Author Q & A with Leigh Russell, author of the Geraldine Steel series

Leigh Russell has recently published Deadly Alibi, the ninth book, in her Geraldine Steel series and has sold over a million books.  She is an active member of the CWA and a great supporter of new talent in the genre.  The Crime Warp is proud to welcome her ...

Liz:  Hi Leigh, It's great to be Crime Warping you today.  Tell us a bit about your current book release.

Leigh: Deadly Alibi is the 9th title in the Geraldine Steel

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series. Chris claims that he was with his mistress at the time of his wife's murder, but all the evidence points to him being guilty. The only person who can provide Chris with an alibi has mysteriously disappeared. Only Detective Inspector Geraldine Steel believes he may be innocent. But Geraldine is distracted by problems of her own - problems that look set to destroy her career... And if you want to know more, you'll have to read the book!

Liz:  How long did Deadly Alibi take to write?

Leigh: My books take, on average, six months to write. I type very fast and could easily churn out 90,000 words in a week, but writing a book isn't simply a case of getting words down on the page. What takes time is thinking and research. As soon as one book is written, I'm on to the next one!

Liz: Is there a subsidiary character you have created and are particularly fond of and why?

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Leigh: When my protagonist, Geraldine Steel, began her fictional career in my debut crime novel, Cut Short, she worked with a young sergeant, Ian Peterson. He gathered quite a following of his own, so I wrote a trilogy for him. When I started writing my Lucy Hall series, the Ian Peterson crime novels had to stop. It was gratifying to see that some of his fans set up a page on facebook called "Bring Back Ian Peterson".  I'm hoping fans of both Geraldine and Ian will be happy with what happens in Deadly Alibi.

Liz: Do you ever suffer from writer’s block and if so how do you overcome it?

Leigh: I've been fortunate never to have suffered from writers' block... yet... To be honest, I don't quite understand why anyone would experience this, because once you fall in love with writing, it's more a case of not having enough time to write than having nothing to write about. People who love skiing don't get skiers block, do they? Since I first started writing, I've always been working to a publisher's' deadline which means I couldn't stop, even if I wanted to. There's always the next book to deliver... and the one after that... I've been extraordinarily lucky with my publishing deals which have always been for three books so far, and before one deal is completed, the next one has been signed. Basically, I just don't have time for writer's block.

 Liz:  A very down to earth reply. Any tips for would-be writers seeking publication?

Leigh:I could produce a book about this! One piece of advice

I think is essential is to write what you enjoy working on. As Eugene Ionesco said, "A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of writing or thinking about writing." So if you don't enjoy what you're writing about, you really ought to find something else to do, or you're going to end up leading a very unhappy life. But of course once you get the bug, you can't stop even if you want to!

Liz: What is it about Crime fiction as a genre that turns you on?

Leigh: To be honest, I've no idea. I never set out to write crime, or anything else for that matter. I simply had an idea one day, started writing the story, and found I couldn't stop. That was nearly ten years ago, and I still haven't stopped writing! Just about all serious literature revolves around a crime of some description. The greatest crime writer of all, in my opinion, was Shakespeare. His great plays: Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, Lear, Romeo and Juliet, are all riddled with murder

and deception! Crime fiction is about human nature, examining how people cope in extreme circumstances, and exploring some of our worst impulses as well as the best, so anyone who is interested in people is going to find the genre fascinating. I think that's what draws me to it. As for why I enjoy telling stories? I'm a story teller. That's what I do. Can there be a better explanation than that?

Liz: I think that about sums it up, Leigh. If you were to host a “Come Dine With Me” party, who would you invite from the Crime Fiction fraternity and why?

Leigh: This kind of question is very difficult, because I think I'd only be allowed three guests, and there are so many I'd like to spend time with. Lee Child is a firm favourite, not only because I love his books, but because he's such good company. I'm not sure if I'd invite his hero, Jack Reacher, who is famously taciturn so might not be a great guest at a dinner party, unless we were attacked by intruders in which case he'd be very welcome! Ian Rankin is another favourite author of mine, and he's really entertaining. I'm not sure about his

detective Rebus, though, as he can be a bit of a grump. So that's Lee Child and Ian Rankin, and to even up the numbers, I'd invite Val McDermid. Not only is she a phenomenally intelligent woman and brilliant company, she would keep the other two in order! 

  

Liz: Good choices, can I come? Who or what inspires you to keep writing?

Leigh: I have bills to pay... Since giving up my day job to write full time, writing has become a practical necessity, as well as a personal one. Maybe one day I'll stop writing and find something else to do, but right now I'm in the middle of my next three book deal, with the first book gone for editing, and the second one just begun. So I'll be busy for a while yet.

Liz:  Could you describe the book you are working on at the moment using only 5 words?

Leigh: The next Geraldine Steel book.

(Whatever else is going on in my life, I'm always working on the next Geraldine Steel book!)

Liz: Have you ever thought of setting a book somewhere exotic so you could visit that place or perhaps live there for a while? Where would that be?

Leigh: I've already done that! The first mystery in my Lucy

Hall series is set in the Seychelles and yes, we did have to fly out there for two weeks to research the location. It was hard work, but as my husband said, someone had to research sipping cocktails on the beach at sunset. It was the most beautiful place I've ever visited and we had a wonderful trip. We did spend a lot of time at the local police station, and in the police headquarters in the capital, and with the British High Commissioner, but we also spent time exploring the island and going island hopping. It really was the holiday of a lifetime and I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to go there.