CHARLIE GALLAGHER ON HIS WRITING JOURNEY FOR 'THE GIRL UNDER THE FLOOR'
Charlie Gallagher was a serving UK police officer for thirteen years. During that time he had many roles — starting as a front-line response officer, he became a member of a specialist tactical team and finally a detective investigating serious offences. Charlie left to concentrate on writing full time.
We caught up with Charlie on the eve of publication of his latest Detective Maddie Ives thriller — find out more about Charlie and his writing journey below!
Q: What’s your inspiration for the book?
A: This is the eighth book in this series that has been led by Maddie Ives and Harry Blaker and I wanted to bring some of the lesser characters to the fore for this one. I also wanted to build on Eileen Holmans’s character, who was introduced into this series in the last book. I might go as far as to say that she was the inspiration — in fact, that might even be the word that describes Eileen best: inspiration!
Q: Did anything surprise you during the writing process?
A: For me, the writing process doesn’t ever seem to be the same! I start with a concept, an idea for a scene or two and I’ll then see where it all takes me. In this case, I was caught out a little by just how much of a difficult time poor Vince Arnold was going to have! I always planned for him to be tested, but his day just kept getting worse. The scene where this comes to a head was one that I spent a long time working towards and it was initially going to be the finale, or at least part of it. I ended up moving this more into the middle of the story and I was very happy with the outcome.
Q: Who are three favourite writers that inspire you?
A: Simon Kernick for his sheer pace and aggression. The books grab you by the intimate parts and never let go from start to finish. I love that style and I try and keep the pace up in any story I tell. Stephen King (I know, obvious choice!) for his ability to make the mundane utterly fascinating, for his ability to write something incredible that can’t be labelled in any traditional genre and for an imagination like no one else. Stuart MacBride for his descriptive work and his humour. Mix these three writers up and I think you might just have the greatest thriller ever written!
Q: What’s the hardest thing about writing?
A: Writing full-length fiction is hard; no one will be surprised by that, but it might be surprising to hear that it gets harder with every book. I try to be authentic, to have new ideas, to keep surprising readers with characters acting differently, but eighteen published works in, that’s a difficult thing to continue! I still feel like I have loads of ideas but it takes me a little longer to write a book than it used to. I also feel a lot more pressure with the readership growing so much and with so many people telling me they are looking forward to the next Maddie and Harry outing. Which is a lovely problem to have!
Q: What’s your favourite thing about this book?
A: This is very much a book of two halves. It’s designed to be building towards something the reader can feel, maybe even predict, and then there is a scene where everything changes. From this point on the pace sprints through to the finale. The scene where everything is thrown in the air is my favourite element, it was a long time in the planning and I was delighted with how it turned out. I guess I just love making a mess . . .
Q: What’s the biggest distraction in your writing day?
A: My cat, Ted. Hands down. He’s the reason I spend money on renting a desk somewhere else!
Q: What really inspires you?
A: I write full time and I know this is a privilege, that I’m incredibly fortunate and work every day to make sure I can continue. I love stories, I love the whole process from starting out with a blinking cursor on a blank page, to agonising over edits and cover choices, to launching the completed project to see how it is received. My inspiration is just to make sure I can do this for as long as possible!
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