Guest Speaker: Vera Morris

VERA MORRIS Crime Novelist Talks To SW (2019-07-09 17:21:05)

Although Vera Morris has always been an avid reader she gave no thought to actually writing a book until she retired. She said 'since childhood I've always had to have at least one book on the go and sometimes more. Not having a book to read makes me feel lost and incomplete'.

Agatha Christie is an author who has always impressed Vera so when, in an idle moment, she set about writing her first book the crime genre was an instinctive choice.

After completing several gory crime novels she joined a creative writing class having realised her books lacked something. She said she discovered there was a huge gap between enjoying reading and having the craft skills to write successfully. Vera joined the Romantic Novelists Association (RNA) and learnt that her work was too gory and violent for the RNA.

But she was able to meet a woman from publishers Accent Press at the RNA who encouraged her to submit the first of her Anglian Detective Agency novels entitled Some Particular Evil (the title is a quote from Pride and Prejudice). The latest in the series is The Loophole. She is now writing her fourth book in the series with a contract to write more.

Vera does not indulge in detailed plotting saying, 'If I sit before the screen something will always happen.' She begins with a firm idea of the characters, the crime and who the perp is.

She said, 'having believable motives for a crime is very important to me - it is not enough simply to have a random psychopath on the loose.'

She has a male/female duo as the lead characters both of which have strongly developed identities. She avoids the trend of having deeply flawed heroes, preferring to have well rounded but interesting people in her books and a strong element of humour stirred in with the blood and guts.

Vera keeps notes on each chapter as the book develops and writes notes for the future development of the story, but she added, 'I keep notes but I make sure these notes do not become a straight jacket that limit my creative freedom.'

She is relaxed about her writing schedule aiming to produce about 7000 words per week in several intense sessions. 'I like to get exercise in the mornings -walking, gardening - and tackle the writing when my brain is stuffed with oxygen.'

She gets a lot of inspiration whilst showering and if she is not in the mood writing has to wait until tomorrow! She reckons to complete a book each year.

Her novels are approximately 95,000 words and go through three or four draft versions before completion. 'The first draft is completed without stopping to edited previous pages,' she said.

It seems Vera follows the well-established principle that is so familiar to Slough Writers - don't get it right, get it written.

Words and Pictures by Mike Pearcy