It is said that you are a “debutant”…is that really true?

It depends on how you look at it. [geim] is my first published script so in that aspect I am a 100% debutant. I started writing in early 2008 (after some friendly encouragement from my wife). Before [geim], which I wrote in 2009, I had completed two other scripts. None of these were ever published, but the feedback I received was extremely helpful when I started writing what would become the novel [geim].

When I started this story I had a much more structured approach and I tried to identify what type of reading experience I wanted to accomplish, but also what tools I thought would work.

In the gaming world the word “gameplay” is often used to describe a total experience or a positive feeling for a game and my overall goal was for the reader to experience that feeling when the last page was finished.

Among other things I wanted to keep a fast pace throughout the novel (difficult), build an unpredictable story (more difficult) and create an “I don’t want to put this novel down” feeling for the reader (very difficult).

One of my solutions was to work with two main characters with very diverse traits and ways of expressing themselves – another to sometimes shake the story’s premises and create unexpected turns.

I am very satisfied with the result, but in the end it is the readers who will determine if I have succeeded or not.

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How would you describe [geim]?

A fast paced contemporary novel with a lot of pop cultural winks and with a refined and surprising plot.

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How did you come up with the idea for [geim]?

I thought of the main idea when I was on an airplane and looked through the seat pocket in front of me during takeoff (or landing), and I started thinking about what kind of things you could find there.

In my mind it started with a USB drive containing pictures and from there the idea changed to a camera. Eventually the camera turned into a phone that communicates with the finder and invites him to some type of activity.

Phones and games are close to each other so I made that connection fairly quickly.

To make the story easier to tell I moved it to a train and there I had my opening scene.

When I thought of a game I started exploring the many types: mind games, multiplayer gaming, alternate reality games, etc. Since the online gaming world has its own dramaturgy and language, many of the English expressions came from there, e.g. the chapter titles and eventually the title of the novel.

The word game is very grateful since it has so many meanings.

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How would you describe your narrative style?

It is relatively driven with a mix of longer complex sentences and some very short ones. I am attracted by the dynamic between the two styles, as well as by the mix of Swedish and English expressions.

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[geim] is exciting from the first page to the last. Did you have to rewrite a lot to get rid of the slower (read more boring) sections that otherwise often are included?

Thank you, and ha ha…what an original question! You are wondering if [geim] was more boring during the script phase?

Actually several of the sequences I have reworked or added have been of a more narrative nature. Early on I aimed at trying to mimic the dramaturgy of a great video game where there is very little downtime. Instead the player (reader) is thrown between increasingly exciting events leading up to the grand finale.

My publisher and my skilled editor have taught me how balance my writing to some extent, so that the reader will have time to digest everything that is going on and the characters will get a chance to develop.

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Where and how do you prefer to write? (At home? At a café? At an office? With a pen and paper, typewriter or computer?

I actually write better in places where I am forced to concentrate and where my self discipline is not tempted by things such as email, Internet, refrigerators with plenty of food, etc.

Since I travel a lot for work there are many airplanes, airports and hotel rooms, but even when I am home I prefer different cafés or libraries.

I write almost exclusively on my laptop and very rarely using a pen and paper.

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Are you working on anything right now?

Right now I have written about sixty pages of the sequel [bʌz] that will be published next fall and that focuses on how information is circulated on the Internet and the interests that want to control it…

I am also collecting ideas for the third part of the trilogy that will be released in 2012 and has the working title [bʌbl].

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A big thank you and good luck from all of us at TheCrimeHouse!

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Read also:

Linda’s review of [geim]

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We are extremely happy and proud to welcome Donald Bain to Deckarhuset/TheCrimeHouse! Donald Bain is the author of over one hundred books, many of them bestsellers! Since 1989 he has written over 30 original mysteries featuring Jessica Fletcher in the Murder, She Wrote book series!

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We must begin by asking: How did you end up being “Jessica Fletcher’s” partner for the Murder, She Wrote book series?

My agent called me in 1988 to see whether I’d be interested in writing a tie-in novel based upon the extremely popular TV show. The textbook publisher McGraw-Hill had decided to establish a fiction imprint and had purchased the rights from MCA-Universal to publish the book. (It’s now NBC-Universal). McGraw-Hill was interested in me because of a long-running series of Washington-based political/thrillers/murder mysteries I’d been ghostwriting for the byline of a well-known person. (More about that in answer to a later question).

I signed on to write the novel which I titled Gin & Daggers. While many of the TV episodes were set in Jessica Fletcher’s fictitious Maine town of Cabot Cove, it was decided to set the first book in a foreign locale. I chose London, a favorite city of mine and one I knew quite well. I watched many of the TV shows, and when I felt confident that I had the character down I started writing.

The book was published in hardcover in 1989 and received wonderful reviews. Avon brought out a paperback edition, and the British publisher Michael Joseph followed with its own hardcover version. Although the contract with McGraw-Hill was for one book, the success of Gin & Daggers raised the possibility of a series. But McGraw-Hill suddenly decided to fold its fiction imprint, and it appeared that there wouldn’t be more novels bearing the “Murder, She Wrote” banner.

But in 1993 Signet, a division of Penguin, decided to publish original murder mystery novels based upon the show, purchased the rights from MCA-Universal, and signed me to write four more. I should point out that none of the books in the series is based upon any of the TV episodes. Each book is an original murder mystery using the characters from the show. Today, there are now more than 4.5 million copies of the books in print and each title is still available through bookstores and online.

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Back in 1989 when Gin & Daggers, the first book in the series, came out did you ever suspect that you still would be writing books for the series in 2010(!)?

Absolutely not, and I still wonder at it. When Signet offered its first four-book contract I fully expected it to be the last. But here I am today, 21 years later, working on book number 37, the final one on the current four-book contract. There are two novels already written and due to be published in 2011, Skating on Thin Ice (set in the world of big-time competitive figure skating), and The Fine Art of Murder (which deals with art theft and forgeries in Italy). My wife, Renée Paley-Bain, a fine writer, began collaborating with me on the books a few years back and has added a new dimension to the stories. That she’s a skater provided a useful and colorful insider’s view of the sport for Skating on Thin Ice.

The series is obviously financially successful for the publisher. Were it not I’m sure they would have long ago stopped offering new contracts every two years. I’m assuming that the book I’m currently writing, number 37, will be the last. The fact that each book carries the byline Jessica Fletcher and Donald Bain gives the publisher the option to change writers at any time. Jessica, of course, exists only as a fictitious TV character played so beautifully on TV by Angela Lansbury. Will there be another contract? We’ll see.

