Well, I didn't score a double whammy with the Mary Higgins Clark
Award. Elly Griffiths won this year, but I did get to meet the
great lady herself and enjoy a couple of glasses of good white wine
thanks to the Mystery Writers of America. I would have liked to
have posted a photograph of MHC, me and small child, as we
certainly posed for one, but Mr B, who was in charge of the camera,
was chatting up SJ Rozan at the time.
Awards not withstanding, we're
having a blast in New York. I find my mind rather blown by a city
that, after just 24 hours, I can find my way around. I lived in
London for ten years and got lost on a regular basis, don't even
think about abandoning me somewhere like Paris, I'll never be seen
again, but New York - sorted!
Highlight so far, for me at least, has been meeting my American
publishers. Yesterday, at their downtown offices, (you see how
easily I'm slipping into local-speak?) I met my editor, publicist,
publisher, and marketing manager - all completely charming and
supportive. We spent quite some time talking about why British
writers find it so tough to break through in the US. Any number of
huge names in Britain just don't seem to work here.
One problem, I learned, is that British writers can be too dark
for American readers. Too much blood, gore and on-page violence can
be a really turn-off over here. (The phrase Bloody Brits has taken
on a new meaning)
Another is that we can be - well, just too British. Which is not
to be confused with English. Americans love English. They love the
dark deeds in sweet Cotswold villages, the blood dripping down the
dreaming spire. What doesn't turn them on so much is the gritty,
totally-true-to-life police procedural in the city sink estate. It
seems, and these are my thoughts alone now, that even when it comes
to crime, Americans like a touch of the fairy-tale.
So there you have it. To stand a chance of being successful in
the US, I have to tone down the violence, think English not
British, and not worry too much about my rather zany plots.
Today is Blood Harvest paperback publication day, and to
celebrate my publishers are giving away a fantastic iPad 2. The
challenge is to get views of the brilliant video trailer up to
20,000 on YouTube and then a "Fan" of my Facebook page will win the
iPad
