Interview: Creating Detective Inspector Helen Grace

 

M. J. Arlidge, author of the DI Helen Grace series. (Image source: penguin.co.uk)

Disclaimer: this blog is affiliated with bookshop.org and Waterstones. If you should make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. However, this does not affect the price of the items, and it does not influence the content of this blog.

A kick ass female Detective Inspector and exploring darkness inspired a successful series of crime thrillers for M. J. Arlidge, author of the DI Helen Grace series.

M. J. Arlidge, successful novelist, screenwriter, and producer, allowed Monsta Reader the opportunity to ask some questions recently - with the new Helen Grace thriller, Cat and Mouse, due for publication on 9 June 2022, I thought it might be a good time to look back to where it all started. In 2014, readers were introduced to DI Helen Grace in the first thrilling novel of the series, Eeny Meeny, and I was curious as to how it all started and where Helen Grace came from . . .

Monsta Reader: Crime fiction has given us many iconic fictional detectives. Were you inspired by any of them in your creation of Detective Inspector Helen Grace? Or did she come from somewhere else entirely?

M. J. Arlidge: The key thing for me when creating Helen was not to make her boring. Like many others, I always love the bad guys and girls, but sometimes find fictional heroes and heroines too straight, too nutritional. I wanted my protagonist to be different and I enjoy writing female characters more than men, so it was no accident that my hero was a woman. I also knew I wanted to avoid the clichés of failing marriages, drink problems etc., so I decided to opt for pain as my hero's emotional crutch. I was reading a lot of Stieg Larsson at the time and think I was influenced by him too. The unconventional, kick ass spirit of Lisbeth Salander is very present in Helen Grace.

First Helen Grace thriller, Eeny Meeny. (Photo from personal collection)

MR: For how long was DI Helen Grace a part of your life before readers met her in her first novel, Eeny Meeny, in 2014?

MJA: Not that long actually. I knew I had a concept I liked - a serial killer abducting people in pairs and forcing one to kill the other in order to gain their freedom - so then it was a question of populating this wicked world with interesting characters. That said, I started writing her in 2012 and she wasn't unleashed on the world until 2014, so I had her to myself for a couple of years!

MR: Did you always intend for Eeny Meeny to be the first in a series of novels? Did you suspect it would be as successful as it was?

MJA: When I first sat down with Penguin, I pitched them the first seven Helen Grace novels! I was showing off, I guess, but I was also showing that I wanted Helen to be a long running character. I was fortunate that my debut Eeny Meeny did really well, launching the series round the world. I have Richard and Judy to thank for picking it for their book club and getting the word out there.

MR: In DI Helen Grace's world, there is a lot of darkness. In the people that she is tasked with hunting down, but in her own life, and amongst her team too, there are demons being fought. Is it a struggle tackling such dark themes? How do you unwind from them?

MJA: No, it's not a struggle at all. I actively enjoy going into the dark corner of human experiences and finding out what makes people tick. My own life is completely different - safe, happy, chilled - so it's not hard to extract myself. Sometimes my research is dark and upsetting, so then it's great to be able to step away from it and spend time with family, or play tennis or, of course, read a good book!

MR: How do you think you would fare in that world? Hunting down killers?

MJA: I think I would be pretty bad, as I come from a family of cowards. I suspect I would probably hide in the cupboard until it was all over and hope to be the last man standing.

Thank you to Matthew Arlidge for taking the time to answer these questions. You can find Matthew on Instagram and Twitter, and new Helen Grace thriller, Cat and Mouse, is due for release on 9 June 2022.

You can purchase Eeny Meeny by M. J. Arlidge here.

You can pre-order Cat and Mouse by M. J. Arlidge here.

Thank you for reading. Before you go, can I ask that you please consider supporting this blog with a coffee from ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me asking questions and turning pages!

I resist ad space, wanting to generate more than sales here. With writerly ambitions, I throw myself on the kindness of readers to support the blog and the time that goes into maintaining its presence.

If you can, please visit ko-fi.com, where you will also find links to other blog posts and other of my writing. 

Want to travel in your armchair?

