AN INTERVIEW WITH MYSTERY AND POLICE PROCEDURAL AUTHOR J. WOOLLCOTT

Inside the Garden Writing Studio

Today we sit down for a chat with J. Woollcott, author of mysteries and police procedurals. Learn more about her at her website.  

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

I’ve always enjoyed writing but with working and raising a family, I could never really concentrate on that. I read instead. 

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

I started to write my first book just when I left work. It’s hard when you start this journey alone. I didn’t know much about the process and basically tried to copy the style of books I read. Then I took a class on formatting a novel, basic information and it was an eye-opener. Indents, Times New Roman, all that. Very helpful. I joined Crime Writers of Canada, then managed to get a great mentor in Canadian writer Cathy Astolfo, and she helped me with lots of advice. I finished that book and with her encouragement entered it in the Arthur Ellis Awards. I made the long-list for unpublished manuscripts. I was thrilled, and it gave me the will to carry on. That process took about three years. It would take about four more years and a different novel before I got my contract.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Traditionally published.

 

Where do you write?

Oh, good question. My husband built me a lovely little studio in the back garden and I work there sometimes. But I seem to gravitate back to our house and sit in the living room (make a bit of a mess I’m afraid). Perhaps I miss the chat, the company.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

No music or chat. I do like silence, I know – I should stay in my garden studio … I know.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

Not plots and the like because I’m always writing about murders and crimes. (Although I do come from Belfast). I have a problem with names, and I do reach back in time to my friends and relatives for those. I tend to make up characters and honestly, I do not know where they come from. They sometimes arrive fully formed in my head with their frizzy dyed blond hair and badly applied red lipstick. No clue.

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

Once the character is in my head, I try a few names out. The name has to fit the person, and I always try to make sure I don’t use similar names. That’s a real pitfall. I see the character and think, is she a Sheila? A Gwen or a Gwendoline? 

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

Mostly real, but I’ve been know to make stuff up.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

I have a few odd ducks, but one in my second book, Sheila Howells I really enjoy. She’s very quirky, a Chief Superintendent, she’s loud, irreverent, drinks Negronis, swears like a trooper, tells off-colour jokes, and has a degree in Clinical Psychology. (She’s the one with the dyed blond hair and red lipstick).

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I think I have lots, but I do like my coffee strong, in a nice cup – not a big mug.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

That’s a very difficult question. There are so many. I loved Denise Mina’s Garnet Hill. And there’s Kate Atkinson, anything at all. (Okay, Big Sky). Just one more, Plum Island by Nelson DeMille. Mina because her writing is just so raw and funny and the stories so original. Kate Atkinson is just one of the few writers who can discuss appalling crimes and yet add humour to the book. Its not all gloom and doom. Same with DeMille in Plum Island. It’s genuinely funny. I love his protagonist, John Corey, a detective from New York on medical leave.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I wish I’d had the nerve – and the money, to leave work earlier in my career and write. 

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

Loud, inconsiderate people

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Coffee, books, and a computer.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

Summer job at a canning factory in the middle of nowhere in England.

 

Who’s your all-time favorite literary character (any genre)? Why?

Right, this is very difficult. Do I have to choose between Virgil Flowers, Lucas Davenport, Harry Palmer, Jackson Lamb, Jackson Brodie, John Corey, Dalgliesh, and Vera? Okay – if I have to choose … Jackson Brodie.

 

Ocean or mountains?

Ocean

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

City

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

As far as my writing goes, number two in the DS McBride Series is with a developmental editor. And I’m working on two other manuscripts, a WW2 mystery, and a standalone crime novel about a damaged police Inspector who retires to an island off the coast of Northern Ireland and finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

Just that I’m so happy to have found this writing community, other writers, and readers. Such a wonderful welcoming group to be part of.

 

A Nice Place to Die

A Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride Mystery, Book 1

 

The body of a young woman is found by a river outside Belfast, and Detective Sergeant Ryan McBride makes a heart-wrenching discovery at the scene, a discovery he chooses to hide even though it could cost him the investigation – and his career.

 

The victim was a loner but well-liked. Why would someone want to harm her? And is her murder connected to a rapist who’s stalking the local pubs? As Ryan untangles a web of deception and lies, his suspects die one by one, leading him to a dangerous family secret and a murderer who will stop at nothing to keep it.

 

And still, he harbors his secret ...

 

Coming August 30th from Level Best Books.

Add A NICE PLACE TO DIE  to your TBR list.

Pre-order and buy links coming soon!

Please check https://www.jwoollcott.com for updates.