Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...: Alison Morton: all about her new release...

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Wander through wonderful worlds
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Welcome back to Alison Morton. As she’s writing another crime thriller, I’m going to grill her with some awkward questions!

Where is the book set and how did you decide on its setting?

Double Pursuit starts in Rome in a 40C heatwave. After all my Roma Nova thrillers, I couldn’t resist dragging Rome in somewhere! But my heroine, Mel or Mélisende to be formal, is based in Brussels. However, she whizzes around to Strasbourg on the Franco-German border, Sète, a beautiful ancient city on the south west French coast, Tilbury, West Kent and then a part of Africa she dreads returning to.

Ile de Thau, Sète
Photo: Christian Ferrer, CC Commons

Why? I live in France and I wanted to show it off a bit. ;-) Plus I love travelling, even virtually.

When did you come up with its title?

I always leave it until I’ve finished as I then know what the book was about. I admire people who choose a title and then write to it. Once my brain had hit on the idea of ‘Double Something’, half the work was done. Then I realised that my story was a two-way pursuit, so for once, the title fell into place.

Did you know where this book was going to go right from the start?

Ha-ha! No. I’m what is called euphemistically a ‘discovery writer’. Okay, I admit that I do sketch out a few ideas – something to start the action off, three or four critical points/crises, then a moment where it all goes to sh*t, relieved by a resolution and tying up the loose ends. Sometimes a question or issue I can integrate such as sexual harassment presents itself spontaneously, but for the rest I don’t really have much of a clue when I start.

How do you select the names of your characters?

When I wrote the Roma Nova thrillers, especially the later ones, I had the whole world built complete with tens of characters whose names I knew intimately. When I wrote Double Identity, the first Mélisende thriller, I had to invent a whole new one. My female protagonist needed a name that would reflect her aristocratic French heritage and be fairly formal, but one that could be shortened to a more relaxed form she could use when in England, with her English mum or among her closest friends. I settled on Mélisende (a nod to Mélusine from a local legend) which shortened to Mel.

Her boss, Patrick Stevenson, gives her the respect of her full name as does her prickly schoolfriend and sometime colleague, Aimée. Her beloved father, Henri, doesn’t use short forms, so she’s Mélisende to him. Jeff McCracken, colleague and …? He calls her Mel, as do her other workmates.

McCracken and Mel

As for Jeff’s surname, it reflects his crackly nature. That was an easy one! A single syllable first name suits his short and sharp manner, but the softness of the j and the double f tones down the hardness of the surname.

Essentially, names can say so much about the character without the author having to explain anything. Priceless, if selected carefully.

Do you have a technique for keeping track of your novel as you write it?

Good grief, yes! Writing thrillers involves a lot of plotting and I do like to lead my readers up a variety of garden paths. I developed a tracking grid which records time and date of action, a brief description of actions and main relevant discussions and decisions, and a third column for chapter numbers. It’s like an index to the book. More here and you can download a free sample.

When you’re writing, do you focus on the detail as you go along or keep your eye on the bigger picture? Or the reverse?

I bash the story out, checking research bits and pieces when necessary to the plot, then go over these points once the manuscript is finished. If I really need to research something while writing the first draft, I’ll divert, but not for too long as I don’t want to interrupt the story flow. At this stage, I don’t worry about using the same word three times in a sentence. I’ll sort that out during the first editing pass when I wield a machete on my unfortunate prose. No quarter is given.

Where do you come up with your idea(s)? Do people in your life need to be worried?

Probably. ;-) Seriously, I let the characters run around in my head until they demand to be let out. Then I throw a lot of trouble at them and watch how they react. I’m a big fan of exploring ‘what if’ which is where my Roma Nova stories came from. I’m a bit of a fidget myself, so my stories tend to be more active than passive.

Double Identity came from the idea of dual nationality and crossing cultures. Mel thinks and speaks in both French or English, switching from one to another as necessary. However, sometimes, she’s not completely sure which identity she’s inhabiting. Giving my heroine a background in rural Poitou in western France was easy – I live there myself!

Should people be worried? Haha! They’ll have to read Double Identity and Double Pursuit to find out…

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

I do read them as I can glean ideas about what readers liked. Of course, every review is subjective, but taken together you can get an idea of whether your writing goes down well (or not). One tip: NEVER reply to them. It’s none of your business – this is the readers’ area. And nobody comes out well from an online fight.

Can you give novice writers some tips (do’s/don'ts)?

Persist and don’t skimp on quality. Hone and polish your work until you are completely sick of it. If publishing independently, collect a series of beta readers around you and/or a critique partner, get a professionally designed cover and ALWAYS have your work edited.