Laying down the law for crime writers
JUST how accurately are the police portrayed in top-rated TV crime series? The answer appears to be: Not very authenticially at all – at least if you ask fomer Detective Chief Superintendent David Cole.Mr Cole has written a guidebook for writers which he hopes will separate the facts from the fiction, and result in more authentic police heroes on screen and in books.
David Cole knows what he’s talking about – he took part in 87 major investigations before his retirement from the West Mercia force (which covers Hereford and Worcester and Shropshire) in 1990.
A Writers’ Guide to Police Organisation and Crime Investigation and Detection (presumably so called for want of a longer title) was published in late October at £12.99. The former detective maintains that, while police dramas make excellent viewing, they seldom reflect realistic detective work and procedures (perhaps, one might speculate, that is precisely the reason for their success – the repetitive nature of much police work might send a viewing audience to sleep).
He concedes that Prime Suspect, with Helen Mirren, is a fairly accurate portrayal – apart from her apparent willingness to jump into bed with colleagues – and that The Bill is reasonably close to the truth. Hercule Poirot’s powers of perception are, however, too far fetched, and David Jason as Jack Frost was too much of a maverick.
His favourite is Inspector Morse, played by John Thaw, but he thinks the way Morse treats Sergeant Lewis (Kevin Whately) would never be tolerated.
Some of Mr Cole’s own cases appear in his book, though they are heavily disguised.
It is his second book. His first, The Doctor and the Detective, was written jointly with Birmingham pathologist Dr Peter Acland in 1993.
Educational software boom means openings for teacher/writers
TEACHERS who have turned to writing for extra or sole income could benefit from the increasing number of educational CD-ROMs aimed at filling apparent educational “gaps”.
Europress Software has been quick to exploit parents’ fears of declining educational standards following newspaper reports that Britain’s primary school children are falling way behind their Continental counterparts.
They have introduced the Your Child Can Be a Genius range, part of their Home CD Library. The eight CDs in the Genius range aim to teach children the basic principles of the three Rs. Starting with introductory programs for 4-6 year olds, the series builds up into a complete home tuition course for children up to age 11.
The titles are keenly priced £9.99 each, and all the programs were developed and produced in the UK, designed specifically for British children learning at British schools. There are, says a Europress spokesperson, no garish colours or flashy music — just first steps in reading, writing and arithmetic explained clearly and calmly.
The series is edited and endorsed by leading educationalist Ken Adams, and uses some of his own principles in its approach. Adams’s methods are tried and tested: his own son, John, passed GCSE Maths when he was 10 and A level maths a year later, after being educated at home.
The Your Child Can Be a Genius series comprises:
For age 4-6: Adding and Taking Away; My First Word Book; Simple Spelling
For age 7-9: Simple Fractions; Talking Tables; Word Puzzles
For age 9-11: Serious Spelling; Serious Sums
Europress says the market for no-frills educational software is growing, and there are opportunities for enterprising writers with teaching qualifications and good ideas for computer programs. Writers need not be computer geniuses themselves.
CONTACT: Europress Software, Europa House, Adlington Park, Macclesfield SK10 4NP, tel 01625 859333, World Wide Web http://www.europress.co.uk.
MINX is a new magazine for young women. They are looking for real-life stories from freelance writers. They say, 'If something tearjerking, life-changing, funny or just plain weird has happened to you, we'd like to know.' They will eventually be looking for 2,000 word features, but in the first instance send a single paragraph synopsis. Mark your envelope RL, and send to: Toni Rodgers, Editor, minx, Victory House, 14 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7BP.
ENJOY is another new magazine aimed at young women. It includes a mixture of true life articles, celebrity features, fashion, health, holidays, careers and so on. They pay £25 for readers' letters, and £75 for an 'Open Letter' of the week. The latter is a letter addressed to someone else such as a friend or parent – in the first issue, it was a letter from a female art student to a colleague thanking him for being such a good friend. Contact address: ENJOY! 1-5 Maple Place, London, W1P 5FX.
