Murder in Merton: Crime in the Library

Last night I had the pleasure of attending a fun crime writing event at one of the libraries in my local London borough, Merton, with the Crime in the Library author panel at Wimbledon Library, held in association with National Crime Reading Month, Wimbledon BookFest, and Murder in Merton.

Having organised 80+ library events in New Zealand (plus Tasmania, Melbourne, and Reyjavik) in recent years that I haven't attended in person, it was nice to go to a library crime fiction panel nearby. More often any crime fiction events are held in central London, at Waterstones Piccadilly and the like.

Kudos to local Merton author Joy Kluver for setting up Murder in Merton to encourage more events in SW London. Joy chaired last night's event, which featured Putney author Robert Gold, journalist turned crime writer Saima Mir, and Irish author Olivia Kiernan, who'd set her most recent book THE END OF US in Wimbledon. It grew into a really fun event, with lots of interesting discussion about characterisation, the importance of setting, each of the authors' approach to crime writing, and more.

It was great to see a big (120+) audience in attendance, with people enjoying the discussion, buying drinks and books and getting them signed (thanks Waterstones Wimbledon for supporting the event), which will hopefully encourage the Library and others to host more crime writing events locally. 

The Wimbledon Crime in the Library panel showcasing each others' books:
Joy with Liv's book, Robert with Joy's, Liv with Saima's and Saima with Robert's. 

Hopefully there will plenty more crime writing events held in future. It's lovely to mix in these local library (and bookshop) evenings among all the festivals large and small and numerous book launches over spring-autumn. We're blessed with a cornucopia of great crime writing nowadays, and it's great to see writers and readers (and libraries) connecting in a variety of ways. 

A clutch of Daggers at Crimefest

Craig Sisterson, Quentin Bates, Lilja Sigurdardottir,
Michael J Malone, and Barry Forshaw at Crimefest

Last Friday I made a spontaneous day-trip to Bristol for Crimefest, the annual crime writing convention. In recent years I'd gone for the entire four days, but this year I had to miss it due to other commitments. But then a last-minute window opened for a day trip.

So I hopped on an early train from London, and spent a full day there loitering with some of the world's finest criminal masterminds, before making a late-night getaway (and an eventual 2am return home to South London).

In between I had a terrific time catching up with a dozens of authors, publishers, reviewers, and others. There's a great atmosphere at Crimefest, with an exciting array of topical sessions, as well as lots of good times just hanging out in the bookshop, bar, and lounge areas, meeting and chatting to different crime-lovers. Like many crime festivals, there's a really great atmosphere, so whether you're a writer or reader, a newbie or an old hand, you'll be welcomed in and find yourself engaging with lots of people who share a love of good crime and thriller writing.

Even just being in Bristol for about 12 hours, there were too many highlights to mention. But to give you a flavour of what goes on at Crimefest, here are a few snippets, new memories created:

• Meeting American crime writer CJ Box for the first time, and spontaneously setting up an interview, only for us both to get caught up in chatting about the frontier nature of the United States and New Zealand, what we love about the great outdoors, and much more. And a random fact: according to CJ, much of the 'wild game' served in US restaurants isn't that wild, due to hunting and commercial use restrictions, so the 'elk' I ate at a game restaurants in Jackson Hole years ago may have been - of all things - imported New Zealand red deer. 

• Wandering into the downstairs bar during a lull in proceedings (many of the sessions were jam-packed), and ending up having a drink with Peter Guttridge and Stanley Trollip (half of Michael Stanley), leading to a long chat with Stanley about what he loves about living in Minneapolis, and kicking around ideas of how to approach setting up crime writing festivals in New Zealand and South Africa - neither of our countries have crime festivals yet. 

• Meeting the German crime writers who were at Crimefest thanks to the efforts of Dr Kat Hall, who'd last year hosted a mini-session giving an overview of German 'krimis'. This year Melanie Raabe, Mario Giordano, Merle Kröger, and Volker Kutscher were there in person. It's great to see the evolution of Crimefest as it embraces a broader range of international authors, and the hard work of people like Kat paying off. I think we all benefit. 

• Catching up with my fellow Ngaio Marsh Awards judges Yrsa Sigurdardottir and Peter Rozovsky (Yrsa is a current judge, Peter was a founding judge back in 2010), along with 'half-Kiwi' thriller writer CJ Carver, who's entered in this year's awards. Hopefully, like Kat has done with the German writers the past couple of years, we'll be able to get a bit more attention for great Kiwi crime writing at various British and European crime festivals in future. 

• Running into fellow critics, awards judges, and event organisers like Mike Stotter, Barry Forshaw, Ewa Sherman, Jacky Collins, Sarah Ward, Quentin Bates, and the irrepressible Ali Karim. My knowledge of crime writing is always challenged and expanded by the conversations we have about various authors and books - and we always end up coming up with all sorts of grand ideas for the future - hopefully some of which will come to fruition!

• Celebrating with the fine authors and publishers who made the CWA Dagger long-lists announced on the Friday evening (see full list here), and commiserating with some of my top reads of last year who missed out on being recognised. (And having some fascinating discussions with some of the CWA judges about the awards). I've been involved in judging the national crime writing awards for three different countries, and it's always interesting to learn how different things work, and a good reminder of differing tastes.

• Finishing my day with late-night fish'n'chips with Peter Rozovksy and new-to-me British crime writer Lloyd Otis, whose debut crime novel Dead Lands will be out in October. There aren't enough black voices in crime writing, in Britain and elsewhere (a recurring discussion I've had with several people in several countries lately) so I'm excited to read Otis' debut. 

After all the festivities, I took a late-night train back to London, passing the time by finishing Glen Erik Hamilton's third Van Shaw adventure, Every Day Above Ground. A great day all around. 

Here are some more photos:

The irrepressible Ali Karim interview-bombs CJ Box and I

Three nationalities of Ngaios judges, new and old:
Yrsa Sigurdardottir, Craig Sisterson, and Peter Rozovsky

Peculier times in historic Harrogate

This time two years ago I was enjoying the sunshine and book-loving banter amongst a fun-loving crowd of crime fiction readers and writers at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate in the north of England. I'd watched the festival grow from afar over the past decade, and was very jealous of those who got to attend what always looked like a wonderful weekend. So when a friend's UK wedding fell within a week of the 2012 festival, I took the chance for a trip northwards.

Right: Thriller writers Paul Cleave (New Zealand), Simon Kernick (England), Val McDermid (Scotland) and myself. 

Harrogate was even better than I could have anticipated. The town itself is delightful, an historic spa town in Yorkshire, with pretty botanic gardens, cobblestoned streets, and a great, laidback vibe to it. Perhaps too peaceful for a crime writing convention? Well, considering the Grand Dame Agatha Christie set many of her murderous mysteries in quaint British towns, it might be very fitting. The festival always takes place at the Old Swan Hotel, an ivy-covered edifice with lovely grounds.

