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
fear
Sometimes fear is used as a way to control.
ground men
On one hand, you've got 'decent' men, and on the other you've got neanderthal misogynist bawbags - and the middle ground is what's disappearing.
bit
It was a bit unimaginable when I began that I'd ever get to 25 books. But it was also unimaginable how much crime-writing would have changed.
If you don't make the best-seller list, if you don't get shortlisted for any prizes, it's goodbye.
ruth written
I said to Ruth Rendell, 'When you've written as many books as you have, it's easier.' She said, 'No dear, it gets harder'.
glad limited scottish sit
I don't think of myself as Scottish or lesbian when I sit down and write. I am glad I have broken out of that limited audience.
books fully ourselves
I don't think many of us launched ourselves into the world of writing books fully formed.
mitchell quite time
I did want to be Joni Mitchell for quite a long time.
bags
I am the despair of my accountant; I am the plastic bags of receipts.
became books central dirt education home kicking life luxury money moved opposite spare understood
We weren't dirt poor, but there was no spare money kicking around. While it was very much understood that the way to a better life was through education, books were a luxury we couldn't afford. But when I was six, we actually moved opposite the central library, and that became my home from home.
moving book house
That was the trouble with moving houses; no matter how carefully you packed the books, they never ended up on the new shelves in quite the right place.