Today I'm very excited to be welcoming Rebecca Bradley to Getting To Know... Rebecca is the author of the DI Hannah Robbins series and has most recently released a prequel novella Three Weeks Dead (which I reviewed HERE if you want to check it out).
Your main character, DI Hannah Robbins, (also DC Sally Poynter in Three Weeks Dead) is a very confident and competent person, is there any of you in her or is she based on someone else?
Because Hannah Robbins is written in first person point of view I have to admit that there is some of me in her. It would be very difficult to write a detective from that point of view, without some of me slipping in. Especially as I used to be a police detective and know her role. There are a lot of differences between us as well, though. She isn’t a mirror image of me. It isn’t a memoir. It’s fiction, but yes, it can’t be helped.
You were a police detective before becoming an author, do you take a lot of inspiration from your time then for your stories?
Shallow Waters was based around the world I used to work in, which was sexual exploitation, but not on a specific case, plus I never worked homicide. Other than that, there are no jobs that inspire my writing. What I do take from my time in the police is the ability to be authentic when writing about working life, procedure, officers working relationships and the emotions of all concerned, because it’s these very emotions that connect us to a story, and with crime, you have a multitude of ways to explore character and story this way.
You recently released Three Weeks Dead, a prequel story to your DI Hannah Robbins series. Why did you decide to use Sally as the main character in this instead of Hannah?
In Shallow Waters Sally was given a particularly difficult time of it. So much so that readers made comment. Wishing more for her. So I thought I would show readers where she was when she started life in the Major Crime Unit, before the secrets and lies, before everything got out of hand. So, we see her as a fresh-faced new girl and this was something I really enjoyed doing. I hope readers enjoy seeing her at this stage in her career.
Have you always known that you want to be an author or has that come about at a later stage?
I think it’s something that has been hovering in the back of my head for most of my life, but wasn’t a career I thought I could pursue on a serious level. It wasn’t until I approached a big birthday that I decided if I was going to do it, that it had to happen now. I’m so glad I did. I am loving every minute of it.
When you are writing do you have a set routine or schedule that you like to follow?
Due to the physical constraints of living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome my routine is fluid. The only routine is that I have to write every day, but at what point in the day that is, is the fluid part. It depends on how I’m feeling on any given day. But writing is a large part of my life and something will always happen on a daily basis.
When you're not writing what would we find you doing?
Reading, spending time with family, the dogs, spending too much time on social media, and resting because of illness. When I’m resting though, I tend to like to watch a good drama and see how the story plays out. I’m always thinking about the story, be it my own, or story in general.
What is your favourite thing about being an author?
Creating. Honestly. At first, there is absolutely nothing there and then several months down the line there’s a novel. A whole novel, with characters, motivations, a setting and emotion somewhere – hopefully. And you can look at it and say, wow, whatever anyone else thinks of that, I actually created it. Every single time feels surreal.
If you could give younger you any advice about your writing journey, what would it be?
Start writing as soon as you think you want to do it because it’s an amazing feeling. You’ll love it and hate it all at the same time, but you must do it.
Do you have a favourite author?
I have a couple – is that allowed? Karin Slaughter because her books are so character driven. I would buy her books without reading the blurb. And David Jackson, for the same reasons.
Three Weeks Dead has not long since been released, but what can we look forward to next from you?
I’m currently writing a standalone novel. It’s still in the crime genre, but I wanted to write this as it’s been hanging around in my head for a while now and that’s when you know you really should be writing it. Once I have the first draft of this down, then I’ll finish the first draft of Hannah 3 (which I started when Hannah 2 was with my editor). I just wish I could write faster or had more energy as I have more ideas than I have energy/time!
Thank you so much to Rebecca for taking the time to answer my questions! I'm definitely looking forward to more in the DI Hannah Robbins series and this new stand alone sounds intriguing.
To Connect With Rebecca
Website - http://www.rebeccabradleycrime.com/
Twitter - @RebeccaJBradley
Three Weeks Dead
How far would you go if someone took your wife?
Especially, if you buried her a week ago.
When Jason Wells is faced with this scenario, he is confronted with the prospect of committing a crime that will have far-reaching consequences.
Can young DC Sally Poynter get through to him before he crosses that line, or does a desperate husband prove to be the case she won’t ever forget?
This is a DC Sally Poynter novella, and the prequel to Shallow Waters, the first in the DI Hannah Robbins series.
Especially, if you buried her a week ago.
When Jason Wells is faced with this scenario, he is confronted with the prospect of committing a crime that will have far-reaching consequences.
Can young DC Sally Poynter get through to him before he crosses that line, or does a desperate husband prove to be the case she won’t ever forget?
This is a DC Sally Poynter novella, and the prequel to Shallow Waters, the first in the DI Hannah Robbins series.