Other than the fact it's a festival all about crime writing, meaning there are a plethora of fantastic events to attend, one of the best things about the Theakston Festival is the interaction between readers, reviewers, and authors. There are plenty of opportunities for everyone to mix at the bar, and hang out in the grounds in the sunshine. Many attendees stay at the Old Swan Hotel itself, with others at nearby accommodations a short walk, or stumble (given the late night antics the festival is famous for) away. This just creates a very collegial, inclusive vibe, where readers feel less intimidated to go up and chat to one of their favourite authors.

I would highly recommend any crime fiction fan who gets the chance, to attend the festival. I'll definitely be looking to head back there again, hopefully in the not too distant future.

A fun night by Sydney Harbour

The Sydney Writers Festival came to an end on Sunday evening, after a magnificent few days of events. I had the pleasure of sharing a few drinks and several hours of great conversation by the Sydney Harbour in a group including Michael Robotham and John Connolly, to cap the festivities.

Attending festivals, whether as an audience member, media, or involved as an event chair, always reminds me of the passion of those who love books and stories, and how invigorating it is to be around people who create. I'd highly recommend any keen crime fiction reader who peruses this blog to head along to author events when they get the chance, whether it be at your local library or bookstore, or a larger festival. I've always found them a great way to spend time.

SWF: A story in pictures

Well, the Sydney Writers Festival has been on the past few days in Australasia's biggest city, and it's been a cracking time, with thousands of people gathering to listen to cool discussions about books and ideas of all kind. I of course have been focused on the crime and thriller fiction events, and there have been plenty to choose from. I'll be publishing some reports from various events in the coming days (I've been taking copious notes to share with y'all), but for now, here are a few pics from the past couple of days... 

Above: introducing award-winning Irish crime writer John Connolly to Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton. Talent overload amongst my drinking buddies... 

Right: meeting Australian crime writer PM Newton for the first time, following the panel session "The Perfect Victim", where she discussed the relationship between crime fiction, true crime, and crime reporting in the media, and in particular whether fictional violence towards women in crime fiction had an effect on the way real-life crime is reported. Very interesting discussion, where Newton, herself a former NSW police detective, was joined by Clive James (NSW policeman turned true crime writer), journalist Michaela McGuire, and bookseller Jon Page.

Left: Eleanor Catton autographs copies of her Man Booker Prize-winning novel THE LUMINARIES following her packed session at Sydney's Recital Hall on Thursday night. Ellie had the audience alternately entranced and in stitches with her openness, self-deprecating humour and insightful comments about writing and life. It was great to get more of an insight into all the work, research, thought, and more that went into Ellie's creation of THE LUMINARIES, and the doubts, trials, and stumbling process for even the most talented writers...

Right: superstar Swedish crime writer Camilla Lackberg chatting to readers following her session "A Life of Crime". I had the pleasure of interviewing Camilla for the New Zealand Listener recently, before her visit to Australasia, and she is a fascinating person and great conversationalist/speaker, as well as a talented writer. A self-confessed "crime nerd", she had plenty to say about all manner of things crime fiction and life.



More to come. Got to dash to the John Connolly, Michael Robotham, Adrian McKinty event... 

The Harrogate Festival

Well, after three fantastic days and nights, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival came to a close earlier today. It's been a phenomenal three days - filled with terrific sessions, mingling with authors in the foyer, bar, and outside, interviews with authors familiar and new, lunches and dinners, and more. There really is a special vibe here - inside and outside of the sessions. I've come away from the festival with so many terrific memories - it was three days filled with highlights. And I probably won't fully grasp what a special experience it was - especially coming from half the world away - until I get more chance to fully reflect, down the track. I've met some truly terrific people - authors, agents, publicists, readers, and others who love books and crime writing - and there really was such a wonderful 'vibe'.

The organisers did a great job, from the line-up of events, to creating an atmosphere where authors, readers, and reviewers etc can all mingle together freely over the course of the weekend. Before I came, I thought the sessions would be the most important part of the festival - but as many others had and have told me, it's all the other bits in between that make Harrogate special, and elevate it above many other good books conventions and festivals. The sessions are wonderful, but it's everything else that adds to the really special recipe to create a wonderful concoction.

There's a lot I can and will say about Harrogate, in the coming days and weeks etc, but for now I thought I'd give you all a bit of a tiny taste of the past three days, via this photo:

The Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate - venue for the festival, and historically famous as the place Agatha Christie resurfaced after an unexplained absence. If you look closely, the group behind the yellow car includes authors Harlan Coben, Simon Kernick, Stuart MacBride, and more - that sums up Harrogate - authors and readers all mingling together over the course of three days.

Book launch: BODY ON THE STAGE

On Saturday night, in amongst all the deadline-related work and marathon training, I managed to get along to the Pumphouse Theatre on the North Shore to celebrate the launch of local writer Bev Robitai's third crime/thriller novel, BODY ON THE STAGE. It was great to see a big crowd there - and it was a very fun book launch, with theatrical and dance performances, as well as Robitai (pictured right) reading an intriguing and funny passage from her latest theatrical murder mystery.

BODY ON THE STAGE, which is available in ebook form and print-on-demand, is the second in Robitai's 'theatre mystery' series, following MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW.

On stage, Robitai mentioned that her favourite crime writers were Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh - which makes sense, as Robitai's style is more of a 'modern cosy' than the darker serial killer tales that fill many crime fiction shelves nowadays. Lots of mystery and intriguing characters, with little to no gruesome violence. Plus, of course, Dame Ngaio was heavily involved in the theatre, and set several of her acclaimed Inspector Alleyn tales in that very setting.

In BODY ON THE STAGE, Dennis Dempster has let himself go. Living alone, he has put on weight and retreated from life, but thanks to his sister's nagging, that's about to change. He joins the theatre group, which happens to be staging a production of Ladies Night (a famous play about male strippers, that inspired the producers of the film The Full Monty) and gets swept up in the world of gyms, muscle-building and fitness. In the course of his transformation, Dennis finds new friends. He finds love. And then he finds a dead body...

I thoroughly enjoyed MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW (see my review here), so I'm looking forward to giving BODY ON THE STAGE a read. The passage Robitai read, about when Dennis goes to the gym for the first time, was certainly quite compelling and amusing.

As well as being a talented storyteller, Robitai is also becoming quite a positive force for a large group of local writers, helping them get published online on websites such as Smashwords, along with getting print-on-demand hard copies of their books (and getting them professional edited, raising the standards, etc). It's great to see creative people getting their stuff out their in the world for people to read and see etc. It was a lot of fun to be at the book launch on Saturday, to be in a room of positive, interesting people to celebrate creativity.

