9mm: an interview with Val McDermid

Welcome to the latest instalment in Crime Watch's ongoing series of author interviews; 9mm - 9 MurderMystery questions put to a variety of New Zealand and international crime, thriller, and mystery authors.

Today I thought I would share my recent 9mm interview with legendary British crime writer Val McDermid, one of the international superstars who have visited New Zealand over the past month. You can read about McDermid’s visit to the Women’s Bookshop in Auckland here, and Vanda Symon reported on her meeting with McDermid in Dunedin, here.

Given her status within the industry, McDermid is one of those authors I probably don’t really have to ‘intro’, so rather than repeating things, I’ll just note that you can read more about McDermid in my large feature on her for the Weekend Herald here, and at her own website here.

Her latest novel is TRICK OF THE DARK, a standalone (unless as she says, she gets another great idea for one of the characters involved) that I really enjoyed when I read it recently. But for now, Val McDermid stares down the barrel of 9mm.

The Crime Watch 9mm Author Interview: Val McDermid

Who is your favourite recurring crime fiction hero/detective?

Oh, that’s a tough one. Um, oh God... probably VI Warshawski... I like the way that she doesn’t stay still over the years, she’s kind of developed. She’s changed with the times, but she also carries the weight of her past with her. It’s not like she has a case and then walks away from it like nothing happened. Her core personality, her tenacity I suppose, and her bloody-mindedness, appealed to me a lot because I kind of see a lot of that in myself.

What was the very first book you remember reading and really loving, and why?

I think probably the Wind in the Willows. I can remember my Mum reading it to me when I was very little, but I also remember when I was about six I had measles, and they do that thing when you’ve got measles that you’ve got to stay in a darkened room, so I couldn’t read by myself, and I remember my Mum reading it to me again when I was about six, and I had measles. And it was like my lifeline to sanity I think, having something to occupy my mind because I couldn’t read myself.

Before your debut crime novel, what else had you written (if anything) unpublished manuscripts, short stories, articles?

The first thing I properly tried to write when I was a teenager, was song lyrics. Trying to write songs, then I graduated on to poetry, and I realised that poetry was far too much like hard work. Singer-songwriter-y [songs]... my heroes at the time were Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, so you can guess the kind of things that I was trying to write. Cheerful (laughing). Anthems to doomed youth.

Outside of writing, and touring and promotional commitments, what do you really like to do, leisure and activity-wise?

Well, I’ve got a nine-year-old, so a certain amount of my life is spent running around watching him, watching golf and watching music performances. What I like to do is just hang with my family, and I love to walk on the beach where I live in Northumberland. I just love to walk on the beach with the dog. And that I think is just the most fantastic activity, because the beach is different every day. Our beach is an estuary where the river comes onto the beach, and every day the shape of the beach is different, the sea is different, there are no two days the same on that beach, and I just love the constant variety of it, I love the feel of walking by water. So I do that with the dog, and I play computer games - I play World of Warcraft online, I like ‘god’ games like Civilisation and things like that, and I read.

What is one thing that visitors to your hometown should do, that isn't in the tourist brochures, or perhaps they wouldn’t initially consider?

If you’ve up here in Northumberland the one thing you should do is definitely walk on the beach first thing in the morning. You should probably go to a pub quiz. Our village has five pubs and three of them have a pub quiz, so you can actually pub quiz three nights a week, and they’re great fun, they’re really social occasions.

If your life was a movie, which actor could you see playing you?

Well I’ve always said that obviously it should be Sigourney Weaver, because of the close physical resemblance. We’re like twins separated at birth.

Of your books, which is your favourite, and why?

It’s a hard question, because it’s a bit like asking which is your favourite kid, if you have a big family. But probably I would have to say THE MERMAID SINGING, because it was so different to anything I’d ever written before, and because it was so successful it gave me a bedrock confidence that I would be able to find a way to tell whatever story was banging at the door of my head. I’d never written a book like that before - but it was the fact that I found the way to tell that story that gave me a confidence, so now when I’m struggling with a book I kind of cast my mind back to that and say to myself, ‘you can do it, you can find the way back to this book from somewhere, you can find the voice, you can find the structure’. So that kind of became a touchstone for me.

I think a lot of people miss out on it, because they think because of the TV series being called Wire in the Blood, they think WIRE IN THE BLOOD is the first book.

