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Q&a With Patrick Woodrow

December 2009

Tell us about your latest book, FIRST CONTACT.

FIRST CONTACT is an adventure thriller about a young couple who get lost in a deadly rainforest on the other side of the world. When the book opens they have been missing for twenty-eight hours, and we find them without food, water or hope. Then they stumble across a couple of skeletons in a crashed helicopter and the fun begins.

For readers who loved DOUBLE CROSS, what can they expect in your new book?

There are a number of features that are common to both books, which are part of the brand identity that Im trying to create with my novels. Foremost among these are the exotic locations. DOUBLE CROSS begins in the Caribbean and moves to Malaysia via Amsterdam, London and Singapore. FIRST CONTACT oscillates between Papua New Guinea, London and Cambridge. With both books theres plenty of opportunity for armchair travel. Secondly, my heroes are ordinary people rather than cops or detectives, and its their ability to overcome extraordinary circumstances that sets them apart. I hope this makes it easier for the reader to build a relationship with them. Thirdly, I would suggest that theres a feel-good element to my novels. Theres plenty of violence and some extremely vicious villains but you also get loads of fresh air, sunshine and escapism. Ultimately, the resolution of the mystery should bring a satisfied smile to the readers lips. Finally, there are a number of other similarities, which youll hopefully find in any book I write: feisty heroines, dangerous wildlife, graphic fight scenes and a hook at the end of every chapter.

Why did you decide to go down the adventure thriller route?

Two reasons: one personal, the other commercial. As a kid, I always loved adventure stories. I was captivated by Treasure Island and The Jungle Book. I even started writing my own adventures at the age of six. You can read one of these on my website (www.patrickwoodrow.com). From there it was a natural progression to Willard Price and Wilbur Smith, whose early novels still set the standard for any adventure writer. Like many authors, I simply write the same sort of stuff that I like to read. The second reason has more to do with what I perceived to be a gap in the market. I wanted to do something a bit different – draw back the curtains, throw the windows open and let some air in. Wilbur Smith and Clive Cussler own this space at the moment but there’s definitely room for one or two more.

What made you decide to write standalones?

I did toy with the idea of making Ed Strachan [from DOUBLE CROSS] a series character but I thought that his job as an underwater photographer was a bit too niche. I would’ve had to ingratiate him with some sort of law enforcement agency, otherwise him stumbling on adventure after adventure was going to look a bit contrived by the third or fourth book. And, as anyone who has read DOUBLE CROSS will know, Ed is now retired. He’s quite happy, thank you, lying in his hammock, sipping cold beer, listening to reggae and watching the girls walk by in their bikinis. A lot of people assume that sticking with the same character is somehow easier than starting afresh each time but I’m not sure that’s true. There’s a lot of skill involved in making the same character as real and as interesting in your eighth book as he was in your first. Lee Child is the master of this.

Your books are full of non-stop adventures and danger - where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

Much of the action is driven by the setting. The sea and the jungle both offer endless scope for interaction with the environment and its wildlife. So too, the mountains, desert or ice-caps. Fact is always stranger than fiction so newspaper articles can also be a great source of ideas. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the places I write about, so often it’s just a case of imagining what could go wrong while I’m there.

How do you decide on a title?

With great difficulty and usually by process of elimination. FIRST CONTACT was originally called COLD SWEAT but my publisher felt that “sweat” wasn’t a very attractive word and might put people off. So then it became CRASH POINT, which wasn’t bad but perhaps a little anodyne. Next, it spent a month or so as ABSOLUTE RISK, which is a medical term. The hero’s a doctor so this worked quite well. Right up to the point when a friend of mine said it sounded like I was trying to sell insurance. I eventually settled on FIRST CONTACT, which is an anthropological term used to describe the discovery of a new people. One of the main characters in the novel is an anthropologist so this made it very apt. And “contact” is a dynamic, energising word, which demands attention.

What is one piece of advice you’d give to new authors?