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Do you have any personal favorites of the Murder, She Wrote books?

I’m very place oriented, and the plot for each book begins with the setting in which Jessica will have to solve a murder—and avoid being killed herself. I suppose certain places are favorites and influence how I view books utilizing them. Because I’m of Scottish heritage I’m fond of The Highland Fling Murders that came out in 1997. Researching that book in my family’s hometown of Wick Scotland was a joy, as are all the trips we’ve taken to establish an understanding of the places used in the novels. Renée and I are reluctant to write about a place that we haven’t personally experienced, although a couple of the novels were written without that advantage. I loved the premise and ending of Trick or Treachery which naturally revolves around our Halloween tradition. The book just published in October, The Queen’s Jewels, is certainly a favorite be cause it takes place on the magnificent Queen Mary 2 during a trans-Atlantic crossing, an experience we personally enjoyed in preparation for writing the novel. The biggest selling book in the series was Murder on the QE2; sales figures indicate that The Queen’s Jewels might top that.

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The Tv-series is famous for its constant change of scenery. The book series seams to be following the same pattern, any chance of a future novel taking place in Sweden?

As I mention in my previous answer I’m extremely place oriented. It’s interesting how our readership responds to taking Jessica away from Cabot Cove. Many of them prefer that she stay home, and that the books take a more “cozy” approach. Others love traveling with her to far-flung places. I’d love to set one of the future books in Sweden, which now seems to be firmly established as the epicenter of today’s murder mystery genre. If a new contract is tendered, Sweden will be high on our list of possible scrims against which Jessica finds herself once again up to her neck in bodies.

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You have written 24 books that you are prohibited from publicly taking credit for. Does this ever bug you?

Ghostwriting is a two-edged sword. When I book I’ve ghosted receives rave reviews and appears on leading best seller lists, I admit to wishing that my involvement as the writer was known beyond family, friends, people in publishing, accountant, lawyer, and my mortgage-holder. On the other hand when a book I’ve ghosted gets a bad review, and doesn’t do well in the marketplace, it’s the other person’s name that takes the rap in public. I’ve been in situations where a book I’ve ghosted is discussed by people who don’t know of my involvement. Sometimes I’m asked whether I’ve read the book in question and what I thought of it. Naturally, I always say that I enjoyed it very much, thought it was well-written, and then promptly break from the group in search of a drink. By the way, I’ve ghosted many other books besides the 24 novels set in Washington, D.C., includin g non-fiction books for business leaders.

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…What special qualities do you believe a good ghost writer must possess?

The number one quality is an intact ego, and an ability to work closely with someone else. Most of my ghostwriting and collaborations have gone smoothly. A few haven’t, and when I sense it isn’t going well, I’m quick to bail out. It’s also important to want to write the best possible book even if my name won’t be appearing on it. I approach every writing project with the philosophy that it’s the most important thing I’ll ever write, and possibly the last. Above all else I want to be recognized as a professional.

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Time for the last question, are you working on anything new at the moment? Could you tell us a little bit about it…

I’m extremely busy at the moment and loving every minute of it. The “Murder, She Wrote” novel Renee and I are currently writing is set in Bermuda and carries the tentative title Blood on a Pink Beach. That’s due to the publisher in April. I’m also ghosting another Washington-based thriller that’s due next May, and am collaborating with a close friend and wonderful thriller writer, Craig Thomas, whose Firefox novel was a major motion picture starring and directed by Clint Eastwood. Craig, who lives in Bath, England with his wife and editor Jill, had dropped out of commercial fiction for a while but I’ve coaxed him back into the saddle. Renée and I have also edited a wonderful comic caper novel, Taking Tennessee to Hart, by a friend and my former drama teacher at Purdue University, Joe Stockdale, and are seeking a publisher for it. So, all in all, 2011 sha pes up as a busy time for us. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Hello and welcome to TheCrimeHouse Veronica! Two of your crime novels have been published now. Congratulations!

Thank you! It is very exciting to have had two novels published in such a short time. To write crime novels have always been my dream, and I will probably continue to write about Althea as long as there is someone who wants to read about her.

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You work part-time as a headhunter, can you please tell us a little about that?

Yes, I work as Head of Research, meaning that I and my colleagues only have one task – to find candidates to the positions that the recruiters at the company work with. It means a lot of detective work and countless phone interviews. It is actually a dream combination in terms of jobs for me. Writing is a very introverted profession, which I actually like, but it is important to get new impressions and ideas as well, and the super social recruiting job is the perfect balance.

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The main character in your novels, Althea Molin, works as a profiler. Are there similarities between you two, are you stealing anything from reality?

Yes and no. I try not to consciously steal traits from the candidates I work with; otherwise no one would want to talk to me.

But I, just like Althea, is very observant and very fascinated by all types of people. I love to go to work in the morning; the subway is filled with fascinating people to be inspired by. I can rarely or never point to a single source of inspiration for a character. They are a quilt: a voice from someone I have eavesdropped to at the subway, a picture of someone from a newspaper, some mannerisms from someone I know, maybe something from a movie character and so on.

Otherwise I think Althea and I only have two things in common, the inability to keep a pair of pantyhose whole for eight hours and the constant latte drinking.

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Can you please tell us a little bit about your second novel?

My second novel is about social appearances – about how far we are willing to go to keep our social status and our self image.

It is about several murders where the victims seemingly have no ties – except that the murders have been committed using the same gun, and all victims are found with a tarot card in their mouths. Althea discovers a connection to a computer security breach at the Lindstein Bank where her best friend Emelie is responsible for security. Unfortunately the police refuse to believe her. Althea’s life is not made easier by the fact that her overbearing mother decides to come to Stockholm and the relation with her boyfriend – policeman Rickard Magnusson – is a bit shaky.

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There are many out there who dream about writing a novel, but do not dare to take the step. How does it work to combine the writing with a professional life; how does the writing process work?

The most important thing to succeed in writing part time is to take it seriously. Make time for it, how much or little does not matter, as long as you make time and make sure that the writing never comes last on the priority list. The laundry can wait a few hours longer, I promise.

I start by planning and doing research. I can do that wherever – brainstorming on the bus, reading FBI reports in the bathtub, thinking about characters during lunch, but also during longer sessions to piece together the ideas to a whole, to a number of scenes. Then when I sit down to write, in longer and more focused sessions, I know what is going to happen and what persons will be involved, that gives me freedom to be more creative.