I also had the added pleasure of catching up with an old friend, Grae Burton, who performed a piece from his acclaimed one-man play, Coffee with Eelco, which is about a colourful and iconic cafe owner from my hometown of Nelson. It was rather bizarre chatting to 'Eelco' during the night - Grae does a great job with the voice, accent and mannerisms (pictured left). I'm looking forward to seeing the full show at the Pumphouse in August.

All in all, it was a terrific night - several dozen people had a wonderful time, the energy was palpable, and lots of books were bought and signed. It's great to see local grass-roots crime writing in such good health.

You can read the Mysteries in Paradise review of MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW here, and the Reactions to Reading review here.

You can buy an e-version of BODY ON THE STAGE here (and at only US$2.99, it's a bargain for those overseas readers who sometimes find it hard to source Kiwi crime fiction at reasonable prices).

"OK, Fatso, Show Us The Forensic Evidence"

GUEST POST BY YVONNE EVE WALUS

A review of the "A Mind for Murder" session at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival

To be honest, I only bought the ticket to the A Mind For Murder event (Auckland Writers And Readers Festival) because its category was CRIME. That, and because Craig Sisterson was chairing the panel discussion. I’d heard Craig in the role before and he’s one of the most professional, knowledgeable and entertaining chairs I know.

So when Jennifer Rowe had to be replaced at the last minute by Greg McGee, I didn’t mind. I came to hear about murder, and with authors Peter James and Paul Thomas making up the trio, I knew we were in for a very good Mother’s Day morning.

Violence In Crime Fiction was the first topic the panel challenged. Right up my particular alley of discontent. I’m a squeamish reader. Blame it on being brought up on Nazi concentration camp movies, but the idea of pain and torture makes me faint. Needless to say, when it comes to crime fiction, I’m drawn to the logical puzzle, not to the post-mortem analysis, and I’ll take Miss Marple over Dexter any day.

I know I’m not alone. So why the sudden influx of gratuitous gore and pointless pain in a genre that used to be famous for puzzle solving and pitching your wits against the detective’s in the race to discover who’d done it? Sunday morning’s panel blamed it on:

• the TV’s search for sensationalism;
• the public’s fascination with serial killers;
• the need for instant gratification and titillation;
• science (if Agatha Christie wrote her Poirot mysteries today, somebody in the room would be bound to stand up and say, “OK, Fatso, show us the forensic evidence.”)
• desensitisation to violence, making it necessary for writers to reach new heights of horror with every book. (It’s a little like sex scenes, isn’t it? A few decades ago, we only needed the dot-dot-dot and our imagination. Now pick up a book, not necessarily a romance, and you get tag A going into slot B. And what’s on the bestseller list? Fifty Shades Of Grey with its explicit descriptions of sex, bondage and inflicting pain.)

When it comes to violence, women form softer targets and elicit more audience compassion, the panel said, so no wonder in books they end up being tortured more often than their male counterparts. Torturing an animal will get you even more attention. Reminds me of what a New York literary agent, Donald Maass advises writers to do: “If there is a dog in your book, kick it. If there’s a child, kill it. That’s the surest way onto the NYT bestseller list.”

Seems we only have ourselves to blame.

This thread led into the second topic of Sunday’s discussion, Crime Fiction And Literature. So many book critics believe the two to be mutually exclusive. One, apparently, goes as far as claiming that if a book is a page-turner, it has no literary value. At this point I would have loved to have such a critic on the panel, not only to throw rotten tomatoes at him, but also to hear his side of the argument. Why does a great book need to be inaccessible? Why shouldn’t a murder mystery carry an important message? Why can’t a literary work of art be enjoyed by the masses? Good writing is good writing, be it a literary novel or a medical thriller.

In fact, according to Lee Child, good writing is easier to find in genre fiction. His by now famous quotes include:

• “We can all use big words, but we choose not to.”
• "Why do some authors write literary fiction? Because they can't plot."

Being a bestselling author, he said it best.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This guest post was contributed by Yvonne Eve Walus, a published author of crime and romance novels. You can find out more about Walus and her writing here.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For more reviews and thoughts on the "A Mind for Murder" event:

• Young adult author Melinda Symnanik at I Should Be Writing, But...
• Maritime expert, historian and crime writer Joan Druett at World of the Written Word

Comments welcome.

Kiwi crime shines in Leipzig

Earlier today (NZT), New Zealand launched its Frankfurt Book Fair Guest of Honour programme at the Leipziger Buchmesse, and amongst the Kiwi authors thrilling the crowds were two crime writers: 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award winner Paul Cleave, who already has a very strong following in Germany, and 2011 Ngaio Marsh Award finalist Paddy Richardson, whose psychological thrillers are also being translated into German.

It's great to see Kiwi crime fiction reaching other parts of the world. Here are a few photos of the Kiwis in action (courtesy of New Zealand at Frankfurt):

Ngaio Marsh Award winner Paul Cleave, who had the bestselling crime novel on

Amazon Germany in 2007, signing autographs for German fans at the Leipziger Buchmesse.

Ngaio Marsh Award finalist Paddy Richardson, author of psychological thrillers

like HUNTING BLIND and TRACES OF RED, signs autographs in Leipzig.

Paddy (second from left) and Paul (right) on the New Zealand Crime Fiction panel

Comments welcome.

A few photos and thoughts from a crime-filled weekend

Well, it's been a fantastic weekend down in Wellington as the Writers and Readers Week part of the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival kicked into gear. It was great to be surrounded by so many people, including authors from all over the world and hundreds of readers, who are passionate about books. There was a terrific energy in an around the Embassy Theatre and the other venues.

It was also amazing to see how much effort and organisation goes into things behind the scenes to make sure things run relatively smoothly, and that audience members and authors alike have a really enjoyable time. Kudos to Anne Chamberlain, Kathryn Carmody, the other official organisers and board members, and their large team of enthusiastic and helpful volunteers.

From an official standpoint, I was there to chair two sessions: "Norwegian Crime" with Jo Nesbo (pictured right) on the Saturday evening, and "New Zealand Crime" with Paul Cleave, Vanda Symon, and Paul Thomas on Sunday morning. I really enjoyed both sessions - it was great to chat to talented crime writers before an enthusiastic and engaged audience, who in each case seemed keen to ask plenty of questions too.

You can read Pip Adam's report on the packed-out Jo Nesbo session (which apparently drew the biggest crowd of any of the books events) on the Scoop news website here. You can also read Maggie Rainey-Smith's report on the same event here.

There was also a "Tartan Noir" session with Scottish author Denise Mina (one of four sessions Mina, who is also a graphic novelist, was/is involved in during the week), who was interviewed onstage by Jane Stafford. You can read Pip Adam's report on that session here.

I've often been told that one of the best things about such writers and readers festivals is the social scene, and the opportunity for authors and others to all hang out together outside of the panel sessions and other events.

