Chelsea Buckthorp

Waterstones on Lincoln High Street will be playing host on July 22 to the internationally acclaimed, bestselling author, Tess Gerritsen.

Lincoln is one of only seven Waterstones’ in the country to feature in her England tour. Other stores to be visited by the author of the celebrated Rizzoli & Isles series will include Cambridge, Liverpool and Nottingham.

This will be Gerritsen’s second appearance in Lincoln, where she will be returning to store for a book signing and to give a talk on her latest release THE SILENT GIRL.

“I truly enjoyed my last visit because it was such an enthusiastic audience. I’m delighted to come back, because this gives me a chance to talk about a more personal topic, and my special connection to THE SILENT GIRL.”

Gerritsen relishes meeting her fans and talking about her books. She is particularly excited about her latest release and will be discussing the gothic inspiration behind her gripping new thriller.

“I like having the chance to give more background to the story. This book, for instance, draws from my Asian- American heritage, and from the ghost stories my mother taught me.

“I know that quite a few people are not aware of the legend of the Monkey King, or the nuances of martial arts, and I love sharing the details that inspired this story.”

Gerritsen is no stranger to these kinds of events, traveling around the world to promote her critically acclaimed crime fiction titles, often performing to huge audiences.

“In the US, I’ve given talks to audiences of 500. A bit overwhelming!”

Gerritsen has enjoyed great success with her work. Her books have been translated into 37 different languages and she has sold more than 20 million copies of her books worldwide.

Despite having trained in medicine and also dabbled in other genres, she explains that writing crime fiction has always been her passion.

“It allows me to explore every aspect of human behaviour. And as a child, I was a huge fan of horror movies, so frightening an audience comes almost naturally to me.”

Gerritsen is currently working on her tenth Rizzoli & Isles novel and reveals that it promises to be a dark and thrilling read.

“No title yet, but I do know it takes place in an isolated school in Maine, where bad things have started happening…”

Tess will be at the store from 12:30pm. Tickets are £3 each and will be available to buy on the door for anyone who is interested in attending.

For further information you can also contact the branch on 01522 540011.

Gervase Phinn, Yorkshire man and author of the Dales series, was in Lincoln this week promoting his debut full length novel The Little Village School.

As the fans queued up down the aisles of Waterstone’s on the High Street, Phinn had the whole store in fits of laughter, bantering with the customers and sharing some of his hilarious anecdotes.

Here promoting his latest book and debut full length fiction title, Phinn admitted that Lincoln has a particular hold on him.

“I’ve got an honorary doctorate from Leicester University, a Doctor of Letters that was actually conferred upon me at the wonderful Cathedral at Lincoln.

“I love coming to Lincoln, it’s a fantastic city. It’s not Yorkshire, of course, but it’s a rich and vibrant city and I do love coming here.”

Not only does Phinn enjoy visiting the city but in the past he has worked closely with schools in the area, helping to inspire literary talent and put his expertise in education to good use.

“I’ve worked in some brilliant schools around here. I have been to William Farr and Yarborough where I did some work with the youngsters.”

Phinn is best known for his hugely successful Dales series of autobiographical books exploring his years working as a teacher and a school inspector, in Yorkshire.

He has also written a lot of children’s poetry and a few humour titles, but The Little Village School is his first full length novel and already seems set to achieve great success.

“I’ve done a few children’s titles and a novella called All These Lonely People, which sold very well but this is my first effort at a full novel”

“It’s in the style of my writing, life affirming, optimistic, and amusing as well as a few poignant parts. It is centred on one little village school in the Dales.

“My other books, the Dales books, were made as an itinerary around different schools. This is centred on one particular school.”

Phinn states that writing this book was a completely new experience for him, written in the third person, the book follows the lives of several strong female characters.

Phinn explains that this is very different to writing in the first person about his own experiences. By taking a step back, Phinn argues that you can sympathise with the characters more.

He said: “It’s the only occasion where I have actually wept at my own writing.”

The Little Village School is the start of a new phase in Phinn’s writing career and we look forward to seeing him return to promote his next title.