The Intel: Sinéad Crowley

Earlier in the week we reviewed Sinéad Crowley’s chilling tale about what happens when — sleep-deprived and vulnerable — you place your trust in the hands of an anonymous person on the internet. Can Anybody Help Me? has generated a lot of buzz since it was published last year, and Sinéad’s growing legion of fans await with anticipation the next novel to feature her feisty, no-nonsense heroine Claire Boyle.

In the meantime, we’re delighted to say that Sinéad — the Arts and Media Correspondent for RTE, Ireland’s national broadcaster — has kindly agreed to  give us the intel on the inspiration for her debut novel, online dangers, and waiting for the ‘Big Idea’…

Where did you get the inspiration for Can Anybody Help Me?

Online! When I was pregnant, and then on maternity leave with my first child in 2009 I became a frequent user of parenting forums. One day I recognised another poster from the ‘real world’ and it made me conscious of just how much information these women were sharing, all thinking they were completely anonymous. I started to wonder what would happen if one forum user recognised another user online and didn’t wish them well. . .

How would you describe Claire Boyle to a new reader?

Clever, driven, pregnant and cranky! She’s a very ambitious Detective Sergeant who is working on her first murder investigation and doesn’t want to let the fact that she’s six months pregnant interfere with that. Even when her body starts to slow her down, her mind is still racing ahead to solve the crime. She’s great fun to write.

Why do you think we are so ready to reach out to a total stranger on the internet? 

These days, no matter what problem we have or question we want answered, we Google it. Women who are pregnant for the first time, or are first time parents have a million questions and sometimes they don’t want to bother their nearest and dearest with them, or are embarrassed to do so. So it makes total sense to talk to a stranger who you think might have the exact answer you need, or who you feel won’t judge you. That’s not a bad thing, by the way!

I communicated with several really interesting women online when I had my first baby and had some great chats, discussions and debates. You just have to be sensible about it, don’t take medical advice from a total stranger and don’t say or do anything online that you wouldn’t be happy to say or do in the real world.  And be careful when somebody who you only know online wants to meet in real life! That’s not always a bad thing either, of course it isn’t. But you have to take certain precautions.

The novel is partly set in the Dublin media world – did you draw on your colleagues for any inspiration for the characters?

No, I didn’t. One of my main characters, Yvonne, the new mother, has a husband who works in the media. I needed her to feel very isolated and lonely, so I needed him to have a job that kept him out of the house for hours, and busy and preoccupied even when he was at home. It made sense to give him a job in the media because I knew I’d be able to write that accurately. It also added a bit of glamour to the book as I could add in a night at a TV awards show.

But I very deliberately didn’t base the characters on anyone in real life and I even invented an entirely new Irish television station to avoid confusion. My second book also has a journalist in it but he also works for Ireland 24, a totally made up station.

You set yourself the task of writing a novel before your 40^th birthday – why put such pressure on yourself?

I started my first novel when I was 7! I got a typewriter for my birthday and sat down and immediately typed the words ‘Chapter 1’. So the goal was always there. I also wrote a novel in my late 20s, it wasn’t published but at least it proved I could finish a substantial piece of work. The main problem with that book was that it didn’t have a strong enough hook, and it wasn’t until I started using the parenting websites six or seven years later that I got that ‘Big Idea’ that I needed. So I just said, right, you’re in your late 30s, this has always been the dream. Throw everything at it now, give yourself a deadline and, if it doesn’t work out then at least you know you tried your best. I’m a journalist, I work best to deadlines.

What’s the hardest lesson you ever had to learn about writing?

The idea is the easy bit! I have lots of ideas floating around for books, but sitting down and writing them is a totally different matter. It’s like running a marathon, one step at a time. Don’t think of the 26 miles, just the end of the next page.

How do you deal with feedback?

