It’s time for another Friday Reads post and this week my featured book is Drowning not Waving, the first in a new police procedural series by Kate Evans. It looks intriguing so grab yourself a cuppa, get comfy and we’ll find out a bit more about the book then get chatting to Kate.

Blurb

The lives of the people of Scarborough have always been tied to the sea. Often their deaths too. And when the body of a young man is pulled from the harbour, the police investigation has to dive into the tightly knit fishing community there. But DC Donna Morris, halfway through her probationary period in the town, finds very little is at it seems.

Is the killing to do with old rivalries or more contemporary enmities, or is it somehow linked with a shocking murder which took place in the town twenty years ago? Donna does her best to navigate the tides and currents of the place she calls home for now, but find people are prepared to muddy the truth if it means preserving the past, and their reputations.

Drowning Not Waving: a completely thrilling new police procedural set in Scarborough a book by Kate Evans. (bookshop.org)

A Wake of Crows: The first in a completely thrilling new police procedural series set in Scarborough a book by Kate Evans. (bookshop.org)

Welcome to my blog Kate. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Yes. Though I was a slow starter at school when it came to reading and writing, by the time I was in my teens I was hooked. It was a teacher’s positive response to a creative piece I wrote which gave me the idea I might be able to write for a living. I started out putting my toe into journalism and then moved onto working in adult education and for an anti-poverty NGO, but writing has always been by my side. Writing has been a joy and, through a difficult period in my life, it has kept me sane (and still does). I have also sought publication for different genres of writing at different moments in my life. When I was 19, my dream was to have a novel published by a traditional publisher. I finally managed to make this happen when I was fifty-six years old. I got a three book deal with Constable/Little Brown to write a crime series based in Scarborough.

How wonderful that your dream finally came true. Has any author inspired you?

Loads. I read a lot. When I started out, people like Alice Walker, Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Sara Paretsky, Jackie Kay, Helen Dunmore, Kamila Shamsie, Sarah Waters. More recently, Steph Cha’s ‘Your House Will Pay’, Abir Mukherjee, Ann Cleeves, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Lissa Evans. And that’s just the fiction writers! I like writers who craft the language, create pithy characters and don’t shy away from challenging subjects. I hope to emulate this in my small way.

What do you like writing most?

Currently I am concentrating on novel writing. However, I enjoy writing short stories, poetry and non-fiction, I have focused on each of these at different times in my life.

Are you a pantster or a plotter?

I used to be more of a pantster. Having this contract and an editor to work with has moved me towards being more organised and having more of a plan. Writing and delivering a book a year over three years really requires it, I think. Now I like to think I juggle the two approaches deftly(!) I still like to write without having any idea of where I am going; I think this can produce some of my best writing, but it is also a bugger when it takes me down blind allies from which I have to extricate myself.

Is your writing ever inspired by your family or real life incidents?

My writing is inspired by everything and everyone around me. Incidents, relationships, characters, they all get absorbed, ruminated on and then put onto the page. They will be changed by this process. I want to take on diverse perspectives through my writing – researching how other people see the world through reading and listening – but, in the end, it is all mediated through me, so, inevitably it will have the Kate spin on it. I have written from a misogynists’ point of view, for example, but I couldn’t allow that perspective to lie in my writing without being challenged.

I love reading books which engage with nature and place. I have done this in my crime series. I like that readers who know Scarborough can walk with the characters through specific areas of the town.

What inspired you to write Drowning Not Waving?

I feel very strongly about environmental issues and I wanted to use the crime genre to explore these concerns. After all, I believe, what we humans are doing to the planet is criminal. I believe many of us as individuals would want to do the right thing and, indeed, try to do it, but are hampered by lack of will on the part of politicians and profit oriented business. However, for me, a story always has to start with characters. In this novel, we have DC Donna Morris who is continuing on a journey to greater independence and self-confidence. She does not want to think that humankind is doomed, she has children, she wants them to have a good life. Then there is Alice, the young woman who is determinedly fighting for radical change. And she falls in love with Sarah, a scientist who may or may not be one of the good guys.

What advice would you give to other writers?

Write because it brings you joy and keeps you sane. Don’t get too hung up on being published. I know, even for myself, this advice is hard to follow. Since being picked up by a traditional publisher, I have found myself comparing myself unfavourably with other writers (especially on social media), and getting caught up in whether I am doing enough promotion, selling enough books etc. Writing is a creative act. It is about the heart and the soul. Focus on the words, the spirit of what you want to say and the craft. This is all you have control over.

Very sound advice, Kate. Thank you for dropping by to talk to us today. Wishing you lots of luck with your writing.

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Meet Kate

Author Bio

Kate Evans is a writer of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her novel, A Wake of Crows, was published by Constable/Little Brown in June 2021. It is the first in a series – the DC Donna Morris mysteries – crime novels based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Book two, Drowning Not Waving, was published in hardback and ebook in June 2022, it will be out in paperback in May 2023. No Justice is due out in 2023.

Praise for A Wake of Crows:

‘Kate Evans delivers a gripping crime debut with a truly original policewoman as the central character. Highly Recommended.’ Irish Independent, May 7^th 2022

‘Well written and without any flashiness, this believable police procedural deals with guilt, vengeance, love, a serial killer with a God complex and redemption. It is quiet, effective and moving.’ Natasha Cooper, Literary Review.

After a bout of severe depression, Kate trained as a psychotherapeutic counsellor, and worked for several years with private clients. But it is the link between creative writing and wellbeing which fascinates. She ran a writing group for people with depression and anxiety for four years. She currently runs creativity and wellbeing workshops, mainly for therapists, medical professionals and carers.

Her book, Pathways Through Writing Blocks in the Academic Environment, was published by Sense Publishers in 2013. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Sussex University. For ten years she coordinated and taught on the BA in Creative Writing, University of Hull, Scarborough campus.

Brought up in Durham, she has lived in London, France and the US. She chose to settle in Scarborough in 2003. She loves being out in nature, walking or cycling, and is an open water swimmer, braving the sea off Scarborough all year round.

Find Kate Evans on Facebook & Instagram. Or follow her blog at http://www.scarboroughmysteries.com for news, writing tips and to discover writers in all genres.

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