The writer Helen Fitzgerald paid a visit to the barganews book exchange recently to leave a copy of her latest book for the members of the exchange. While she was there she talked about the changes in her life from how she used to live, working in the social services in the prison service to her new life as a full time writer.
The book which most publishers and publicists have put on the “thriller” bookshelves but which some have defined as a “Literary Thriller” – is a very character driven book and not really about detectives as such, has entered the best selling list in Holland and is selling well in France, Germany and the UK.
The BBC have already taken up an option for a television production co written with her husband, screen writer Sergio Casci.
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Barga screenwriter Sergio Casci was nominated for a Bafta award for his first feature film, American Cousins in 2004 (article here) and won the San Cristoforo d’Oro (Golden St Christopher) in 2006
For Glaswegian Mr Casci – the screenwriter of the Bafta nominated film American Cousins and currently a writer on the BBC’s River City – it was a great honour. “My great-grandfather Armando Casci came over to Scotland in the 19th Century,” he said. “So now in the 21st Century for Barga, his home town, to recognise me in this way is a tremendous honour. When he went over to Scotland, like so many people, he came over a very poor man and he started almost literally with nothing. It’s a lovely thing to think that three or four generations later the land of his birth would recognise his great-grandson.” – source – BBC
The barganews book exchange can be found here and Helen’s site can be found here
Bloody Women – Returning to Scotland to organise her wedding, Catriona is overcome with the jitters. She decides to tie up loose ends before settling permanently in Tuscany, and seeks out her ex-boyfriends. Only problem is, they’re all dead.
Dead Lovely – Krissie Donald has no desire to ‘settle down’. Committed men are hers for the taking, but she prefers explosive liaisons to any sort of full-blown relationship.
Krissie’s best friend, Sarah, couldn’t be more different. Married to a good-catch-doctor in her early twenties, it isn’t long before Sarah’s dying to start a family.
Krissie and Sarah’s relationship starts to go awry when Krissie becomes pregnant after a holiday dalliance in Tenerife. For Sarah, who’s been trying to conceive for what seems like forever, Krissie’s pregnancy can’t help but seem a little unfair.
Things between Krissie and Sarah go from bad to worse during a holiday in the Scottish Highlands with Sarah’s husband, Kyle. What starts out as an enjoyable and much-needed break soon becomes a nightmarish combination of sexual tension, murder and mayhem.
Fast-paced and brilliantly told, with wickedly observed characters and a spectacular denouement, Dead Lovely is a compulsive read from start to finish.
Click on the link below to hear Helen talking about the ups and downs of being a professional writer (in English)
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