BLOOD TYPE: Alison Baillie @alisonbailliex #amwriting #writingtips

“I always feel inspired when I can walk along a deserted beach and hear the waves and smell the sea air.”

CRIME AUTHORS SPILL THEIR GUTS ABOUT WRITING. Every Thursday top-notch authors of psychological thrillers and crime fiction share their writing secrets – and the secrets to their success – with you and me.

This week: ALISON BAILLIE

Tell us about yourself…

Hi, I’m thrilled to appear on Blood Type, where I’ve learnt a lot of interesting things about

I still haven’t got used to thinking of myself as a real writer, because I didn’t write Sewing the Shadows Together until I stopped working full-time, although the idea had been in my head for over thirty years.

Before that I was a teacher for many years. I was brought up in England, mainly in Ilkley in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, but my parents were both from Scotland and I always felt Scottish. I studied English at the University of St Andrews, taught for a year in Finland and then spent the next sixteen years in Edinburgh, teaching English in several secondary schools, getting married and divorced, and giving birth to two wonderful sons.

I moved to Switzerland nearly thirty years ago and have lived here ever since. Now that I’m retired I love my life, having the time to travel, with two adorable little grandchildren, one in Zürich and one in Poland, able to spend my time writing and reading, and going to crime writing festivals.

How do you pick character names? Do any have special meaning to you?

The names of some characters come to me immediately, but for others I have to try out several possibilities until I just know they’re just right. In Sewing the Shadows Together, I had several names for… TO READ THE INTERVIEW IN FULL, CLICK HERE

#crimefiction #writingadvice #research #AlisonBaillie #editing #BloodType