Q&A Interview with L.M.Krier
Can you tell us a little about yourself and background?
I'm a former journalist, freelance copy writer and copy editor, now writing full time. I also worked for a time for the Crown Prosecution Service. Born in Cheshire, grew up in Stockport, where my crime series is set, I now live in France and hold dual French/British nationality.
I've written all my life, as far as I can remember. My father was a newspaper editor and former president of the Guild of British Newspaper Editors, so writing was a part of my daily life. I started out in journalism by doing reviews of various theatre productions for his paper.
Can you tell us what genre your books are and the audience you write for?
I write across three genres. Crime, as L M Krier, travel memoirs, as Tottie Limejuice, and children's fiction as L M Kay. Oh, and I'm also part of the writing team Jilli Lime-Holt, have jointly written the book Take Three Birds, which I also edited.
The crime attracts a wide audience as it is very different to what is already out there. Although the subject matter is sometimes dark, it's not graphic and is as much about the characters as the crime.
The travel memoirs are light and amusing and appeal to anyone who's ever thought about moving abroad, or even just visiting. I also write about my mother, who had dementia and I was her full-time carer for four years, so a lot of people can relate to that.
The children's fiction is very much in the old-fashioned type of adventure story which appeals as much to parents and grandparents as it does to children, ages roughly 8-12 years.
What is your writing process? and how long does it take?
I'm a very fast writer! I wrote the first travel memoir in a week, and the first crime book in three weeks! I write in my head while I'm walking the dogs or doing other daily tasks, then sit down at the computer and rattle it off while I can still remember it.
I think inevitably there is a bit of truth in all fiction. My characters are usually based on people I know or knew, sometimes a mix of several people.
The travel memoirs are entirely based on my personal experience. Because I was a court and coroner's court reporter for many years, a lot of what I write about in the crime series is also based on personal experience. And Take Three Birds is entirely based on what happened in real life.
I spend hours online checking every little detail of everything I write as I hate inaccuracy. For example, I'm just been calculating that DI Ted Darling and his partner really could afford the mortgage for the house they live in. I haven't been back to Stockport for about ten years but I still have friends there and there is an excellent Facebook group who help me enormously with local detail.
Take Three Birds was jointly written with my great friend Jilli Pennington. It was a hoot, but I am not by nature a team writer. I'm much too strong an individual, so I'm not sure if it's something I would do again, unless the right opportunity came along.
That's a very hard one to answer, there are so many. I sometimes mentally play the 'what book would you take to a desert island' game. Lord of the Rings is something I love to dip into from time to time. I would also take my Collins-Robert French-English dictionary so I could finally tidy up my French grammar a bit!
Hmmm, living in France it's almost impossible to answer that as all the food is so delicious. I've never had a bad meal here. Our local cheese, Cantal, is up there with my favourites.
Again, a tricky one. I have a ridiculous sense of humour and it's not for nothing that DI Ted Darling's favourite film is Blazing Saddles as it's one of mine, too. I also love Ryan's Daughter, especially the musical score by Maurice Jarre.
Whats your favorite song?
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody equally with Freddie Mercury's Barcelona! Again, Ted and I share the same taste in music.
How can readers find out more information about yourself and your books?Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody equally with Freddie Mercury's Barcelona! Again, Ted and I share the same taste in music.
I have a very friendly chat group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/
and my author page on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/
Thanks for your questions
A massive thank you Lesley for taking time out to do this i can not wait to read the next installment of Ted
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