Friday 23 October 2015

The Emperor's New Clothes

It was W C Fields who once said "Never work with children or animals". Maybe he should have added, "never invite them to your book launch"!

The launch for my latest book (Dead in the Water, published by Joffe Books) took place in George and Delila's ice-cream cafĂ© in Oxford's Cowley Road. I chose the venue because it featured in my third book and it does great ice-cream and I wanted parents to come along and give their offspring a treat as well as themselves. Why not?

So I was delighted when several children did come along. Initially!

The problem with kids is that when they aren't being darlings or sulky or obsessed with their electronic devices, they can ask the most penetrating of questions.

And so it was that I was sitting down with a guest and her two girls when the elder looked up from her two scoops of ice-cream and fixed me with stare.

"Tell me something," she said.

I smiled and nodded, more than happy to engage with a potential future reader.

"Why do you write about such nasty things?"

For the first time that evening my brain and mouth failed to co-operate. I think I probably gawped at her and looked even more blank and stupid than I usually do. As questions go, it was a humdinger. Right to the heart of the matter.

“Actually, my books aren’t that nasty,” I said, doing my best to side-step the question, but failing. She took another scoop of ice-cream. She looked unimpressed.
So I tried again. ‘People like reading that sort of thing.”  It was another feeble reply, though she was polite enough not to say so.

“Why don‘t you ask your father?” I said. Her father, I knew, was halfway through my first book Blood on the Cowley Road.  Even as I said it, I knew it was a cop out. A good honest question requires a good honest answer. I had failed to deliver.
So apologies to her.  I suppose one real answer is that I like writing crime fiction. I like the puzzle element too and I am interested in how normal people can get into situations when they do nasty things.  Only I am not interested in really nasty things or in serial killers who do very nasty things to their victims. Honest!

Monday 28 September 2015

A week in October

I have two events taking place in Oxford in the middle of October. Anyone reading this blog is welcome to come to either.

1. I am launching my new (paperback and e-book) crime novel "Dead in the Water" on Monday 12 October. It is set in Oxford and centred around a would-be private detective Doug Mullen. I am launching the book from George and Delila's ice-cream cafe in the Cowley Road. G&Ds are offering a special deal: anyone coming to the launch can buy two scoops of ice-cream for the price of one! Just come and get a business card off me to qualify! Obviously I will happily sell you a copy (or two!) of the new book (nice Christmas present maybe?).

So the details: Monday 12 October.
George & Delila's Ice-Cream Cafe, 104 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JE. 
From 6.00 p.m. until 9.00 p.m.
All welcome! The ice-cream is seriously good too.
 
2. "Wrong Number" is a short film which I wrote and made with friends (starring Jane Wymark). A man rings for a take-away meal and finds himself speaking to someone who claims to be Gods PA. It was shown in London at the Portobello Film Festival in  mid-September and it is now being premiered in Oxford at St Matthews church on Saturday 17 October. It is being shown alongside the feature film "Philomena" (Judi Dench and Steve Coogan).

So the details:
Saturday 17 October.
Entry £5, doors open 7.00 p.m. for a 7.30 p.m. start!
St Matthews church, Marlborough Road, Oxford, OX1 4LW.

There will be popcorn!
 
So do come along to either or both events and say hello!
Email petertickler@btinternet.com for further information.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Dead in the Water


My big writing news is that my new crime novel Dead in the Water will be published on 19 September. I have got a new publisher, Joffe Books, which I am really pleased about. They are releasing Dead in the Water initially as an e-book. The speed at which they are turning my MS into a published product is amazing and represents such a change from when I signed my contract for my first novel (Blood on the Cowley Road) back in 2008. That was published as a hardback and took seven or eight months to get published.
Of course, things have changed so fast over the last few years. Back in 2008, my publisher didn't even bother to include digital rights in the contract! They ended up sending me an addendum to my contract more than a year later when they decided to move into the e-book market.
Anyway after a period of disillusionment, Joffe’s enthusiasm has enthused me too. They really liked my new private eye Doug Mullen, and as I read back through the edited MS (twice!), I realised that I had created a really nice and interesting guy. Doug is a character who I look forward to developing further.

Getting published is somewhat like taking drugs (I imagine!). You can’t wait to repeat the fix. So as I look forward to a bit of holiday, plots for both crime novels and short films have begun to swim around my head. ‘Write me’ they clamour.
So, very likely, I will. I’m just not sure which and when.

Friday 14 August 2015

From paintballing to Portobello Film Festival

I'm excited that my first film, Wrong Number, will be shown at the Portobello Film Festival in London on Tuesday 15 September.  This is the comedy evening and Wrong Number will be one of a number of short films being shown for free. What could be better? (http://www.portobellofilmfestival.com/2015/sept15pop.html)

The main character is Jack, a man who can't wait to slob out when his wife and daughter visit the grandparents. But when he rings for a take-away, he finds himself on a very unexpected hot-line. The film stars Jane Wymark (Midsomer Murders) and brother Tristram and was shot on location in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.

I am primarily a writer of crime novels, so tackling a film script is an intriguing challenge. The last thing you do, I was told in no uncertain terms by an experienced screen writer, is write the dialogue. Actually, I broke this rule spectacularly because I initially wrote Wrong Number as a sketch some 15 years ago at a son's paint-balling party. It was a choice of chilling with a coffee and notepad or joining in the mayhem and getting splatted by him and his mates!

Also, while I am coming clean, I should say that although Wrong Number is my directorial debut, I scripted a short horror which was filmed entirely in China (Shenzhen). A Place for Everything was released to coincide with Halloween and it received a lot of hits and positive feedback (https://vimeo.com/110480017). As a piece of writing, A Place for Everything was a very different challenge. It was written to be filmed in an apartment in Shenzhen and with a minimum of dialogue because it was being shot in a single night by my son Hugo Tickler with only one other crew member. The target market was China, but you really don't have to be able to understand Mandarin to enjoy the film. See what you think!

September is going to be a very good month for me because I also have a new crime novel coming out that month. More details shortly!