Hi everyone,
Today I’m pleased to be able to share another Q&A with you all. Today’s one is with the creator of DCI Banks, Peter Robinson.
Peter Robinson’s latest book featuring DCI Banks, Sleeping In The Ground, was published just last week!
About the book:
A shocking mass murder occurs at a wedding in a small Dales church and a huge manhunt follows. Eventually, the shooter is run to ground and things take their inevitable course.
But Banks is plagued with doubts as to exactly what happened outside the church that day, and why. Struggling with the death of his first serious girlfriend and the return of profiler Jenny Fuller into his life, Banks feels the need to dig deeper into the murders, and as he does so, he uncovers forensic and psychological puzzles that lead him to the past secrets that might just provide the answers he is looking for.
When the surprising truth becomes clear, it is almost too late.
SLEEPING IN THE GROUND by Peter Robinson is published by Hodder & Stoughton in hardback now.
Click HERE to get your copy!
About the author:
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and now divides his time between Richmond and Canada. Peter has written twenty-two books in the bestselling DCI Banks series as well as two collections of short stories and three standalone novels, the most recent of which is Number One bestseller BEFORE THE POISON. The critically acclaimed crime novels have won numerous awards in Britain, the United States, Canada and Europe, and are published in translation all over the world.
Peter’s DCI Banks is now a major ITV1 drama by Left Bank productions. Stephen Tompkinson (Wild at Heart, Ballykissangel) plays Inspector Banks, and Andrea Lowe (The Bill, Murphy’s Law) plays DI Annie Cabbot. The first series aired in Autumn 2011 with an adaptation of FRIEND OF THE DEVIL, the second in Autumn 2012, and the third in February 2014.
Peter’s standalone novel BEFORE THE POISON won the IMBA’s 2013 Dilys Award as well as the 2012 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel by the Crime Writers of Canada. This was Peter’s sixth Arthur Ellis award.
Find out more from Peter’s website, http://www.inspectorbanks.com, or visit his Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/peterrobinsonauthor.
Who I am …
I am a writer who likes to write my DCI Alan Banks crime thrillers, but also one who likes to take a break and try other things too… short stories stand-alone novels, that sort of thing. I split my time between Canada and England… I met my wife in Canada and her family is there, so Canada is part of our lives. Books take up most of my time – whether reading, talking about, writing or promoting. And I travel a LOT.
Writing …
is something I’ve always done – and I honestly can’t remember when I started, but I do know that from very young I had a big ledger type book in which I’d write and illustrated my stories. Back then they would be my own versions of heroic and exciting stories like Ivanhoe, Robin Hood or William Tell. Then I started reading science fiction and so I wrote it too … then this progressed into crime and thriller stories. At about 16 years old I became interested in poetry, and I wrote almost nothing else for the next 15 or 16 years. At that point I was bitten by the crime bug!
Inspiration …
I can never find an answer for this because I simply don’t know what it is!
My books …
They are more or less straight crime novels – featuring the policeman Alan Banks. He started life with the Force in London, and then migrated north to Yorkshire – where he works with a small team. He rather expected life to be more peaceful out of the big city – but he soon found out it wasn’t!
Social media …
I am quite sure it is important, and I am happy that I have a Facebook page and a website. And having people chatter on social media does help a lot. I worry about maintaining Twitter though, and I know that some authors are much more active on all forms of social media than others!
Fave thing about being an author:
I think just being lucky enough to do what I’ve always wanted to do, and to be able to make a living out of it. I see many people unhappy at work, and I thank my stars that I am able to do this job.
Least fave:
I’d like to have more time to set aside for poetry. Sometimes a writer realises they are spending too much time in their own heads as well… and we need to get out an meet people (which is why promotion tours are a good thing!). So less of the hermit would be a good, if not productive, thing too.
Reading:
I always read and always have. When I was a boy, people would say that I always had my head buried in a book. I read a lot of crime and thrillers – although never when I am writing my own. Also general novels as well as a lot of biographies and non-fiction.
Top books:
I am always cautious with this question, because there are so many answers! But a general sweep would bring up mostly classics, I guess. Let’s see … Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, I’d had a Sherlock Holmes, so The Hound of the Baskervilles, the one for Yorkshire, so it would have to be Wuthering Heights and I love The Go-Between, so that would be up there too.
Leisure time …
Clearly reading is leisurely too! Then there is listening to music and travel. Sitting outdoors watching and listening to nature is big on the list, both in the Dales and in the Canadian lakes.
I don’t really have any hobbies – only interests like music, travel and books
Top destination –
Each place I visit is the new favourite! But I am going back to Japan next year, so that must be the real favourite. I find the mix of old and new there utterly fascinating and they have a wonderful flare for art and design.
Food –
Steak, frites and something chocolate for pudding
Drink –
A nice southern hemisphere red wine – or that is what I drink most!
What else would I do –
I would probably teach English lit at some level. I do occasional workshops still – and I have taught some classes at the University of Toronto … but the timing of promotional tours nixed those! The thing about teaching is that you constantly learn in a way that just reading books doesn’t lead to. You need to challenge students with ideas and angles – which makes you explore the subject. I do miss that to some extent.
Many thanks to Peter and to Kerry for facilitating this Q&A! 🙂
