1) So who are you and what have you written?
1) So who are you and what have you written?I’m a debut author who has just written a book called The Man on the Middle Floor, published by Red Door. It’s a thriller set in a three floor converted house in London and the three main characters all live in flats within that house but don’t know each other until a murder throws them together. It’s a ‘Why done it?’ as well as a ‘Who done it?’. Up until now I have been a journalist who writes about politics, current affairs, wine and food.
2) Why do you write crime fiction?
I love writing crime fiction as it gives a structure and format that allows you to make almost any comment on society and on humankind less obviously than a non crime piece of fiction. There is cause and effect and as soon as someone loses their moral compass and commits a crime. The questions about motivation, good and evil, the nature of man and so on, follow on naturally in the story.
3) What informs your crime writing?
My crime fiction writing is largely informed by my childhood. I think that if you grow up in a very emotionally unstable, scary place you learn early on to assess people’s motives for your own self preservation. I became very attuned to moods and my EQ is high, so I find it easy to step into the mind of someone who acts or thinks in a criminal or immoral manner.
4) What’s your usual writing routine?
My writing routine is procrastinate, procrastinate, think of something I have to do at my computer and almost trick myself into starting to write. Once I am writing I am fine, it’s getting going that’s the issue. My daily routine is a couple of articles which limbers up the fingers and the mind or a Q and A about The Man on the Middle Floor, then a few hours of solid writing on my new book usually interrupted by business calls, children, dogs and husbands. I am not one for shutting myself away on a Hebridean Island.
5) Which crime book do you wish YOU’D written, and why?
I wish I had written ‘The Talented Mr.Ripley’ by Patricia Highsmith, I can identify with all the characters in the book, I recognise the mendacious quality of the protagonist and his effect on those around him. It is full of strong, brilliant characters and situations I can identify with. Gripping.