That certainly proved the case in Wellington, where I got to meet and spend time with several authors, crime writers and otherwise. It was great to just 'hang out' with many people, from playing frisbee with New Zealand crime writers Paul Cleave and Vanda Symon at a waterfront park on the Friday evening (no swimming required this time), to having a few drinks with Cleave, Symon, British writer Robert Shearman (who famously returned the Daleks to Doctor Who in 2005), 2009's "golden girl of fiction" Eleanor Catton (THE REHEARSAL), and several others in a Wellington bar following the mayor's opening reception, and having dinner with Denise Mina, Cleave, and Symon on Saturday night (pictured above left).

There was a really good vibe all weekend, at least amongst all those I interacted with. I got to put many faces to well-known names, and meet a wide variety of writers and readers. I was blown away by many of the positive feelings about New Zealand crime writing from many in the wider local books community. For me, it certainly debunked some of the 'literary snobbery' perceptions that I've heard about in relation to the genre in New Zealand - writers and readers of all kinds were more than happy to come up to me and chat about crime writing, and many people mentioned how strong they thought the genre was becoming locally, from a quality standpoint. There was a real sense of enthusiasm and engagement across the board, and it was great to meet so many people who respect and enjoy quality crime writing, whether they write it (or read much of it) themselves or not.

Here are a couple of other photos from the festivities:

Vanda Symon, Eleanor Catton and Katie from Penguin at Matterhorn on Friday night.

Kiwi crime and mystery writers Yvonne Walus, Vanda Symon, Paul Cleave

and Paul Thomas after the New Zealand Crime session on Sunday morning.

Have you attended any of the Writers and Readers Week events at the 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival? If so, what did you think? Comments appreciated.

One night in Ponsonby

Last night I attended a lively books event at Dymocks Ponsonby, celebrating Roy Vaughan’s first novel, THE MERELEIGH RECORD CLUB TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND (now available in paperback as well as hardcover).

It was great to see a good crowd of 40-50 people there, especially as Vaughan’s book is published by a small New York publisher, and hasn’t been widely available in New Zealand in stores. Vaughan is a former officer in the British and New Zealand Merchant Navies, and journalist for the New Zealand Herald (amongst other roles), who has now started a series of thriller novels, alongside his work as a travel agent specialising in overseas educational tours (eg school trips to Europe, Asia, the Pacific Islands, etc).

There were several New Zealand Herald staff, former and current, in attendance, including former editor Peter Scherer who shared some of his thoughts on Roy and his writing in an introduction to the evening. It was great to see current Herald editor John Roughan also there. There were a few local writers in attendance also, including Charlotte Grimshaw (whose earliest work was crime/noir-ish, eg PROVOCATION), Bev Robitai (MURDER IN THE SECOND ROW), and Pauline Hayes (MURDER NOT SO SWEET) - see photo below of Roy, Bev, and myself. Great to see everyone there supporting books and writing.

It was a cracker of an Auckland late summer evening outside, so things got a little hot and stuffy in the store thanks to the large crowd, but drinks in hand we were entertained by first Scherer, then a reading from THE MERELEIGH RECORD CLUB TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND - a scene on board an ocean-going vessel where a passenger falls overboard, chosen because it demonstrated Vaughan’s use of his own maritime background in the novel - and then Vaughan himself talking about his journey to writing this novel, and his upcoming work. Vaughan also unexpectedly gave both myself and Crime Watch and Graham Beattie of Beattie’s Book Blog a nice bouquet - he had some nice things to say about how the support or acknowledgement of others who aren’t friends or family can mean a great deal for writers.

It was good to see much of the crowd hang around after the speeches ended, mixing and mingling, discussing books and writing, and getting Vaughan to sign copies of his debut thriller. It is always great so those who love books - writers, booksellers, readers, reviewers - come together with events like last night’s. Hopefully there will be more such events in future for our local writers, as well as visiting international stars.

Kudos to Andrew Rumbles and his team at Dymocks Ponsonby for putting on a good event, supporting local writers, and looking after the attendees. THE MERELEIGH RECORD CLUB TOUR OF NEW ZEALAND was published by a small New York-based publisher, and for those of you overseas is available on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Book Depository. Readers in New Zealand could also contact Andrew at Dymocks Ponsonby (Ponsonby@dymocks.co.nz), who might be able to help source copies locally - the book sold like hot cakes last night, if you’re lucky there might have been a couple of copies left (possibly signed).

You can read my 9mm author interview with Roy Vaughan, from June 2010, here.

Kathy Reichs impresses during whistle-stop Auckland visit

Last Sunday I headed up to Dymock's Newmarket to listen to and meet Kathy Reichs, the creator of the acclaimed Temperence Brennan series of forensic thrillers that have been (loosely) adapted into the popular Bones TV show.

Despite the fact her visit was on pretty short notice, and it was something of a perfect 'head to the beach' day outside, a large crowd still packed the bookstore to meet Reichs. Interestingly, it was quite a young crowd compared to some I've seen for other crime writer visits - predominantly female (about 80%), with a lot of people in their 20s and 30s. One person said to me in an aside that perhaps it was because Brennan is one of those heroines that younger females can look up to, as well as the books being interesting reads for m/any crime fiction fans.

Reichs had been giving lectures on a cruise ship that had docked in Auckland, so took the time to meet readers at Dymocks on Sunday, as well as two Whitcoulls book signings on Monday. Along with her most recent Temperence Brennan tale, MORTAL REMAINS, she has also recently released her first young adult thriller, VIRALS.

She took the time to talk to the audience about both novels, as well as how she got into writing, her involvement with the Bones television series, and more. Surprisingly for a New Zealand audience (Kiwis can be quite reticent and laidback), there were plenty of questions asked when she opened things up to the floor. A few snippets from a wonderful afternoon:

• Reichs is a producer on the popular TV series, and has in fact written one episode herself. She also provides scientific knowledge during the 'ideas' phase, and reviews the scripts of all of the episodes as well. At first she was surprised how slim the manuscripts for an episode are (50 pages or so, at one minute of screentime per page) compared to novels, but she has got used to it and enjoys being able to read the entire TV story so quickly.
• The writers and producers want to take viewers into a 'different world' with each episode of the show, whether it is something like Wiccan and witches (the episode Reichs wrote), or a particular culture or profession.
• Although there are some big differences between the Bones TV show and the 'Bones' books, Reichs now likes to see the TV show as something of an alternate-world prequel to the books - Brennan's life when she was younger, before she got married and had a family, started working in NC and Quebec, and met Ryan etc. Reichs also likes the way that Bones is set in the Smithsonian in Washington DC, as she herself did her first forensic procedure in that very city, many years ago.
• MORTAL REMAINS was actually called SPIDER BONES in the United States. Reichs isn't entirely sure why her North American and UK/Commonwealth publishers sometimes use different titles for her books.
• The idea for MORTAL REMAINS came from Reichs' own real-life work for JPAC, where she aided in the identification of war dead from World War II, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
• She talked to the audience about the importance, in both novels and TV, of having multiple layers to a story - an 'A' story that might involve a particular plot/incident, and a 'B' story involving ongoing things about characters, along with perhaps a 'C' story and other strands for plots and characters.
• VIRALS, her first book for younger readers, is the debut in a series starring Tory Brennan, niece of Temperence, and her 'science geek' friends. After rescuing a caged animal from a supposedly deserted science lab, Tori and her friends begin to exhibit physical changes to their senses - they become 'the Virals'. At the same time they are caught up in a murder mystery dating back decades, and tied in with the laboratory.
• Two of Reichs' children are now also writers, at least one having given away a career in the law to do so (something I could relate to). Reichs co-wrote VIRALS with her son Brendan, and her daughter Kerry, a former Washinton DC lawyer, has also published three books. You can listen to a radio interview with the three writing Reichs's here.

