I met Val at Bouchercon 1999 in Milwaukee Wi. Along with two
other authors she was responsible for me meeting my wife. So for
that alone I am indebted to her for life. I love her writing,
and as I pick who I inteview, she seemed a natural choice. So
this past summer, 2001, I contacted her and through a series of
e-mails we did the interview.
One of the pleasures I get at MysteryOne
Books is turning people on to great books, and Val is on the
short list of people I recommend to everyone who comes in the
store. Val personifies everything I love about the mystery genre.
Jon Jordan
* (August 2003) Jon Jordan, is publishing a collection of his
crime writer interviews which includes an expanded version of
his interview with me - For more info. about the book and how
you can get a copy, go to
www.mysteryone.com/Interrogations.htm
For people who have heard your
name, but haven't read any of your books yet, how would you describe
them?
'Eclectic?
Because I write different kinds of book, different in style
and tone as well as in content, it's not easy to slot them into
a neat corner of the genre. The Tony Hill/Carol Jordan novels
are dark psychological thrillers, the Kate Brannigan series
features a smart-mouthed Manchester PI, the Lindsay Gordon novels
are actually classic British mysteries with a somewhat radical
contemporary twist, and the two standalone thrillers, A Place
of Execution and Killing The Shadows are also quite different
in flavour and tone from each other. I guess if you want to
be harrowed, stick to Tony and Carol and Killing the Shadows,
if you want atmosphere, go for A Place of Execution, if you
like the PI genre, try Brannigan and if you're interested in
an alternative take on the amateur sleuth, give Lindsay a go.'
Will Kate Brannigan or Lindsey
Gordon be showing up again in the future?
'I'm
sneakily writing a Lindsay Gordon as we speak, provisionally
titled Hostage to Murder. It's set in Glasgow and St Petersburg,
and it'll be published in the US by Spinsters Ink, who have
done the previous five in the series. I want Kate to come back,
but it's a question of slotting her into the schedule. I certainly
have a strong plot idea for the character, but the thrillers
take so much time and energy... '
How much has your experience as
a journalist helped your fiction writing?
'Less
than you'd think... I suppose it gave me an entree into other
people's worlds that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. But the
main thing I took away from journalism was a very prosaic attitude
towards writing. When you're a news journalist, you can't wait
for the muse to strike. You have to write the news when it happens,
no matter what's going on in your personal life. I learned pretty
quickly that your heart can be breaking, the cat can be sick
and the bathroom ceiling can be sitting in the bath tub, but
you still have to write those 1500 words. So I treat what I
do as a job. I sit down at the computer and I write, no matter
what else is happening in my life.'
Do you put any of yourself into
your books? Are there people who know you and see bits of Val
while reading?
'You'd
have to ask them that... Inevitably, who I am, what I believe
and what I've experienced shapes what ends up on the page. But
I don't think there's very much that's identifiably me in the
books. Apart from the sense of humour. That's the one thing
you can never make up.'
You started writing with a protaginist
who was a journalist, then moved to Private Eyes. And now you
are writing about the forensic side of investigation. Is there
a reason for the change?
'What
can I say? I'm a Gemini, I get bored easily. Actually, the transition
isn't nearly as clear as that, because I've written different
kinds of books consecutively rather than writing one series
then another. One of the reasons I love this genre is the opportunity
it provides as a writer and as a reader to explore different
styles and different approaches. Writing across the range means
I never get bored, and I constantly have to push myself to get
better.'
What prompted you to write your
non-fiction work, A Suitable Job For A Woman?
'Too
many drinks at a publishing party... No, really, that's the
truth. I was talking to a non-fiction editor who asked me if
there were really any women PIs, and I said, 'Dozens, darling.'
Next day, she called me and said she'd like to commission the
book. Now, how often does someone give you a wad of money to
wander round the US and the UK talking to interesting women
for four months? The only drawback was that at the end of all
the fun, I actually had to write the damn thing... But I learned
a lot in the process, and I have to confess that a few of the
stories that never made it into the non-fiction book have ended
up as subplots in the Brannigan novels.'
Do you have any decision in the
marketing of your books? Book covers, touring, advertising?
'These days, I have a lot of
input about the process of marketing. I see draft covers and
my comments are taken seriously and acted on. We have meetings
once a year with the sales and marketing and publicity people
at HarperCollins in the UK to discuss the strategy for the next
book. We talk about what went well and what didn't work on the
last campaign and make changes accordingly. My US publishers
also consult pretty extensively with me about promotion and
publicity.'
What is your favorite of the books
you've written?
'Well, none of them matches
up to my dream of how I wanted them to be. I have a very soft
spot for Crack Down, because I wrote it at a very happy time
in my life and structurally, it had to conform to a very tight
timeline, and I think it works very well. The Mermaids Singing
was the book that changed everything for me, opened me up to
a wider readership, and it gave me the confidence to keep pushing
my range. But A Place of Execution is probably my personal favourite,
because I'd wanted to write a book about the Derbyshire landscape
for about twenty years before I finally came up with the right
story. It gave me the perfect excuse to spend a lot of time
wandering around one of my favourite pieces of countryside!'
If you weren't writing for a living,
what do you think you would be doing?
'I
have no idea. I suspect I am unemployable.'
