Writers on Reading: Val McDermid

http://www.valmcdermid.com/

Scottish born author Val McDermid cut her literary teeth reading English at Oxford before becoming a journalist.After 16 years working for the press she has now become a full-time writer best known for her internationally bestselling series of suspense novels starring Dr. Tony Hill, an unusual, intuitive clinical psychologist who helps solve crimes in the northern city of Bradford.

What is the first book you remember reading?

Susan Interferes by Jane Shaw

What effect does being an author have on you as a reader?

It’s much harder to get lost in a book. I read much more critically, always looking to learn from the strengths and weaknesses of others.

Are there any books you can read again and again?

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. On Beulah Height by Reginald Hill. Emma by Jane Austen.

Are there any genres that you wouldn’t choose to read?

I’m not in love with historical fiction but writers such as Hilary Mantel manage to overcome my prejudices!

What is the current book on your nightstand/coffee table?

There’s a pile. A Song for the Dying by Stuart MacBride; Sorrow Bound by David Mark; The Death of Yogoslavia by Laura Silber and Allan Little; After I’m Gone by Laura Lippman; Geographies of Post Colonialism by Joanne Sharp; Bevel by William Letford.

Val's novel 'The Skeleton Road' was released in September and her newest Novel 'Forensics' is due this October.