I really enjoyed listening to Kathy Reichs on Sunday afternoon. She came across as very down-to-earth, friendly, and funny. She seems to have a real energy and love of life, had the large audience chuckling quite often, was very patient with those wanting autographs and photos, and everyone had a great time. Despite her tight schedule she also kindly spent a few minutes chatting to me afterwards (see photo above), including answering the 9mm questions - keep an eye out for her 9mm interview here on Crime Watch in the near future. Thanks to publicist Jennifer Balle, and the rest of the team at Random House and Dymocks, for putting on such an enjoyable event.
In the meantime, you can read more about Kathy Reichs at her website here, and about her new series and young adult novel VIRALS, here.
Have you read any Kathy Reichs novels? Do you enjoy forensic thrillers, in books or on TV or film? Do you watch Bones? Do you enjoy meeting authors? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Launch of SURRENDER by Donna Malane

Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the official Auckland launch of SURRENDER, the debut crime thriller from Wellington writer Donna Malane that earlier this year won the inaugural NZSA Pindar Publishing Prize (see picture above).

As I noted back in June, Wellington screenwriter and producer Malane (Until Proven Innocent, Duggan, Blood Lines, The Insider's Guide to Love, The Strip, etc) rose to the top of more than 500 entries to by win the NZSA Pindar Publishing Prize - which was open to writing in any genre, including non-fiction and poetry and short story collections - for her then unpublished thriller about a woman delving into the seadier side of Wellington while she looks into the deaths of her sister, and the man she'd suspected of killing her.

SURRENDER has now been in Whitcoulls and Borders stores for a week now, and I've perosnally seen a fair few copies being sold while I've been browsing the past few days, so hopefully it will hit the New Zealand Adult Fiction bestseller list next week, and plenty of Kiwis will give it a go as the publicity and word of mouth starts to roll out in the coming days and weeks.

You can read a good article about Malane, her novel, and the inaugural prize, by New Zealand Herald Books Editor Linda Herrick, here.

Here is the 'back cover blurb' for SURRENDER:

"Missing persons expert, Diane Rowe, is used to making sense of other people’s lives. Pity she’s not having much luck with her own. The brutal murder of her little sister, and the break-up of her marriage, have tested her usual tough optimism.

When Niki’s killer turns up dead, Diane sets out to nail the truth. But uncovering Niki’s seedy past reveals truths and dangers she never expected – or wanted – to face.

And then there’s that little matter of the decapitated body that’s turned up in the Rimutaka State Forest. Now she’s determined to make sense of it all – whatever it takes."

New Zealand author and editor Graham Lay, one of the judging panel for the inaugural award, describes SURRENDER as "a gripping narrative with an intriguing mix of brutality, mystery and humour... vivid writing and a great central character."

I read an advance copy of the novel a fortnight ago, and really enjoyed it, finding it more and more absorbing as it went on. I understand my review of SURRENDER is scheduled to be published in the Canvas magazine of tomorrow's Weekend Herald, so I will republish that review for you all here early next week (and/or link to the Herald's website if they place the review online). I also have Sarah Gumbley reviewing SURRENDER for Crime Watch (since I've reviewed the book for the Herald), and her review will be published here in the coming days also.

And remember, to get the award-winning novel for only NZD$10, half price – simply clip the voucher printed in The New Zealand Herald between 16 September and 16 October 2010 and take this to a Whitcoulls or Borders store nationwide (example above). Offer available while stocks last.

Kudos to the New Zealand Society of Authors, Pindar Publishing, the New Zealand Herald, Red Group (who own Whitcoulls and Borders), Astra Print, and Creative New Zealand, who all came together to make the inaugural prize possible. Hopefully the readers will give the winning book a go, thereby encouraging them all to run the Prize again in future. It's a great way for talented 'undiscovered' novelists and writers to have an opportunity of breaking into the publishing world. If Malane's debut adult thriller is anything to go by, there is plenty of talent out there worthy of being published and read.

What do you think of 'unpublished' writer competitions and prizes? Do you like the sound of SURRENDER? Will you be giving it a go? Have you watched any of Malane's TV productions (you can read my review of Until Proven Innocent here)? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Val McDermid at the Women's Bookshop in Auckland

Last Tuesday evening, 2010 Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient and legendary crime writer Val McDermid wrapped up her four-city tour of New Zealand with a packed event at the award-winning Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby, Auckland. I understand that all four of McDermid's events drew very good crowds, in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland.

McDermid was in New Zealand in support of her latest crime novel, TRICK OF THE DARK, a standalone thriller which as she jokingly put it has "a dyke on every page", containing more lesbian characters than even her Lindsay Gordon books from the early part of her career.


The blurb for TRICK OF THE DARK says, "'Death is a hollow drum whose beat has measured out my adult life.' So writes Jay Macallan Stewart in her latest volume of memoirs. But nobody has ever asked whether that has been by accident or design. Nobody, that is, until Jay turns her sights on newly-wed and freshly-widowed Magda Newsam. For Magda's mother Corinna is an Oxford don who knows enough of Jay's history to be very afraid indeed. Determined to protect her daughter, Corinna turns to clinical psychologist Charlie Flint. But it's not the best time for Charlie. Her career is in ruins. Pilloried by the press, under investigation by her peers, she's barred from the profiling work she loves. What Corinna's asking may be her last chance at redemption. But as Charlie digs into the past and its trail of bodies she starts to realise the price of truth may be more than she wants to pay."

I was fortunate enough to read an advance version of TRICK OF THE DARK a few weeks ago, and in my opinion it is a very good read. I enjoyed it a lot.

It was a great atmosphere on the night at the Women's Bookshop, as McDermid mixed and mingled with the gathering crowd for quite a while, before sharing some of her thoughts on her upbringing, her writing career, books, and life in general, and then reading an extended passage from TRICK OF THE DARK (see photo of Val reading above). Afterwards she answered a few questions, and then signed books for the crowds and chatted some more until everyone had left.

