“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” # 3001: Katherine Howell

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
The crime novel I admire most is James Lee Burke’s THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN, but I wouldn’t want to have written it because then I wouldn’t have had the great pleasure of reading it.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Nothing guilty about reading!
Most satisfying writing moment?
When my agent told me I had a two book deal from the first publisher who read my ms. Getting the email soon after about the overseas deals runs a close second.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
I have to admit I haven’t read enough of it to say. I’ve read some Ken Bruen and loved it, read some Declan Burke and loved it, and have Tana French on the TBR pile. Can I say my vote is yet to be cast? Or vote for them all? (Jeez, talk about fence-sitting ...)
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
I wouldn’t mind seeing Karen and Ray up there on the big screen!
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Best is when readers talk to you about the books and you can see that the characters and stories have come to life in their minds. Worst is the discipline required to actually sit down and create those characters and stories.
The pitch for your next novel is …?
Paramedics, police, the past catching up to the present, and somebody who has a shitload to lose if the truth gets out.
Who are you reading right now?
Just finished Michael Robotham’s SHATTER and am completely in awe.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Hart, klar, hochst spannend! (Four words from the German blurb. No, I don’t know what they mean either.)

Katherine Howell’s FRANTIC is published by Macmillan