If I had to pick one, it would be get a good agent. Seriously. How else are you going to get your manuscript in front of the world’s leading publishers in such a short space of time? And how on earth are you going to negotiate translation rights in Bulgaria, Taiwan and Latvia? Someone once told me that agents are a necessary evil – but that’s nonsense. Writing commercial fiction requires teamwork just like any other business. You’d be a fool to think that you could do it all on your own. To get a good agent you need talent, a thick skin, and clear understanding of who you’re trying to appeal to. When I meet unpublished writers they very often struggle to give a concise summary of their work. If you can’t pitch your book in a maximum of two sentences then you’re probably doomed.

What books do you read when you are not writing?

Not as many as Id like, is the short answer. My wife and I have recently had a baby and I cant see myself settling down with a good book any time soon! Having said that, there are a number of authors that I find it hard to overlook: Wilbur Smith, Lee Child, Boris Starling, Carl Hiaasen and Gerald Seymour all form part of my staple literary diet.

Your books feature incredible countries and cultures, where would you most like to go?

The Middle East and Africa are the two parts of the world that I’m least familiar with but I’m hoping to address that with my fourth book. In the meantime, I’d love to explore the Arctic Circle and see the northern lights. Greenland is somewhere I’ve always wanted to visit but I’m going to have go soon otherwise everything will have melted.

What one book would you take on a desert island?

It would have to be Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories. Another childhood favourite, they’re a unique blend of imagination, wisdom and humour. And like all good children’s literature they’re often quite dark. Some of them read like adventure stories, others like parables, and some of them are still profoundly enigmatic. As well as entertaining me, they might have some practical value too. Each story demonstrates Kipling’s incredible lateral thinking, which might inspire me to find an ingenious way off the island. Then again, if the diving was any good, I’d probably stay.

And finally, what can we expect next from Patrick Woodrow?

I’m currently working on a third novel, provisionally called HIGH RISK or COLD BLOOD. I can’t decide which is better. Or worse. Having written an underwater thriller and a jungle thriller, we’re off to the mountains next. The story features an experienced alpinist with a short fuse and a thirst for revenge. We start in the Pakistani Himalayas and then move to a secret (and extremely remote) location in the southern hemisphere, via London and Buenos Aires. It’s already shaping up to be my most action-packed book to date. Hopefully it will make The Eiger Sanction look like Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

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***bestseller***

December 2009

Clare Dowling's wonderful novel Just The Three Of Us has sold in excess of 70,000 paperbacks within the first two months of sales.

In its second week on the Bestselling Mass Market Paperback Fiction Top Twenty Just The Three Of Us was at No18. In the same week was No1 in the fiction Heatseekers list.

Congratulations Clare.

***bestseller*** A Hard Girl To Beat

November 2009

In her fourth week Martina kept on breaking records. Through this week we saw sales of 23,942 hardbacks - another breakthrough record.

She's a hard girl to beat.

Hard Girls was The Sunday Times No.1 for hardback fiction with sales of 30,547 copies in its first week. The second time she'd toppled Dan Brown from the top spot with enormous sales.

Martina Cole has reached the top position of the Bookseller Original Fiction Charts every year since 2001.
It seems the only records Martina can beat these days are her own!

Londonlite review:" Die hard Martina Cole fans will not be disappointed with her latest novel, Hard Girls. It has all the tough, gritty and addictive components that are synonymous with her East End-set, bestselling books.

From loveable gangster rogues to heart-warming, likeable prostitutes, to odious bent police and, of course, some kick-ass strong women you wouldn't want to mess with, this crime thriller has them in spades.

Straying slightly from her usual dodgy, wheeler-dealer skulduggery, Hard Girls follows a criminal investigation into the impossibly graphic, gruesome and disturbing killings of local prostitutes.

