Q+A Rachel Amphlett
Q+A with one of my favourite authors. Rachel Amphlett .
How's lockdown
going?
Put it this way, there has been a LOT of writing going on!
You've got a new series
out featuring Mark Turpin, can you give us the essence of it?
The
Detective Mark Turpin series is set in the Vale of the White Horse, a picturesque
corner of the Berkshire/Oxfordshire border that is steeped in history from
Bronze Age settlements through to Second World War airfields and more.
The
locations and settings are as much a character as the people in these stories,
and they have a slightly different feel to them from the Kay Hunter series.
When we
first meet Mark, he’s emerged from a turbulent time with Wiltshire Police and
has moved to the Vale in order to try to make some sense of his life and ease
back into work. His sabbatical ends abruptly with the vicious murder of a
parish priest.
How many books have you
got planned featuring Mark?
It’ll
be an ongoing series – book 2, HER FINAL HOUR is out in November, book
three is already written and ready to be published in 2021, and I’ll start work
on book 4 in the New Year.
I
visited Abingdon – where Mark is based – in October last year and had
a wander around, and from that I’ve already got 2-3 new ideas lined up for Mark
and his team that I want to explore.
What gave you the idea
for this new series?
I had
some ideas going around in my head for detective stories that wouldn’t fit in
the Kay Hunter world simply due to the locations and settings.
I lived
in the area where the series is set while I was playing guitar in bands in my
20s and my Dad grew up there, so what with all that and visits to grandparents
when I was growing up, I’m very familiar with all the landmarks and locations.
Originally,
the Kay Hunter series was going to be set there – or so I thought. Kay
Hunter had other ideas, and that series moved to Maidstone…
How can we expect Mark's
character to evolve over the course of the series?
He’s still finding his feet in his new role in Oxfordshire, and readers will see how he’s struggling with that in book 2, HER FINAL HOUR but his working relationship with his colleague DC Jan West is the anchor that holds him steady. I’m having a lot of fun writing about the two of them – they’re chalk and cheese.
The Kay Hunter books are
still going strong, what does the future hold for her?
We’ve
got TURN TO DUST coming out on July 13, and I’ve just started writing book 10
in the series so she and the team are still going strong – I have a lot of
fun writing this series, too so as long as you enjoy reading them, I’ll keep
writing them. I’ve also got some surprises lined up for readers later this year
so I’d recommend signing up to my Reader Group for first dibs on that news :)
Would you write another
standalone like The Friend Who Lied?
Absolutely
– the standalone novels are a great way to capture stories that don’t fit in
one of my series and gives me a chance to try new writing skills so I’m always
learning.
Would you ever be tempted
to write a continuation novel for another series e.g. Bond or Sherlock
Holmes?
I
wouldn’t rule it out completely but it’d have to be for the right reasons and at
the right time, simply because I’ve got so many of my own ideas lined up to
write over the next 2-3 years – and of course, by the time I get to the
end of next year I’ll already be planning ahead for the next few years!
Which author have you
discovered in the last 12 months that’s really surprised you?
I don’t
know why I hadn’t read Cara Hunter’s series before now – time, probably!
– but I discovered her first book Close to Home last year and quickly
smashed through the read of the series in no time at all. I can’t wait for the
next one.
Which movie or TV show
have you watched during lockdown that's really surprised you?
We’ve
just binged seasons 1-3 of Travelers on Netflix and now I’m bereft because
there’s no season 4. It’s another show that we missed the first time around
while we were living in Australia but I got very invested in the characters.
Clever ending, too. It surprised me because I don’t read sci-fi but I do like a
lot of the TV shows – my other half’s favourite genre is sci-fi so through him
I’ve discovered The Expanse and Picard as well.
What new releases are you
most looking forward to?
Michael
Connelly’s Fair Warning, out on May 26 – I’ve already got my copy pre-ordered,
and please don’t expect any writing to happen until I’ve finished reading it.
Which will probably be between 24-36 hours – I love Connelly’s writing and will
have to force myself to slow down while I’m reading it!
You always seem to have
new projects on the go, how do you keep track of them all?
I use
an Excel spreadsheet set out a bit like a Gantt chart – I used to work as
a project administrator in Australia and studied project management. All
projects use one to keep track of their design and production schedule. My
version is a slimmed-down version of that. I use it to note down when a book is
due to be finished, when it’s got to be sent to the copy editor, proof reader,
audio studio if we’re doing that format, and what the publication date is. Of
course, by the time a book goes to the copy editor I’m already working on the
next one.
What’s next for you?
I’m
scheduled to finish the next Kay Hunter book by the end of July and then I plan
to use August to write some short stories and learn some new skills before
starting the next book on 1 September.
The
second book in the Detective Mark Turpin series, HER FINAL HOUR will be out on November
9 and I’ve got a couple of surprises up my sleeve for later in the year as well
to share with readers.
Links and things:
Instagram/Twitter:
@RachelAmphlett
and now for something i've never done before. asked an author to pose ME some questions. keep an eye put for the next post to see that.
Comments
Post a Comment