There was a lot of work to be done on my first draft but I really enjoyed working with my editor. It definitely helped that I’m a journalist because I’m using to other people having an input into my work. It also helped that I got on very well with my editor. So I think I’m okay with feedback, actually!

Who are the authors you admire, and why?

Oh, so many! In the crime genre – Erin Kelly, Jane Casey, Val McDermid, Adrian McKinty to name a very few. I loved Robert Galbraith’s “The Silkworm” and Clare Mackintosh wrote one of my favourite recent debuts, “I Let You Go.” What they all have in common is the ability to combine a great plot with the story behind the crime, and they all write really believable and interesting characters. I want to hear about the investigator’s life after he or she leaves the office for the day. Having said that I love Agatha Christie too for pure plot heaven

Outside the crime genre I read widely. I don’t like to discriminate between ‘literary’ and ‘commercial’ fiction – you can get excellent books (and some dodgy ones) in every genre

Give me some advice about writing…

Make time for it. It can feel very self indulgent, especially if you have a family or a busy life to close the door on the world and spend time writing fiction. But think of it as time for yourself. If you wanted to run a marathon nobody would blink if you told them you were getting up at 5am to train or that you were giving up your Sunday afternoons to do long runs. Treat writing the same way, time for yourself, time to do something you really want to do. Even if you have to work late into the night or get up at 5am. It’s worth it.

What’s next for you?

There will be a minimum of three books in the Claire Boyle series, book 2 is with the editor and I’ve just started book 3. So all going well there will be three books in the series initially and then I think I’d like to write something else. But I may well return to Claire after that – she’s a great character to work with.

TV Crime Log: Broadchurch

So, look, don’t look so grim. After the catastrophic crime show famine of Christmas, there’s plenty of new – or rather, returning – crime shows this week.

Foyle’s War slipped back last night, cosy Father Brown is back for a third series this afternoon, featherweight Death In Paradise later in the week, and that old warhorse Silent Witness inevitably lumbers around for its umpteenth return. Crumbs, that’s a landslide of crimey stuff for your over-stimulated eyeballs.

But everybody’s attention will be turned to Broadchurch tonight, at 9pm. It’s a show that provided ITV with a rare critical and ratings drama triumph. The first series managed to run for 10-episodes while keeping up the gripping dramatic pace in a way which others dramas — The Missing, perhaps — have struggled to do.

The trailer for the second series hints at the disappearance of two girls — maybe referencing the investigation that ruined David Tennant’s DI Alec Hardy’s career — and creator and writer Chris Chibnall has promised a more straightforward thriller narrative this time around.

It’ll be interesting to see if lightning can actually strike twice for the beleaguered residents of that blighted, fictional Devon town, with its bright Scandi fabrics and steep cliffs and dark secrets. Broadchurch became something of a phenomenon when it aired in 2013.

A US-version, called Gracepoint, limped along across the pond this summer. And there was the novelization written by Erin Kelly. No matter how good novelisations of TV-series are, I’ve never quite understood the logic of publishing a book version a year or two after the telly show transmits — although Kelly has said that Chibnall insisted she insert a small clue into the book about the direction of the second series.

TV veteran Chibnall wrote the show on spec, and said he origjnally designed the show to be a trilogy — and it’s been reported that a third series has already been commissioned.

The Intel: Penny Hancock Reloaded

Crime Thriller Fella is taking a much-needed summer break. But let’s make a pact — me and you — to meet up again right here very soon. However, do keep coming back. Over the last year there’s been all sorts of stuff we’ve enjoyed plonking on the internet, and which you may have missed, like this Intel interview with The Darkening Hour author Penny Hancock…

We love writers here, and like nothing better than to find out about how they go about their writing business. Penny Hancock’s new book The Darkening Hour is a tense and topical tale of slavery in contemporary London. It’s the follow-up to her debut novel, Tideline, an equally sinister tale of abduction, and a Richard & Judy Bookclub pick.

Tell us about The Darkening Hour – where did the idea come from?