All in all McDermid was in the store for more than two hours, before finally being whisked away to dinner by her hardworking publicist Karen McMillan. As some of you may know, despite the dark and at-times gruesome nature of some of McDermid's crime writing, in person she is a jovial and opinionated person who is a heck of a lot of fun to be around.

A few highlights or moments from the evening with Val McDermid at the Women's Bookshop:

• Val shared how one of the only books her family had when she was growing up in working-class Fife was Agatha Christie's THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE. She read it, enjoyed it, and was delighted to see from the inside flap that this Agatha lady had written lots of other books too. The problem was that although she was a regular at the library (she joked the best thing her parents ever did for her was moving close to the public library), the Agatha Christie books were all in the adult reading section, which you couldn't get into without an adult membership card. So, how did the intrepid young future crime-writer solve this problem? She 'borrowed' her mother's card, and told the librarian that her mother was bedridden and needed her to pick up adult books for her. This went on for quite a while. Then when Val was recently back in Fife, she realised that one of the librarians from back in the day was still on staff ("As a kid, I'd thought she was ancient back then, but she must have been all of about 20"), and when Val was in the library with her mother, the librarian said 'Oh, Mrs McDermid, it's great to see you up and about. I wasn't sure if you were still with us, with all the troubles you'd had'. Even though she's fairly well-established into adulthood herself now, that didn't prevent Val getting one of 'those looks' from her mother!


• Val revealed how she'd got into her Oxford College as one of the youngest people at the time, and the first from a Scottish state school - telling the interviewer that if they made her defer for a year, she'd "just go somewhere else". Val also noted that despite perceptions, Oxford was far less class-conscious than people thought, so her working class background wasn't as much of an issue as you might have thought. "At Oxford they only cared about the quality of your mind"...


• Val also talked about how it was at Oxford where she realised that she was a lesbian, and then "everything kind of made sense". She was also still a keen reader, and found Kate Millett's book SEXUAL POLITICS so liberating and interesting that she burst into a tutorial once and just rabbitted on at her rather stiff-upper-lipped tutor about how great this book was, and how it was full of life etc. After Val had tired herself out, she wondered if she'd been a little over-enthusiastic for the staid academic, before this very prim and proper lady quietly said "Ah yes, dear Kate, I was actually her advisor for that thesis". As Val joked at the Women's Bookshop, "Typical bloody Oxford, they even did that first!"


• Val was asked what books she'd read recently that she enjoyed and what other crime fiction authors she liked. She put in a very nice unsolicited plug both for CUT & RUN by Alix Bosco, which she'd read while on her New Zealand tour, and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (she was working her way through the finalists for the award, and was looking forward to trying the others, as we had some good crime writers here in New Zealand).


• In answer to a question about ideas, and getting issues into her books, Val shared a story of how she'd found out about the experiments the Germans did on their own Germanic children during the Second World War, while she was researching river boats in Germany - and had become so fascinated about this piece of history she'd had no idea about, that she'd woven it into THE LAST TEMPTATION.


• Val commented that all of her books, in one way or another, address the theme that we can't ever completely escape our past, that it always comes back.


• She talked about winning the Cartier Diamond Dagger, and how the actual Diamond Dagger is kept in a secure safe, and recipients receive a small dagger brooch with a tiny diamond, ruby, and sapphire on it, rather than the Diamond Dagger itself to keep.

On a semi-related point, Val also kindly allowed Carole Beu, the owner of the Women's Bookshop, to use some of Val's time to share some information about a cause dear to her heart - the ongoing struggle of Carole's longtime friend Bronwyn Gray, whose daughter Lisa, a successful lawyer, suffers from an extremely rare condition called Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM); a form of incurable lung cancer that affects only women.

Over the years, Bronwyn has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for research and organised several international conferences to look into this disease, and now she has been nominated a Kiwi Battler, where the public gets to vote on 'Kiwi battlers' from each region, who can win $10,000 to help their charity of choice. Kiwi Battlers is the brainchild of businessman and philanthropist Gareth Morgan, whose foundation is donating the money.

With Val's blessing, Carole asked the audience, and anyone we passed the information onto, to consider voting for Brownyn Gray for the award, as the money could make a real difference to the LAM Trust, which is doing groundbreaking work but is not so well known amongst the wider populace. If you wish, you can vote for Bronwyn here.

Thoughts and comments welcome.

JC and Me...

After my author event photo-policy rethink earlier this year, here's a new pic from last night's John Connolly event at Auckland City Library. It was a fantastic evening, with a good crowd of around 90 people in attendance.

Everyone was well entertained by Connolly, who is a great storyteller and raconteur, as he spoke (quickly - like me, and Gregg Hurwitz, he's a 'fast talker' when he gets going on a subject he likes) about a variety of things: the attraction and appeal of crime fiction; the difference between 'crime' and 'mystery' (the latter having more ties to the supernatural); how readers develop affection for recurring characters more than writers; his passion for reading; why he thinks people will buy more and more e-books, but hard-copy books will never go out of fashion completely; how crime fiction is often about redemption; his thoughts on Dan Brown and THE DA VINCI CODE, and on Patricia Cornwell's career trajectory; and what makes a writer - amongst much, much more.

I tried to keep up, and took plenty of notes - so I will share a longer 'report' on the evening with you all later in the week. Connolly closed the evening with quite a long reading (no one was complaining) from his recent young adult book THE GATES - which had a theme of "satanism for kids", as he put it. He had the audience in stitches, and me thinking I'm going to have to accelerate THE GATES up the TBR pile on my bookshelves.

Connolly also took some time after his book signing for an exclusive interview with me for the Crime Watch 9mm series - so look out for that in the near future too.

Connolly is a very funny, fascinating, and down-to-earth guy. I really enjoyed meeting him (and sharing a drink or two afterwards while we chatted about life, the universe, and crime fiction for a couple of hours). For crime fiction fans in Christchurch, or the central North Island, I urge you to go along to one of his events over the next couple of days.

Wednesday 2nd June - Christchurch (tonight!)
An Evening with Irish crime writer John Connolly
7.30pm
Our City O-Tautahi, cnr Oxford Tce & Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch
Tickets: $12 from Ruth Todd, ph 384 4721

Thursday 3rd June – Taupo and Rotorua
Taupo Library Is Proud To Bring You Award-winning Thriller Writer John Connolly
1.00pm
Taupo Library

Rotorua District Library Is Proud To Bring You Award-winning Thriller Writer John Connolly
5.30pm
Rotorua District Library, 1127 Haupapa St, Rotorua

Have you read John Connolly's books? Are you a fan of Charlie Parker? Would you be keen to see him at an author event? For those overseas readers - have you seen him at an event before? Please share your thoughts, comments, and experiences.

Murder They Wrote (guest post)

In a first for Crime Watch, today we have a guest post, from a fellow crime fiction enthusiast who attended the recent Book Council event with three great modern-day local crime and thriller writers, in Wellington late last week.

