PD Martin's Blog

September 25, 2009

Book trailers and the farm

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — PD Martin @ 5:36 am

This week has flown by and, I have to admit, I’ve hardly spent any time on book stuff. Instead, I’ve been having quality mother-daughter time with my 2yro. Had a lovely visit to the Collingwood Children’s Farm today…but you probably don’t want to hear about the delight on my little girl’s face as she held a guinea pig and patted baby goats (kids).

So, the book stuff. It’s not like I haven’t done anything…this week I’ve been investigating book trailers. What do you think of them? Email me at info@pdmartin.com.au with your thoughts!

In case you haven’t heard of them before (or seen one), it’s like a movie trailer but for a book. Still photos, video, music, voice-over, on-screen words…all designed to give you an instant snapshot of the book. I’ve been speaking to three providers and watching quite a few book trailers to see what I do, and don’t, like.

Other book news: Kiss of Death is currently being typeset (Aussie release January 2010) and The Killing Hands is probably being printed about now for its November 1 North American release!

This week I also uploaded two new photo galleries: The Ned Kelly debate and a couple of shots from Write Around the Murray.

And I announced the winner of my Facebook competition – congratulations Monica Kelly. You can watch the winner being drawn (and a blooper video – got the giggles first take) at www.facebook.com/pages/PD-Martin/52

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September 17, 2009

Could crime fiction incite someone to kill?

Filed under: Fan Mail,Writing — Tags: , , — PD Martin @ 5:33 am

FanMailCover10percentHaving done lots of research on murder and criminal psychology, my belief is that if someone is going to take another human being’s life, reading fictional accounts of murder is not going to push them over the edge. Having said that, we do live in a world where we’re increasingly exposed to violence and graphic crime-scene depictions.

Take the many successful (and entertaining) shows on TV: CSI, Bones, Law & Order…and then, of course, there’s Dexter. But have we really been de-sensitised?

A few years ago, after lots of meticulous research into horrific and violent crimes, I honestly believed I was de-sensitised, almost in a similar way to a cop. I’d imagined some horrible situations and written about them in detail. I was tough!

Or so I thought, until I met Victoria Police’s profiler, who gave me a list of law-enforcement text books to help with my research. I ordered them online and was so excited when they arrived; and the timing couldn’t have been better because I was packing for a week-long writing retreat. I threw the books in my luggage and headed down to the beach.

The first thing I did when I arrived was to unpack the books and start flipping through one…and then I saw it. The first page the book opened to was a photo from a crime-scene in which a woman had been raped then murdered. The killer had tied her down and posed her in a disturbingly revealing way. Next photo: a dead woman with both of her breasts cut off. Next photo: a decomposing body. Next photo…I think you get the picture.

More at http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2009/09/reason-to-kill.html

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September 11, 2009

The Murderers’ Club meets Turkey

Filed under: Research,The Murderers' Club — Tags: , — PD Martin @ 5:26 am

MurderersClubUSHardBack-web4Seen the news about the women who were rescued by the Turkish police yesterday? Remind you of anything? Like The Murderers’ Club perhaps? Please note, if you haven’t read The Murderers’ Club yet, the rest of this blog contains some spoilers!

So, I got a phone call from my husband today asking if I’d seen the news about the women who’d just been rescued in Turkey. Turns out they thought they were part of a Big Brother-style TV show, only to find out that the whole thing was a scam. Instead of broadcasting to millions of TV viewers, their scantily clad images were being streamed online, to paid subscribers. I presume these subscribers didn’t have usernames like AmericanPsycho, BlackWidow, NeverCaught and DialM…but who knows?
Anyway, just found it striking how similar it was in concept to The Murderers’ Club. However, luckily for the Turkish women a much nicer fate awaited them (than the grisly end my characters faced).  

If you want to leave a comment about this, please do so on my Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pages/PD-Martin/52563435424

I’m looking at incorporating a comment feature in this blog during my next web upgrade, but until then it’s Facebook or nothing! Sorry.

Well, that’s it from me this week. Now it’s back to my copyedits for the Aussie version of Kiss of Death (due on Tuesday). I’ll tell you all about the edits in next week’s blog.

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September 4, 2009

Ahhhhhh!!!!

Filed under: Kiss of Death,Writing — PD Martin @ 5:22 am

Is it okay/acceptable for a blog to just have this?
Ahhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, I could continue the exclamation marks for a few lines, if it’d make you feel better. You know, you think you’ve signed up for something substantive and you get a blog that just has one word in it. I mean, that’d be pretty crap, right? A violation of the unwritten author-reader code of conduct.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering why I’m screaming. And yes, it’s a full-throttle scream rather than a relaxed, zen-like sigh.

Sophie’s back! Which is exciting, don’t get me wrong, but I have 10 days for the “copy edit stage” of Kiss of Death. And that’s just a little scary. Normally I have four weeks, but events have conspired against me. First off, my Aussie/NZ publishing date for this book (number 5) has been brought forward from 1 February to 1 January. Secondly, I had accepted a small corporate freelance assignment a couple of months ago, assuming the times wouldn’t clash. So, when my manuscript arrived via courier on Monday morning this week, my panic was realised…it’s sitting on my desk and has to remain that way until Friday (today). Finally, today, my freelance work is done (finished at midnight last night) and I’m in the all-clear to edit. So, on that note….

I’m outta here. Wish me luck!

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