Summer Reads
Something
Old … Something New
This month I’m delighted to speak to two of my favourite
crime writers.
One, a legend, who along with Agatha Christie, formed my earliest
inspirations to read and then go on to write crime thrillers. We’re thrilled to
have a short Q&A with Baroness James of Holland Park – better known as PD James.
And secondly, a crime writer whose novels I only discovered
earlier this year. Peter May. I’ve
now read two books from his Lewis Trilogy, both of which had me completely
hooked. I’m thrilled to have discovered such a new talent to add to my
bookshelf.
So, firstly, PD James. A writer who needs no introduction.
But for those of you who aren’t avid crime readers, a writer first published
in 1962, introducing investigator and poet, Adam Dalgliesh of New Scotland
Yard. She has gone on win a plethora of awards and accolades and published over
twenty novels featuring Dalgliesh, and her other protagonist, Cordelia Gray. Many
of her works have also been developed for television and film. The most famous
being the Hollywood blockbuster, Children of Men, in 2006.
We asked Baroness James about her experience in seeing her writing
developed into other formats and her thoughts on the future of publishing.
You have been lucky to see your books
adapted not only for television (The
Inspector Dalgliesh Mysteries) but also into box-office successes as films
(Children of Men). What was your
involvement with the adaptations, and as a writer, which format – film or
television – gave you the most enjoyment?
It is always an advantage for a writer to
have her work filmed or televised as it brings people to the book, but few of
us are really satisfied with the result.
However, I have been more fortunate than many writers and now look
forward to the TV adaptation of Death
Comes to Pemberley. Television gives
me the most involvement as I am often invited to visit the set during filming,
and was indeed at Chatsworth recently with my PA to watch a scene being
filmed. This has not so far happened
with a feature film and I have to wait until it is released to see the final
result.
You’ve been quoted as saying you enjoyed
the film version of Children of Men but that the actor, Roy Marsden was not
‘your idea’ of Inspector Dalgliesh. What are the hardest things, as a writer,
about relinquishing your rights and letting someone else take control of your
work?
I accept that, with a film or TV adaptation
I have to relinquish certain of my rights and let people regarded as experts in
a different medium take control of my work to a large extent. The hardest thing is when the dialogue, which
I have taken considerable trouble over writing, is expunged and the adaptor’s
dialogue substituted.
Location seems to play a strong central
role in your books, something that means a lot to me also as a crime writer.
This has helped bring the books alive on screen. Thinking of The Lighthouse and The Private Patient, you seem to favour strong, remote locales.
What do you look for in a perfect location for your novels, and what do you
think location to brings to the narrative?
My novels nearly always begin
with my response to a place and this was certainly true of The Lighthouse and The
Private Patient. I do favour strong
remote localities where it is possible rationally to limit the number of
suspects. In looking for a perfect
location I tend to choose a place which I find beautiful, mysterious or
unusual, and I think the location is important to the narrative as it increases
credibility, influences character and plot, and adds to realism.
You must
have learnt a great deal about writing and publishing over your career. What
words of wisdom would you impart to the next generation of writers?
If asked for advice I generally
give the following: A prospective writer
should read widely, not in order to slavishly copy, but to see how established
writers exercise their craft. It is also
important to increase one’s vocabulary since words are the building blocks of a
writer’s talent.
You’ve obviously won so many awards,
honours and accolades throughout your career. What, as a writer, have been your
proudest moments and achievements?
I have been very fortunate in the
public acknowledgement of my success, but I think the proudest moment was when
I received a telephone call from my agent to say that Faber & Faber had
accepted my first novel.
I’ve read many of your novels over the
years, and Death Comes to Pemberley
was a change of style and direction for you. What caused that change – and do
you have plans for more historical crime adaptations to come?
