Your (author) name: ANYA LIPSKA
Books: WHERE THE DEVIL CAN’T GO and DEATH CAN’T TAKE A JOKE
Tell us about yourself: I write detective thrillers set in the East End of London, about the adventures of Polish private eye and honourable tough guy Janusz Kiszka (Yan-ush Kish-kah) and ambitious young police detective DC Natalie Kershaw.
Tell us about your latest book: Janusz’s world is rocked when his girlfriend Kasia is kidnapped – just as she was about to leave her husband and start a new life with him. His quest to save her will take him into the East End’s grimiest corners and see him tangle with ruthless criminals, both home grown and from further afield.
When did you start writing? Well, I do have a page torn out of an old diary of my Mum’s with a very short story I wrote about my little brother. I was about seven. I think my style has moved on…
Where do you write? Anywhere without distractions. Home works until my husband starts cutting glass (he’s a stained glass artist). The library’s also good until the under-fives singing club starts up: ‘Old MacDonald’ isn’t the greatest soundtrack to pen gritty crime to. But I do love to see them getting in the library habit early.
Which other authors do you admire? Ian Rankin, Elmore Leonard, Fred Vargas, Stav Sherez, Sarah Hilary & a hundred more!
Book you wished you’d written? The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Greatest fictional criminal: It has to be a toss-up between Count Fosco in The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, and Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs et al by Thomas Harris.
Greatest crime or criminal from the real world: Er, tough one. As someone who was badly mugged once, I don’t tend to admire real life criminals. And my police detective contacts wouldn’t approve!
What scares you? Boredom.
Are you ever disturbed by your own imagination? Yes. A crime writer walks around imagining dark things all the time. But luckily I can dream up very scary scenarios and yet not allow them to intrude on real life.
3 crime books you would recommend to EVERYONE
Do you listen to music when you write? I tried but found it too distracting. I run a birdsong loop on my Mac instead. It’s soothing, de-stressing and helps to block out the sounds of that pesky glass cutting…
Are you on social media? Oh yes. Largely to be found faffing about on Twitter (@anyalipska), occasionally dipping a toe into Facebook.
How can fans connect with you? Aside from connecting via Twitter/Facebook, I’m usually to be found propping up the bar – or speaking on panels – at UK crime festivals and local lit festivals. Or come and see me and the splendid Eva Dolan at Felixstowe Book Festival in June. Yay!
