Quickfire Questions With Martin Edwards

Martin Edwards was born in Knutsford in 1955.
He studied law at Oxford and studied to become a solicitor in Leeds. He then moved to Liverpool on qualification and continues to live and practise there.
In addition to his legal skills, Martin is also a prolific and talented crime writer. His debut novel All The Lonely People was published in 1991 and nominated for the John Creasy Dagger for best first crime novel of the year. A further fifteen books followed and his latest The Hanging Wood was released at the beginning of August.

Which three writers, living or dead, would you invite to dinner?

GK Chesterton, Dorothy L Sayers and Anthony Berkeley (aka Francis Iles) because they were not only fine crime writers, but complex, strange and fascinating people who were never lost for an opinion.

What's your favourite writing snack?

Coffee and a Mars bar.

Longhand or computer?

Computer- But I've just started using voice recognition, and I'm wondering if this will affect the way I write. With any luck it will improve it.

Win Booker Prize or land Hollywood film deal?

Hollywood, no question. Doesn't matter if the film doesn't actually get made. In fact it might be better that way...

Tabloid or broadsheet?

Broadsheet, but read online. I enjoy seeing how different political perspectives influence choice and treatment of story.

Independent bookshop or Amazon?

Both. Amazon is great, but I love real shops, including second hand specialists. An annual trip to Hay on Wye is a must!

Hacker or adder?

Hacker. Death to all adverbs.

Plotter or pantser?

Plotter (is this becuase I've spent too long as a lawyer?). I always know what the 'solution' will be, but I don't usually know how I will arrive at it. As I've grown in confidence, I've tended to plan less.

Leave on a cliffhanger or tell all?

Resolution is good, but I also like an element of ambiguity. The snag with ambiguity is that it can irritate the reader. But handled carefully, it makes the story more believable.

You really must read...

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, A Fatal Inversion by Barbara Vine, Ukirdge by PG Wodehouse and Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse.

I get most excited by...

Travelling abroad with my family, meeting readers, discovering talented new authors...and Manchester City getting the upper hand over Manchester United.

If I wasn't a writer I would be...

Missing a huge amount of pleasure (as well as the pain that goes with the territory).

An author should always...

Remember and respect the reader.

Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival 2011

Readers of crime fiction are voracious. Too much is never enough.

For this reason, despite the recession, novels involving blood and guts and murders and detection are still selling decidedly well.

Crime readers are also hugely loyal. Once you launch a character, or a series or a brand that they like, they stick with you.

But the best thing about crime readers is that they love to get involved. Not for them the simple consumption of fiction. No chance, they want to get up close and personal with the very people who write the stuff. They love book signings, and author talks and interviews and they make the best audiences, lively with laughter and rippling with probing questions. I don't think I've ever done an event that ran to time. They just want to know ...well...everything.

So you can imagine how much I'm looking forward to this weekend's festival of crime writing in Harrogate. It's gonna be a blast.

For one thing there are some very big names in attendance: David Baldacci, Lee Child and the most successful of all British female crime writers (no not me) Martina Cole to name but a few.

And amongst all this star studded entertainment, I will be in the throngs, asking questions and thrusting my favourite books under the noses of my favourite auhtors for a scribbled signature.

And on Saturday 23rd at 2pm, I'll be speaking myself, taking part in a panel called Legal Eagles, which will find me alongside three other lawyers, MR Hall, Francis Fyfield and Martin Edwards who use their legal experience to pen court room dramas. It's stellar company and I'm delighted to be asked (and bricking it naturally).

Later that night I'm hosting a table at the black tie supper. I hope that my guests aren't expecting a figure of literary weight. I tend to laugh very loudly, swear far too much and neck wine like I'm at the last supper...

So if you live near by, or don't mind the journey to a gorgeous little town, why not pop in? I promise you it will be well worth it.