As this blog/website grows as a resource, I may look to use guest bloggers more often, to provide you all with a greater range of content, voices, and opinions. Just one of the things I'm looking to do to make Crime Watch the best resouce possible, and provide even more information and insight to those interested in crime and thriller fiction. So please leave some feedback in the comments section both about the concept in general, and the very first guest post.


MURDER THEY WROTE
by Rosemary Brooks (a Commissioning Editor in Wellington)

I have a confession to make. I am a huge crime fiction fan and yet I have read very little New Zealand crime fiction. That itself is a crime as there are some phenomenally talented people writing world-class books right here in New Zealand. I had the pleasure of attending an evening with three such people in Wellington on Thursday 27 May 2010.

Organised by the New Zealand Book Council, Murder They Wrote brought together Vanda Symon, Paul Cleave, and Neil Cross in a question and answer panel session hosted by the New Zealand Book Council’s Chief Executive, Noel Murphy.

With the full force of the “weather bomb” being felt outside, it was fantastic to see around 50 dedicated readers brave the inhospitable elements and venture to Cafe L’Affare to hear these three authors speak on a number of topics related to their writing. The discussion ranged from their thoughts on subjects such as genre classification and character development through to more private aspects of their craft like researching, plotting, and the actual how and when they write.

It was an interesting coincidence to find that none of the three sit down and plot their entire story before they begin writing. Vanda has a beginning and an end and some pivotal scenes in mind when she begins and then sees how she gets there. Paul, on the other hand, has none of it plotted when he begins. While Neil believes that if it still excites the author then it will excite the reader.

Another similarity between the three is how they feel about the genre classification applied to books. Vanda stated that she writes what she would like to read and the fact that this has to be classified into a certain genre “does [her] head in”. Paul, on the other hand, didn’t set out to become a crime writer; he wanted to write horror novels. On top of that, he thought THE CLEANER was more of a thriller/action story. Finally, Neil has been perceived as a literary novelist which was never his intention. He wanted his stories to excite, frighten, and keep readers awake at night which is “not the purview of the literary novelist”.

Following on from this discussion, Neil made the point that genres exist and there is no getting around that fact and that what infuriates him is that the various genres are not seen as morally equivalent – and that crime novels are taken less seriously than novels which fit within other genres.

This is a point that resonated quite strongly with me. A lot of my friends are big readers yet show very little interest in crime fiction. To give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they don’t like to read about the dark side of humanity; maybe they find books which hinge on crime being committed unpleasant rather than interesting and simply can’t get past the subject matter. But equally maybe they (and many others who have not ever read a crime fiction novel) fail to realise that a good crime novel can be as well plotted and as full of strong characters as any literary novel (or any novel of any genre). A good crime novel will also have you unable to turn the light out at night as you can’t possibly go to sleep until you have read just one more chapter . . .

Those of you who also attended this evening will know that I have only scratched the surface of what was discussed. What I have written about here are the points that I found myself nodding in agreement with or reflecting on in the days since the talk. But they are by no means the only things I found interesting or thought-provoking. In the interests of space, I will leave my thoughts at that but I would love to hear from anyone who attended. Is there anything that I have missed out that particularly spoke to you? Anything you think deserves more attention than I have paid to it? Or any general impressions of the evening that you would like to share?

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Rosemary also said this morning that "I am now about three-quarters of the way through THE RINGMASTER and really enjoying it. Interestingly enough, having met Vanya (albeit very briefly) I can see a bit of her in Sam Shephard."

So what do you think of Rosemary's report? Do you like the idea of guest posts on Crime Watch? Have you read any of these three great Kiwi authors? Or seen them at events? Thoughts and comments very welcome.

Me and Lee...

I've been fortunate enough to meet and/or interview many fantastic authors, New Zealand and international, over the past year or two. In person I've met the likes of Linwood Barclay, Gregg Hurwitz, Stuart MacBride, Tom Rob Smith, William Deverell, Mark Zuehlke, Vanda Symon, Dorothy Fowler, Stephanie Johnson, and several others. But I realised at the start of this year that I'd never actually taken any photos with any of them!

I think most of the time this was because I was approaching most of these author meetings either in my 'journalist/writer/commentator' role, and didn't want to come across as too much of a fanboy, or because I simply didn't think to take a camera along!

But I was thinking recently that I take hundreds and thousands of photos of so much of the rest of my life - activities, family and friend gatherings, travel destinations, interesting things I see or people I come across, etc - that why shouldn't I also take photos of this part of my life as well? After all, my interest in books, and the things I do in relation to that, are part of who I am.

So, from now on, I will (usually) try to get photos of myself at any books events, author events, or other book-related things I go along to.

So here's me with Lee Child, at the Takapuna event (the first of his 6 New Zealand events this week) on Sunday. It was a fantastic evening, with Lee and Graham Beattie on stage having an intelligent, insightful, humour-filled discussion about books and life (on stage in front of an audience of around 300 people), before the audience got to ask questions and then meet Lee. The whole thing went for almost two hours, and it was brilliant.

I will be posting a longer 'report' on the event (I took copious notes to share with you all) later in the week. For those of you that haven't seen them, you can read my NZLawyer article based on my earlier interview with Lee Child here, and my Crime Watch 9mm interview with him here.

So what do you think of my author photo policy re-think? Do you like meeting authors and heading along to events and festivals, either as a reader/fan or as a commentator (or both)? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Crime writer Neil Cross stars at Gala Opening

As I mentioned earlier, the New Zealand Post Writers and Readers Week, which is part of the 2010 New Zealand International Arts Festival, is currently on. Last night was the Gala Opening, where bestselling Kiwi author Kate De Goldi hosted a panel of "four of contemporary literature's most intriguing voices, as they talk about craft, character, and style".

Wellington-based crime novelist and TV screenwriter Neil Cross (BURIAL, ALWAYS THE SUN, Spooks, Luther) was joined on the authors' panel by internationals Gil Adamson (author of ‘literary western' OUTLANDER), Audrey Niffenegger (THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE), and Kamila Shamsie's (political saga BURNT SHADOWS), but from the early reports, and attendee comments, the darkly comic Cross was the star of the show.

Local writer Maggie Rainey-Smith was in the audience, and has written an informative report on Beattie's Book Blog, for those like myself who couldn't make it along.

"Everyone on the panel was particularly ‘nice’ which isn’t always such a good thing, and it was a relief to me when Neil Cross took the chatter ‘off-piste’ now and then, small humorous tangents, but at a Gala opening, you need these sort of passionate distractions," says Rainey-Smith.

A little later in her report of Beattie's Book Blog, Rainey-Smith says, "Neil (I’ll admit I’m smitten) Cross lead writer for Spooks, long-listed for the Booker, crime novelist, memoirist, talked about the difference in writing about a baddie for the screen versus a baddie in a novel. He said that if you cast someone that the audience loves in the role of the baddie on screen, then they’ll like them – but in a novel, you have to develop psychological depths, make them human, to make them likeable. This, as Kate de Goldi pointed out, is the compelling aspect of Neil’s writing, the way he seduces you into caring about his characters who commit (even a multiple killer)."

