Reading room
New Plymouth writer elected as a crime novel Oscar
“It’s a very strange situation to find yourself, even though you haven’t won any awards since the third form,” said New Plymouth writer Jacqueline Blitz.She means the epic fact of her debut novel Before you know my name Was selected as the finalist for the world’s most prestigious crime writing award. It was announced at a ceremony in London tomorrow morning, New Zealand time. The CWA Gold Dagger Award is Huge.. It was founded in 1955 and past winners include the criminal greats John le Carré, Ian Rankin, Ruth Rendell and James Lee Burke’s roll call. She is the first New Zealand writer to create a candidate list since the dear old Dame Ngaio Marsh in 1957. Bublitz has an excellent commercial instinct. An airport that you start reading before the plane takes off and you don’t even notice it when you land. Because I’m crazy about the story. It has always been a dream. “)-Australia has sold over 90,000 copies and New Zealand. Little, Brown published it in England. The honor and distinction of winning the Gold Dagger Award will be a significant boost. This exciting possibility required an email interview on Monday night.
The inspiration for your book is the murder of a woman in Melbourne in 2014. Her body was discovered by Jogger. Do you know more than that now?
The killing of Renea Lau was really my protagonist in this book, and I was careful not to get too close to her true story when I wrote Before you know my nameI spent a lot of time investigating the case, especially with regard to the perpetrators. His so-called motive, how he was captured, what was his background-I needed to understand this. There were also many things about the murder of Renia, which made me interested in the story. The reason is that this case did not get as much media attention as other similar crimes have occurred or will be incurred in Melbourne. I don’t know anything about Jogger who found her body, except for the situation of how Renea was found, but I hope it’s okay to think twice.
You later moved to New York and described the study in this book as “hanging around the dark corners (and the human spirit) of the morgue and city park.” please explain.
Regarding the morgue, the important part here is the “hanging out” part. I wasn’t really allowed to enter. At the time, I was neither represented nor published, so just having an idea for a book would open the door, especially in places that are inevitably regulated, such as the Chief Coroner’s Office in New York City. I couldn’t. Basically, I was lurking in the lobby and watching people come and go, but she didn’t even have permission to enter these spaces, so it’s perfect for the ruby character in the book. worked. However, I had some great notes from the introduced morgue assistant. The words that stand out in those notes include chemistry and clinical, and her claim that no one drinks coffee or eats burgers during an autopsy.
The dark corners of a city park are easy to find if you’re running in the rain, but unfortunately the dark corners of the human mind are just as easy to find. I describe it as both alarming and intriguing. And the most fertile land for writers.
Similarly, roaming Manhattan’s Upper West Side, discovering “looking for a potential murder place” and “a creepy place along the Hudson River surrounded by construction and the giant Donald Trump sign.” You said that you did. Did Trump’s sign add to his eerieness?
Part of Riverside Park South, there was a huge ruin known as an old railroad transfer bridge, and the rotten debris of the old pier was very creepy, sticking out of the water. Mostly shiny and cinematic compared to the rest of the new park. As I was scouting the area, I saw Trump’s name engraved next to the mansion near the river. By mid-2015, it was like “that man”. I knew he was an ego maniac, but at that stage I couldn’t imagine what was going to happen.
I chaired Dunedin writer Liam McIlvany at a literary event and burned him in his book about violent portrayals of women. He’s a topman and a thoughtful writer, but I think it’s always a woman who gets it in almost every crime fiction. You talked about “gender-based violence”. What do you think about this?
Do you die like a woman? Dead girls are basically their own genre, and the question of what’s too much / too far is interesting. Many offer a lot more, especially given that women are very often attracted to real crime stories, with more gross details than you find in fiction.
This attraction to the true crimes committed against other women and marginalized groups about confronting our own fears or understanding this kind of lasting sense of danger we live in. Do you have? Is it overexposure to these kinds of stories, or is it about having a potential anger outlet and allowing us to tolerate our aggression? And if that’s what we consume on a regular basis, what does that mean for the demands we make for criminal fiction?
I find it all very attractive, and I’m not sure if my thoughts on this are fully formed.Personally, I know I wanted to do everything I could to keep what happened to Alice Lee. [the victim in Before You Knew My Name] Something exciting or exploitative, and I really didn’t want to hurt the reader, so I hope I’ve got the right balance.
The next book is set in a small town in New Zealand. What does it look like? Are you drowsy on Sunday? Is there a men’s clothing store and a late night burger bar?
Some of them are in a small town in New Zealand and I think they are about the same size as Elsam. I don’t think there is anything in this town at midnight other than murder.
“I’m an F-feminist in the capital, but … I don’t want this book to look like a sign in a rally,” you said. But what are the signs if you attend a rally against the Supreme Court’s ruling?
What a mess, it’s so frustrating right now that it’s probably just a picture of the middle finger. Or maybe evergreen: We still can’t believe we’re protesting this $ H * T!
I didn’t feel like laughing a lot for the last few days, but I saw some interesting tweets over the weekend.I had the best crunch wrap than this court.. I certainly keep it high.
Before you know my name Jacqueline Bublitz (Allen & Unwin, $ 33) has been named one of the best novels of 2021 in the Reading Room and can be purchased at bookstores nationwide. The 2022 Criminal Writers Association Gold Dagger Award will be announced tomorrow morning at a ceremony at the Leonardo City Hotel in London, New Zealand Time. Good luck, Jacqueline!