I had my nails done last week. Now I have moved house to a centre of civilisation, I can easily access a nail salon that does acrylic nails. However, that is not the subject of this blog. During the nail appointment, my technician asked what made me want to write and what made me want to write crime.
For a few moments, I was completely stuck and gave a pathetic answer about loving puzzles and having a weird mind. But it made me think. A lot. So, what is the answer, what made me want to start writing anything, but why crime in particular?
Parents always influence a child, sometimes not in a good way. My mother loved reading crime and she loved reading history. Both of those loves, she bequeathed to me. She had a wonderful grasp of what-if? That’s the good bit. She also became obsessed with the Moors Murders: I suppose because one of the victims was the same age as me. She kept a tight grip on my freedom after that, which sometimes made life difficult but developed my devious mindset. In retrospect, that is perfect soil in which to nurture a crime writer. I was always good at essays at school and had what one of my teachers called an over-active imagination. Brilliant for a writer, but Miss Dunning didn’t know that.
The physical act of writing I have always loved. And pens. From an early age. I remember being about 10 and buying a new fountain pen ready for exams. I have an impressive collection of fountain pens now and different coloured inks. They are useful in ways I never imagined.
Although these days, I write directly onto the computer, there are some occasions when I switch desks – yes, I have two. The one for working out plot complications is an old pedestal desk, set across the French doors in my office, looking out over the garden. (And before you ask, there are so few occasions I would need the doors open, it makes sense to take advantage of being able to see the garden.) If I am stuck on a plot point or overcoming a piece of evidence that need negating, I might use several different pens and different coloured inks to work through the problem. I used to think I was weird because of that, but there are more than a few writers who do the same.
Does that answer the question why crime? It is the puzzle, I think. I’m not one for crosswords but give me a situation that requires an answer and I will sit and try and work out the solution. A writing friend of mine, wrote a mangled word the other day in error and only when she read back what she had written did she come across it. And couldn’t work out what she had meant to say, so she posted it on Facebook. I spent about two hours trying to work out what that word could be. Was it one word or two? Had she shifted her hands across from the home keys to one key either side? I never asked for the context, but at the last communication, she still had no idea what she had meant to write. And neither did I. But trying was fun. I like to make the puzzles in my books as convoluted as is feasible and, for me, that is more than half the fun.
In marrying my love of music and singing, it was a logical progression to write the Georgia Pattison Mysteries and, for readers who might be interested, I always include links to the music mentioned in the books. Georgia always has a Christmas adventure and this year is no different. While Shepherds Watched will be available in mid-December
And history? Again, it was a logical progression to mix that with crime and adding a bit of magic led to The Tudor Enigma books. Now I have ventured further back and hope to have Loyalty in Conflict, the first of the Gideon Rooke Chronicles, set in the Wars of the Roses, available early in 2020.
Have I answered the question? Not sure, but I hope you will have a clearer idea of why I write.
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