DE SWARTES LTD have been advertising for freelance writers of health, self-improvement, business and computer books. They also require copywriters for direct mail and mail order advertisements. Editors, proofreaders, illustrators and English/French translators are also wanted. Contact: de Swartes Limited, 36 Church Lane, London, N2 8DT, tel: 0181 883 7719, fax: 0181 883 7323, e-mail: LStew25655@aol.com
Menzies aims to be mightiest in multimedia
THE John Menzies group is aiming to become the UK’s leading multimedia distributor. It has formed a new division, JM Interactive, to consolidate all of the Menzies group’s multimedia business activities.The move could have a major impact on multimedia awareness, and help to increase this fast-growing area of publishing, with consequent benefits for the industry, including writers who are increasingly moving into this rewarding area.
JM Interactive will offer the definitive range of services required by multimedia publishers in the UK – distribution, marketing, sales, inventory and finance.
The new division has already established a presence within the UK multimedia market by joining in partnership with Funsoft Group Gmbh to market, sell and distribute the Funsoft range of products in the UK and Ireland on an exclusive basis. JM Interactive is also responsible for the distribution of Gremlin, Sci and Sierra On-Line products.
The chairman of JM Interactive is Dermot Jenkinson, who commented: “The opportunity for JM Interactive to become a leader in the multimedia industry is enormous.”
Marc Deschamps, managing director of Funsoft UK, said of the marketing and distribution deal with Menzies: “This fulfils our aim of of ensuring a strong pan-European reach for our titles and our international partners.”
A sound idea from Oxford
LOOKING up a word in a dictionary to check the spelling is quick and effective enough – but checking pronunciation in a traditional dictionary is not so easy. Even though many dictionaries spell out words using a phonetic system, it is not always clear where a particular accent or Emphasis belongs in a word.A solution for PC users has arrived with the latest CD-ROM version of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, from the Electronic Publishing division of Oxford University Press.
Now featuring added sound, the CD-ROM gives you standard pronunciations of headwords and words within the text with variant or difficult inflections.
So now there will be no excuse for getting pronunciation wrong – the CD-ROM lets you hear your chosen word being read aloud, and you can replay it as many times as you wish.The dictionary has 140,000 definitions covering just about everything from street slang to scientific terminology. New entries include Chechen, chill out, edutainment, heli-skiing, post-traumatic stress disorder, ragga, superhighway and supermodel. Price is £19.99 including VAT.
OUP’s Electronic Publishing division is also responsible for a new range of bilingual dictionaries on CD-ROM.
Oxford Hachette French, Oxford Duden German, Oxford Spanish and Oxford 3-in-1 Bilingual dictionaries are claimed to open up new possibilities for exploring languages, and provide help in writing and translating from foreign languages.
The 3-in-1 title comprises all three of the new, individual titles. VAT-inclusive prices are £49.99 for a single title, and £120 for the 3-in-1.
CONTACT: Electronic Publishing, Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, tel. 01865 267815, e-mail bevane@oup.co.uk
Easier Web pages
IF YOU are interested in creating your own Web page or site but are put off by the apparent need to learn HTML coding, WebExpress could provide a solution.WebExpress is from the same developers who produced the award-winning WordExpress word processor. It enables you to set up a Web site from scratch, or to enhance an existing one, without being hassled by extensive HTML codes.
Text can be formatted and manipulated easily, and graphics can be imported in the two standard Web formats – GIF and JPEG. Hypertext links arre easy to set up, and you can even enter META commands and information, enabling anyone using a search engine to locate your site – a surefire way of attracting visitors to your site.
You can download an evaluation copy of WebExpress from the Thompson Partnership site at http://www.ttp.co.uk. The price of the full, registered version is £49 plus VAT.
CONTACT: The Thompson Partnership, Lion Buildings, Market Place, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire ST14 8HZ, tel 01889 564601.
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