What was your initial reaction, and how did you celebrate, when you were first accepted for publication? Or when you first saw your debut story in book form on a bookseller’s shelf?

I was just excited. I remember I couldn’t quite believe it when I got the letter from the Women’s Press saying they wanted to publish it, you know. I remember that just being extraordinary. And it took a long time from there to publication, because for various reasons I worked with five different editors, because people kept going off on maternity leave, or on long-term sick leave, and things like this. So I went through five different editorial hands, and every time it was like I had to start from ground zero.

So there were times in the process when I thought it was never going to happen. And I have to say, and this is a bit weird really, but for me the publication of the book is actually a very sad memory because my Dad actually died 10 days before the book came out, so he never actually held the finished book in his hands. He knew it was coming, and he’d seen the jacket and all that, but he never actually saw the book. And so, for me my memories of the book coming out are just these terrible memories of my Dad dying very suddenly. So there was no joy ultimately when the book came out. It was later that I suppose I celebrated, but at the time I felt numb, I felt nothing.

What is the strangest or most unusual experience you have had at a book signing, author event, or literary festival?

Oh God, there’ve been so many. That’s a hard one. I had my first primary school teacher turn up to one of my events, and the bizarre thing about it was that it turned out she was living in a flat in an estate owned by the friend that I was actually staying with. She was my friend’s tenant, just bizarre.

Thank you Val McDermid. We really appreciate you taking the time to talk with Crime Watch.

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So what do you think of this 9mm interview? Have you read any of Val McDermid’s books? The Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series? Her acclaimed standalones like PLACE OF EXECUTION, A DARKER DOMAIN, and TRICK OF THE DARK? Could you imagine yourself going up against her in a pub quiz? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Terrific interviews: Val McDermid, Peter James, and more...

It's been a fantastic few days for crime fiction fans listening to Radio New Zealand, who in general are often an excellent media outlet here in New Zealand when it comes to giving some 'space' to crime fiction reviews and interviews, with terrific long interviews with 2010 Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid (44mins) and #1 bestselling British crime writer Peter James (30 mins), amongst other crime fiction content.

Fortunately for all of us who weren't able to listen to the interviews live at the time, Radio New Zealand archives these kinds of things online. For those of you who have some time, I heartily recommend having a listen.

On Saturday 28 August, well-known New Zealand radio personality Kim Hill interviewed Val McDermid. It's a truly terrific interview, beginning with McDermid talking about why some people like reading crime fiction - things like "the promise of resolution" and providing "a safe place to be scared", like a rollercoaster - before covering everything from Val McDermid's friendship with Gordon Brown and her thoughts on Tony Blair, to interviewing Moors Murderer Ian Brady's mother as a journalist, to her days at Oxford, thoughts on psychological profiling, and much, much more. You can listen to the full interview here.

On Monday, Jim Mora interviewed Peter James on his Afternoons programme. This too is a great interview, with lots of interesting discussion and insights. The pair cover everything from James' love of cars (and the tragic history of the WWII B-25 Mitchell bomber he used to own), his aim to provide insights into all three aspects in his crime novels - the criminal, the victim, and the police, the horror of rape as a crime, getting the reality of police work into his novels, his in-depth research, the bravery of real-life police, and the original inspiration and impetus for the creation of Roy Grace. You can read the full interview here.

It's another excellent interview, during which, after commenting on how James uses the names of friends (and enemies, he jokes) in his books, Mora asks near the end of the interview whether James would use the name of the first listener to text in, in one of his future books. After saying he'd be delighted to, and that he'll use it in the book he is currently writing (DEAD MAN'S GRIP), the interview continues. When Mora chooses the name of Sarah Papesh, he notes that already (within about 2-3 minutes) they'd had 479 people text in! When I met James that evening in Takapuna (see picture above left), he was simply astonished by the response.

In other good news for Kiwi fans, James mentioned that as he has family in Hamilton, he is considering involving New Zealand in some way in a future Roy Grace case. So keep your eyes peeled for that!

On Tuesday, Kiwi crime writer and Ngaio Marsh Award finalist Vanda Symon, the creator of the excellent Sam Shephard series set in the southern part of the South Island, reviewed the latest novels from two big name British crime writers who have been visiting our shores recently - McDermid's TRICK OF THE DARK and BAD BOY by Peter Robinson - for Mora's Afternoons programme. You can listen to Symon's reviews here.

