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Q and A with Lynda La Plante
She fainted at her first post-mortem, visited a Russian morgue where bodies were strung up naked, and almost tried her hand at prostitution for a night, all in the name of research. Now the undisputed Queen of Crime talks about her incredible career.
Anna Travis is a young female detective working in a fast-paced, male-dominated world. What initially attracted you to her character?
Anna Travis is actually a new breed of female in the police force. There is some discrimination left over, but nowhere near the amount when I wrote Prime Suspect. I was very attracted to writing a young female officer after having talks with a young detective during my research. She was so informative and confident, and I felt it would be a good opportunity to show the new style of women joining the metropolitan police force.
What inspires you? Where do the ideas for your characters and storylines come from?
My inspiration for virtually all my work comes out of the daily newspapers. I find some small article that interests me and then begin to follow it up. When I find something that interests me, and after researching and building up interviews, I have to begin to cloak the original.
How does writing books compare with writing for the screen?
Writing for television and film is very different from writing a novel. The difference comes from the budget. If, for example, I know I have one million for a sixty-minute episode that has to be broken down into casting/crew/locations/directors/producers, then I have to make sure I write within the budget, so often when I would like to have a fleet of helicopters, I can maybe only manage just one. Writing a novel therefore gives me a wonderful freedom. I can have a fleet of private jets! Sometimes the constrictions of script writing make for a very tight, well-honed piece of work as I don’t allow myself to ramble. I cut and cut and edit, often working on five or six drafts before I am satisfied.
Do you ever read mysteries written by other authors? If so, what authors do you enjoy?
I read so many crime novels and watch virtually every crime show on TV until I have square eyes. One of the main reasons is that I would hate to ever cross over someone else’s plotlines. One of my favorite crime writers is Karin Slaughter, and I constantly return to reading Raymond Chandler’s short stories. They are brilliant.
To read the first chapter of Blood Line click here.
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