A news story about a doctor who kept another woman slave in her London home. I was baffled as to how one (highly educated) woman could abuse another in this day and age, and wanted to explore the dynamics between the women. I wondered how far one woman go to maintain control over the other, (and what her motivation would be) and how far the oppressed would go to survive? I realized I had the ingredients for a thriller.

What’s the secret of a gripping psychological thriller?

For me the interest is in watching someone I can relate to go down an unwise path, due to some personality flaw or obsession. It has to have that ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ feel to it.

What’s your writing process? What comes first – plot or character?

Character is enormously important to me although I find it often takes a whole first draft of a novel before I really feel I know them. It’s like getting to know a real person, until you’ve seen them in a variety of situations you don’t know what they are really capable of. I am not someone who can plot out a whole novel in advance, I have a premise, characters and, often, an ending, and then the rest falls into place as I write.

Take us through a typical writing day for you?

I get up and see my son off to school then stick my laptop in my bag with any notebooks, research or editorial notes, and cycle to the station. (Good thinking time!) I take the train to town and cycle to a café where everyone is on laptops and the music is gentle background classical or jazz rather than intrusive, and I write in there until about 2.00pm.

I then get back on my bike and go home again. Although he’s a teenager I like to be there for my son when he gets home. I catch up on admin, and domestic jobs and often visit my mum, then once we’ve eaten, write again in the evening if we’re not going out, or sometimes in the middle of the night. Once I’m on a roll I’m quite obsessive about it.

Who are the authors or you love, and why?

At the moment I love Louise Doughty, because Apple Tree Yard is a book I wish I’d written. I love big name literary writers like Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain, Bery Bainbridge (who does dark domestic like no one else in my opinion!) and in the crime/psychological thriller field I like Barbara Vine, Julie Myerson, Nikki French, Julia Crouch, Kate Rhodes, Karin Fossum, Erin Kelly, the Italian crime writer Gianrico Carofiglio, and of course Graham Greene.

What’s the hardest lesson you ever had to learn about writing?

That you have to draft and redraft and redraft, and when you think you’ve finished, you have to redraft again. It gets to a point where you think, NO MORE, but still you have to push on. I liken it to the last stage of childbirth. You’re exhausted and beginning to wonder if the whole thing was such a good idea after all, but there’s no turning back at this stage, so you summon that last burst of energy from somewhere!

How do you deal with feedback?

I have about two or three ‘ideal readers’ who I trust to give me honest and helpful feedback after draft two. I listen to their ideas and responses and take them on board. It’s essential as you can’t put yourself in the shoes of a reader when you’ve been working on something for months. I’ve learned not to ask for too many opinions, however, as this can drive you crazy – one person will inevitably contradict another.

How have your own experiences shaped your writing?

I’m interested in relationships, families, growing up and growing older and I put personal experiences about these things into my writing. I also have a strong attachment to certain places (South East London and the Thames is one), and lived in Italy and Morocco so use these in my writing too. When I feel strong emotion I try to record this. I may need to remember how someone would feel in a particular situation, and the physical manifestations of those feelings, anxiety or anger or love, for example.

Give me some advice about writing…

Go for a long invigorating walk, run, or bike ride with your characters in your mind and let them show you where they are going to take you. Exercise is crucial for ideas.

What’s your best advice for an author looking to get into the marketplace?

Be true to yourself and write what you feel passionate about. Don’t try to second guess the markets.

What’s next for you?

My next novel about a woman who becomes convinced she’s caused a hit and run accident and gets tangled up in a web of deception, ‘The Road Behind Me’ comes out in August.

***

I’m happy to say Crime Thriller Fella will be reviewing Darkening Hour later in the week. Look out for that!

The Intel: Penny Hancock

We love writers here, and like nothing better than to find out about how they go about their writing business. Penny Hancock’s new book The Darkening Hour is a tense and topical tale of slavery in contemporary London. It’s the follow-up to her debut novel, Tideline, an equally sinister tale of abduction, and a Richard & Judy Bookclub pick.

