Today, I’m pleased to welcome as my blog guest Catriona King, a
writer who works hard at her craft and is an example to all scribes.
Catriona is a doctor and a member of the Crime Writers'
Association. She was raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland and moved to central
London to live and work as a Doctor, where she trained as a police Forensic
Medical Examiner. She worked closely with the Metropolitan Police in London on
many occasions.
In recent years, she has returned to live and work in Belfast,
basing her D.C.I. Craig crime novels in the streets of modern Belfast and
Northern Ireland, and locating the fictitious crime headquarters of 'Docklands
Coordinated Crime Unit' in one of Belfast's oldest and most colourful
districts, Sailortown. (She writes briefly about the setting for her novels
here:
Catriona has written since childhood: fiction, fact and reporting.
'A Limited Justice' her first novel was released on Kindle on 24th August 2012
and in paperback on the 26th October to Five Star Reviews. It followed
Detective Chief Inspector Marc Craig and his team, in the hunt for the killer
of three people. A second novel in the D.C.I. Craig series 'The Grass Tattoo'
was released on 11th December 2012 in paperback and Kindle again to rave
reviews, and the third in the series 'The Visitor' on the 29th March 2013 to
five star reviews. The fourth book in the series, 'The Waiting Room' was
released on May 31st 2013 and follows a sinister cabal called 'The Library Club'
culminating in a dramatic confrontation near a major political summit in
Fermanagh in June 2013.
Q & A
Since 2012, you’ve had four crime novels published by Crooked Cat.
This is a great achievement. You bring a lot of inside knowledge and humour of
varying colour to the books. Can you tell me what prompted you to write the
series?
I love the crime novels of Ian Rankin and Colin Dexter because, in
addition to telling good stories they introduce you to new cities e.g.
Edinburgh and Oxford. I wanted to do that for Belfast, not as it was during The
Troubles but as it is now in 2012/2013. I've always loved watching crime series
and reading crime novels and I had worked with the police in the past and so
knew something about the forensic side and the culture, so I thought what better
way to combine all of these than in a crime series set in modern Belfast. the
stories could be set anywhere but setting them here allowed me to show the
country's beauty and humour.
DCI Craig has an Italian mother. I notice that Frances di Plino’s detective
is half-Italian, again on his mother’s side. There are already a number of
Italian cops popular in fiction, Zen, Brunetti, Montalbano, Ferrara, Cataldo to
name a few. Do you intend the Italian
connection to loom larger in the future?
There is quite a large Italian/Northern-Irish community and has been for
several generations. I wanted to reflect that. I love Italy and it's a country
I've visited many times so I felt comfortable writing characters from there. I
also wanted to use the Italian side to represent the communities that have
settled here, whether from Italy, Poland, Africa or wherever
Italy may play a part in future stories but I haven't thought how
yet. DCI Craig's mother Mirella is a classical pianist and my father sang
Italian opera. I grew up with music in all forms and it was a link I wanted to
bring into the books, however obliquely, and I used Mirella to do that.
Is there a fifth Craig novel in the offing?
There is indeed. I've just submitted the manuscript so fingers
crossed. It's called 'The Broken Shore' and is set on Northern Ireland's North
Atlantic coast
How long have you been
writing? What influenced you to start?
I've been writing on and off since school (more off than on
because of work). I won my first writing prize when I was five and always loved
English Literature. I wrote book chapters for work and many, many work papers.
I also did a stint as a medical journalist full time as well.
How do your family/friends feel about your writing?
I think they're quietly pleased .
Are you planning to write any non-DCI Craig books?
Yes. I'm just in the editing stage of a new stand-alone thriller
set in New York City. It's called 'The Carbon Trail' and is an espionage
thriller. I also have an idea for another standalone novel in my head.
Do you intend to stick with the crime genre or switch?
Switch back and forth I think. DCI Craig is crime, 'The Carbon
Trail' is a spy thriller. I'd quite like to have a go at a sci-fi book as well.
A tall order, I know, but what is your favourite book? And why?
It's a book that I read as a child called 'What Katy Did' by Susan
Coolidge. It's about a little girl growing up in 19th century America. I loved
it because she was a tom-boy like me.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years?
Oh my goodness, I've no idea. I'm so disorganised I have a hard
time planning a week ahead!
Where can readers find you?
I'm on Facebook on https://www.facebook.com/catriona.king.90 and
my twitter name is CatrionaKing1
Thank you, Catriona!