Cole geek's will be pleased to welcome back popular character DCI Kate Burrows. Anyone who enjoyed the author's 1993 novel The Ladykiller will be familiar with the hard-but-fair "filth", who also liked to brush (romantically) with the wrong side of the law. Kate is back to help the equally tough and dedicated leading detective, Annie Carr, track down the killer.Of course, if Kate's back then surely the smoother-than-silk but smolderingly dangerous Patrick Kelly is too? Yes (thanks, Cole), and although Pat's officially "gone straight" and retired as a gangland boss, squeaky clean he ain't. Sure enough, after discovering that he's somehow up to his neck in dead brasses, love doesn't run smoothly for the unlikely pair.

With enough dodgy characters and iffy situations to arouse suspicion everywhere, the meticulous and methodical killer is frustratingly impossible to catch.

However, Kate is still at the top of her game and, with her trusted team, she works to bring justice to the streets.
Packed full of suspense and twists, Hard Girls keeps you questioning "whodunit" right to the end.

The entertaining characters and straight-down-the-line dialogue that helped catapult Cole's previous 15 books, make it impossible to put down. It delivers everything fans would expect, with as much brute force, stomach churning detail and tough talk as you could hope for. And if you are new to her books, it will no doubt have you running to the library to catch up."

Frankfurt Book Fair

October 2009

Head of Rights, Madeleine Buston, and Rights Assistant Kasia Behnke, have recently returned from a busy week in Frankfurt, meeting publishers from around the world and pitching all the Agency’s books.

Madeleine says: ‘It was a brilliant Fair - quieter than usual but we did more deals than ever.  We have such commercial books that they are recession proof and we just continue to sell and sell!’.

A big hit at the Fair was debut author Carolyn Jess-Cooke’s book THE GUARDIAN ANGEL’S JOURNAL where we sold rights in major pre-empt's and at auction to publishers in Italy, Germany, France, The Netherlands and Russia.  John Connolly’s latest stand-alone THE GATES also generated a huge amount of foreign interest, as did debut author Sean Slater’s THE SURVIVOR, a compelling thriller set in Vancouver.  On the non-fiction front the Freeman Brother’s latest book USE YOUR HEAD created a buzz around the world and Pea Horsley’s debut HEART TO HEART on communicating with animals struck many chords with foreign editors.

Offers are coming in from publishers around the world and Madeleine and Kasia are now tying up deals and following up all the Frankfurt interest.

Heaven Can Wait Short Story Writing Competition

October 2009

To celebrate the publication we are running a free to enter short story competition to give another unpublished writer a boost!

The top 3 stories will win a one-on-one consultation with an agent from The Darley Anderson Agency.

1st prize: £100; A One-on-one consultation with an agent from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency; Signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait"; Signed jacket artwork of "Heaven Can Wait"; Three books by Orion’s #1 bestselling authors  - Ian Rankin, Maeve Binchy and Linwood Barclay

2nd prize: £50; One-on-one consultation with an agent from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency; Signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait"

3rd prize: £25; One-on-one consultation with an agent from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency; Signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait"

5 runner up prizes: Signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait"

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING RULES CAREFULLY

By entering the HEAVEN CAN WAIT short story competition, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions;

1. Competition closing date is 15 January 2010. Entries received after this date will not be entered into the competition. The promoter does not accept any responsibility for lost or late entries. Proof of sending will not be accepted as proof of receipt.

2. Only entries received by post will be accepted. Entries will not be returned. Send your fictional story of no more than 1,000 words on the theme of “Heaven” to:

'Heaven Can Wait Short Story Competition'
Darley Anderson Literary, TV and Film Agency
Estelle House
11 Eustace Road
London SW6 1JB

NB: stories written for children will not be entered into the competition

• Your story must be double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font and pages must be numbered. Please include the title but NOT your name on your story. Please attach a separate cover sheet that includes the following: the title of your story, word count, your name, address, email address and telephone number.

