PD Martin's Blog

August 29, 2009

MWF – Part 2

Filed under: Events/appearances — Tags: , , , , — PD Martin @ 5:10 am

Late again with my blog. In my defence, I was busy preparing for my part in the Ned Kelly Awards last night. It also marked my last appearance at this year’s Melbourne Writers’ Festival. And I’m well and truly exhausted.

But first off, and the winners are:

  • Best first novel GHOSTLINES by Nick Gadd
  • Best fiction DEEP WATER, by Peter Corris and SMOKE & MIRRORS by Kel Robertson
  • Best true crime THE TALL MAN by Chloe Hooper
  • Lifetime achievement award – Shane Maloney

The night was in the very capable (and funny) hands of Jane Clifton – and started with the traditional debate. This year’s topic was Women do it Better. You can read the article on the debate (which I was part of) in the news section of this website. The actual award presentations featured some wonderful acceptance speeches and great banter between Peter Corris and Shane Maloney as Peter presented Shane with the lifetime achievement award.

Last Saturday I also took part in my second MWF panel, X-Rated. In this session, Garry Disher, Philip McLaren and I discussed how far crime writers can go with moderator Peter Lawrance. The session went really well, and brought up some interesting questions on the crime writer’s role in society’s exposure to violence.

During the week I also managed to attend to two sessions – one on digital marketing and one on the US publishing scene. Both were informative and engaging.

Then last night my festival journey came to an end and I collapsed into my bed (from tiredness, not too much wine) just before midnight. I’ve only got the weekend to recover because on Monday Sophie’s back home for another round of edits!

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August 21, 2009

MWF – Part 1

Filed under: Events/appearances — Tags: , , , , — PD Martin @ 5:07 am

First off, sorry there was no blog last week – a few technical hitches my end.

Today was my first session at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. My panel topic – Who knew crime was this sassy? The session was chaired by Elly Varenti and the other panellists were Kerry Greenwood and Lisa Lutz.

Let me tell you, you couldn’t get a more diverse range of authors and leading ladies! Having read both Kerry’s and Lisa’s latest books in the lead up – Murder on a Midsummer Night and Revenge of the Spellmans – I was armed and ready to discuss our work.

Kerry’s heroine, Phryne Fisher, is an extremely modern woman for her era – the 1920s in Melbourne. Who knew people drank so much in the 1920s?? Phryne is a self-funded socialite who also takes on PI cases and is definitely an engaging character. In this book she investigates an accidental drowning on behalf of the victim’s mother, who’s sure her son didn’t take his own life. On the side, Phryne’s also looking for an illegitimate child of a wealthy family. The book is classy and entertaining!

Lisa’s leading lady, Isabel Spellman, is a PI who’s on a career break – but takes on a “small” case of suspected adultery, which turns out to be more complicated than it first appeared. While Isabel’s tailing her mark, she’s also investigating a few family mysteries, such as her brother’s vacation, her sister’s PSAT scores and a mysterious blackmailer. Revenge of the Spellmans is a thoroughly entertaining novel that had me laughing out aloud !

Obviously neither of these women is like Sophie, which made for an interesting panel discussion. We talked about our different settings, our heroines, our research …the list went on. It was a great panel, and lots of fun!

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August 7, 2009

Sigh of relief…

Filed under: Events/appearances — Tags: , , — PD Martin @ 5:05 am

It’s official…I can now breathe a sigh of relief. I handed in the edited Kiss of Death on Monday (at midnight!).

Sorry for missing my blog last week – I was locked away finishing off the edits somewhere without internet access. The internet’s a wonderful thing, but sometimes you get more done if you’re not checking emails, Facebook, etc.

Anyway, I am happy with the edits and looking forward to catching up on all the episodes of Criminal Minds and Bones that I recorded in the last three weeks of editing! But first…

Today I’m heading up to Albury in NSW for Write Around the Murray, where Shane Maloney and I will be talking about “The crime-solving spectrum”. Below is the official blurb:

Murray Whelan and FBI profiler, Sophie Anderson are poles apart when it comes to the crime-solving spectrum. Hear from their creators, Shane Maloney and PD (Phillipa Deanne) Martin as they explore the world of crime writing and what makes their characters tick. Shane’s novels include the award-winning and much loved Murray Whelan series — Stiff, The Brush-Off, Nice Try, The Big Ask, Something Fishy and Sucked In and Phillipa is the author of four novels Body Count, The Murderers’ Club, Fan Mail and The Killing Hands.

Time: 6pm
Date: Friday 7 August
Cost: Free
Call 02 6023 8333 to RSVP

I’m sure it’ll be an interesting night and hopefully a good panel – Murray Wheelan and Sophie sure are different!

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