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What components are needed for a good criminal novel in your opinion?

Wow! If I think about myself as a reader of crime novels I think that a good novel needs to contain insightful, colorful characters. I want to see the human in both ”evil” and “good.” Last, but not least, I prefer to be a bit surprised by how the story develops.

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What is your “crime novel background” – there are rumors about a “romance” with Sherlock Holmes?

Yes, I have to agree that it is true! When I was younger Sherlock Holmes was my ideal, and I dreamt about marrying a man like him (I ignored the little drug problem and the never ending violin playing)!

I have been completely focused on the crime novel genre since I was little; I read everything from English classics like Christie and P D James to hardboiled American thrillers like James Lee Burke and Icelandic melancholy like Arnaldur Indridason. I like almost all types of crime novels, as long as they are focused, smart and have a core of humanity – not just brutality.

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Swedish crime writers are really popular right now. Do you have a favorite of your own, and if so why?

I am very fond of Mankell and Nesser, but I also love older crime novels, e.g HK Rönnblom, Stieg Trenter and Sjöwall-Wahlöö. I like them because they are simpler than modern crime novels, without being less complex. They are often lighthearted on the surface, but with a fascinating dark undertone.

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Are you working on a new project?

Yes, I am working on the third novel about Althea. I have also started a blog (in Swedish) where I will collect all the material and thought about the novel. My hopes are that the blog will give some sort of, slightly confused, insight into the writing process.

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TheCrimeHouse thanks Veronica and wishes her good luck in the future. We will follow her blog and the work with the next novel with great interest.

First of all, I must ask you to tell us a little about yourself since you are unknown to most of the Swedish people.

Hello! I was born in Tehran in 1970 in an Armenian family, and left Iran for France shortly after the revolution with my mother.

Then I stayed about 15 years without going back because those were times of terror. But when I was about 24-25 I started working as a journalist by going regularly to Iran. I was very surprised by the country I discovered then, very different from the fanatical country described by the media. I tried to show the real country in my papers, and now, as a writer, I try to do the same in my novels although I write fiction.

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I have never heard of any other female crime writers from Iran, are you the first?

Actually I have never heard of any crime-writer, male or female, writing about Iranian society! Most Iranians in exile write either short stories (a Persian tradition since the great writer Sadegh Hedayat) or very autobiographical books (at least in France).

In Iran, there are many female writers. But I haven’t heard of any female crime writers. Anyway, the novels produced in Iran are often censored. Crime novels always treat of themes like good or evil, which, even if they don’t want to, have a strong political meaning. So it would be very difficult for an Iranian writer to produce a crime novel which is not either very ideological or completely censored!

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What inspired you to take this project on?

Killing an ayatollah seemed a good way to show everything that goes wrong in Iran! Also, it is a way for me, who lives in France, to be there in Iran. When I write my novels I have the feeling I am actually in Tehran, drinking tea with my characters.

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The very fascinating descriptions of Iran today, and also historically, are they pure fantasy or do they actually reflect the country as is/was?

The story in of course pure fiction but I tried to reflect very truly the reality of Iranian society and politics. As an exiled Iranian though my relationship to the county is full of fantasy. During at least 15 years I’ve lived far from it and with very deformed memories.

So when I started to write my book I tried to be very careful to show the real Iran and also to avoid showing only the point of view of the exiled Occidentalized Iranians. That’s why I created Leila’s character, the Islamic feminist, who is culturally very far from me and that I couldn’t have described so well, from the inside, if my novel wasn’t a fiction.

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Has your novel been published in Iran, and if so, how was it received?

No it couldn’t be because of the censorship!

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You have some interesting caracters in the story, for ex the feminist candidate for Presidency, do you have a role model for this woman?

Leila has a few models, but the main one is a woman called Azam Taleghani, daughter of an important ayatollah (like Leila), close to the Marxists (like Leila), who tried to run for presidency many times. But she is a fictional character with her own regrets and fantasies. In fact, she represents the idealists who are slowly defeated by the cynics, in Iran… but also in our societies.

Leila is the novel’s main character.

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The book has increased my knowledge and also my curiosity of the country of Iran, was this what you hoped for, or did you write to “entertain” as most of the crime writers of today do?

Absolutely! But I hope it also entertained you!

I also tried to reflect the warmth and the closeness there is between Iranian people in everyday life. Even more because it is a dictatorship! I also hoped you sensed this warmth and closeness through my characters and their relationships with each other.

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What kind of work do you do at the moment, anything you could tell us about your next book, for example?

Who killed ayatollah Kanuni? is the first novel of a series of at least three novels. I’ve almost finished writing the second volume of this serial. Narek’s character will come back to Iran four years after his first adventure and will go to Isfahan where a serial killer murders woman singers.

Although Narek comes back in this volume, the main character will once again be a woman…

And this novel, even more than the first one, tells us about the woman condition in Iran, where, among other things, women are not allowed to sing!

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Thank you for taking the time to let us begin to get to know you and also Iran a little bit!

Thank you to you for your questions! Have a nice time!

Swedish author Jonas Moström, welcome to TheCrimeHouse!

Thank you! I look forward to an exciting visit.

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How do you get the idea to write a crime novel when you work as a physician?

As a physician you meet a lot of people and make difficult decisions. Writing becomes a way of dealing with the things you experience. The fact that I ended up writing crime novels is partly due to the fact that life and death are tangible ingredients in both professions. Besides, I love the suspense in a real “nail biter.”

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How do your colleagues view your writing?

Many are impressed and they read my novels with a great curiosity – especially since the last two novels bring up two current topics in health care – active euthanasia and alternative medicine.

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Do you have a writing role model?

My role models vary from day to day and from novel to novel, but some favorites include Dennis Lehane (Shutter Island), Åke Edwardson (Frozen Tracks) och Karin Fossum (The Indian Bride).

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Which was the first book you can remember reading by yourself?

Hat Cottage by Elsa Beskow. It was dramatic with a fire, corporal punishment and a happy ending.

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Let’s say you go to the bookstore, what shelves do you look at, and how do you select a book?

Of course I always look at recently published crime novels, but biographies and psychological books interest me as well. I choose a book after I’ve read the back cover and looked at a few paragraphs at random inside the book.

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Writing novels and raising young children at the same time – somehow it just does not add up. Please tell us the secret…

It’s all about priorities. I don’t watch that much TV and I often do two things at the same time: like brushing my teeth and cleaning up after the kids. Besides I only work 60% as a physician.