• The competition is only open to residents of the UK and Ireland who have not had a novel or short story collection published and/or do not have a publishing contract, except employees of the Orion Publishing Group, any associated Hachette company, their families, its agents or anyone professionally connected with the prize draw.  Only one entry per person will be accepted.

• You warrant that your story is original to you and does not infringe the legal right of any other party. You warrant that your story has not previously been published in print, on the internet or in any other format throughout the world.

• All entries will be read anonymously by Cally Taylor, Sally Quilford and Tamsyn Murray who will provide a short-list of twenty stories to the Darley Anderson Agency. Representatives from the Darley Anderson Agency and the Orion Publishing Group will judge the twenty shortlisted stories and select three prizewinners (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and five runners up. The results of the competition will be posted on this website (www.callytaylor.co.uk) by 15 of April 2010.

• The winning three stories will be published on www.callytaylor.co.uk by 15 April 2010 where they will remain online at the discretion of the promoter. Copyright in the stories will be retained by the authors who grant to the promoter and the Orion Publishing Group a non-exclusive licence to use extracts from the work to publicise and promote the competition, the website, Cally Taylor and/or “Heaven Can Wait”.

• All prize winners will be contacted by phone or email by 15 April 2010. The prize winners must respond within 14 days to accept their prize.  (Prizes: 1st prize - £100 cheque, one-on-one 45 minute consultation with an agent from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency, signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait", signed jacket artwork of "Heaven Can Wait", 3 novels by Ian Rankin, Maeve Binchy and Linwood Barclay. 2nd prize - £50 cheque, one-on-one 45 minute consultation with an agent from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency, signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait". 3rd prize - £25 cheque, one-on-one 45 minute consultation with an agent from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency, signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait". 5 runner up prizes - signed copy of "Heaven Can Wait". No cash alternatives to these prizes will be made available.

• Prize winners attending a one-on-one consultation will be required to take up their prize before 31 December 2010 and to pay for their own transportation to the address of the promoter. The date of the one-on-one consultation will be arranged by the agent. Alternatively, a phone appointment may be arranged for prize winners unable to travel to the promoter.

• Entering or winning the competition does not guarantee an offer of representation from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency or publication by the Orion Publishing Group.

• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. A full list of judges and prize winners may be made available on request by writing to the promoter at the address below.

• The promoter reserves the right to withdraw or amend this competition at any time without notice.

• The promoter is Cally Taylor in association with The Darley Anderson Literary, TV and Film Agency
  Estelle House
  11 Eustace Road
  London SW6 1JB
  
  

A Wordpool Of Talent

October 2009

Three wonderful agency authors took part in this year's Blackpool's Big Book Festival. Visitors were invited to signings and readers by the well loved authors Carmen Reid, Jane Costello and Milly Johnson.

Tatler Woman Of The Year Nomination

October 2009

Tana French has been shortlisted for the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year Award - in the Literature category.

The aim of the Irish Tatler Women of the Year Awards is to both recognise and reward some of Ireland’s most influential and successful women.  These prestigious awards seek to showcase women of high achievement whose successes have gained them public praise along with those who often work tirelessly to improve the life of others.

The judging panel is made up of renowned and leading Irish women many of whom are past winners including Moya Doherty, Adi Roch, Caroline Downey Desmond, Tina Roche, Deirdre Purcell, Mary Davis, Carmel Breheny, Gina Quinn and Elaine Prenderville.

Tana's debut novel In The Woods was a transatlantic bestseller and winner of five literary awards in the US.

Konigin Of Crime

September 2009

Tana French has joined the ranks of the German crime writing elite with her first two novels.

The paperback of the Internationally bestselling In The Woods had pre-orders of 60,000 copies. Published on the same day was “Totengleich" AKA - The Likeness for which there have been outstanding reviews.