 Disclaimer: Monsta Reader is affiliated with bookshop.org and Waterstones. If you should make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. However, this does not affect the prices of items, and it does not influence the content of this blog.

With sunnier months on the horizon, minds turn to travel and holidays. And so, in this post, I am pulling five great pieces of travel writing from my bookshelves and considering what lies between the covers.

Come with me, armchair adventurers!

1. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

A very funny book.

At the age of forty-four, with his friend, Stephen Katz, Bill Bryson set off to hike the longest continuous footpath in the world; the Appalachian Trail. 

With brutal weather, insects seemingly striving to make the trek unbearable, unreliable maps and probably one of the least reliable hiking companions anyone could ask for, Bryson struggled on to achieve his ambition of hiking the trail, and not die in the process!

You can purchase A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson here.

2. The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Another Bryson because, well, he's one of the best travel writers to ever put fingers to a keyboard, not to mention one of the funniest.

This is Bryson's follow-up to Notes From a Small Island, his book about travels he took around Britain twenty-five years ago. To mark the twentieth anniversary of that best-seller, Bryson took another trip around this island and noted, once again, what he saw and experienced. Another humorous read from one of the masters of travel writing!

You can purchase The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson here.

3. Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw: Excursions in the Great Weird North by Will Ferguson

As all the best travel writing does, expect to be left with a desire to go wandering!

Will Ferguson spent three years travelling across Canada and back again. From seaplanes to canoes and many other modes of transport in between.

Along the way, the writer delves into Canada's history and landscape, explored here in this excellent book.

You can purchase Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw by Will Ferguson here.

4. Red Dust: A Path Through China by Ma Jian

An acclaimed and award-winning travel book from Ma Jian!

1983; a time of economic reform and youthful rebellion in Deng Xiaoping. Ma Jian's ex-wife was seeking custody of their daughter and his girlfriend was sleeping with another man. At a point of personal and wider upheavals, one day he bought a train ticket to the westernmost border of China and began a journey to find himself.

This is a piece of travel-writing written by an author that can call their subject home, but who was also an outsider; it reveals China as a land of contradictions.

You can purchase Red Dust by Ma Jian here.

5. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee

'The stooping figure of my mother, waist-deep in the grass and caught there like a piece of sheep's wool, was the last I saw of my country home as I left it to discover the world'

In London, a young Laurie Lee made a living as a labourer and playing the violin. But, desiring further adventure, and with just a blanket and a violin, he spent a year crossing Spain, from north to south. I discovered Laurie Lee only recently, I am ashamed to say, but fell for his beautiful and lyrical writing immediately.

Laurie Lee's writing is just wonderful.

You can purchase As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee here.

Just before you go, can I ask that you please consider supporting this blog with a coffee from ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me following in the footsteps of the great travel-writers, if only only from the comfort of home . . .

Coveted remunerations from writing . . .

 

Disclaimer: Monsta Reader is affiliated with bookshop.org and Waterstones. If you should make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. However, this does not affect the prices of the items, and it does not influence the content of this blog.

I harbour hopes and dreams of making money from my writing. Not just that, but making a career out of it too.

In my teens, I was racked with anxiety and, perhaps consequently, an almost complete lack of confidence and self-esteem. And I didn't even begin to make sense of that until I was in my twenties, so I was kind of distracted in my younger years. I didn't figure out what I wanted from life, including the career path I wanted to take. So, in adulthood, I drifted into jobs that meant very little to me, and I never found myself at the bottom of any ladders that I wanted to climb.

From my youngest years, I had been an avid reader, but I didn't know how to do anything with that. The thought of being a writer didn't even occur to me; books were magic things, created by otherworldly beings, a sort of divine thing that I could never hope to touch! In my council house home, hand-me-down world, such hopes and dreams weren't even considered.

It's no coincidence that this blog concerns itself with books. It is driven by a love for the written word; my love for writing is an extension of my love for reading. And I am addicted!

When I started this blog, I had very few motivating factors, just that I wanted to write and a blog seemed an avenue wide open for exploration. There was, in the back of my mind, thoughts of how I might exploit an online presence in the future, but they were the vaguest of thoughts, not even half-formed. They were but wisps of mist, hanging over the main body of the idea - to write!

