Tell me what inspired you to write the Alfie bloom series? I have always adored castles and visit as many as I can. In 2006 some friends took me to Castle Coch in Wales. It looked like a fairytale castle and I wondered what it would be like to inherit a place like that. I remember staring at the carvings of The Fates above one of the fireplaces and imagined […]
Tell me what inspired you to write for children? I wasn’t really “inspired to write for children”. What happened was that I had an idea for a story (Time Travelling With A Hamster) that was suitable for children, and I wrote it thereby becoming a “children’s author”. How hard was it to get your first book published? I feel a bit bad saying this, but not hard at all. I […]
Which came first, adult or children’s books for you as a writer? The first novel I ever finished was a story for younger readers. It was terrible, and I shoved it in a bottom drawer hoping it would mature, but I take it out from time to time, and it’s still terrible. Writing takes a lot of practice and it just so happens that the first of my novels that […]
Tell me what inspired you to write The Boy Made of Snow? I was always going to write a novel because that had been my dream since I was a little girl. And when I was an adult I kept telling myself, “One day, when I have time…” Then I realised: No one ever has time to write a novel! You have to make the time or it won’t happen. […]
Killing State. Click HERE for info sheet. JUDITH O’REILLY Epub: November 6th 2017 Paperback pub: March 15th 2018 www.judithoreilly.com @judithoreilly Where do you find inspiration for your books? People around me. Life. News. I absolutely love that moment when you think “Ah, Yes I could write about that.” Do you try and read the online reviews you get on say Waterstones website? Sometimes with my eyes shut. I hate the on-line […]
Tell me what inspired you to write about chocolate running out? The word ‘chocopocalypse’ popped into my head – I first wrote it as a hashtag on twitter at the end of one of my usual silly tweets. But I couldn’t get it out of my head and the story grew and grew. How hard was it to get your first book published? I’ve spent 40 years writing stories, but never […]
Tell me what inspired you to write perfect remains and perfect prey? I’ve always loved reading crime and thrillers, and given my career as a barrister it was natural ground for me. What I wanted to avoid was rewriting other detectives currently at the top of the genre, and it seemed to me that there was space to make crime a bit sexier again. Hence DI Luc Callanach – incredibly […]
Tell me what inspired you to write your first book? I was working in Westminster. It is an incredible environment with thousands of people all operating in close quarters. I saw first-hand all the stories and characters that existed in that world. I knew some of those stories deserved to be told. No one else was writing about it, so I thought: why not me? What did you do before […]