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Do you let your wife read over your shoulder while you are writing?

No, absolutely not. It’s just me and the text at that time. But when the first draft is ready I usually read it out loud for my wife. She’s my toughest critic.

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You have written a few novels about Erik and Johan now, are they bonding more and more, or do you think that they will get tired of each other?

They’ll stick together. Johan only has one true friend and he’d be very lonely without Eric, especially considering the fact that he has difficulties with his relationship with women.

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If you were to let Johan solve the next crime together with another author’s literary problem solver, who would Johan want to work with then?

Mons Kallentoft’s heroine Malin Fors. She and Johan would most likely have an explosive and rewarding partnership. Both of them are skilled homicide investigators and they’re very lonely people who look for confirmation in different ways.

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Let’s say that you were to write your next novel together with another author, who would that be?

Karin Alvtegen. Her psychological problem formulations fascinate me.

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Please tell us about your experience with getting your first novel published, and if it is different when it is novel 2, 3, 4…?

The first novel is like your first child: unique. Even though you like all your novels the same amount and in different ways, the element of surprise and novelty is obviously less when it’s your fifth novel.

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Finally – what can you tell us about your current writing project?

I’m working on the sixth novel in the series about Johan Axberg and Erik Jensen. What’s new is that there is a historical parallel storyline in this one. It takes place in Sundsvall in 1888, the year when the entire city burned down. And I can reveal that this has ties to a pyromaniac in the present…

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Our readers are very interested in learning more about our Swedish authors, so many thanks for taking the time to talk to us!

Thank you, it’s always nice to answer questions and get the opportunity to think about what you’re actually doing!

We welcome translator Marlaine Delargy to TheCrimeHouse and this interview!  Marlaine has among other things translated Johan Theorin and Åsa Larsson´s books from Swedish to English.

Can you tell us shortly about your background? What kind of education do you have? How did you become a translator? And why do you know Swedish?

I did a degree in Swedish and German at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, then worked in Sweden for a year. Laurie Thompson, who has translated many Swedish novels including several by Henning Mankell, Håkan Nesser, Åke Edwardson and Mikael Niemi, was my tutor in Aberystwyth, and when he started the journal Swedish Book Review in 1983, he asked me if I would like to do some translation.

I taught German in secondary schools in England from 1986 – 2004, and didn’t do a great deal of translating during that period, because it’s difficult to meet deadlines when you have a demanding full-time job. However, when I gave up teaching in 2004, I was lucky enough to be able to pick up the translation again, and have gradually built up a sound reputation.

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How did you get the job translating Åsa Larsson and Johan Theorin?

Laurie again – he recommended me to Bonnier Group Agency, and I translated extracts from several novels for them. One of the first things I did was Åsa Larsson’s Solstorm, and when the book was sold to Random House New York, they asked me to translate not only that novel, but also the next two. The same thing happened with Johan Theorin – I translated an extract from Skumtimmen, and was lucky enough to be asked to translate that novel and Nattfåk. I’ve just sent the translation of his third novel, Blodläge, off to the publisher – it will be out in April next year.

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What do you tink are the biggest differences between the English and the Swedish language?

That’s a difficult question! English tends to use more words, for one thing – an English translation is usually about one third longer than the Swedish original. And often there are many alternatives in English to one Swedish word, and it’s a question of picking the right one for the context.

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Since you have just finished translating Johan Theorins Blodläge, can you give us an example of a word or sentences that were tricky to translate? I am also curios on how you and Johan collaborate? Do you speak continuously while you are translating?

Johan is very good to work with. I send him questions if I am unsure what he means by a particular expression, and he always replies within a day. He is also very amenable to changes that might need to be made for a non-Swedish audience; for example in this latest novel we have removed a couple of songs which would have sounded terrible in English, and have simply referred to them in the text instead.  I can’t think of anything that has been particularly tricky in this novel, but as a general rule, swearing is very difficult to get right. It’s always hard to judge the impact a word or phrase might have on a reader; for example, the Swedish series of Wallander is currently being shown on TV in the UK, and there has been some criticism over the frequent use of ‘fuck’ and similar expressions in the subtitles; every time the Swedish dialogue uses ‘fan’ or ‘jävlar’, the translator has used some variation on ‘fuck’, which offends many viewers.

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Are there any translator you look up to and think is amazing?

I would have to say that Laurie Thompson is the translator I respect more than any other. He has been both encouraging and supportive from the start, and frequently stressed the importance of delivering the best possible work and of meeting deadlines. He has a very impressive feeling for language, coupled with a very wide knowledge of Sweden and its history and traditions which he is always willing to share. He is an honest critic, and is always completely down-to-earth. I’m very proud to call him a friend.

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Do you read a lot of Swedish literature? And if so, do you think there is something special that characterizes Swedish literature?

Most of the Swedish books I read are related to work these days; the British press tend to focus on the ‘gloomy’ aspects of Swedish crime novels in particular, and while I think that’s true to a certain extent, I also think the characterisation is often very strong, as is the sense of place.

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How long did it take you to translate Echoes of the dead?

It usually takes me three to four months to translate a novel, depending on the length of course; my goal is roughly 40 pages per week, with plenty of time left at the end for revisions and proofreading.

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What does it look like when you work? Do you work from home? In an office, is it messy or neat and tidy? How many hours a day do you work? Do you need tons of coffee? etc…

I live in small house in a small town in Shropshire, and work in my study at home. I’m a very tidy person, so my desk is always clear at the end of the day, and any work in progress is back in its tray on the filing cabinet. I tend to work 2-3 hours a day, but not in one stretch; it depends what else is going on. I teach IT to adult learners as well, which takes up one day a week at the moment, and like to meet up with friends once or twice a week. If a translation is going well, I don’t need distractions and am quite good at concentrating; if it isn’t going well, I suddenly realise the windows need cleaning… or I ought to check my e-mails… or perhaps there’s something interesting on daytime TV…!

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What do you read on your spare time?  and what do you read right now?

I read crime novels in English all the time, and am a great fan of P D James, Ruth Rendell, Peter Robinson, Val McDermid,  Peter Lovesey, Reginald Hill, and of course Colin Dexter. I also enjoy writers like Katie Ford, Rosie Thomas, Marcia Willett, Erica James, Elizabeth Noble, Jane Moore, Jane Green and Alexander McCall Smith. I’ve just finished Katie Forde’s A Perfect Proposal, which was great fun, and am about to start Alexander McCall Smith’s The Double Comfort Safari Club. I think Precious Ramotswe is a fantastic character!

