| Katherine Howell worked as a paramedic for fifteen years while completing her Bachelor and Masters degrees in creative writing. Her first novel Frantic, published in 2007 by Pan Macmillan, set a paramedic alongside Sydney police detective Ella Marconi in 'an adrenaline rush of a thriller' (Sydney Morning Herald). It won the 2008 Davitt award for crime fiction and was published in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. Her second book The Darkest Hour, continues the pattern with Ella and another paramedic in a story described as a 'compelling drama ... (with) an unnerving ring of truth' (Woman's Day) and was likewise published in a number of countries. Her third in the series Cold Justice, is much anticipated and due for release in Australia in early 2010. Katherine is an experienced speaker. While a paramedic she taught first aid and CPR, and as an author she is a frequent speaker at libraries, bookclubs, community groups and writers festivals, including senior school student groups at Somerset. One aspect of her talks is her journey from paramedic to author, including the difficulties involved in making that change and in learning to use her often traumatic experiences as the stuff of good fiction. Another is the importance of persistence as a key quality for anyone who wants to be a successful writer. Katherine is published by Pan Macmillan. "Howell pays lovely attention to detail, and writes with a good deal of psychological insight . . . while building empathy for Ella Marconi. The detective is a complex and appealing character whose passion for crime solving is both endearing and compelling and keeps the pace of the book racing." Katherine Howell has visited Hornsby Girls High School twice to speak about Crime Writing. On both occasions, she has made a very important contribution to the students’ preparation for their HSC exams. She makes a strong impression on her listeners and presents very pertinent examples of her own work to underline the points she is making about writing within that genre. However, her approach to editing a piece of writing is also a very practical demonstration of the improvement that a few thoughtful and relatively simple changes can make to a written text.
My students were particularly impressed with this aspect of her discussion and were able to see how it could be applied to a range of writing tasks. - September, 2009
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You can view Katherine's personal website at: www.katherinehowell.com
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