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Ann Widdecombe's Dancing Detective is debut self-publishing performance Ann Widdecombe's Dancing Detective is debut self-publishing performance
(7 months later)
Featuring a "conceited brute" of a politician, a professional dancer named Beautella LaReine and a backstage murder on a popular televised dance contest, Ann Widdecombe's first foray into detective fiction has just been self-published on Amazon.Featuring a "conceited brute" of a politician, a professional dancer named Beautella LaReine and a backstage murder on a popular televised dance contest, Ann Widdecombe's first foray into detective fiction has just been self-published on Amazon.
The former member of parliament has released The Dancing Detective through Amazon's CreateSpace self-publishing arm. Drawing from Widdecombe's own experiences on Strictly Come Dancing, it is set around the fictional dance competition Lively Toes – and includes a character named after Widdecombe's Strictly partner Anton du Beke, who Widdecombe writes has "graciously agreed to be the model" for her creation, one Anton Caesar.The former member of parliament has released The Dancing Detective through Amazon's CreateSpace self-publishing arm. Drawing from Widdecombe's own experiences on Strictly Come Dancing, it is set around the fictional dance competition Lively Toes – and includes a character named after Widdecombe's Strictly partner Anton du Beke, who Widdecombe writes has "graciously agreed to be the model" for her creation, one Anton Caesar.
"No judge or contestant is above suspicion," when the murder is committed, according to the book's description on Amazon. "As events escalate and it seems that the murderer may strike again, the crime-solving efforts of the police are supplemented with those of a mysterious dancing detective in a desperate race to discover whodunnit. Moving between past and present and unearthing long held secrets along the way, this is a case teeming with possible motives and in which nothing is as it first seems.""No judge or contestant is above suspicion," when the murder is committed, according to the book's description on Amazon. "As events escalate and it seems that the murderer may strike again, the crime-solving efforts of the police are supplemented with those of a mysterious dancing detective in a desperate race to discover whodunnit. Moving between past and present and unearthing long held secrets along the way, this is a case teeming with possible motives and in which nothing is as it first seems."
Her ambitions for The Dancing Detective are, she told the Guardian, fairly modest: "I'm not aiming to to rival PD James and Ruth Rendell. It's just a bit of fun really."Her ambitions for The Dancing Detective are, she told the Guardian, fairly modest: "I'm not aiming to to rival PD James and Ruth Rendell. It's just a bit of fun really."
Widdecombe told the Herald Express in Torquay that she had been thinking about writing her Dartmoor-set detective story ever since she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, "but had to stop writing it because the publishers wanted my autobiography done first". Widdecombe told the Herald Express in Torquay that she had been thinking about writing her Dartmoor-set detective story ever since she appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, "but had to stop writing it because the publishers wanted my autobiography done first".
She chose, she said, to publish the novel herself because she has a series planned about the same detective, and "if you give it to a publisher it's nine months before it comes out and nine months before the next one. With Amazon you can put them up whenever you like and there's a lot higher royalty on the Kindle edition than any author is going to get in publishing."She chose, she said, to publish the novel herself because she has a series planned about the same detective, and "if you give it to a publisher it's nine months before it comes out and nine months before the next one. With Amazon you can put them up whenever you like and there's a lot higher royalty on the Kindle edition than any author is going to get in publishing."
Self-publishing has become an increasingly popular route for writers today. According to Nielsen BookData, in 2013 18m self-published books were bought by UK readers, up 79% on the previous year. As well as Widdecombe, names including Steven Berkoff, Joe Simpson and David Mamet have all chosen to make their own way to market.Self-publishing has become an increasingly popular route for writers today. According to Nielsen BookData, in 2013 18m self-published books were bought by UK readers, up 79% on the previous year. As well as Widdecombe, names including Steven Berkoff, Joe Simpson and David Mamet have all chosen to make their own way to market.
Widdecombe said the book was "not a detective novel about Strictly, that's where the references stop. A lot of it is set on Dartmoor and it's … very traditional with the clues laid."Widdecombe said the book was "not a detective novel about Strictly, that's where the references stop. A lot of it is set on Dartmoor and it's … very traditional with the clues laid."