I read that you were once attacked
by a wrestler when you were a journalist. What brought that on?
'I
was unaware when I knocked on his door that other papers had
been chasing the same story I was after -- namely that this
very butch 300lb wrestler's wife had left him for another woman.
So I guess he was feeling pretty raw by the time I arrived on
his doorstep. Which is no excuse for what happened. Anyway,
he opened the door, I managed to say who I was and he just came
at me, fists and feet flying. Not the most pleasant experience
of my life. I always maintained I got somebody else's kicking,
but that didn't make it hurt any the less.'
Is there any chance of seeing
something on the silver screen or television that says Based on
a book by Val McDermid ? ( And if there already is... How did
I miss it!!??)
'Next
month, filming begins for a TV adaptation of The Mermaids Singing,
The Wire in the Blood and a third film based on the characters
of Tony Hill and Carol Jordan. Starring Robson Green, the three
films, under the series title of Wire In The Blood, will be
shown on the ITV network next spring. Everything else is in
option at present apart from the Lindsay Gordon series. And
I have a TV drama in development that is not based on any of
the novels. It's not even a crime drama; it's a science-based
film.'
Are there any downsides to writing
for a living?
'I'll
tell you if I find them... Seriously, I love it. I love to write,
I love going on the road because it takes me to places I'd never
have seen otherwise. I love meeting people and I also love the
solitude of working for myself. I guess the hardest part is
delivering a new book and waiting for the reaction, but even
that has its positive side, because I know that working on it
with my editor is going to mean I end up with something better
than I started with. Oh dear, that does sound very Pollyanna-ish,
doesn't it?'
Around people who know the mystery/crime
genre, your name is spoken with a kind of reverence. Does this
surprise you? Does it have an effect on the way you get treated
by people?
'It
astonishes me, frankly. I mean, there are a lot of people out
there doing very good work in this genre, a lot of them profoundly
underrated. I don't see myself as someone who should be on some
kind of pedestal. Like many of my colleagues, I'm simply trying
to write the best books I'm capable of and mostly I feel like
I fall far short of my goals. I also feel profoundly grateful
that I've had the success I have had, because, as I said, not
everyone who deserves it makes that breakthrough. And to be
honest, I haven't noticed too many people kissing my feet or
spreading their jackets over puddles for me! I've always thought
people found me reasonably approachable, and I wouldn't like
to think that had changed because I've sold a few more books
or won some awards. But I guess publishers are a little nicer
to me these days...'
If you were able to talk to the
17 year old Val, what advice would you pass along? And would she
listen? :)
'Of
course she wouldn't listen... I guess I'd say something like, "Don't listen to the people who say you can't. Oh, and when
you meet that drop-dead gorgeous blonde on your 33rd birthday,
WALK AWAY." '
What do you like to do when you're
not writing?
'Read,
sleep, cook, go walking in the hills, spend time with friends.'
What are some of your favorite
books? Or favorite authors?
'Robert
Louis Stevenson, Iain Banks, Margaret Atwood, Reginald Hill,
Denise Mina, Ian Rankin, James Lee Burke, Sara Paretsky, Laurie
King, Andrew Greig, Ruth Rendell, Jeanette Winterson... how
long have we got?'
How about Movies?
'The
Big Sleep, The Sound of Music, Seven, Ran, The Big Clock, Dr
Zhivago, Billy Elliott. And for chasing the blues: Passport
to Pimlico and What's Up Doc?'
If you had a month with no deadlines,
no commitments, what would you do with it?
'Three
weeks in Tuscany with my partner and our son and a pile of books,
a week in Moscow and St Petersburg with my Russian buddies and
a couple of other close friends and a judicious amount of vodka...
'
Is it harder to break into the
American market with your books? It seems that we Americans are
really missing out on a lot good books and television.
'The
American market is tough for Brits. Partly it's because you
produce such a vast wealth of material yourselves. But partly
it's because America does tend to be quite self-absorbed. Some
American readers cherish a mythical picture of the UK and Europe,
and they aren't comfortable with the more realistic picture
painted by the best of contemporary British crime fiction. And
of course, culturally, we are very different. Although superficially
we have a lot in common with the US, because of the common language,
we are far closer to Europe politically, socially, historically.
All of these factors combine to make it pretty hard for Brits
to break out in your market. But thankfully, there are enough
discerning readers out there to make it happen for some of us!'
Is there anything about you that
people would be surprised to learn?
'Yes,
but I'm not going to tell you what it is! Seriously, though...
probably they'd be a little surprised to know what a quiet,
domesticated soul I am when I'm not out there in public.'
Any thoughts on electronic publishing?
Or books on demand?
'I
think it won't really take off till the electronic readers are
lightweight, portable, cheap, resistant to sand and bathwater
and as easy on the eyes as the printed page. But when that happens,
and happen it will, I think they'll become very popular among
people like me who want to take 14 books on holiday... Books
on demand seem to be working well as a way of making backlist
accessible again to readers, and that's got to be a good thing,
given how many series there are where the early books are unobtainable.
But I'm very suspicious of sites that make available anything
offered to them, without editorial moderation. Usually, there
are good reasons why a novel hasn't been accepted by a publishing
house. It may sound harsh, but there is no democracy of talent.'
What's the one thing that is always
in your refrigerator?
'Diet
Coke.'
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