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What was the first you did when you found out that Johan had won the CWA international Dagger Award with your translation?

I rang my two closest friends and e-mailed a couple more!

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Are there any books you wish you could or could have translate?

There’s always ‘the one that got away’ – I nearly had a contract for Mari Jungstedt’s first two novels, but lost out to Steven T. Murray. And I’m sorry to say that I’m not translating Åsa Larsson’s fourth novel, Till dess din vrede upphör; Laurie Thompson is currently working on that for MacLehose Press, who of course publish the Stieg Larsson novels in English.  I really hope Åsa gets the success and recognition she deserves in the UK.

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What do you consider the most important thing to think of while translating books?

Without a shadow of doubt, the book must read well in English. Obviously an accurate translation is important, and the translator must be able to capture the tone of the original, but when the reader sits down with a novel, he or she does not want to be constantly aware that this is a translation. When I finish the first draft of a book, I leave it for a couple of weeks, then come back and read it as if it were a novel written in English, making any necessary changes. Sometimes when you are working closely on a translation you don’t realise that you are mirroring the Swedish phraseology, and it just doesn’t sound right.

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Do you have any tips and advice for those who wants to work with translating novels?

I think you have to be a reader first of all, and you have to be able to write well in English. Sarah Death, the editor of Swedish Book Review, is always ready to encourage promising new translators, and there is a lot of support and advice available through SELTA – The Swedish-English Literary Translators’ Association. The website address for SBR is www.swedishbookreview.com , and for SELTA it’s www.selta.org.ukThe other option is to contact Swedish publishers such as Bonniers or Norstedts, who frequently need someone to translate extracts from both fiction and non-fiction. Contacting British or American publishers directly is a waste of time unless you have a body of work to show them.

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What is your next assignment after Blodläge?

I am currently translating a short story by Liza Marklund for the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in the USA, and in September I start work on John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Lilla Stjärna for Text Publishing in Melbourne. My translation of Människohamn will be published under the title Harbour later this year; Camilla Ceder’s Frozen Moment was published in August, and Lars Kepler’s The Hypnotistshould be out next April. Bonniers have just sent me Kepler’s new novel Paganinikontraktet, and I’m very much looking forward to reading that and finding out more about Joona Linna!

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Thank you Marlaine!

We welcome the Swedish author Åsa Schwarz to TheCrimeHouse and this interview !

Can you tell us shortly what kind of crime novels you write? (Her latest novel is Nefilim – read our review of it here!)
I would say it is a thriller where current realities is mixed with history and religion. A simple way to describe them is that they have similar ingredients like Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown and Stephen King.

What kind of books did you read as a child?
My greatest memories are in this order: Barbapapa´s new House, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Ring. All together I must have read them hundreds of times. The first of them is really worn out.

What is the biggest reason to why you became a crime novelist?
I worked too much and decided that I needed a Hobby. So I signed up for a writing course. I still remember that the wednesday evenings that I spent there were the highlight of the week. Then the Hobby took over my life.


How much of you is there in the character Nova from the book Nefilim?
I think she has a fantastic taste in music, We are both people who needs independence. Apart from that we are not that alike.


Why have you chosen to use companies that exist and name them by their real names in your books?
I use real names in general to help the reader to get a sense that this is for real. The story is right here right now. When it comes to companies like Vattenfall (A big electricity company in Sweden) , it is because I am genuinely upset with and concern about how they behave and act. I want to supply information and facts that we otherwise never hear or see. My books are built on months of research.

I can see several books, authors, movies and characters that have inspired you Book Nefilim. What do you think about that and can you name some of your sources of inspiration for the book?
No, I think you are wrong there. I know that my books are very similar to some other books that are very popular now. I believe that is because I like to write about things that just happened to be bestsellers now. Lisbeth Salander did not inspire me to write the character Nova, even if many thinks that. I did not have thought in my mind of her when I wrote about Nova since I had not even read the books at the time. I was just very fortunate to write about things that are “inn” to read right now. I get my inspiration from Patrick Süskind, Stephen King, John Ajvide Lindqvist and some of the great authors like Strindberg and Alexander Dumas. When it comes to movies, I like action movies like Terminator and most movies made by Tarantino.

I am always curios on what it looks like when authors write. Is it messy? Do you have any special rituals? Do you you a stationary computer or a laptop? Do you use an office or do you sit at home by the couch etc.
I rent an office space at Horntulls where ten musicians, journalists, photographers and other freelancer sits. I go there daily, partly to concentrate and focus, partly to get nice working colleagues that I can eat lunch with. Everything is really undramatic. I poor myself a cup of coffee and start to write. If it is messy? Yes, my space is not the cleanest of them all. I always have a laptop in my bag since I need to be mobile and connected at all times. The Laptop goes from home to my office, to a location I have picked to use in my books, or just where I happens to be at the time.

Can you list your top 3 favourite Swedish crime novels as well as three foreign authors you think our readers should read.
The Darkest Room, Johan Theorin
Most of the books written by Håkan Nesser
Another Time, another Life, Leif GW Persson

Foreign books:
Panic, Jeff Abbott
The Parfume, Patrick Süskind
The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas

When will you finish the next book about Nova?
It will be published in Swedish spring 2011

The character Nova exists as a person on Facebook. Did you realize the effects this PR-trick would have?
No, but it was fun with all the positive reactions and all friends Nova got on the site. To me it was very unexpected and some persons got upset that she did not really exist. Because I also work wit Internet security I think that reaction is both dangerous and alarming. Next time it is a pedophile or a con artist who is behind the wheels. I pu way too much time on Nova on Facebook but that´s because it is so much fun. Right now she lives an ordinary life until the next book will be finished. Many publishing companies and readers from other countries  have added her as a friend. Mostly people in the industry that knows Swedish but also marketers.


If you could make a movie out of Nefilim. Who would you like to direct, play Nova and who would make the Soundtrack?
If I could dream freely i would pick Tarantino, some unknown but talented actress and Trent Reznor. One of the most important parts of the books contains a song by Trent.


What crime series do you watch on TV and can you give us a tip of a really great crime movie?
Unfortunately I have not had any time to go to the movies or even watch TV the last two years after I became a mother. Before I was often stuck by Medium and NCIS. That is not a recommendation. It is rather a fact that it is easy to chill while watching them.


