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Bouchercon 2020 - A.B.Patterson will be taking his Aussie hard-boiled noir to the main event!

26/1/2020

Ever since I published my first crime novel back in 2015, I have been looking at the online publicity each year for Bouchercon in the US, and wishing like hell I was going to it. Bouchercon is the leading get together for the crime mystery genre, and its website says thus:
The World Mystery Convention is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization which holds an annual convention in honor of Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor and author.
Well, yesterday I made the decision, took the plunge, and registered for Bouchercon 2020.
In July last year I enjoyed a tremendous author trip to California, I loved the US, and I loved the amazing collegiate feel the crime writing community has over there. You are a great bunch, guys, and thank you so much for welcoming me in.
So, come October, I'll be heading back. Firstly for Bouchercon in Sacramento, but also hoping to be able to join in some crime author evenings in LA again.
And, of course, I'll be making a whole host of new author friends at the conference.
Roll on October!
Cheers,
ABP

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PI Harry Kenmare heads for the town of Kenmare in County Kerry!

24/1/2020

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PI Harry Kenmare - possibly one of the hardest living private eyes you'll come across in the realms of hard-boiled crime fiction. And he's my main man - a flawed hero who loves women, booze, and tobacco. He loves justice and hates political correctness. And he's no fan of the Establishment. I'm liking him already!

If you've been at any of my public talks as an author, then you may have heard the question asked as to how Harry's name came about - it's been asked a few times.
I chose "Harry" for a good strong first name, and I think it suits this type of detective character well.
As for his surname, "Kenmare", we have to look to Ireland and my own heritage. I have a number of Irish lines in my ancestry. Five generations ago, Mr Patterson came from Belfast to the then colony of New South Wales. But generationally my closest Irish link, and my Irish citizenship source, was a great-grandma who hailed from Kenmare in County Kerry (see the map).
So it occurred to me in a flash one day late last year that Kenmare probably had a town library and how fitting would it be for the Harry Kenmare novels to be right there in the town for the Kenmare residents to enjoy (depending on reading tastes, of course!)
I made contact with the County Kerry Library Service and indeed the good folk at Kenmare Library (pictured at left) were keen for Harry to join their collection.
So today a parcel left Sydney headed for Kenmare with my donated copies to entertain any crime fiction fans in Kenmare.
And since a trip around the Emerald Isle is high on my priority list, at some stage soon I'll hopefully be able to give an author talk to the town of Kenmare.
Cheers,
ABP

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COPS WRITING CRIME - 5 new members join The Squad!

19/1/2020

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Another 5 colleagues - 3 American cousins, 1 British cousin and our very first Chinese cousin - join The Squad today, bringing its numbers to 202.

That's 202 cops and ex-cops (and some PIs) who have taken to writing crime fiction. You won't get more realistic crime tales than those from this Squad!

We have joining us today:
1. Robert J Sadler - served with the Dallas PD. Several crime novels to his name.
2. John Schembra - served with the Pleasant Hill PD in California. Several crime novels to his name.
3. Larry Watts - served with the Houston PD. Several crime novels to his name.
4. Roger A Price - served with the Lancashire Constabulary. Several crime novels to his name.
5. A Yi (Ai Guozhu) - served with the police in China and is our very first Chinese Squad member. One crime novel translated into English.

Our Squad now consists of:

112 American
44 British
12 Canadian
11 Australian
5 New Zealander
3 Finnish
2 Dutch
2 Swedish
1 French
1 Bahamian
1 Norwegian
1 Italian
1 Czech
1 Russian
1 Hungarian
1 Spaniard
1 Pakistani
1 Irish
1 Chinese

I'll keep adding more as I come across them, and if you know of any others please feel free to drop me a line.

Check out The Squad:
Also: Cops Writing Crime

And please remember, my list is only for CRIME FICTION - not all the true crime and/or memoir writing by cops and ex-cops that's out there (as good as so much of that is).

Cheers,
ABP

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2020 - The year ahead for this author.

19/1/2020

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And we are off to a New Year - 2020. Happy New Year to you all.
As a kid, saying any year with 20 in front of it suggested science fiction reading. And I always loved that genre as a youngster. Still do, and definitely not young any more!

Alas, the back half of 2019 became inundated with my consulting work (which pays the bills, so can't be ignored!) and my author pursuits suffered somewhat. Anyway, the holiday period is now over and I've had a break to reset and refocus.

So here's the list of my main author projects for the coming year:
1. The manuscript for my collection of Harry short stories is done and in the final stages of editing. The cover work and internal artwork are also in progress. Expect the book, Harry Kenmare, P.I. - At Your Service, around late March.
2. Going to try and pull off the first ever "Noir at the Bar" event for Sydney - just trying to rustle up some local crime authors to join in. Unfortunately I haven't found much sense of a collegiate crime author community here, unlike the wonderful experience I enjoyed in LA last year. However, I'm nothing if not stubborn.
3. The third Harry novel, Harry's Grail, is now well underway. First goal is to have the manuscript finished before the end of the year. If I can also publish before then as well, all the better. But realistically, early 2021.
4. Push on with some more short stories, Harry and others, and hopefully get some published.
5. And push on with a novella project I started way back, The Scent of the Wattle. It's a crime story about paedophiles and corruption, but definitely not Harry. Heavily based on my detective experiences.

Now...time to pull the finger out!

If I can stick to plan, then it's going to be a big 2020 for this author. Hope you'll join me for the ride, or at least parts of it.
Cheers,
ABP

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Bouchercon 2020 - A.B.Patterson will be taking his Aussie hard-boiled noir to the main event!

PI Harry Kenmare heads for the town of Kenmare in County Kerry!

COPS WRITING CRIME - 5 new members join The Squad!

2020 - The year ahead for this author.

A.B.Patterson

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