Says Berlin's leading paper - Tagesspiegel:
“This is not the first time that detective novel and detailed psychological realism meet in anglo-american literature. Authors like Minette Walters, Elizabeth George, Val McDermid and Ruth Rendell alias Barbara Vine have been setting benchmarks in this bestsellerprone subgenre and are being revered as Queens of Crime by their fans. Now the succession is secured: With her second novel at latest, Tana French, much younger than her colleagues, has claimed her seat at the Queens' table.”

More rave reviews:

“Tana French takes us into a Bronte-like word. With a skilled feeling for psychology and plot she develops a net of relationships and suspense that heightens over 800 pages into the showdown - in a lucid, delicate and poetic prose” - Buchjournal

“Breathtaking - and powerfully narrated” HÖRZU

“THE LIKENESS operates on the same high literary level as IN THE WOODS. No doubt Tana French is moving into Crime's First league”  Schnüss

Lee Child Hijacks Darleys Angels

September 2009

Lee Child re-named Darley's Angels the Reacher Creaturettes for a special evening of revels and celebrations. Glasses were raised to Dr Lee Child and of course to Jack Reacher - transatlantic bestseller and universal hearthrob.

This year Lee hit the Top No1 spot on both The Sunday Times and The New York Times hardback fiction bestseller lists with Gone Tomorrow.

Frankfurt Excitement September 2009

September 2009

The Rights Team at the Agency is gearing up for the Frankfurt Book Fair which has come around very quickly.  Both Madeleine Buston and Kasia Behnke have fully booked schedules comprising back-to-back meetings with over 200 editors.  The Fair takes place between 13th – 17th October and Madeleine and Kasia will be based in the Agent’s centre pitching new titles, liasing with new editors and creating a buzz around all the authors at the Agency.

Martina Heads The Moors Search

September 2009

Martina Cole will head an important new series with Sky 1 and indie Free@Last restarting the hunt for the Moors Murders Victim Keith Bennett.

Bennett was one of five children raped and murdered on Saddleworth Moors by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley - whose grave tragically has never been found.

The Search with Martina Cole was masterminded by megaselling Martina who wants to help Keith Bennett’s mother, Winnie Johnson, to move forward with her life and make a strong argument for re-opening the case which was officially closed in July of this year.

Cole met Winnie Johnson last year while making the documentary Ladykillers and they have kept in close contact ever since. 

In the 2 x 60 minute series Cole will revisit existing evidence, interview the people originally involved with the case as well as some new witnesses.

The series will air in early 2010. Watch this space for news closer to the time.

The Rainbow Rise Of Cathy Cassidy

August 2009

Cathy Cassidy's overall sales are now in excess of a million copies.

For the second year running Cathy ranks in the Top 50 Children's Book Authors.

It's an exciting year for the bestselling writer whose eleventh book Angel Cakes hit the lists this year.

Cathy also launched her brand new Daizy Star series for 8-12 year olds this summer.

Watch this space!

A Footloose Read

August 2009

10,000 promotional copies of The Personal Shopper were given out in Faith shoe stores to customers who spent more than £30 for 2 weeks in August. The promotional copies had the opening chapter of How Not To Shop in the back and ran a competition to win a holiday that attracted 10,000 entrants.

School Of Reacher

August 2009

Lee Child has set up a series of scholarships for students at
Sheffield University, in the name of his iconic hero Jack Reacher.

A graduate of the university and visiting professor Lee will fund 52
Jack Reacher scholarships worth £2000 each.

Lee says: “It’s upsetting to see bright and dedicated students contemplate giving up their studies due to financial pressures. Like my literary character Jack Reacher, if I see things are wrong then I want them put right.”

To seal the deal Lee met the students at the Fat Cat pub in Kelham Island to enjoy the specially brewed Jack Reacher ale - slightly dark, mid-strength.

Readers On The Run

August 2009

Martina Cole's Faces is the seventh most often stolen book from shops.

As the annual list of Britain's most borrowed books is revealed journalist Murad uncovers the underground top ten in which Martina claims the No7 spot.