How would you rank these ingredients in a book if you had to?
Good story, thrilling, Great characters, Clear ideology, Great language, something else
1. Good story
2. thrilling (if it is a crime novel)
3. Great characters
4. Great language
5. Thorough research so that the reader learn something while reading
6. Spectacular milieu descriptions
7. Clear Ideology

What are you reading right now?
A script that a friend have written and who is not published yet. I recently finished Något i din säng by Andreas Roman. It is a psychological horror novel that is about a woman who is very successful on the surface. Inside she is lonely, miserable and have invented an imaginary friend. But when she decides to stop her mind games the friend will not have it. I can recommends that you read it by the fire with the lights out.

Thank you Åsa for this interview!
For more info visit www.asaschwarz.com

We at the CrimeHouse welcome the Danish crime author Michael Katz Krefeld to this interview. Krefelds second book, Pan´s Secret, about the doctor Maja Holm was just released in Sweden Read our review of Pan´s Secret here!

Michael, Can you give our readers some information about, age, where you live, where you are from etc.

I am 44 years old. Born in Gl Holte but raised in Hvidovre which is a suburb to Copenhagen. Hvidovere is also used as a backdrop for my stories. Right now I live in the heart of Copenhagen with my girlfriend Lis, who is a lawyer.

How did you become a writer?

I started directing short films but got more and more interested in writing screenplays. Following that, I was working on a number of Danish television series. Amongst other Emmy Award winner “Nikolaj & Julie”, “The Hotel” and “Nynne”. After about 7-8 years as a screenwriter. I started in parallel to write my first novel, “Før Stormen”. A project that took more than four years to complete.

I read an article you wrote about crime litterature where you where very passionate about the genre. When and how did your interest in crime fiction start? Do you have any crime writer idols?

I have always been interested in plot-driven narratives including crime stories and thrillers. Both on film and in literature. Hitchcook, Orson Wells, Scorsese, Brian De Palma is my cinematic role models. Among Screenplay writers, it is people like Towne (Chinatown) Richard Price, (Sea of Love), Joe Eszterhaz (Basic Instinct). Among (Crime)writers it is especially writers like  Cormac McCarthy, Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard, and of course James Ellroy.

Your main character is a women and it always intrigue me how people can ”become” another sex and have the perspective of the other sex and make it believeble in writing. “I know I would find that a bit difficult) How do you do it?

Through my work on TV series I have written many female characters, so it was not strange for me to choose a female protagonist in my book. I think it offers some unique opportunities to select characters who are as far from your self and therefore challenge one’s thinking. As for female characters, I think that as a male writer I see details that a female writer will not notice due to the fascination of the differences between the sexes. A female writer who writes about men will undoubtedly experience the same.

You also write for Film and Television can you tell us a little about that?

I have directed  7-8 short films and written on a wide variety of television series. It has been very educational for me and given me a proper discipline. I think you can see on my style of writing that I have a very visual /scenic approach and that am much into writing dialog. On the other hand, I am glad to have left the film business for the benefit of writing books. And since I have just signed a contract for my next 3 books, I am in the fortunate position that I can concentrate completely around my bookwriting. A great privilege I have worked a long time to achieve.

What do you consider the biggest differences in writing for film verses books?

Of course there is the whole technique thing. Scripts are blueprints for others to follow. They are kept short and tight with no internal dialog. But the biggest difference for me is that with books I have complete control over the story. With movies and tv you either with others, or for others who must interpret what you write. With the books you are the sole master. That is a great joy.

There has been a lot of talk about the nordique crime novel. People seems to go crazy over any Swedish crime novel in some parts of the world. Is it the same with danish crime litterature? and how would you describe Nordique crime litterature? What exactly is it?

I think that Swedish authors currently have the greatest success. However, we, the Danish writers, are approaching. I sense an increased sale and interest in the country my own books have been published in. It is easier to sell Danish crime films abroad perhaps because of the Swedish success. I think the uniqueness of Nordic crime fiction literature is the social- and sometimes political commitment and theme. Its attempts at realism and perhaps coolness. Maybe Scandinavian cool is the new black?

Can you name 5 danish crime novels/thrillers, 3 danish crime movies and 3 international TV-crime series you think we should read/watch?

A couple of Danish crime fiction writers that are worth reading: Leif Davidsen, Jusi Adler Olsen, Mikkel Birkegaard, Elsebeth Egeholm. All are major international successes, and very different in there approach to writing crime fiction. As for movies, it is difficult to get crime movies financed in Denmark. But check out. “Rembrandt,” “Kongekabalen” and “Kandidaten”. Among International television series: Look for “Forbrydelsen” A Danish series that celebrats great international success. Have just bought the first season of “Homicide” which may be regarded as a classic. The dialogue is phenomenal and the psychological portraits just as good. ”The Wire” has a little bit of the same. And then I can not wait to buy the last season of LOST.

Can you describe a typical working day for you. I want to know where you work (no adress needed of course), if it´s messy or neat, do you use a laptop and sit in a sofa? or by a desk? how long you work, do you need tons of coffe etc.

A typical working day usually starts at 8:30 to 9:00 when I sit in my home office. Unless I go out to do research which may consist of either to visit locations or talk with experts. When I start a book, my office is usually very clean and nice but very soon there will be countless paper stacks and research notes up around me. Halfway through the process I am literally buried in my story. Work tools that I appreciate is my laptop, a Mac Air I can bring everywhere. Then my whiteboard that I can throw ideas up on franticly. And last my camera a Riccoh, which is the world greatest pocket camera.

At the beginning of the writing process, I write 6-8 hours a day but as my deadline approaches the day gets longer. This july I’ve been working 10-12 hours seven days a weeks. So regarding coffee? Coffee is the oil that lubricates the machinery. I am a coffee – junkie!

What do you do on your spare time (except reading or watching movies/TV)?

I have a small classic sailboat which me and my girlfriend loves to sail on the Öresund. In addition to that, Am riding my mountainbike a couple times a week in the forest around Copenhagen.(yes its more steepy than one could imagine) In both cases, I like the close contact with nature and the physical activity involved.

Can you tell us your three top favourite books and top movies. (It doesn´t have to be in the crime genre.)

Wow, only three? Then I’ll pick a couple of classics: “Lawrence of Arabia”. “Taxi Driver”, “Vertigo”. Books which recently have made an impression: “No Country For Old Men”, Cormac McCarthy, “The constant gardener” John LeCarré, “The end of mr. Y”, Scarlett Thomas

I was quite upset with Maja (The main character in your book) and some of her actions but I guess that means that I  care about the character. If not I wouldn´t bother with what she did. Is that something you want your readers to get? A connection to the characters?

