Today I'm delighted to welcome
CAROLYN HAWES
finalist in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards
to share her BEST OF CRIME ...
... AUTHORS
Joyce Carol Oates creates such a sense of unease in her stories she can convince the reader a crime has been committed whether one actually has or not. Oates doesn’t need to describe the crime because the build-up is usually enough. She became a favorite author of mine years ago when I read her short story about a boy's body found in a ditch. A young girl living nearby becomes almost possessed by the events. When there is no closure and the police have no leads on the killer she becomes frustrated - as I did, and have remained so for the past thirty years such was the power of Joyce’s story. I enjoy both her novels and short stories. In her collection, Sourland, the title story creates the same psychological effect when a woman makes a solitary journey to an isolated region to visit a man she knows nothing about.
Ron Rash is an author I admire because of his poetical writing and the deep damp Appalachians, in which his deeds take place. James L Burke is also a stunning writer with an atmospheric background.
Over the past year I have read several crime novels by Tana French, along with Jane Harper's The Dry, and Force of Nature. Currently I am reading A Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave. I recently read Marlborough Man by David Carter and Baby by Annaleese Jochems. I've also enjoyed the novels of New Zealand crime writers Vanda Symon and Paddy Richardson.
... FILMS/MOVIES
I went to the movie To Kill a Mockingbird with my mother and was terrorised by a few of the scenes. (I was only 5 years old at the time.) I was the same age as Scout. I didn't like her! I became fixated with the movie and even picked out a house in my hometown similar to the abode of Atticus Finch - right down to the hanging swings on the trees, the nearby reserve, and the wraparound veranda. There was a rustic pioneering look about Maycomb, which I could relate to. I was able to sense something meaningful in the movie without realizing the significance of the trial. Later, when I read the book; it became one of my favourites.
I like the beginning of the movie with the wind blowing through the streets, the unsettling sad staccato music and the wise, somewhat tired narrating voice. I still own the book and I’m proud to say I now have the DVD.
... TV DRAMAS
The North of England series Vera, and Taggart are among my favorites - or anything from Glasgow, and the moors and rural areas of the North of England, especially if there's a stone barn and a two-rutted driveway.
... MURDER WEAPON
Christine, from the movie Christine based on the novel by Stephen King. She was Bad to the Bone. I saw it at the St James Theatre and years later on the TV in my living room. Christine was stylish - I liked the way her radio played 1950s music; I liked her eyelids and the frontal close-ups and the way she flashed her headlights. Christine inflicted a lot of damage but someone had always bashed her up first. I liked her individual antics and her sense of decorum. In one scene the garage door of the workshop folds open and she drives in, looking the worst for wear and with her engine sounding a bit ragged, and puts herself away in her parking space. In spite of the chaotic killing spree she’d just been on, she knew where home was and she stuck to her routine.
... WRITING TIPS
My first novel evolved. I would say, don't plan a novel if you can write it intuitively. My second novel is planned from beginning, middle to end. Maybe most novels are a combination of both - although I do think a planned novel is quicker to write.
... WRITING SNACKS
Just an ordinary cup of tea.
About CAROLYN HAWES
Carolyn Hawes was born and raised in Westport, a small town on the ‘wild West Coast’ of New Zealand’s South Island. She developed a love of writing as soon as she could read and spell enough words to string together into sentences. At 14 she worked on a book of poetry, and tried to write a novel set in Russia and Central Europe. Eventually she gave up writing, decided to ‘get a real job’ and trained to be a nurse. She had three children, remained in Westport and worked on a history book, Great Expectations: the Colonisation of Buller, published in 2004.
Following has had freelance articles about the West Coast, history and human-interest columns published in local and big city newspapers. THE FLOATING BASIN is her first novel, a small-town Gothic story centred on a murder inquiry in Westport. Carolyn received a mentorship from the New Zealand Society of Authors while completing the novel. She is now working on a sequel.
Find Carolyn Hawes on her Facebook page.
About THE FLOATING BASIN
Publisher's description
When a body emerges from Westport’s tidal lagoon, local cop Ru Clement is tasked with finding the killer. In a town isolated from any major centres by hundreds of miles of road winding over or around the majestic Southern Alps, there are plenty of secrets. Westport has a rugged history and retains a frontier feel, the kind of place some locals want to escape from, and others escape to. Can Ru untangle why the victim returned to town after so many years, and who wanted him dead?
The Floating Basin is a finalist for Best First Novel in the 2018 Ngaio Marsh Awards.
Ngaio Marsh Awards judges' comments:
“Hawes has planted her first authorial foot firmly, with a very solid debut. She shows a really good touch for the West Coast setting, and has a nice writing style that flows along pretty effortlessly, as well as a good storytelling sense and feel for dialogue.”
“I really enjoyed it. I thought Hawes was very good drawing her characters and her use of dialogue was very good and natural. A surprising read.”
Look out for more BEST OF CRIME features coming soon.
Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.
Click here to read more BEST OF CRIME features.
No comments:
Post a Comment