After the publication of The Private Patient I was wondering
whether I had the energy to write a long novel, as detective stories tend to
be. It seemed the right time to return
to an idea which had been long in my mind: to combine my two enthusiasms – the
novels of Jane Austen and detective story writing – to write a crime novel set
in Pemberley some six years after the marriage of Darcy and Elizabeth. It was a joy to write and has been a
world-wide bestseller. I have no plan
for more historical crime adaptations in the future.
And finally, can I ask how you see the
future of publishing? In such a rapidly changing market and technological
world, do you believe ‘real books’ will survive or that e-books are the future?
I think it is difficult for
anyone, including publishers, to see with any clarity the future of publishing,
but I acknowledge that e-books are immensely convenient for long journeys,
stays in hospital or holidays when so many books can be transported so
easily. And e-books also have a use for
reading in bed and for people with poor eyesight. However I believe, and greatly hope, that
what you rightly describe as ‘real books’ will survive.
And secondly, we talk to Peter May. First published at the age of 26,
his first novel, The Reporter,
was eventually adapted into a thirteen-part television
series, which took the author into a lengthy career as a script writer. He has
now published five standalone novels, plus three successful crime series: China
Thrillers, The Enzo Files and The Lewis Trilogy.
Despite his prolific resume, Peter knows all about the hardship of
writing and the difficulties faced as an unknown author trying to break through
into the publishing world.
Here he talks about location, research, his plans for the future and
his unusual path to publication.
Location is a vital element of your novels, almost standing as a
character in its own right. This is something I connect with strongly in my own
writing, but why is it so important to you? And how and why do you choose
particular locations?
For me every story starts with the characters. The plot grows and
develops according to what affects these characters and how they in turn affect
everyone and everything around them. Obviously relationships between
characters are important, but the world which they inhabit is central to who
they are and how they behave. The location, the weather, the culture and
way of life all have a bearing on the people and the story so the setting is
always centre stage for me. My next book takes place partly on the Isle
of Lewis and partly in Quebec's Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence.
Although there are certain similarities about island life, the two
locations are very different culturally. I've written books set in
China, France, the USA, and even in the online virtual world of Second Life!
You now live in France (Enzo Files) and I believe used to spend a lot of
time in the Outer Hebrides (The Lewis Trilogy) is it important for you to see
and feel and absorb a location to be able to bring it across effectively in
your writing?
I never write about a location unless I have been there and experienced
it personally. I love research. As far as my writing process goes,
research takes up most of my time. Visiting locations and soaking up the
atmosphere is a vital part of that research. In the early days when I was
writing about China I made more than a dozen visits there, often for more than
a month at a time. In the early days, I took copious notes about each
location and took hundreds of photographs. When I got home I would get the
photographs developed and paste them on large pieces of card, constructing
panoramas of each of the locations I was writing about. I would pin them
up on the wall above my desk to take me to the places while I was writing about
them. Times have moved on and it's easy now to take videos with my phone
at the locations, so I can record sounds or notes instantly along with the
pictures. When I get back from a research trip I construct short videos
of each location that I can play on my computer while I'm writing.
In The Lewis Man, you bring out very strongly the different character of
the islands - Harris v Lewis, Protestant islands v Catholic. Where did your
understanding come from? And how have the islanders themselves responded to
your depiction of them?
Some places I know better than others. For example, in the case of the
Outer Hebrides, I lived for half the year, every year for five years on the
Isle of Lewis. I co-created and produced a drama series for television
that was shot on location there during the 1990s. During the research and
scriptwriting I got to know the people, the culture and the customs and during
the filming I got to know every square foot and blade of grass on the island
searching for the right locations, and shooting scenes in them. The books
have been better received on the islands than I could ever have imagined.
When The Blackhouse and Lewis Man were published I made visits to
Stornoway where I had a great turnout. And so when The Chessmen was
published Quercus arranged a tour of the Outer Hebrides from Port of Ness in
the north of Lewis to Lochboisdale on South Uist. Everywhere I went, the
halls were full to overflowing and the warmth of the reception I received
everywhere was overwhelming.