I’ve heard before that Maja is sometimes difficult to love. In some ways I understand that – without it has been my deliberate intention of provoking the reader. I will defend her at all times, even when she is difficult. Mostly because I think that aspect of her nature is a part of me. I understand her spite and that she can not let things lie but necessarily must interfere. Katherine Bergman has the same side, perhaps even into a more extreme and violent degree. Especially in my next book where she will be the protagonist you will experience that. Maybe I just like troublesome characters who challenge me and that it takes an effort for me as a writer to understand.

What do you thing significe a bad crime writer and a good crime writer

A bad writer is one who does not take his characters seriously. Who do not know what is at stake. If it is not personal for your protagonist it will not work. I do not like crime novels where the protagonist solves a case without personal consequence. The good writers believe their main character and drama to be found in psychology, not in how many bodies there are on the table.

Will you continue writing about the doctor Maja Holm or change your main charachter?

The dramatic events Maja was exposed to in “Pans Hemmelighed” has been of such a harsh nature that I have decided to give her a break to recover. She will return in a later book. But in the next one Detective Katherine Bergman who appeared in “Pans Hemmelighed” will take over together with a new protagonist Nikolai Storm.

What do you read right now?

I got “All the pretty horses” by Cormac McCarthy, as a birthday present from my girlfriend. Loved “The Road” so am really looking forward to this one.

Thank you Michael!

Peter James, welcome to The Crime House!

If you were to describe yourself in only three words, which would they be?

Curious about everything.

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From film producer to crime author – how did that happen?

I have alternated throughout my career to date between writing and producing film and television and writing novels.  But now I am so busy with the wonderful global success of the Roy Grace series that I have no time for anything else.  And actually, my heart has always been in writing novels more than anything else:  The problem with film (and tv) is that it is a collaborative business and the creative process almost always end up being compromised because just too many people have an influence.  For example you have the screenwriter, and very often a second screen writer or “polisher”, the producer – sometimes two or even more. The executive producers, again sometimes two or  more.  The director.  The principal actors. The director of photography.  The set designer.  The editor.  The composer.  The distributor. Each and everyone of these has influence on the end product.  With a book the creative process is utterly pure.  There is just myself and my agent and my editor.  If I don’t want to change one single word I have written I don’t have to.  I love that freedom from the “committee” process of film making.

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Which one of your films are you most proud of?

The Merchant of Venice (2004), when we had Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles to the premiere.  It is my most recent film and the one I am the most proud of.  It has a magical quality and it deals with some very important aspects of human nature – the incredibly topical one of religious fundamentalism being at its heart.   My favourite review of the film was in the Toronto Globe and Mail, which said the film makers “Hand succeeded in turning an anti-semitic play into a play about anti-semiticism.”

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Why Crime stories?

I am fascinated by human nature, why we do the things that we do and I think the best way to observe the world is through the eyes of the police.  During a career in the police force the average officer will see almost every facet of the human condition – from violence to tragedy to comedy.  From wealth to poverty. From good people to totally evil people.  In addition I find the whole criminal world fascinating. There is no question in my mind that the police are the glue that hold civilised life together.

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Grace, the problem solver in your books, is there a real person behind his character?

Roy Grace was inspired by a real life police officer, Dave Gaylor.  The first time I met him was 15 years ago, when he was a Detective Inspector in Brighton.  I went into this office and the floor was covered in piles of blue and green crates crammed with manila folders.  I asked him if he was moving and he replied, deadpan, “No, these are my dead friends.”  I thought, great, I’ve just met the only weirdo in Sussex CID!!!    He then went on to explain that he just been put in charge of reopening unsolved cases – what we now call Cold Cases – for Sussex Police.  He said that each crate contained the principal case files of an unsolved homicide.  Then he said something that made a big impact on me:   ‘I am the last chance the victims have of justice, and the last chance the families have for closure.”  I thought these were incredibly human words, and when my publishers asked me some years ago if I would like to create a new detective character, I immediately remembered this.

The great thing is that Dave Gaylor, who rose to the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent, knows he is the career model (but not physical model) for Roy Grace and loves it!  He and I have become very close friends over the years, he reads each book as I go along, normally in 150 page chunks and we talk through all aspects of the police activity in the story and who in the Force it would benefit me to talk to and we travel overseas to police conferences together and to meet other police contacts of Dave around the world – most recently to New York, and to the International War Crimes Tribunal at The Hague.

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How do you feel about crime novels for children?

Many of the novels I read as a child were “crime” novels.  Enid Blyton’s “Famous Five” for instance.  In many of the Richman Crompton’s Just William books, which I loved, they caught bad people.  I think that the big lesson the crime novel can teach us is that life is not all black and white. There are not plain “good people” and “bad people”.  There are plenty of good people who do bad things – and bad people who do extraordinary good things.

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Do you feel there is a serious risk people will stop reading physical books in favour of for example listening to the Audio versions?

I don’t think so, and with the advent of e-books I think the future of reading is secured even more, as it is becoming “cool” again. Personally I still love the smell and touch of printed books but I think as e-books become less expensive they will become popular.  But… always remember that way back, story-telling began as an oral tradition.  Then the stores started to be recorded, first by being carved on clay tablets, then on paper.  It would be a curious thing if we end up back in the oral tradtion, only listening to audio books…

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Your first novel about Grace, Dead simple, immediately hit the top lists. Describe the feeling!

It is a wonderful, but very strange feeling.  Writing is a lonely occupation and yet, through email, I get contact daily from numerous readers around the world and I love hearing from them what they like and, sometimes, dislike.  I am immensely flattered that my stories are being read and mean so much to so many people, yet I’m nervous of upsetting or disappointing them.

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Your novels have been sold to many other countries, which must be wonderful. However, this means that a translator has been involved. Does it worry you that the translator doesn’t capture exactly what you want to say?

It is incredibly important to have a good translator, but apart from France, where I speak the language, I I have little way of gauging.  So far I have been very fortunate with the amazing translators who work on my books in 33 languages and my various publishers around the world.  Occasionally it does happen that the exact feeling doesn’t quite come through in translation and a reader will pick up on this which gives us the chance to correct it in any future publications.

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If you were to buy a novel and it was available in both original language and a translation, which version would you get?

If my language skills were greater, I would always choose to read a book in its original language!  What I find many of my readers to, is to buy both versions.  For instance I have a number of Swedish fans who buy the book in Swedish translation and the original English.  First they read the Swedish version, to be 100% confident of getting all the story, then they read the English version to hear the author’s original “voice”.