Tell us about The Darkening Hour – where did the idea come from?

A news story about a doctor who kept another woman slave in her London home. I was baffled as to how one (highly educated) woman could abuse another in this day and age, and wanted to explore the dynamics between the women. I wondered how far one woman go to maintain control over the other, (and what her motivation would be) and how far the oppressed would go to survive? I realized I had the ingredients for a thriller.

What’s the secret of a gripping psychological thriller?

For me the interest is in watching someone I can relate to go down an unwise path, due to some personality flaw or obsession. It has to have that ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ feel to it.

What’s your writing process? What comes first – plot or character?

Character is enormously important to me although I find it often takes a whole first draft of a novel before I really feel I know them. It’s like getting to know a real person, until you’ve seen them in a variety of situations you don’t know what they are really capable of. I am not someone who can plot out a whole novel in advance, I have a premise, characters and, often, an ending, and then the rest falls into place as I write.

Take us through a typical writing day for you?

I get up and see my son off to school then stick my laptop in my bag with any notebooks, research or editorial notes, and cycle to the station. (Good thinking time!) I take the train to town and cycle to a café where everyone is on laptops and the music is gentle background classical or jazz rather than intrusive, and I write in there until about 2.00pm.

I then get back on my bike and go home again. Although he’s a teenager I like to be there for my son when he gets home. I catch up on admin, and domestic jobs and often visit my mum, then once we’ve eaten, write again in the evening if we’re not going out, or sometimes in the middle of the night. Once I’m on a roll I’m quite obsessive about it.

Who are the authors or you love, and why?

At the moment I love Louise Doughty, because Apple Tree Yard is a book I wish I’d written. I love big name literary writers like Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain, Bery Bainbridge (who does dark domestic like no one else in my opinion!) and in the crime/psychological thriller field I like Barbara Vine, Julie Myerson, Nikki French, Julia Crouch, Kate Rhodes, Karin Fossum, Erin Kelly, the Italian crime writer Gianrico Carofiglio, and of course Graham Greene.

What’s the hardest lesson you ever had to learn about writing?

That you have to draft and redraft and redraft, and when you think you’ve finished, you have to redraft again. It gets to a point where you think, NO MORE, but still you have to push on. I liken it to the last stage of childbirth. You’re exhausted and beginning to wonder if the whole thing was such a good idea after all, but there’s no turning back at this stage, so you summon that last burst of energy from somewhere!

How do you deal with feedback?

I have about two or three ‘ideal readers’ who I trust to give me honest and helpful feedback after draft two. I listen to their ideas and responses and take them on board. It’s essential as you can’t put yourself in the shoes of a reader when you’ve been working on something for months. I’ve learned not to ask for too many opinions, however, as this can drive you crazy – one person will inevitably contradict another.

How have your own experiences shaped your writing?

I’m interested in relationships, families, growing up and growing older and I put personal experiences about these things into my writing. I also have a strong attachment to certain places (South East London and the Thames is one), and lived in Italy and Morocco so use these in my writing too. When I feel strong emotion I try to record this. I may need to remember how someone would feel in a particular situation, and the physical manifestations of those feelings, anxiety or anger or love, for example.

Give me some advice about writing…

Go for a long invigorating walk, run, or bike ride with your characters in your mind and let them show you where they are going to take you. Exercise is crucial for ideas.

What’s your best advice for an author looking to get into the marketplace?

Be true to yourself and write what you feel passionate about. Don’t try to second guess the markets.

What’s next for you?

My next novel about a woman who becomes convinced she’s caused a hit and run accident and gets tangled up in a web of deception, ‘The Road Behind Me’ comes out in August.

***

I’m happy to say Crime Thriller Fella will be reviewing Darkening Hour later in the week. Look out for that!