You have a wonderful ear for local dialect and a natural ability for
bringing this across successfully in your writing. Do you think your background
in television script writing was a help in developing this skill?
My years of working in television have had a great influence on my
writing, not just in terms of having an ear for dialogue, but in my whole
approach to writing. I "see" very vividly every scene that I
write. I also employ the scriptwriter's technique of drawing up a very
clear storyline of the book before I write. In scriptwriting, writing the story
and writing the script are two separate jobs each making different demands on
the writer and calling for different abilities. Often, in television the
two jobs are done by different people. I think there are some writers who
tell great stories but write badly. Equally there are acclaimed novelists
who write beautifully but hang their writing on flimsy stories. For me
plotting and structure are an important part of a writer's craft and I always
work hard to get the plot right before starting to write the book.
An initial draft of the storyline is written very quickly - perhaps
25,000 words in a week. At that stage the only thing that is important is
going with the flow of the story. I can then stand back and look for flaws
- which are much easier to spot and fix than trying to do it in a finished
novel that's maybe 120,000 words long. When I'm happy with the story
outline, I start to write the book, with the security of knowing the plot
works, and allowing me to concentrate fully on the quality of my writing.
Again I write quickly, I get up at 6am and write 3,000 words per day.
Writing quickly and writing to deadlines is something else I brought with
me from television.
You have a wide, varied list of characters across your novels. When
developing a new character, where do you start? And what are the important, key
points you focus on?
Characters are like people. You meet them, you make assumptions
about them, sometimes you're proved right, sometimes they prove you wrong.
Gradually you get to know them better and often they surprise you.
I have sometimes been criticised for writing characters "warts and
all" - some readers get annoyed if the hero has flaws. They want the good
guys to be all good and the bad guys to be bad. To me the characters are
human beings. Heroes have flaws and even the bad guys sometimes have a
redeeming feature. During my research, I spend a lot of time living with
the characters in my head and getting to know them.
Where do you stand on the subject of research? Love or loathe? And how
do you approach, for example, historical details or factual information like
police procedurals?
I love research. I always seem to be interested in subjects that
require a lot of research - genetic modification, the Chinese police, forensic
pathology, forensic science. I've heard some writers say they hate
research and believe that writing is all about "making things up".
I find that the wonderful thing about research is that you set out to
find the answer to one thing, and discover a wealth of inspiration that
provides you with even better ideas. Research is where I get all my
stimulus. It's also important to me to get my facts right. I know
I'm making up the story, but it's taking place in the real world, so I want to
be accurate. For the China Thrillers, I needed to know where the Beijing
homicide squad was based, where the guys went to eat at lunchtime, what the
inside of the Shanghai police morgue looked like.
I take research for my Enzo Files books, which are set in France,
equally seriously. When I wrote the second book which is set in the
vineyards of Gaillac, I had to visit as many of the 120 vineyards there as I
could, talking to the winemakers and, yes you've guessed it, drinking a lot of
wine! In fact I got to know the wines there so well that I was inducted
as a Chevalier de la Dive Bouteille de Gaillac.
How did you learn so much about the secretive world of the hunt for the
gannet chicks?
Ahh! After you have inveigled your way into the world of the Chinese
Police, the Guga Hunters of Ness were not so daunting. I simply did what
I always do when I need to know something. I go to the people themselves
and ask them to talk to me. In the case of the guga hunters I spent hours
with them, listening to their stories of the hunt, of their childhoods, of the
preparation for the trip and the journey itself. I also talked at length
to the young skipper who takes them to the rock in his fishing boat.
People are usually very open and incredibly helpful when you go to them
and ask to learn about the things in which they are expert. I find that
most people are usually very happy to talk to me.
I think your writing has wonderful visual qualities, after the success
of Ann Cleeves' location-themed novels recently, are there are plans to
commission any of your series for television?
There has been television and film interest in the Lewis Trilogy.
Also one of the China Thrillers is shortly to be made into a movie.
