Ask Denise!

[Denise, Author of Gods and Beasts (Alex Morrow, #3)]

Cork wrote: "Denise, just want to thank you for your hard work. I think the first chapter of Gods and Beasts is the finest piece of writing I've read in a long time. Wonderful piece of impressionism. Made me ..."

Shucks, Cork, lovely to hear from you, dx

[Denise, Author of Gods and Beasts (Alex Morrow, #3)]

Kenny wrote: "Dear Ms. Mina,

Good evening. And thank you for taking the time from your busy schedule to answer questions from your loyal readers. I would like to ask the following two questions:

1] In your wor..."

Hi Kenny,
They don't really completely reflect my world view. Sometimes my protagonists are pretty nasty, but I suspect more of myself slips in there than I mean it to. I usually try to think of how they would see the world and imagine everything coming through the filter of their eyes, but in the end I suppose it is me dressed up as someone else.
As to the invention or tapping questions idea, I don't think anything is new. Apparently there are really only seven stories in the world and we just keep retelling them in different ways. There's nothing new in story telling. I think we tap into general concerns and themes that people are thinking about now, otherwise our stories wouldn't have any resonance with the reader. Half the work of a book is done by the reader, it happens in their minds, so even old books survive only if they still resonate with people's experience now. That's why I think it such a mistake for writers to aim for historical significance: you can't really know what will have resonance to future audiences, other than the universals of family and fear of death. That does sound like a good book though...
sorry I didn't reply last night kenny, the time difference meant I didn't get the questions until today,
dx

[Richard]

Even though we're Yanks, no slapping and no refunds, especially from or of someone we hold in very high regard. As you're going to be here on holiday, what locale would one have to be lurking in to have a Ms. Mina sighting? Just so it's not too much of a snooping mission, at least yet, would Google Earth or the Geospatial-Intelligence lads(NGA), see you in a coastal location or more in the hinterlands, say, oh I don't know, the Middle West?

[Natalie]

Thank you, Christopher, for posting your interview. I just love Denise Mina. Great writer, cool woman.