Panel 3: Proceed with Caution
Eva Dolan | Sarah Hilary | Fergus McNeill
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Selected quotes from live Q&As with readers:
More about the authors on our website: http://britcrime.com
More about the panels here: http://britcrime.com/panelsat
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Selected quotes from live Q&As with readers:
Fergus McNeill: I'd have to say that plot and character are inextricably linked in my stories, so they evolve together. Location adds to the mix, but I don't know if it can ever "drive" the story.
Sarah Hilary: Of course, as every writer knows, you must not let your characters control you - it must always be your hand on the rudder. That said, I do love being surprised by my characters. It's the main reason I don't plan/plot too much in advance. I think it makes for a much more exciting read. Perhaps the answer lies in trust?
Eva Dolan: I can’t think about anything except the book in front of me when I’m writing. Literally nothing!
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Selected quotes from round table discussion between authors:
On writing and reading crime fiction and other genres:
Sarah Hilary: I have an urge to write one of the Hammer novellas (like Sophie Hannah, Helen Dunmore and more). So a short, spooky story, part-ghost, part-horror. LOVE horror.
Fergus McNeill: I'd particularly like to do something with Steampunk overtones, or something set in a subtly different alternate history. But I think I'd still make it a crime story, of sorts. [smiles]
Eva Dolan: Don't think any of us could entirely break away from crime! I quite fancy doing a dystopian novel. Basically they're just crime without the sense of hope or demands for resolution and that really appeals to me, writing something where the bad guy doesn't have to get caught and good guy maybe doesn't win out.
Fergus McNeill:: Have you read any Philip K Dick? There was a writer who wasn't into happy endings!
Sarah Hilary: LOVE Philip K Dick, Fergus. Once wrote a treatment for a screenplay based on The Simulacrum... Best book you wish you'd written? Mine is The Collector by John Fowles.
Fergus McNeill: Right now I'd say A Pleasure And A Calling by Phil Hogan. It's perfect - dark, sinister, very funny, and beautifully satisfying.
Eva Dolan: Good call on The Collector! Blood Meridian for me... those amazing sentences, that unremitting hopelessness.
Sarah Hilary: We're a dark and twisted trio, aren't we? Love that.
What makes a good detective/a good villain?
Sarah Hilary: Compassion, determination and (a curve-ball) secrets. I think the best detectives are a puzzle in and of themselves. So, Sherlock Holmes as a great example. Or Clarice Starling, whom Hannibal tries so hard to unpack. Ditto Will Graham. In terms of creating them, I'm a firm believer in not getting hung up on research into what real detectives do, say etc. Concentrate on the human side (flaws and all) and then retro-fit the tricky bits.
Fergus McNeill: Oddly, I've found it much easier to create my villains than my detective. Villains can be extreme, and that can help to make them immediately interesting, but I wanted a more subtle characterisation for my detective, so he could slowly evolve over the course of a series. I suppose there's a fair bit of me in him, but me in another life, reacting to very different circumstances.
Eva Dolan: I'm the same as you Fergus - villains come worrying easily, coppers I have a lot more trouble getting a handle on. Maybe because I can imagine being a criminal but would never in a million years have joined the police!
Fergus McNeill: My serial killer was based quite closely on someone I know. He's not a killer, obviously, but he used to be a serial womaniser. I changed a few things, but always imagined "How would X react if he was in this situation, if he'd crossed the line, and taking a life was no longer out-of-bounds to him?" It was surprisingly (and alarmingly) easy to see him in the role of a charismatic killer. Makes it awkward when he comes round and we talk about books. [winks]
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More about the authors on our website: http://britcrime.com
More about the panels here: http://britcrime.com/panelsat
