An Interview with Christine Rae-Jones
I spoke to Chris (as she refers to herself) as we walked along the shingle beach near to where she lives.
Q. Why are we here? Would it not have been easier to chat in a cafe, or at home? We wouldn’t have had to worry about those clouds over there.
A. This is where I come when I’ve written myself into a corner, and can’t see where I’m going. That rock over there (she pointed to a rock shaped like a chair) is my plotting rock. I’ve never sat on it and come away without an idea or a solution. Sometimes it takes a while, but it always comes.
Q. So you don’t plot out your novels before you start?
A. I’d love to be able to do that and, believe me, I’ve tried. But I’m what’s called a ‘pantser’ in the writing world. We write by the seat of our pants. It means that I often have to rewrite vast amounts of the plot when something doesn’t turn out, or just doesn’t feel right. And once I have the idea, for a story, I just want to get stuck into writing it.
Q. Have you always written? (Chris laughed at this question. In fact, for someone who writes such dark and gritty novels, she laughs a lot.)
A. I wrote as a teenager. Mostly short stories based on TV programmes of the time. “Callan,” “The Main Chance,” which was about a legal practice, Hine, and “Special Branch.”
When I left school, life got in the way of writing. Studies, Scientific Civil Service, Forensic Toxicology and Analytical Equipment Sales. Then, I set up a couple of sales skills training companies. Add to that, marriage and the typical requirements of running a home … No, I didn’t even think about writing, there wasn’t time.
Q. But you’ve published three novels and are working on a fourth, so what changed?
A. In 2000, I was called to do jury service. Those ten days reminded me how interested I was in the law. A few years later, I applied to be a magistrate and served for over ten years. During this time, my husband died, and it was my involvement with the magistracy that got me through a long and difficult time. I came here for a holiday in 2015, and again in 2016. That was when I decided to relocate. Magistrate friends were concerned that I would be bored and lonely, so I told them I was going to start writing again and they stopped being concerned.
Q. And here you are … three books in.
A. Yes, here I am.
Q. You must enjoy it.
A. I enjoy it when it’s going well. When I hit a problem, less so.
Q. When you’re sitting facing a blank screen, ready to embark on a new novel, where do you start?
A. I’ve probably been mulling over an idea while I’ve been writing the previous manuscript. The novels work individually, but I’ve started having a continuing story arc between them. I’ve been told by members of The Nick Morgan Reader Club that they like a hint of what’s coming in the next book.
Q. Can you give me an example?
A. Not without plot spoilers. Sorry.
Q. Do you have favourite characters to write?
A. I love Nick Morgan, of course I do. He’s not the typical hard-nosed; hard-drinking detective that I’ve read so many stories about, and there are things that I’ve had to think long and hard about before I introduce them as character traits.
Q. Like?
A. Does he cry? Does he swear and, if so, how often? Things like that.
Q. I’ve noticed that the books don’t give much detail about Nick’s appearance. Why is that?
A. I want my readers to build their own Nick Morgan in their imaginations. There are basics, of course. His DIY keeps him trim, but with muscles. His eyes were important to me. They are steely and cold and sometimes look as if there are shards of broken mirror in the iris. I’ve borrowed those eyes from someone I met and I knew I had to use them. I’ve asked Reader Club members what their Nick Morgan looks like and I’ve never had two matching descriptions. And none of their descriptions match my picture of him. I think that if you’ve invested in my books, you’re entitled to have your own representations of my characters in your own imagination.
Q. Are any of your characters based on people you know?
A. My readers often asked about my mother-in-law. I can tell you that she was a lovely woman, and nothing like Dorothy Cooper, Nick Morgan’s mother-in-law from hell. I enjoy writing about her, but I sometimes struggle with new ideas for something evil for her to do. When that happens, it’s back to the plotting rock.
Q. We’re nearly back at the concrete slope up to the road, but one last question … What’s the future for Nick Morgan?
A. When I published ‘Make You Sorry,’ I purchased ten ISBNs and have so far only used three. One is promised to a friend, so I have six more to go. I have ideas for one or maybe two spin-off series, but they haven’t got beyond the thinking stages. At the moment, I am focused on book four in the DI Nick Morgan Crime Thriller series which is called ‘Make You Mine.’
And I’m very much looking forward to reading it. Thank you for the walk, and for telling me about yourself and Nick Morgan. Now, I think we’ve earned an ice cream.
And that’s what we did. Honey & stem ginger for me, and rum and raisin for Chris. And luckily, we avoided the rain.