There are plenty of other nuggets in the report, which you can read in full here. Some of the attendee comments that have been already been added are also pretty interesting.

For those who missed the Gala Opening, but are in the Wellington area this weekend, I recommend you head along to see Cross on Sunday. He is doing a Writers Upfront at 2:00pm - a conversation with Noel Murphy, about Cross's work. I was fortunate enough to interview Cross last year for an article in Good Reading magazine. He is a fascinating and very interesting guy, and I recommend anyone who can, to head along and listen to him speak.

It's great to see a 'crime writer' being included in such a literary festival, and then being received so well by the audience - hopefully this might be something of a lesson for some of the other books festivals around New Zealand - and we will see more crime writers, Kiwi and international, featuring in future line-ups.

Event Report: Gregg Hurwitz

Well, earlier this week LA-based thriller writer, screenwriter, graphic novelist (Wolverine, Punisher, and other Marvel titles) and Shakespearean scholar Gregg Hurwitz visited our fair shores for a couple of days; hitting Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch for media interviews and a couple of public events on a whirlwind publicity tour to coincide with the NZ release of his latest crime thriller OR SHE DIES.

A lunchtime crowd were entertained by Hurwitz at the Takapuna Library in Auckland, which in the past several weeks has seemed to be a compulsory destination for visiting thriller authors (Linwood Barclay, Tom Rob Smith, Hurwitz). Hurwitz was making a flying visit to New Zealand on the way to appearing at the Brisbane Writer's Festival.

Hurwitz was born in 1973 and grew up in the Bay Area of California, loving stories from an early age. He went to Harvard, gaining a BA as well as competing as a pole vaulter (becoming the undegraduate scholar-athlete of the year), before heading across the Atlantic to complete a Master's degree in Shakespearean tragedy (1996) at Trinity College, Oxford (where he also played college soccer (football) and was a Knox Fellow). He worked on his first novel while studying, and in the decade since his debut THE TOWER was published in 1999, he has written 11 more acclaimed thrillers, as well as several screenplays, graphic novels, and academic articles on Shakespeare. He now lives in Los Angeles.


In person, Hurwitz was down-to-earth, funny, and charismatic; one of those people who is so passionate about life that they talk quite quickly, as if reflecting the fact they try to squeeze as much as possible into the time available no matter what they are doing. Highlights from Hurwitz's comments during the Takapuna Library event, and from our lunch interview afterwards, included:

On starting to write his first manuscript at 19: "I was learning as I went, and really had little idea [of how to write a book]... I was learning so quickly and I knew so little when I started that the ends of my chapters in my first attempt were much better written than the early parts of the same chapters..."

On researching his thrillers: "I really believe in first-hand research [where possible], there is no replacement for talking to people in the field, getting on-site, breathing the smells... talking to the people who investigate cases, do the autopsy."

Hurwitz shared several anecdotes of his hands-on research, including how it all started when a military demolitions expert was struggling to explain aspects of an explosion to Hurwitz. Eventually the expert, frustrated, told Hurwitz to meet him; and then proceeded to blow up a car - turning to Hurwitz and saying "see, that's what I mean!"

From that time, Hurwitz tried to get as much practical exposure in his research as possible, including learning to ride a Harley Davidson and taking part in a biker run through LA Canyon, swimming with sharks, going into freezers storing bodies donated for medical research, and infiltrating a mind-control cult undercover.

"I became known for doing crazy things," he laughed. "And as often happens, getting in on the ground creates great scenes for books... it opens up a lot of possibilities..."

Hurwitz shared a couple of examples of real experiences that led to book scenes or ideas; seeing the bodies stored for medical research suspended vertically rather than laying flat, and being taken to a restaurant where the meal is served in total darkness (to heighten taste and smell). Without "getting out there" and experiencing things, some ideas, or richer detail, wouldn't be possible, he said.

Hurwitz noted he now has a packed rolodex of contacts and consultants - "from pathologists to Army Rangers, porn stars to Professors..."

On a shift in his plots/themes as he has matured: "As I have got older, I have found my writing has changed, as my life has changed... I am now married with a couple of kids... I have moved from adventure and super-cops to more about family and domestic suspense."

On writing "everyman" heroes rather than 'supercops': "I love those everyman stories; an ordinary person stuck in extraordinary circumstances... I always thought those everyman characters stand in for all of us in the way that if we're tired/stressed/down... we can all feel we're a fraud, that we're really not up to our job... and then magnifying that by like 1000%... we've all experienced that paranoia, at least in a small way..."
On getting involved with writing graphic novels on well-established characters like Wolverine, and The Punisher: "I had always been a fan of comics since I was a kid... so I got very happily sucked into writing books for Marvel..."

"The hardest one was The Punisher, having to follow Garth Ennis... my aim was not to make mine like Garth or the writers who came before... The Punisher is going to be killing people long after we're dead... in a way you're almost holding these characters in a public trust... I want to put my spin on it, add something of mine, but still keep the character..."

With the shift in his novels to everyman heroes rather than super-cops, and "less on-screen violence, and more about the consequences", Hurwitz noted that "with the comics, they've kind of become my outlet for all my rage, all the violence..."

On writing in different mediums (thriller novels, screenplays, graphic novels): "I usually have a lot of projects going on at once, but when I'm rough draft writing, I can only work on one thing at once... I can toggle back and forth a little easier with re-writing."

Hurwitz has worked on a number of screenplays and TV pilots for people like Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Paramount Studios, MGM, and ESPN, and developed TV series for Warner Bros. and Lakeshore.

"Books take the most time, because you're creating 400 pages of content... when you are writing a screenplay it's more like a 120-page recipe [for others to work with and help create], with lots of white space, and you need to write much leaner... with comics, it's about how do you tell a story with five or six snapshots on a page...

It was a pleasure to meet and chat to Gregg Hurwitz, who is one of those people you come away from buzzing and excited about life yourself.


You can listen to a Radio New Zealand interview with Hurwitz HERE, and see his appearance on TVONE's Close Up programme (which follows the 6pm news) HERE. You can read some of Hurwitz's own thoughts on his visit to New Zealand HERE.

New Zealand residents also still have a few days to win a copy of Hurwitz's latest thriller OR SHE DIES as part of a competition the New Zealand Women's Weekly is running.

It was another fantastic event at the Takapuna Library. Many thanks to the library (especially organiser Helen Woodhouse), Paper Plus (kudos to Vanessa, again), Hachette NZ (especially Karen McMillan of the Little, Brown stable), and Gregg Hurwitz himself.

Did you attend the event? What did you think? Have you read Gregg Hurwitz's books? What do you think of them. Do these types of thriller interest you? Comments welcome.