Interview with Anna Willett – S. 10, Ep. 6

This week’s episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Anna Willett. Check out our discussion about thriller writing and her Cold Case Mystery series. You can download a PDF of the transcript here. Debbi: Hi everyone. My guest today is the author of several thriller novels, including five books in The Cold Case Mystery series. Her latest book is called Needles and Pins, and it's this week's giveaway, so make sure to check out the giveaway on my blog or on her Instagram. You can find it there on Instagram for sure. So it is my pleasure to introduce as my guest the author, Anna Willett. Hi Anna. How are you doing today? Anna: Hi, I'm well. How are you? Debbi: Good, thank you, although right now at the moment, I'm in Maryland where tornadoes are threatening somewhere on the horizon. Anna: Oh really? Debbi: Yes. Apparently we've been getting tornado warnings in different parts, not too far from where I live, but it's all very sketchy right now. Hopefully I won't be interrupting this podcast to dive under a desk or into a bathroom or something. I don't know where I'd go. Anna: Oh, that's scary. Debbi: It is. They are scary. In any case, let's talk about your thrilling novels rather than my thrilling tornadoes. At what point did you decide to write a series? Anna: Well, as I said in the post, I wrote a book called The Woman Behind Her, and the main character finds herself as the suspect in a murder. The lead detective on that case was Veronica Pope, who I became very interested in and wanted to write more of, and I thought, I think that I can do a lot more with this character, and so I'm going to write another book. So after really what was the second book in the series, I thought, there's so much more I could do. There's so many more places I could take her. I had so many more ideas for the sort of situation she could be in and her team, and it went from there. Debbi: It's fascinating. How many books had you written before you made that decision to go after that series? Anna: I think it would've been 13, maybe 12 or 13 books. Debbi: That's very interesting how a character gripped you to the point where you decided to create a series for the first time. Anna: Yes. Well, I'd had another series. It was just three books, and it was about a journalist, but all the others are standalones. And the woman behind her was, I thought, going to be a standalone, but it turned into this ongoing series. Debbi: Yes, it's fascinating. What inspired you to create Veronica Pope? What kind of inspiration went into creating the character itself? Anna: Well, I wanted a female leader. I like to write about strong female lead characters, and so I wanted a female detective, and I wanted her to be - I'm going to say normal - so that she's just an average woman who's very good at her job, and she's not a super cop. She's not invulnerable to being hurt. She cares; she worries about things. She has her insecurities, she has her family life. She's a single mother. She has ambitions for her job, but she's also a little bit funny and down to earth, and that's the sort of character I would like to read. I like to write about strong female lead characters, and so I wanted a female detective, and I wanted her to be - I'm going to say normal - so that she's just an average woman who's very good at her job, and she's not a super cop. Debbi: Yeah, a very relatable sort of character. Anna: Yeah, yeah. Debbi: And skilled. Anna: Yes. So I wanted her to be really good at her job and very insightful and very observant, but at the same time, I wanted her to have the same worries that most people would. Debbi: Yes, exactly. Do you plan to write more books in the series? Anna: I haven't decided. I'm not sure. I might. If something comes to me, if an idea comes to me that I think would be perfect for Veronica. Not all, but quite a few of the books I drew from real unsolved cases in Western Australia.