She enjoyed, she told the Torquay paper, the "challenge" of writing a detective novel. "It's the reverse of how I normally write. I normally start the book and don't know what's going to happen, I let the characters decide that. With a detective novel you have to know whodunnit, where and how. Otherwise you can't lay out the clues."She enjoyed, she told the Torquay paper, the "challenge" of writing a detective novel. "It's the reverse of how I normally write. I normally start the book and don't know what's going to happen, I let the characters decide that. With a detective novel you have to know whodunnit, where and how. Otherwise you can't lay out the clues."
But she added that she writes "quite completely the first time round", and doesn't tend to "go through draft after draft".But she added that she writes "quite completely the first time round", and doesn't tend to "go through draft after draft".
"I get to the end and then make a few changes, but it won't be an extensive rewrite. Unlike a conventional publisher, Amazon don't supply a copy editor so you have to check your own copy and make sure every comma is in the right place. Saying that, I've found the odd error in my published works before.""I get to the end and then make a few changes, but it won't be an extensive rewrite. Unlike a conventional publisher, Amazon don't supply a copy editor so you have to check your own copy and make sure every comma is in the right place. Saying that, I've found the odd error in my published works before."
The novel already has two positive reviews on Amazon. "Another winner from Widders!" writes "I Dale", giving the book five stars. "A brilliant told tale. As in her other novels, Ann Widdecombe really knows how to tell her story and keep the reader gripped." "Lesley Gent" gives it four stars, writing: "Very enjoyable read, great twist right at the end."The novel already has two positive reviews on Amazon. "Another winner from Widders!" writes "I Dale", giving the book five stars. "A brilliant told tale. As in her other novels, Ann Widdecombe really knows how to tell her story and keep the reader gripped." "Lesley Gent" gives it four stars, writing: "Very enjoyable read, great twist right at the end."
It opens as Beautella dances with Cobb Grainger, the unpleasant but handsome politician. "He meant her to fall, was going to let go, was enjoying her fear now that he was sure she realised," writes the former MP. "She looked down, down to where she must land and then into his eyes. They were surprisingly normal eyes, greyish blue, clear, guileless, not orbs glittering with evil intent. Her own, she knew, were fear-filled, pleading but not weeping. She could not weep because there was no time before she was spinning through the air and falling."It opens as Beautella dances with Cobb Grainger, the unpleasant but handsome politician. "He meant her to fall, was going to let go, was enjoying her fear now that he was sure she realised," writes the former MP. "She looked down, down to where she must land and then into his eyes. They were surprisingly normal eyes, greyish blue, clear, guileless, not orbs glittering with evil intent. Her own, she knew, were fear-filled, pleading but not weeping. She could not weep because there was no time before she was spinning through the air and falling."
Widdecombe has written novels before, but published them through traditional publishers. An Act of Treachery, in which a French girl is in love with a German officer, was released by Orion in 2002; The Clematis Tree, released by the same publisher in 2000, focuses on a child who suffers brain damage in an accident. It drew the following review from Ruth Rendell in the Sunday Times: "Widdecombe once memorably said of a certain home secretary that he had 'something of the night about him'. She has something of a Sunday afternoon about her, but her book is readable and, not surprisingly, she is good on the political bits."Widdecombe has written novels before, but published them through traditional publishers. An Act of Treachery, in which a French girl is in love with a German officer, was released by Orion in 2002; The Clematis Tree, released by the same publisher in 2000, focuses on a child who suffers brain damage in an accident. It drew the following review from Ruth Rendell in the Sunday Times: "Widdecombe once memorably said of a certain home secretary that he had 'something of the night about him'. She has something of a Sunday afternoon about her, but her book is readable and, not surprisingly, she is good on the political bits."
Her autobiography, Strictly Ann, was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson last year. The Observer's Rachel Cooke was nominated for the Hatchet Job of the Year for her review, which said that while "Ann is a stickler for grammar … in every other respect her memoirs bear a strong resemblance to her paso doble: no rhythm, no beauty, no humour and, above all, no feeling".Her autobiography, Strictly Ann, was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson last year. The Observer's Rachel Cooke was nominated for the Hatchet Job of the Year for her review, which said that while "Ann is a stickler for grammar … in every other respect her memoirs bear a strong resemblance to her paso doble: no rhythm, no beauty, no humour and, above all, no feeling".