Friday, January 26, 2007

Lunching with Crime Writers

I was in Derby having lunch with some friends who are crime novelists the other day. We were just about to order when someone raised the subject of ‘how to dispose of a body’. Not the best lunchtime discussion, you might have thought. Especially as someone raised the option of feeding the remains to pigs. Would it change the taste of the pork, she wanted to know?
Let this be a warning to you - never lunch with a crime writer.

At this point one of the others present asked if any of us found what we write disturbing. No, was the general answer. Some found what the others wrote unsettling. And three people stated that the process of writing helped them to deal with things that might otherwise have given them nightmares.

So that was that, except to say that the meal was very enjoyable and that the writer sitting opposite me – I won’t name names - ordered sausages, gravy and mash. He tucked into it with apparent enjoyment, in spite of one or two people asking if he could detect anything unusual in the flavour.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting topic during lunch - how to dispose a body! Naturally, because of our contemporary risk society, we can see how crime writers would consider such a concern, during lunch! It's certainly more interesting than discussing the decor of the restaurant!

We're pretty sure however, that during the 18th century, crime writers would have discussed how criminals managed to use fishing hooks, in order to steal wigs from people's homes!

Which ever the century, it would seem that crime writers have much to discuss, over lunch!

S and R

Anonymous said...

P.s, Rod, we love your site - it's very insightful, thorough, and tons of fun! We look forward to reading further articles, reviews and posts!

S and R

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