Along with all the great crime fiction content on Radio New Zealand in the past few days, a couple of weeks ago they also had a reading from THE FALLEN, the local #1 bestseller from young Ben Sanders, and an interesting short interview with Sanders, where he talks about reading Michael Connelly and James Ellroy, and the creation of Sean Devereaux. You can listen to that interview here.

So what do you think of the interviews and reviews? Do you like listening to authors and reviews, as well as reading such features and reviews in the print and online media? Have you read any Val McDermid, Peter James, Peter Robinson, or Vanda symon books? What do you think? Why do you read crime fiction? I'd love to read what you think. Comments welcome.

Val McDermid at the Women's Bookshop in Auckland

Last Tuesday evening, 2010 Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient and legendary crime writer Val McDermid wrapped up her four-city tour of New Zealand with a packed event at the award-winning Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby, Auckland. I understand that all four of McDermid's events drew very good crowds, in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland.

McDermid was in New Zealand in support of her latest crime novel, TRICK OF THE DARK, a standalone thriller which as she jokingly put it has "a dyke on every page", containing more lesbian characters than even her Lindsay Gordon books from the early part of her career.


The blurb for TRICK OF THE DARK says, "'Death is a hollow drum whose beat has measured out my adult life.' So writes Jay Macallan Stewart in her latest volume of memoirs. But nobody has ever asked whether that has been by accident or design. Nobody, that is, until Jay turns her sights on newly-wed and freshly-widowed Magda Newsam. For Magda's mother Corinna is an Oxford don who knows enough of Jay's history to be very afraid indeed. Determined to protect her daughter, Corinna turns to clinical psychologist Charlie Flint. But it's not the best time for Charlie. Her career is in ruins. Pilloried by the press, under investigation by her peers, she's barred from the profiling work she loves. What Corinna's asking may be her last chance at redemption. But as Charlie digs into the past and its trail of bodies she starts to realise the price of truth may be more than she wants to pay."

I was fortunate enough to read an advance version of TRICK OF THE DARK a few weeks ago, and in my opinion it is a very good read. I enjoyed it a lot.

It was a great atmosphere on the night at the Women's Bookshop, as McDermid mixed and mingled with the gathering crowd for quite a while, before sharing some of her thoughts on her upbringing, her writing career, books, and life in general, and then reading an extended passage from TRICK OF THE DARK (see photo of Val reading above). Afterwards she answered a few questions, and then signed books for the crowds and chatted some more until everyone had left.

All in all McDermid was in the store for more than two hours, before finally being whisked away to dinner by her hardworking publicist Karen McMillan. As some of you may know, despite the dark and at-times gruesome nature of some of McDermid's crime writing, in person she is a jovial and opinionated person who is a heck of a lot of fun to be around.

A few highlights or moments from the evening with Val McDermid at the Women's Bookshop:

• Val shared how one of the only books her family had when she was growing up in working-class Fife was Agatha Christie's THE MURDER AT THE VICARAGE. She read it, enjoyed it, and was delighted to see from the inside flap that this Agatha lady had written lots of other books too. The problem was that although she was a regular at the library (she joked the best thing her parents ever did for her was moving close to the public library), the Agatha Christie books were all in the adult reading section, which you couldn't get into without an adult membership card. So, how did the intrepid young future crime-writer solve this problem? She 'borrowed' her mother's card, and told the librarian that her mother was bedridden and needed her to pick up adult books for her. This went on for quite a while. Then when Val was recently back in Fife, she realised that one of the librarians from back in the day was still on staff ("As a kid, I'd thought she was ancient back then, but she must have been all of about 20"), and when Val was in the library with her mother, the librarian said 'Oh, Mrs McDermid, it's great to see you up and about. I wasn't sure if you were still with us, with all the troubles you'd had'. Even though she's fairly well-established into adulthood herself now, that didn't prevent Val getting one of 'those looks' from her mother!


• Val revealed how she'd got into her Oxford College as one of the youngest people at the time, and the first from a Scottish state school - telling the interviewer that if they made her defer for a year, she'd "just go somewhere else". Val also noted that despite perceptions, Oxford was far less class-conscious than people thought, so her working class background wasn't as much of an issue as you might have thought. "At Oxford they only cared about the quality of your mind"...