Other books in the underground top ten are the Oxford English dictionary, The London A-Z, The Official Highway Code, and books by Terry Pratchett and JK Rowling.

True Irish Talent

July 2009

Darley Anderson is well known for discovering and championing a stellar list of international bestselling Irish crime and thriller writers notably John Connolly, Alex Barclay and Tana French as well as Irish bestseller Paul Carson and German bestseller Pat Dunne.

Equally Anderson has from day one championed the talent and huge commercial potential of Kilkenny born, Dublin based, romantic comedy novelist Clare Dowling.

Clare is already a No1 Irish bestseller and Anderson believes she's now poised to achieve massive sales growth in the UK and overseas.

November 2009 will see Headline Books launch her sixth novel Just The Three Of Us in both A and B format paperbacks.

Many now share Anderson's enthusiasm for Clare Dowling:

Marian Keyes: "Commercial fiction at its most entertaining."

Cathy Kelly: "Very funny and original."

RTE: "What sets this apart is the quality of the writing. It is great fun, a great read."

Irish Tatler: "Sparkling and witty - a great beach read."

The Bookseller: "For Sheila O'Flanagan and Cathy Kelly fans - a warm, poignant, Irish read."

The Sunday Tribune: "Dowling has an adept touch for light and warm-hearted women's fiction. She has a likeable tone and warm, funny characters, and is similar in style to Marian Keyes. Wonderfully entertaining."

Clare Dowling's previous novels are: Amazing Grace, Expecting Emily, No Strings Attached, My Fabulous Divorce and Going It Alone.

Tana Is The First Lady

July 2009

Tana French's novels In The Woods and The Likeness simultaneously occupy hot spots on The New York Times Trade Paperback Bestseller lists -at No19 and No20 respectively.

In the Woods spent TWENTY WEEKS on The New York Times Bestseller list. The Likeness is in its second month on the paperback bestseller lists where it debuted at No13.

Combined US paperback sales are just below the 600,000 copies mark.

The Likeness has everything: memorable characters, crisp dialogue, shrewd psychological insight, mounting tension, a palpable sense of place, and wonderfully evocative painterly prose." - Thomas Gaughan, Booklist.

Connolly's Kingdom

July 2009

Sales continue to grow for John Connolly’s The Lovers in its third week The Sunday Times hardback bestseller fiction list. The Lovers is at No9 having spend two weeks in the No4 slot but with sales ever increasing.

The Lovers remains at No1 on the Irish bestseller list.

“The Lovers grabbed me by the throat at page one and wouldn’t let go. John Connolly is simply one of the best writers out there. Book after book, he writes with the intensity of a mad man and the subtlety of a poet. If you haven’t read one of his spine-tingling, masterfully-crafted novels, you’re missing out on some truly great entertainment.” –Vince Flynn

In The Woods - Bestseller In Taiwan!

June 2009

It is official: one week on sale and IN THE WOODS has been reprinted twice, with 11,000 copies in print. It hit the Apple Daily fiction bestseller list at No.7, behind only Stephenie Meyer and Slumdog Millionaire. It also hit No.6 on the Kingstone fiction & literature list, behind only Dan Brown's ANGELS AND DEMONS, beating Meyer, Tess Gerritsen, The Reader, Jodi Picoult, and Stephen King.

Tana French is now the No.2 bestselling Darley Anderson author in Taiwan, behind only John Connolly, whose THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS has over 40,000 copies in print.

Lesley Pearse

May 2009

Lesley Pearse went straight to No.3 on Bookscans UK paperback bestseller charts with GYPSY, published by Penguin. Sales to date are over 100,000 copies and rising.

Lesley has also seen major success in Portugal. ASA launched her with REMEMBER ME (NUNCA ME ESQUEÇAS) last December and have sold over 50,000 copies to date. To give this some perspective, their average print run is 3,000 copies.

Her Portuguese editor, Carmen Serrano, said of Lesleys sales, I believe she will be very happy to know that she is a case study in Portugal