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INTERVIEW: ELIZABETH CORLEY
G: Elizabeth, thanks for agreeing to answer a few questions. I’d like to begin by saying how much I enjoyed GRAVE DOUBTS. When I was preparing for this interview I started trying to find out about you on the web, naturally. I came across dozens of German references – you seem to have a very strong fan base in Germany! Also, there is what looks like an official German website – is it official? If so, when can we expect an English version?
EC: Thank you, it’s a pleasure to do the interview and I’m delighted that you enjoyed Grave Doubts. The book has done really well in Germany – it reached number 22 in the bestseller list when it came out in paper back last month, which is great. And the website is official. My publisher in Germany designed and developed it for me and now maintains it, which is a great luxury. You’re quite right that I should have one in the UK but I want to do it properly and keep it up to date so I need to work out how best to do this. Any thoughts would be gratefully received!
G: How do you balance your time between being Head of AGI Europe for Allianz Global Europe and writing crime novels?
EC: Balance is an interesting word. Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic formula for finding a balance. My working life is unpredictable. It doesn’t have a fixed pattern as I spend a lot of time travelling and working across Europe as well as visiting the US from time to time. I think the secret to finding the time for writing is that I enjoy it so much. For me it is something I want, and often simply must, do so the time finds itself.
G: You’ve said you think that crime novels written in the current day have their roots firmly in the 1930s. By that do you mean they’re following the pattern set down by Agatha Christie? Or maybe you were referring to police procedure, which, up until the use of DNA in forensic evidence (which is now lowly creeping into crime fiction) hasn’t changed that much in the last seventy-five years?
EC: The 1930’s quote was a little out of context in that it was too narrow. The larger conversation focused on the rich heritage of crime writing we have in the UK from the Woman in White onwards. British crime writing ranges as you say from the classic Agatha Christie mystery whodunits through gentlemen private detectives, to police procedurals and psychological thrillers. And you are right, while the science of solving (and committing) crimes has changed because of modern technologies the motivations and plots are timeless.
G: How long will we have to wait for the next book? Not that long, I hope!
EC: That’s a question for my publishers really as they decide; I just do the writing! The nest book is almost finished and I have a strong idea for the following. I am also hoping, if Grave Doubts does well, that my previous two books will be reissued in the UK as they have been in Germany. Each book is self-contained, and in fact Grave Doubts is a good starting point because it brings together threads from the first two novels.
G: Which gives you the most satisfaction? The ‘day job’ or the writing ‘hobby’? Was it you who described the AGI job as the day job, by the way, or was it the media?
EC: The media coined the term “day job”. In fact, it is often a day and night job because I am usually working most evenings even if I don’t have dinners or meetings to go to. Both ‘jobs’ give me a lot of satisfaction. They use very different parts of my brain; the writing is creative and, because it is quite solitary, all in the mind. My ‘day job’ involves working with many other people, across cultures and is more analytical and quantitative as well. They have one similarity though which is that they are really all about people, which means that, much as I would like to be, I am never fully in control! In my books my characters have a way of insisting on doing what they want to do to move the plot on (and they are usually right) and in real life with my colleagues it is just the same! And they too are usually right.
G: One of your passions is music – any particular type of music? Classical? Jazz? Do you have music on in the background when you’re writing?
EC: Whenever I can I have music on as I am writing, as I find it inspiring. Except that I can’t have music on with really moving words such as opera as I end up listening to it instead of writing. My taste in music is wide. I enjoy all forms of classical, opera, traditional jazz, some Latin and African music and Prog Rock.
G: How do you research police procedure for your novels? Do you try to make sure anyone reading them couldn’t say, “that’s not the way it happens”?
EC: There is a lot of information available about police procedure, not just on the Internet but also in Police magazines, academic work and books. There is also a significant amount on forensic science and the psychology of crime, both of which feature strongly in my books. My aim is to make the books feel authentic without the reader becoming bogged down in too much detail, particularly on procedures. The reality of police work (and a significant amount of standard procedure even during a murder enquiry) would be very boring for people to wade through. I try to keep the elements that stop the development of the plot from becoming a drag on the pace of the book while making sure that the action isn’t too fanciful or simplistic. The same is true for the forensic detail and also for the psychology of the criminal minds in my books. It’s important for me to develop criminal characters that interact convincingly with the plot.
G: Are there any offers or plans to film any of your books? There are lots of good TV detectives, of course, but there’s always room for another – it seems the viewing public can’t get enough! Both the BBC and the ITV spend vast sums of money on these series. It would be great to see Louise Nightingale portrayed on film.