• Val also talked about how it was at Oxford where she realised that she was a lesbian, and then "everything kind of made sense". She was also still a keen reader, and found Kate Millett's book SEXUAL POLITICS so liberating and interesting that she burst into a tutorial once and just rabbitted on at her rather stiff-upper-lipped tutor about how great this book was, and how it was full of life etc. After Val had tired herself out, she wondered if she'd been a little over-enthusiastic for the staid academic, before this very prim and proper lady quietly said "Ah yes, dear Kate, I was actually her advisor for that thesis". As Val joked at the Women's Bookshop, "Typical bloody Oxford, they even did that first!"


• Val was asked what books she'd read recently that she enjoyed and what other crime fiction authors she liked. She put in a very nice unsolicited plug both for CUT & RUN by Alix Bosco, which she'd read while on her New Zealand tour, and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (she was working her way through the finalists for the award, and was looking forward to trying the others, as we had some good crime writers here in New Zealand).


• In answer to a question about ideas, and getting issues into her books, Val shared a story of how she'd found out about the experiments the Germans did on their own Germanic children during the Second World War, while she was researching river boats in Germany - and had become so fascinated about this piece of history she'd had no idea about, that she'd woven it into THE LAST TEMPTATION.


• Val commented that all of her books, in one way or another, address the theme that we can't ever completely escape our past, that it always comes back.


• She talked about winning the Cartier Diamond Dagger, and how the actual Diamond Dagger is kept in a secure safe, and recipients receive a small dagger brooch with a tiny diamond, ruby, and sapphire on it, rather than the Diamond Dagger itself to keep.

On a semi-related point, Val also kindly allowed Carole Beu, the owner of the Women's Bookshop, to use some of Val's time to share some information about a cause dear to her heart - the ongoing struggle of Carole's longtime friend Bronwyn Gray, whose daughter Lisa, a successful lawyer, suffers from an extremely rare condition called Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM); a form of incurable lung cancer that affects only women.

Over the years, Bronwyn has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for research and organised several international conferences to look into this disease, and now she has been nominated a Kiwi Battler, where the public gets to vote on 'Kiwi battlers' from each region, who can win $10,000 to help their charity of choice. Kiwi Battlers is the brainchild of businessman and philanthropist Gareth Morgan, whose foundation is donating the money.

With Val's blessing, Carole asked the audience, and anyone we passed the information onto, to consider voting for Brownyn Gray for the award, as the money could make a real difference to the LAM Trust, which is doing groundbreaking work but is not so well known amongst the wider populace. If you wish, you can vote for Bronwyn here.

Thoughts and comments welcome.

Reminder: Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid touring New Zealand over the next four days

Just a quick reminder that 2010 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid will be touring New Zealand over the next few days, in support of her latest thriller TRICK OF THE DARK. McDermid is appearing in all four main centres; Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

McDermid has written dozens of bestsellers, sold more than 10 million books, won and been shortlisted for many awards (including winning the prestigious CWA Gold Dagger for THE MERMAIDS SINGING, and also winning the LA Times Book of the Year Award and the Stonewall Writer of the Year Award), and had her stories adapted into acclaimed TV shows like Place of Execution and Wire in the Blood. In 2009 she was also inducted into the Hall of Fame at the ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards.

McDermid's first event is tomorrow (Saturday) in Dunedin, and then she will be appearing in Christchurch, Wellington, then finishing in Auckland on Tuesday evening. For those in the upper North Island, grab a copy of tomorrow's Weekend Herald to read my interview with McDermid (note - my feature will be in the Arts pages of the main newspaper, rather than in the Canvas magazine, this time).

You can see McDermid at the following public events:

Saturday 21 August, 5.30pm – Dunedin

The Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago and the Otago Settlers Museum are pleased to host an event with Val McDermid

The Otago Settlers Museum,

31 Queens Gardens, Dunedin.

Free ticketed event.

Tickets available from The University Book Shop and The Otago Settlers Museum.

As an aside - this Dunedin event features McDermid in conversation with Scots-turned-Kiwi thriller writer Liam McIlvanney (author of the excellent ALL THE COLOURS OF THE TOWN), so that should be fantastic for those of you in the deep south.

Sunday 22 August, 4.30pm – Christchurch (EVENT SOLD OUT!)

