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
austen baby books family gone jane love matter money reasons throwing today universal
One of the reasons we all still read Jane Austen is because her books are about universal things which still matter today - love, money, family. They haven't gone out of fashion, so it's not throwing the baby out with the bathwater to rework her in a contemporary style.
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.
books copy developed discovered house later mysteries school spent taste time
I spent a lot of time at my grandparents in the school holidays, and the only books in the house were a copy of the Bible and Agatha Christie's 'Murder at the Vicarage.' I developed a taste for murder mysteries and then later discovered libraries, second-hand bookshops, and jumble sales.
books fully ourselves
I don't think many of us launched ourselves into the world of writing books fully formed.
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.
attempting highest jane prose
I won't be attempting to write Jane Austen-style prose - that would be suicidal. But I will attempt to bring the highest level of my own prose, and to make it sparkle.
benevolent government looking next
Why do the police need to know where I am? In the hands of a benevolent government, they could be looking after your interests, but what if the next government isn't so benevolent?
people reflects
I've never wanted to live in a ghetto or write in a ghetto. I want to write about a world that reflects the one most people live in. Gay people are just one aspect of that.
home intimate present relationships versions work
We all present versions of ourselves. The person you are at work is not the same person you are at home. The face we present in our most intimate relationships is not the face we present to the world.
academy became concerned happened less literary novel people point seems stepped stopped time
It seems to me that one of the things that happened with a lot of literary fiction in the 1980s and 1990s was that it became very concerned with the academy and less with how people live their lives. We got to a point where the crime novel stepped into the breach. It was also a time when the crime novel stopped being so metropolitan.
fiction excited crime
Steve Mosby has become one of a handful of writers who make me excited about crime fiction.
ego failing when-all-else-fails
When all else fails, go for the ego.
elephants remember
He frowned as he struggled to remember. It was like watching an elephant crochet.
stories mary
Time for the likeliest story since Mary told Joseph it was God’s.