EC: I wish there were! I’d love to see Louise Nightingale on film or TV, and Andrew Fenwick too. They would both dramatise well but so far there are no offers or plans on the horizon.
G: Going on from that, do you ever visualise actors and actresses for the main characters in your books? It must be tempting to cast someone for the part of DCI Fenwick, for example. Who would you choose? And who would you choose for Louise?
EC: This is a difficult one for me, partly because I visualise Nightingale and Fenwick as real people in their own right but mainly because I just don’t watch enough television to have a good opinion. But I’d be very interested if any of your readers have suggestions after they’ve read Grave Doubts.
G: Do you ever find time to relax? Is the AGI position a real day job or do you manage to find time to fit in some quality writing time as well each day?
EC: Yes I do relax, honest. I’m lucky in that I can switch off quite easily despite the fact that my working day is usually intense and highly pressured. I don’t mind my working environment as I think I work best under pressure; in fact my husband has been known to call me an adrenaline junkie. But despite the ability to relax I don’t manage to write every day other than weekends simply because sometimes I might be working 12-14 hours and I can’t stretch time, much as I’d like to.
G: How well do you plan your novels? Do you just write, or do you have it all set out in your head or on paper before you begin?
EC: This is a really good question and a difficult one for me. Other crime writers I know always seem to be so definite about whether they plan or not, but for me it’s a mixture. I will have a strong idea that motivates a book. Sometimes there is even a very clear picture of the final scene in my mind (even if I don’t know who all the characters are who are going to be in it). But when I start to write, it is more like telling a story than fulfilling a plan, which is just as well because some of the best plot developments happen virtually on their own and I end up looking at them and saying “yes of course he/she was going to do that!”, almost as if I’m the reader rather than the writer.
G: Do you ever get time to read other crime novels by your contemporaries? I know you go to crime fiction conventions and talk to the other great novelists such as Val McDermid. I could ask you if you have a favourite but you might not want to say!
EC: When I’m not writing I do read a lot of crime fiction and Val is a great writer, one of my favourites. But there is such a wealth of crime writing talent that it is impossible for me to have one single preferred author.
G: What books did you read as a child? Was the house always full of books?
EC: The house was crammed, literally, from floor to ceiling with books. My father was an avid collector and encouraged us all to read – and write. There were many times I can remember my mother asking him to pop down to the shop for some missing ingredient for lunch only for him to come back hours later with half a dozen interesting editions for his collection … but without the food. As a child I read everything I was allowed to get my hands on. My tastes were varied from Enid Blyton from when I was five, to CS Lewis (the Narnia books first , then his others), Tolkien, Dickens, other adventure classics like Moonfleet and Swiss Family Robinson. I also read a lot of science fiction when I was younger, and fantasy and … in fact I could go on!
G: Two final questions: Which authors/books have influenced you over the years and which ones made you decide you wanted to be a crime novelist?
EC: As you can probably tell from the answer above it’s hard for me to pick and choose between individual writers and books. No one author or book motivated me to be a crime novelist as I didn’t set out wanting to be one, it just happened that my first book involved crime and the police and once I’d grown to know the central characters I haven’t wanted to leave them alone. Having said that, the most influential writers for me have been storytellers capable of creating powerful, believable dramas – tragic, comic or thought provoking.
Going back to the beginning, the authors would have been Jane Austen, Dickens, Hardy, Aldiss, Clarke, Asimov, Julian May. Some of the crime writers were: Dorothy L Sayers, Agatha Christie, PD James, Ruth Rendell, particularly writing as Barbara Vine. I read Terry Pratchett when I want to relax and have a laugh. Good Omens is a classic. More recently I’ve been hooked on China Mieville and I thought Vernon God Little, by DBC Pierre was one of the best books I’ve read. I also enjoy Peter Ackroyd and I’m reading his biography of London at the moment. When I’m writing, I read more non-fiction and biographies, as they don’t take over in quite the same way as fiction does.
G: How difficult was it for you to get into the novel-writing business? Have you been writing creatively for a long time?
EC: When I was at studying I did a lot of creative writing but then I started work and my focus shifted so I haven’t been writing novels for long. I was very fortunate to find an agent for my first book, who in turn made sure I was published.
G: Finally, can you please list your five favourite books – the ones you couldn’t do without?
EC: Honest answer, no I can’t! The idea of de-selecting down to a list of five would be like forcing me to give away puppies from a litter. How on earth could I begin to choose only five?
G: Elizabeth, thank you so much for taking the time to write for Gateway. Let’s hope there’s another book very soon! Good luck with whatever you’re doing right now.
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