An evening with Val McDermid in conjunction with Plains FM

Our City O-Tautahi,

Oxford Terrace, Christchurch

Monday 23 August, 6.00pm – Wellington

Rainbow Wellington Event in conjunction with Unity Books

Unity Books,

57 Willis Street, Wellington

$10 for members $15 for non-members for entry, free nibbles and two free drinks.

Pay at the door.

Please note: McDermid is one of ten speakers at the anuual Rainbow Wgtn Book Review Night at Unity Books. She will speak in response to the review for her new book TRICK OF THE DARK. After that everyone will break for a wine and she will sign copies of her book. The annual Rainbow Book Review night celebrates new books by LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bi, trans /intersex) authors.

Tuesday 24 August, 6.00pm – Auckland

An evening with Val McDermid at The Women’s Bookshop

105 Ponsonby Road, Auckland

Entry $5 at the door.

RSVP (for catering purposes) to: (09) 376 4399, email books@womensbookshops.co.nz or secure website: http://www.womensbookshop.co.nz/

Personally I will be heading along to this latter Auckland event. I'm very much looking forward to meeting McDermid in person, having had a fantastic phone interview with her recently. It should be a lot of fun at her events.

I've also just recently finished reading TRICK OF THE DARK, which I really enjoyed. You can read an extract from TRICK OF THE DARK here.

So, what do you think of McDermid's dark crime novels? Are you a fan of 'Tartan Noir'? Have you watched the Wire in the Blood TV series? Will you head along to one of her events here in New Zealand? Thoughts and comments welcome.

Great News: Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid to visit four New Zealand cities this month

Further to my post from last month revealing that 2010 CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger recipient Val McDermid would be touring New Zealand in late August, including public events in Auckland and Christchurch, in support of her latest thriller TRICK OF THE DARK, the full schedule for McDermid's visit has now been released. And in good news for crime fiction fans around the country, McDermid is appearing in all four main centres; Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin.

McDermid has written dozens of bestsellers, sold more than 10 million books, won and been shortlisted for many awards (including winning the prestigious CWA Gold Dagger for THE MERMAIDS SINGING, and also winning the LA Times Book of the Year Award and the Stonewall Writer of the Year Award), and had her stories adapted into acclaimed TV shows like Place of Execution and Wire in the Blood. In 2009 she was also inducted into the Hall of Fame at the ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards.

She will be in New Zealand from 21-24 August. You can see her at the following public events:

See her at the following public events:

Saturday 21 August, 5.30pm – Dunedin
The Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago and the Otago Settlers Museum are pleased to host an event with Val McDermid
The Otago Settlers Museum,
31 Queens Gardens, Dunedin.
Free ticketed event.
Tickets available from The University Book Shop and The Otago Settlers Museum.

Sunday 22 August, 4.30pm – Christchurch
An evening with Val McDermid in conjunction with Plains FM
Our City O-Tautahi,
Oxford Terrace, Christchurch
Tickets $12.
Contact Ruth on (03) 384 4721 or Morrin on (03) 329 9789

Monday 23 August, 6.00pm – Wellington
Rainbow Wellington Event in conjunction with Unity Books
Unity Books,
57 Willis Street, Wellington
$10 for members $15 for non-members for entry, free nibbles and two free drinks.
Pay at the door.

Tuesday 24 August, 6.00pm – Auckland
An evening with Val McDermid at The Women’s Bookshop
105 Ponsonby Road, Auckland
Entry $5 at the door.
RSVP (for catering purposes) to: (09) 376 4399, email books@womensbookshops.co.nz or secure website: http://www.womensbookshop.co.nz/

The Dunedin event features McDermid in conversation with Scots-turned-Kiwi thriller writer Liam McIlvanney, so that should be fantastic for those of you in the deep south.

I will be heading along to the Auckland event. I'm very much looking forward to meeting McDermid in person, having had a fantastic phone interview with her recently (there will be an article coming out in the Weekend Herald the weekend she arrives, as well as a 9mm interview published here on Crime Watch). She comes across as very smart, opionionated, and open - unafraid to 'talk straight', she's blunt and boisterous. A great combo. Should be a lot of fun at her events. I've also just recently finished reading TRICK OF THE DARK, which I really enjoyed.

You can read an extract from TRICK OF THE DARK here.

So, what do you think of McDermid's dark crime novels? Are you a fan of 'Tartan Noir'? Have you watched the Wire in the Blood TV series? Will you head along to one of her events here in NZ? Thoughts and comments welcome.