Literary Birthday – 6 June – Deborah Crombie

Happy Birthday, Deborah Crombie, born on 6 June 1952.

Deborah Crombie Quotes

1. The research and plotting is very much left-brained, a very logical process, and one that I think can be learned. The actual writing, the flow of words, description, dialogue—all of these are right-brained. That’s where the passion comes in. When writing is going well, it’s like being plugged into a cosmic socket. There’s no other experience that compares with it. (FAQs)
2. I have an insatiable curiosity about people. I wonder what makes them tick, what their lives are like. Although I was certainly no child prodigy in the manner of JK Rowling, I can remember looking in lighted windows at night as a child and making up stories about the unknown inhabitants. Then there’s Britain itself, an endless source of inspiration for me. There are always places I want to explore in my imagination. (FAQs)
3. And then there are the words themselves, the addictive process of putting words on paper (or screen, as the case may be), of language unfolding. (FAQs)
4. I usually go to Britain two to three times during the course of a book. I’ve chosen the setting when I make the first trip, so I use that time to survey the area, take photos and notes, acquire research materials like local maps and books, and generally get the feel for the book. Once home, I spend several months researching, plotting, and outlining. (FAQs)
5. With the characters in each specific book, I usually know what I intend them to do from the very beginning. That said, some have developed in unexpected ways, so that by the end of the book I’ve found it necessary to change the plot to accommodate those changes. And some of my minor characters have been known to run away with things, which is always great fun. (FAQs)
6. Some from my imagination, others from people I have met or read about, or jobs and settings that friends and acquaintances have talked about. And I think all characters are drawn in some part from an author’s own life and emotional experiences. (FAQs)
7. I try to finish a book in a year, but I think over the life of the series I’ve averaged between twelve to eighteen months. (FAQs)
8. In the early stages I spend more time reading, plotting, and researching, so that an hour or two a day of actual writing is a good day. As the book gains momentum, I write longer and longer hours, until near the end I might write as much as twelve or fourteen hours a day. (FAQs)
9. I have a lovely office at home, but in nice weather like to write in my sun porch, where I can see into the back garden, or in very nice weather, out on my deck. I also like writing in cafes and coffee shops. I find the white noise and activity stimulating. (FAQs)

Deborah Crombie is an American author of a mystery series set in the United Kingdom. A trip to Yorkshire inspired her first Detective Superintendent Duncan Kincaid/Sergeant Gemma James novel. A Share in Death was subsequently given Agatha and Macavity nominations for Best First Novel of 1993. Her fifth novel, Dreaming of the Bones, a New York Times Notable Book for 1997, was short-listed by Mystery Writers of America for the 1997 Edgar Award for Best Novel, won the Macavity Award for Best Novel, and was voted by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association as one of the hundred best mysteries of the century. The latest in the series is A Killing of Innocents. Follow her on Instagram.

Source for photograph: Author’s Website, Photo By Steve Ullathorne

by Amanda Patterson

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