Ask the Author: Ali Carter
Answered Questions (6)
Ali Carter
I'm probably not a good choice to answer this as I 'blocked' for 10 years on 'Blood List' which is why it didn't get finished till the summer of 2018. It depends really if it's factual information or inspiration that's required. It was a friend who persuaded me to dig my MS back out of my laptop and just do what ever was needed to resolve that major obstacle preventing me from writing the rest of the book. It took three weeks of researching to get information for a particular topic in a paragraph right. I had no experience of it and the best information had been added on line in the intervening years. These days if it's inspiration I need I just leave it for a while, do something else and the ideas usually come. (Often at midnight or later when it's quiet and my favourite time to write.) If it's factual info I need I don't give up so easily!!
Ali Carter
Ah that's an easy one as I've currently only got my debut thriller out there! 'Dead Girls Don't Cry' is the sequel so the ideas were already forming as I wrote 'Blood List.'
Ali Carter
Lots of ways really. Sometimes it's something in the news that will set off a similar idea and if I can work with it I'll give it a go. This is what happened with 'Blood List' because of the Harold Shipman case in 1999/2000, although I didn't start writing immediately and my G.P. (M.D.) character Charlotte Peterson has entirely different reasons for doing what she did. Inspiration for my characters come from a mixture of people I know and TV and film characters, and also the actors themselves. Sometimes I overhear a conversation when I'm in a coffee shop or at the hair dressers and think... 'Ooooh . . . that would make a good story/plot/scene etc. In fact my hairdresser gave me a fabulous scene for 'Dead Girls Don't Cry' just by saying three words!
Ali Carter
Right now (July 2019) I'm half way through the sequel to my debut thriller 'Blood List.' 'Dead Girls Don't Cry' takes a retired D.C.I. Harry Longbridge to New York in search of an escaped key serial killer, following a plea to come out of retirement by past colleague D.I. Fran Taylor. What he doesn't expect is a phone call from the past involving his wife Annie whilst he's three thousand miles from home . . .
Ali Carter
Write what YOU want to write and don't become a 'formula.' Also make sure you always have an ace editor and if possible a proof reader - there will always be a mistake(s) you won't see, however many times you go through your MS.
Ali Carter
Creating characters - although once created they tend to rule the roost, I'm just on the sidelines writing up their story, conversations and plot!
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more