This blog, this space, is where I come most to write. I also write poems and little stories, but none have gotten me recognition or remuneration yet. There have been a few filler pieces in magazines published but, overall, in terms of money and recognition, it has to be said, I am a rather unsuccessful writer!

Now, partly, I must shoulder some of the blame for this. Like many writers before me, both great and mediocre, I am prone to procrastination - the great enemy of every writer! And, I am an embarrassingly ineffective self-marketer. Rather than striving to understand algorithms and all that jazz, I have been immersing myself into "How to write . . ." books, and trying to perfect technique and style. I research, write, proofread, edit, rewrite . . . and by the time I get to the marketing, sharing all over social media, and whatnot, I am ready for coffee, cake, and not much else.

Here's the problem - I am a writer, and so, I am trying to perfect my writing. And, as much as I read all about how one can go about being a more effective creator of content for social media, and improve chances of being found through online searches, my heart is only half in all that stuff. The problem is, I don't want to sell, I want to engage. But, we live in a world of CEOs and influencers, I suppose . . . One has to diversify to be successful, don't ya know.

I enjoy writing. It exorcises, it invigorates, it quiets the ego, feeds the soul . . . And I will continue to write, despite the lack of money and recognition. I will write because of all that deeper and richer stuff, and I will write just because I enjoy writing. But I will also continue to hope for, and work towards, a career as a writer. I think I deserve it. I think I am a good writer. Not the best - though I certainly see others whose work I could surpass getting the recognition that I covet - but I am getting better.

Will you do me a favour? If you read a piece, and if it's well written, and well researched, will you share that piece with your friends on social media? If the writer asks for a donation, and you are able to do so, will you give that donation? If you are able to offer a little time, effort, or money to support their efforts, will you do so?

Because, here's the thing; if that piece is well written, and well researched, it might have taken you minutes to read, but it has probably taken that writer hours of their time and effort. And you know, I look around, and I see the articles and the headlines that are obviously just there to get clicks - we all resent them! - but they exist because they work. Because they get the clicks and the support. Like I said, it's a world of CEOs and influencers, and the quality of the writing takes a backseat. But, if we support the good writers (and I don't know if I can lay claim to that title, that's up to you to decide), they rise - when you pay for good writing, you get good writing.

Anyway, if you do that, I swear that I shall try to be a better writer, worthy of the hopes and dreams I hold to me.

Thank you.

Just before you go, can I ask that you please consider supporting this blog with a coffee from ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me getting better . . .

Though I am affiliated with booksellers, I resist ad space where it is unnecessary because I would prefer to generate conversation and engagement, rather than sales. Plus, them ads are annoying! Disrupting the flow and what have you . . . !

With writerly ambitions, I throw myself on the support of readers for this blog, and so, if you can, please visit ko-fi.com, where you can offer support, find links to other blog posts, and read other writing efforts.

And, thank you again, readers and supporters!

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis - analysis and review

 

Disclaimer: Monsta Reader is affiliated with bookshop.org and Waterstones. If you should make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. However, this does not affect the price of any items, and it does not influence the content of the blog.

Patrick Bateman is twenty-six years old and works on Wall Street. He is handsome, charming and intelligent. But, Bateman lives a dual life that takes in both the American dream, and its worst nightmare. 

Patrick is one of literatures most monstrous creations. He is almost entirely devoid of all human emotions, caring for the material and the fashionable only. To the point that even other lives are but a source of entertainment and amusement.

This novel is brutal, and bleak.

American Psycho is the dream of wealth, the desire for the material and status symbols, taken to its conclusion - a gigantic and unquenchable desire for more. Nothing is ever going to be enough, because the fashions and the technologies that Mr. Bateman chases are ever updating and improving. And so, the protagonist is left with nothing more than an emptiness that can never be filled. His nightmare world is a reflection of the dream.

I think that this is why Ellis decided to make the character - the successful Wall Street man - an unfeeling and violent killer; it truly is the extreme conclusion of anyone whose dreams and pursuits are made of surface stuff and status symbols. People become objects of pleasure and amusement too, and sometimes, Bateman literally turns people into objects. 

