Wednesday 20 July 2016

Killer Women Week - Day 3: Erin Kelly

It's Day 3 of my Killer Women Crime Writing Festival Feature Week. 

Today I have Erin Kelly on my blog talking about how research unravels knots in her plot. Erin's next book, He Said/She Said, will be published by Hodder & Stoughton in February 2017.

The Killer Women Festival is taking place at Shoreditch Town Hall, London, on 15 October 2016 - more details at the end of this blog post and on Friday. 





Unravelling the Plot Knots
By Erin Kelly

Im about ten thousand words into my seventh novel, which is a psychological thriller set in an old Victorian asylum. There are three stories – one in 1958, when it was a working mental hospital, a second in 1988 when it was derelict and now, when it has been turned into luxury flats.

Usually my writing day is always the same – start as soon as the kids are at school, stop when its time to go and get them – but this novel is different. They say ‘write what you knowbut after a couple of books that would get very tedious for both author and reader and now I find I research more with every book. Ive got the bones of a plot and some key scenes sketched out in a Scrivener document and on a million scraps of printer paper stuffed in bags and all over my study. I make pages and pages of plot notes in longhand and then never look at them again: over time Ive found that the right ideas will stay with me.


With this book, more so than most of my others, Im hitting plot knots that need research to unravel them. This week, its the highly unsexy but crucial intricacies of hospital administration in the early 1980s; Im interested in how the Care in the Community policy was implemented when the old asylums were finally shut down. When this happens Ill catch the Tube to the Wellcome Library in central London where they have metres of shelves devoted to the history of psychiatry. Its the most amazing space – light, airy but rich with history – and Ive started going in even on ‘writingdays because I find it so inspirational.


About Erin Kelly

Erin Kelly is best known for The Poison Tree, which was a Richard and Judy bestseller and a major ITV drama. Her next psychological thriller, He Said/She Said, is out next February. Its about a couple who witness a crime and only doubt their version of events after the trial, with deadly consequences. She has no plans to move into romantic comedy.

Find out more about Erin Kelly on her website and follow Erin on Twitter - @mserinkelly

The Killer Women Festival
The FIRST EVER Killer Women Crime Writing Festival takes place on Saturday 15th October 2016 at Shoreditch Town Hall, London EC1.

Founded in 2014, Killer Women is a collective of female crime writers from London and the South East. As well as the Killer Women themselves, other high-profile authors taking part in the Festival include Ann Cleeves, Martina Cole, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid.

The day-long programme includes readings and debates, masterclasses, an exclusive Murder Mystery, Killer Women cocktails and much more.

Tickets cost £75 and are now available to book here!




Learn more through the Killer Women website and follow Killer Women on Twitter - @killerwomenorg

Read my other Killer Women Festival Week blog posts

Day One - DE Meredith
Day Two - Tammy Cohen
Day Four - Sarah Hilary
Day Five - Crime Writing Festival Special


1 comment:

  1. You have made my day - I love Erin Kelly's books, The Burning Air is one of my favourite reads of all time so I'm thrilled that there is a new book in the pipeline and I do like intersecting time lines so He Said/She Said is now delightfully anticipated.

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