In both The Blackhouse and The Lewis Man, a central theme is loss of
memory (through trauma or dementia). It feels as if it runs a lot deeper than
just a clever way of telling a story. What draws you to characters who have
lost a part of their lives?
The Lewis Man was based on my personal experience of caring for my
father in the last years of his life. He suffered from dementia and I
watched as it robbed him of his ability to express himself and to fully
comprehend what was going on around him. What struck me was that he often
had very lucid recollections of events from the past.
As for Fin, in common with many people who have had painful experiences,
he hides his memories away - it's the only way that he could find to cope and
survive.
The real theme of the books is how we are shaped by the past.
Every choice, every decision, right or wrong, leads us to where we are
today. I think the only way that we can make sense of the present is by
examining the past, but that is not so easy if memories are fractured or lost.
In The Lewis Man in particular there is a tremendous assurance in the
way you unroll two halves of the story and begin to weave them together. How do
you manage juggling the two threads? Did you write (or at least plan out) the
'memory' element of the story first? Was it any easier telling a story this way
second time round?
As I mentioned earlier, plot and structure are very important to me.
Once I have let the creative process have free rein and poured out the
story - or stories - that I want to tell in the book, I work hard on getting
the structure right to try to ensure that it all holds together. It was
important that the past and present story strands crossed back and forth at the
right moments.
You had an unusual path to publication with the Lewis trilogy - turned
down by British publishing houses, published first in translation in France and
hailed there as a masterpiece before finally being picked up in English. Why do
you think the French were more receptive? And why did it take the French public
to tell the British publishing industry just how good these were?
There are two things that explain it, really. Firstly, and most
importantly, the French do not divide books into pigeon holes labelled
"Literature" or "Crime". Yes, they have crime books,
and crime writing festivals, but they don't exclude crime books from the
category of literature. The French have books known as romans noirs, or
"dark novels". And the Lewis Trilogy falls into that category.
The Blackhouse and The Lewis Man won the Prix des Lecteurs at Le Havre's
Les Ancres Noires Crime writing festival in 2010 and 2012; but The Blackhouse
also won the Cezam Prix Litteraire, France's largest adjudicated readers' prize
for literature in 2011 and The Lewis Man won the French newspaper le
Télégramme's 10,000 euro readers' prize for their favourite book of 2012.
When The Blackhouse first did the rounds of British publishers several
years ago, the editors were unanimous about the quality of the writing, the
atmospheric, how moving the story was, but they simply didn't believe they
could sell it to a British audience. They felt it crossed boundaries
between literature and crime - as if crime readers would somehow reject it.
Thankfully the British reading public - now that they have finally been
given the chance to read the books - have proved those editors wrong!
The second thing is that when The Blackhouse was first presented to
British Publishers, it was before the influx of Scandinavian writing. All
that "Nordic Noir" has made it more acceptable for crime writers to
move their stories at a more thoughtful pace, and to look in more detail at the
lives of their investigators. In fact my publisher, Quercus, wasn't even
in existence when The Blackhouse was first offered to editors in the UK.
It's no surprise then that they - who published the Stieg Larsson Trilogy
- were confident about finding an audience for The Lewis Trilogy.
And finally, for all your eager readers, can you tell us what you're
working on at the moment, your next release and your plans for the future?
The next thing on the publishing schedule is a photo companion to The
Lewis Trilogy. "Hebrides" consists of 200 beautiful photographs
of the locations that feature in The Lewis Trilogy, taken by David Wilson, who
lives on the Isle of Lewis. I've written a commentary to go with the
pictures, together with a brief history of the islands and my personal history
with the place and its people. Quercus have also obtained my backlist and
have already brought the China Thrillers out on Kindle. These will also
be coming out soon in paperback. And The Enzo Files which have only
previously published in the USA will be out in the UK before the end of
the year. My next new book will be out in January 2014. Although
there will be no more Fin Macleod, there will be a return to Lewis. It
takes place partly in the Hebrides and partly in Quebec. My plans for the
future are to have a holiday!
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