AS she prepares to release her 30th novel this week, there’s little doubt that Val McDermid is one of Scotland’s most prolific writers.
Throw in non-fiction releases, a kids’ book, short story collections, some plays and radio dramas – all in less than 30 years – and you would be right in thinking the ideas run thick and fast.
But there was one time in her career when Val suffered writers’ block – and the experience left her so frazzled she made sure it would never happen again. “About 12 years ago I changed my novel-writing process quite dramatically,” explained Val, from Kirkcaldy.
Tartan noir queen Val McDermid on her love for her son, playing folk clubs with Billy Connolly – and experiencing profound heartbreak
At 16 I was preparing for my Oxford entrance exam. I was very driven. I pushed myself in everything. I played hockey for the 1st 11 in the East of Scotland. I played guitar and sang in folk clubs. I won debating prizes. Everything I did, I wanted to do really well.
I was very much of the working class generation where we thought education was the key to doing well in life. My parents were bright people who passed their exams to go to high school but had to leave at 14 because their families couldn’t afford it. They never got to reach their potential. So they very much encouraged me not be trapped by circumstances. But they had mixed feelings about my going to Oxford. It was a long way away from Kirkcaldy – the only time we’d gone to England was a weekend in Blackpool. And it was a long way intellectually as well. So I think they were really a bit nervous for me, as well as very proud. But I think they saw that I was always going to go my own way.
A vote to leave the EU could create a groundswell movement for a second referendum on Scottish independence, according to one of Scotland’s most successful authors.
McDermid, who is from Kirkcaldy in Fife, said she is keen to remain in the EU for both practical and cultural reasons.
She said “For practical reasons, as a writer the EU makes it easier to protect your rights and revenues and intellectual properties in the complexities of the digital world and those copyright issues.
As for the leave campaign, like Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, I wouldn’t follow them out of a burning building
Val McDermid
Val McDermid, who is well known for her suspense novels featuring Dr. Tony Hill that were turned into TV series Wire In The Blood, also said she would not follow Leave campaigners Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove “out of a burning building”.
