Q+A Rachel Amphlett

Rachel Amphlett is the autor of the Dan taylor thrilers and also the new Kay Hunter series. I sent these questions over to Rachel yesterday and she was kind enough to answer them . Thanks Rachel.

1.       When did you decide you wanted to write this series?

Early 2016 - the story ideas for the first four books came to me in snippets, and I developed the series from those initial meanderings. It all came together really quickly, so by the time I got back to Australia after a trip to the UK in June last year, I hit the ground running and started writing Scared to Death.

2.       Is Kay based on a real person?

No one single person, but as her character developed I incorporated tics and traits I've observed in people around and about. With regard to her profession as a detective, I have consulted with a number of working and retired police officers to ensure I have as much accuracy in the novels though, without detracting from the pacing.

3.       What can we expect from the next book and the ones beyond that?

Will to Live is the next one, and we've just done the cover reveal for that. It'll be published on 4 April 2017. Here's the blurb:

Reputation is everything

                    

When a packed commuter train runs over a body on a stretch of track known to locals as “Suicide Mile”, it soon transpires that the man was a victim of a calculated murder.

As the investigation evolves and a pattern of murders is uncovered, Detective Sergeant Kay Hunter realises the railway’s recent reputation may be the work of a brutal serial killer.

With a backlog of cold cases to investigate and attempting to uncover who is behind a professional vendetta against her, Kay must keep one step ahead of both the killer and her own adversaries.

When a second murder takes place within a week of the first, she realises the killer’s timetable has changed, and she’s running out of time to stop him…

Will to Live is the second book in a new crime thriller series featuring Kay Hunter – a detective with a hidden past and an uncertain future…

The series will continue to be fast-paced in nature, including the rate at which the books come out so readers won't have too long to wait for each instalment.

4.       Are there any particular authors that you look to for inspiration?

My favourites are Lee Child, Peter James, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais and when I decided to write a crime thriller series, I read interviews by all of these and authors such as Val McDermid and Ian Rankin, too - it was like going back to school, and very much a worthwhile exercise. It's hard to pick a favourite author these days because I keep discovering more and more whose writing I admire.

5.       Does kay share any characteristics with any other fictional detectives?

She's unusual in that she doesn't have a difficult personal life, and that was deliberate - I wanted her to be different to a lot of other fictional detectives. I wanted her to be resilient, but have a "safe haven" of sorts because the cases she deals with are so traumatic. There's still tension and drama with regard to her home life, but this is balanced by some of the more humorous things that go on with her other half being a vet.

6.       You also wrote the Dan Taylor books, are any more of those in the pipeline?

Yes, but I need the world to calm down geopolitically first!  There's been so much upheaval in the UK and USA what with Brexit and elections that I need to see how things settle before getting stuck into writing the fifth in the Dan Taylor book. My books are known for their accuracy and closeness to real-time events, so it's important to wait and see. I've got the basics of an outline, but it'll probably be 2018 before I publish another Dan Taylor book.

7.       Do you think that Dan Taylor and kay hunter could end up working together somehow?

I love this question - no-one else has asked me this!  You know what? Never say never. It'd be sod's law if I say "no" here, and then find myself writing something that features both of them somewhere down the track...!

8.       Is there a specific story arc in mind for the kay hunter books or will they all be standalones

They're standalones in the sense that every investigation is different, however there is a sub-plot thread that runs through the books.

9.       How many kay hunter books do you think there will be?

As long as readers keep reading them, I'll keep writing them! I also think there's scope for spin-off books within the Kay Hunter "world", too with some of the other characters - that's certainly what I had in mind when developing the series last year.

Now for the broader questions

Bond or Bourne? Bourne!

E-Book or Physical Book? Preferably physical book, but we're running out of shelf space, so I usually save that for favourite authors whose books I've been reading for years. I love my eReader for discovering new authors and picking up deals - I've got quite eclectic tastes in reading, so eBooks enable me to experiment.

A Book You Want Everyone to read ?

The Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.

Which up and coming authors should we keep an eye out for?

 I'm really looking forward to Vicky Newham's debut novel which is scheduled for publication in early 2018.

  Weirdest thing you’ve used as a bookmark?

Boarding pass. I love finding those in secondhand books, too - it's like "ooo, where did you go?" :)

Is there a Movie or TV adaptation that you preferred to the book?

Gone Girl - sorry, but I really couldn't get into the book, but I enjoyed the film.

Do you Ever judge a book  by its cover art?
Yes, if it's an author who's unknown to me. Cover first, then blurb, then first few pages are usually the deciding factors for me.

Thanks again for these wonderful questions - I hope I answered them okay!