth of the covers.
‘Utterly Roasted’ is set in the summer of 2013. August, to be precise. Chrissie Jax and DI Clive Merry return from a short break in Amsterdam. Within a week, two bodies are delivered to the morgue and the international spotlight is on Clive and his investigation. The action moves from Alton Water to Ipswich; Bury St Edmunds to Felixstowe; Hadleigh to Woolpit and Woodbridge. Tension mounts as a tangled web of car paint re-spraying, a catering outfit, pike fishing and chocolate draws in long term friends Matt and Nick. Chrissie becomes part of the investigation in a way no one could have predicted.
This is a classic crime novel with so many twists it makes it feel completely fresh and different from anything you have read before!
Two paintings by artist Rebecca Moss Guyver were selected for this year’s Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) annual exhibition. How cool is that? I feel so lucky to have Rebecca as the artist designing my Utterly Crime Series book covers.
The exhibition runs from the 4th to the 14th of July. It features over 500 works by established and emerging artists. It’s held at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1.
It’s sourced from member artists and through open submission, to produce high quality works in an eclectic mix of style and media. The show also includes entries from the finalists for the Society’s prestigious Rome Scholarship award, and work from the recipient of the Rome Scholarship from the previous year.
I went along for the official opening and took lots of photos. The gallery lighting cast a few frame shadows – it all adds to the atmosphere of the event! I have posted one of Rebecca’s two selected paintings along with Rebecca Moss Guyver next to the painting. Catch the exhibits at www.royalsocietyofbritishartists.org.uk.
Imagine how surprised and pleased I was when I spent a December Friday in the Woodbridge Library and while there spotted my crime novel – Utterly Dusted – amongst the crime novels on the library ‘Suffolk Loves’ shelf. I had to take a quick photo. Unfortunately the snowflake design on the seasonal cover tends to disguise the ‘Suffolk Loves’ sticker. It isn’t immediately obvious and doesn’t leap out at you from the photo, but if you screw your eyes up and focus hard… yes it is there. A ‘Suffolk Loves’ sticker. Wow!
The 8th novel in the Utterly Crime series is now published and available in paperback and ebook.
Some of my research before writing this particular book took me to do some, what I'd call high-end event waiting/waitressing. I spent my time at one event back-of-house helping in the kitchen (washing up and plating up) and a second event front-of-house serving canapés and waiting at table. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did, although it was exhausting work. And my poor feet...! It was nice to sit down and weave it into the plot.
As always, Rebecca Moss Guyver has designed the cover. Another highly original, colourful and inspired piece of art.
And so to the story: it is August 2013 and Chrissie Jax and D.I. Clive Merry return to Suffolk from a short break in Amsterdam. Within a week, two bodies are delivered to the morgue and the international spotlight is on Clive and his investigation.
Tension mounts as a tangled web of: car paint re-spraying; a catering outfit; a mysterious waitress; pike fishing, and chocolate draws in long term friends Matt and Nick. Chrissie becomes part of the investigation in a way no one could have predicted.
This is the eighth novel in theUtterly Crime series. It stands alone, but we see the return of many characters met before as the action moves from Alton Water to Ipswich; Bury St Edmunds to Felixstowe; Hadleigh to Woolpit and Woodbridge.
Utterly Explosive, the first book in the Utterly Crime Series is now available as an audiobook!
I have been so lucky to find a fantastic narrator in Andy Deane. If you didn't already know, Andy is a local (Suffolk based) actor with the QuirkHouse Theatre Co based in Bury St Edmunds. He has already narrated Utterly Crushed for an audiobook, and so it is wonderful to have him narrating another Utterly Crime novel.
With a word like explosive in the title the action is bound to kick off. When it does, Andy happily adds some fun with the accents of the hot Rumanian fruit picker, a smooth-talking Polish fruit farm manager and a threatening Bulgarian thug.
The book is set in Suffolk and it all comes to life as he effortlessly changes from his warm narrator English into the voices of the characters. When a local accent is needed, Andy's soft Suffolk is excellent easy listening.
Utterly Explosive is now available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes.
It has been great fun and a very new experience to convert my written pages into an audiobook. I am so lucky to have found Andy Deane, a talented actor based in Bury St Edmunds. He is not only the narrator, but is also skilled enough to edit the recordings. I think the official term would be producer/actor/narrator. (He might put the list in a different order!)
It was very important for me to find a narrator who could ‘do’ a genuine Suffolk accent – not West Country or a miss mash of other accents, but the real deal!
Andy Deane brings the characters to life with his warm versatile voice AND speaks with a genuine soft Suffolk accent when required. (Now that was a mouthful!) I have always been able to imagine my characters voices, but to actually hear them given life is amazing.
The audiobook, Utterly Crushed is available through Amazon, Audible and iTunes.
It’s that time of year again – busy, busy busy! Pauline is off to Watersones with Utterly Dusted – her latest book in the Utterly Crime series – crime novels set in Suffolk.
Pauline will be in the Waterstones Ipswich Buttermarket branch on Thursday 16th November and then the Waterstones Bury St Edmunds Buttermarket branch on Saturday 2nd December for an ‘Utterly Dusted’ book promotion and meet the author event.
I, and I’m Otto don’t you know, will be wondering where I’m supposed to be going – sometimes it’s difficult to keep up! Amazon.uk
The 7th Utterly Crime novel is released, and once again Rebecca Moss Guyver has designed another terrific cover!
Utterly Dusted – the 7th novel in the Utterly Crime Series is available in paperback and ebook format.
The PLOT: Dust clouds can combust with explosive force in the same way that the past can spring up and strike. Chrissie is under pressure with her carpentry business as Christmas approaches. When she is told by DI Clive Merry not to meddle in his cases, she struggles to curb her predictable curiosity. She tries to remain on the sidelines but along with old friends Nick and Matt, is drawn into a whirlpool of stalkers and shadows from the past.
A body is found near a golf course and another is discovered in a water-logged ditch. The tension racks up against the backdrop of an ancient woodland and a search for vintage gifts. The action moves from Bury St Edmunds to Woolpit, Stowmarket to Ipswich, and Onehouse to Framlingham.
I have infused Utterly Dusted with the feel of Suffolk and the gentle humour from the everyday lives of Chrissie, Nick and Matt. This book stands alone but many of the characters previously seen return as the pace quickens and the past ignites.
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