Bateman's world is all surface. With the right haircut, the right clothing, the right music, you are beautiful, but the beauty is only skin deep. And underneath there is something toxic. Indeed, this book is a warning; beware of the dreams that are made of flashing lights and pretty faces, because the bright colours and smiles might just be a distraction, a lure to draw you into a trap.

This really is a shocking novel, and not for the squeamish or easily offended, but a very good book that is well worth a read. A clever book that draws the readers attention to just how easily we can be distracted, from the profound and meaningful, by societies obsessions with the bland and vapid.

You can purchase American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis here.

Thank you for reading. And, just before you go, can I ask that you please consider supporting this blog with a coffee from ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me turning pages!

I resist ad space here, wishing to generate more than just sales in this blog. But, with writerly ambitions, I throw myself on the kindness of my readers to support this blog.

So, if you can, support the blog here. And, thank you, every reader and supporter!

Richard Wright; the first Black author to have a bestseller in America

 

Disclaimer: Monsta Reader is affiliated with bookshop.org and Waterstones. If you make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I might earn a small commission from the sale. However, this does not affect the prices of the items, and it does not influence the content of this blog.

Richard Wright was born in 1908, near Natchez Mississippi. At fifteen, he left home and went to Memphis, where he worked for two years. In 1934, he went to Chicago where, in 1935, he worked on the Federal Writers' Project, a federal government project in the United States which was created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. His works include Native Son, a protest novel which saw him become the first Black bestselling author in America, which was published in 1940. 

Native Son introduces us to Bigger Thomas, the protagonist of the novel, a young man chained to the slums of Chicago, poverty, and a life of limited opportunities, all because of the colour of his skin and an unaccepting world. And so, Bigger is a complex mix of fear, abandoned hope, frustration, and yearning. Cowed by the white world's lack of understanding, and resenting that lack of understanding, understandably, he harbours an anger. But it is an anger borne of an unjust world.

In an introduction to the novel, the author, Richard Wright, explains that "If I had known only one Bigger I would not have written Native Son." The character of Bigger Thomas, it seems, is an amalgamation of men that Wright had known throughout the course of his life. These were Black men who violated the laws of a society that was not accepting of them anyway, regardless of whether they kowtowed to the rules that bound them, or not.

From the first scene of the novel, Bigger's world is a small and dreary one. The novel opens with a new day in his life, where we see him and his family waking in the single room they inhabit. He, his mother, his sister, and his brother, all live in this one room, a room they also share with any rodent that might make a home there. 

Though this is a work of fiction, it is a fiction that is also a work of protest. This was a fiction that reflected the reality the author had seen.

The central themes of the novel are racial, specifically the lives of Black Americans in the twentieth century. And it was a shock for 1940s readers. Indeed, the book still packs a punch today, and, one fears, there is still relevance in the work.

Though the book has drawn some criticism, especially for its violence, it has also been credited, along with other of Wright's work, as being a driving force for changing race relations in America. 

Bigger is not a pure hero, and he commits acts of violence that are hard for the reader to forgive. But forgiveness and fairytale was never Wright's intention; he wanted to present the world of his novel in brutal honesty. An honesty that the reader could not ignore or forget. 

As a work of protest, it has affected ideas and attitudes, and is considered by literary critics, amongst others, as having been a force for change in the social and intellectual history of America in the twentieth century. Writer, Amiri Baraka, said, "Wright was one of the people who made me conscious of the need to struggle."

This is more than a novel, it is a milestone in Black literary history.

You can purchase a copy of Native Son by Richard Wright here.

Thank you for reading. Before you go, can I ask that you please consider supporting this blog with a coffee from ko-fi.com - the caffeine keeps me reading, researching, writing, reviewing, and repeating!

Though I am affiliated with booksellers, I much prefer to generate conversation than I do sales. So, I avoid ad space and the like. But, with writerly ambitions and a commitment to producing the best work I know how, I must seek support by throwing myself onto the kindness of readers.

If you can, head over to ko-fi.com - the price of a coffee is a real boost. And I thank you, each and every reader and supporter!