Val McDermid
Val McDermid
Val McDermidis a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels featuring Dr. Tony Hill...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth4 June 1955
funny notion violent women
There is still a funny notion that women should not write violent fiction.
works
Walking by water frees your creativity. I don't know how it works - there's something about it that's liberating.
diminish people tv
A lot of reality TV is repellent, but that doesn't diminish the qualities of some of the people who take part. There are decent people in there who have no alternatives.
austen builds endgame gets jane
I think Jane Austen builds suspense well in a couple of places, but she squanders it, and she gets to the endgame too quickly. So I will be working on those things.
crime draw general good group looking means nature novel social society vehicle wide
I think that crime is a good vehicle for looking at society in general because the nature of the crime novel means that you draw on a wide group of social possibilities.
books demanded time written
I was always writing the books that I wanted to write, books that demanded to be written at the time. But, like most writers, you start off feeling your way.
along came feelings gave generation men next platform previous voice
I was thinking things had changed: that the next generation of men weren't as institutionally misogynist as the previous were. And then, suddenly, the Internet came along and gave them a platform to voice their feelings anonymously. And boy, did the bile come out.
criminals deserve
A society gets the criminals it deserves.
magic world storytelling
It's not magic that takes us to another world - it's storytelling.
dentist heroines
No woman is a heroine to her dentist.
stories mary
Time for the likeliest story since Mary told Joseph it was God’s.
elephants remember
He frowned as he struggled to remember. It was like watching an elephant crochet.
ego failing when-all-else-fails
When all else fails, go for the ego.
fiction excited crime
Steve Mosby has become one of a handful of writers who make me excited about crime fiction.