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You have won a number of awards – which one would be the most prestigious?

Of all of them I’m the most proud of being awarded an Honorary Doctorate last year by the University of Brighton.  This award was for (in their words) “Peter James has been made a Doctor of Letters in recognition of his ongoing contribution to the arts and to the status, infrastructure and culture of Brighton and Hove.”

To receive this was quite amazing – particularly as I virtually got thrown out of school on my ear for only getting grade “e” in each of my three A levels – the lowest possible grades…   I feel I am living proof of Oscar Wild’s wonderful remark:   ”Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”   !!!!

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When you don’t spend your time writing thrilling novels, what is your favourite pass time?

Writing is a very sedentary occupation so I love to exercise – I find that really stimulates my mind.  All my life I have been an adrenaline junkie – I loved to ski fast as a child and I still take part in some ski races, but my biggest passion has always been cars, and driving fast.  I do some motor racing every year – which worries the hell out of my agent and my publisher – particularly as I had a spectacular crash in June 2009 – which was captured on YouTube – and you can find on my blog!  I also love tennis, eating fine food and drinking very fine wines…

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Stephen King once said it is essential for an author as much of his time reading, as he is writing. What do you read at the moment?

I am a voracious reader and get through up to 300 books a year.  However, I only read fiction when I am not actually writing.  During the writing process I read non-fiction – much of it related to my research – and also poetry.  At the moment I am writing my next novel, and researching the Mafia, so I am immersed in several books about gruesome Mafia killings, including, Murder Machine, The Ice Man and Joey The Hitman

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What Scandinavian crime writers are you familiar with, and do you have a favourite?

I fell in love with the films of  Ingmar Bergman when I was a student.  Few movies have ever haunted me as much as his Seventh Seal. So I would have to say my all time greatest Scandinavian writer was a screenwriter (and director) rather than novelist. But of the current generation I think Camilla Lackberg is really brilliant.

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If you were to point me in the direction of another crime writer to present to our readers at The Crime House – who would this be, and why?

I’ve always loved the crime novel gentre.  Since I was a child I’ve been addicted to Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, John D Macdonald, Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain, Ian Rankin – to name just a few.  But of the as yet younger generation coming up, from the UK, I think Brian McGillivray, a Northern Ireland crime writer has an authentic voice and sense of place, and is well worth reading.

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Mi and The Crime House says THANK YOU for taking the time to present yourself

to us. We await your new novel in Swedish/Norwegian/Danish/Finnish with enthusiasm!

Can you describe what a day at work looks like for you?
I have a working room in an old house in central Gothenburg, where I sit between 10 am and 6 pm. Sometimes it’s really slow and I only write one page/day but when everything works I can write up to 8-10 pages/day.


You are also a script writer. Tell us what kind of scripts you have written and how it differs from writing novels?
I didn’t write film scripts but interactive game scripts for the Internet and CD-ROM. Interactive scripts are tricky to write because the script are not in chronological order but more like a maze, with different directions the story takes. But there are of course some freedom in that sort of story telling compared to traditional novels with only one sequence of action.

Can you name some authors that have influenced your writing?
Basically all I’ve ever read! The great authors inspired me because I was jealous of them after reading them and wanting to write as good as them. The bad was inspiring because I thought “I can do this just as good and better”!

Last year you won the CWA John Creasy (New blood) dagger award for your novel Echoes from the dead. How does it work and did you go to the award ceremony?
The CWA award is distributed by the British Crime Writers Society and there is a jury who reads the books of the year and pick the winners. The ceremony itself is a lavish banquet in a banquet hall in Hyde Park, London, with press photographers, film crew and smoking dressed guards. It was big. You can find an article about it here. Link…

 
Your characters are not perfect people but are still very likeable. My favourite character is Per from your latest novel. What is you favourite character?
Except the ships captain Gerlof there are several new characters in every novel and I have spent a lot of time with them during the writing. The killer Nils Kant in Echoes from the dead was special. In the beginning I really disliked him but in the end of the novel I mostly felt sorry for him.

Your crime novels are not that traditional or tied to a specific crime genre. Do you think yourself as a novelist, crime writer or something else?
I don´t have any problem with people thinking I write crime novels. It may not be procedural but all the novels about Öland are about crimes and mysteries. Then they also have other things in them, like folklore, natural romance, and relationships problems. I like to mix a lot of ingrediences in a story and see what happens.

 
Can you give our readers tips of 2 crime novels, 2 horror novels, 2 collections of short stories and 2 ordinary novels?
Crime: Calling out for you (English translation), The Indian bride (American translation) by Karin Fossum, The talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
Horror: The haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Mörkrädd (Swedish) by Andreas Roman
Collection of short stories: Fly till vatten och morgon (Swedish) by Thorsten Jonsson and Berättat om natten (Swedish) by Niklas Rådström
Novels: Busters ears by Maria Ernestam, Vim älskar Yngve Frej (Swedish) by Stig Claesson.

Your descriptions of the island Öland is very beautiful. Is it memories of Öland that brings out the description or where do you get your inspiration?
It’s both child hood memories of Öland and new experiences from the island. I still visit the island every year. But I can write about Öland anywhere – when I’m in Gothenburg I can just close my eyes and relocate to Öland in a second.

How do you look at the author ship today when a big part of a writers work is marketing?
The novels should be the only thing that is important. Not the persons who writes them – but that’s not how it works today. There is a huge interest in hearing and seeing the authors in libraries and book fairs. I sometimes sigh about it as a writer since I enjoy writing in peace, but I guess that as a reader I am the same. If I read an interesting novel I instantly want to know more about the author.

If you look at crime series on TV or watch a crime movie, what do you choose?
The latest TV-series about Inspector Winter, based on Åke Edwardssons novels was good. When it comes to movies, the latest I saw and really liked was Insomnia with Al Pacino and Robin Wiliams, but that was several years ago.

  
You were refused several times before you got published. What made you not give up?
In a way I have been an author since the 1980s. I´ve published short stories in over 20 years but they didn´t want my novels. It´s very hard not to be published but I didn´t give up. Writing was a hobby and passion and I would have continued writing all my life even if my novels never were published.

What will you write after you’ve finished the fourth and last novel about Öland?
I have some ideas for a novel that feels exiting, but I haven’t made up my mind yet. I will take a break from Öland though.

And last but not least. What are you reading right now? 
I’m reading the South African author Deon Meyers first novel Dead before dying. A very good procedural novel.