Interview with Linda
Davies
Interviewed by Jenna Glatzer
Linda Davies
is a financial thriller author. She was born in Newton Mearns, near
Glasgow in Scotland, and brought up in south Wales. She spent seven years
as a merchant banker in the U.S. and the U.K. before she turned her observations
and experiences in the financial world into novels. Her books include Nest
of Vipers, Wilderness of Mirrors, and Into the Fire.
Your family has a strong history in banking and finance
careers. What interested you about this field?
The challenge, and the excitement factor. Back in 1985, when I went into finance, very few women in the UK
worked in the City (as the financial district in London is
called), so getting in appealed to my vanity. On top of
that, it was a very exciting time, with bigger and bigger
mergers and acquisitions sweeping the world. There was
definitely an air of masters of the universe about it all.
What sparked your interest in writing?
I'd always loved writing, from as young an age as I can
remember. I was quite a solitary child, so writing created
my own sustaining world.
You say that you came up with the idea for your first novel
because you'd been thinking about how "the scope for crime was immense" in your business.
How so?
The regulators are always ten steps behind the criminals in finance. Financial dealing has become so sophisticated
that many crimes are extremely difficult to detect. Also, insider trading is the only crime I can think of where
prosecutors have to prove motive in many cases. If you are a market professional, customarily trading in a wide range
of shares, and you buy something which is subsequently taken over, in the absence of compelling evidence to
support their case, prosecutors have to prove that you KNEW the company was about to be taken over, and that you didn't
just buy the stock because you liked the look of it in general. Getting inside someone's mind in this way is
often nigh on impossible. Very few successful prosecutions for insider trading are obtained, so, for those of criminal
mentality, with the potential rewards of financial crime being immense, and the chance of being caught and punished
remote, the temptation is huge.
Your stories feature independent, adventurous women as protagonists. Would you ever consider going far out
of your own realm of experience and starring someone completely unlike you (for example, an elderly man) or
writing something in a much different genre? Is it important to "write what you know?"
Write what you know, and write about what interest you. I
am half way through writing a book on what and how to feed your baby for optimum health because, as a mother of
a twenty one month old son, I am fascinated by the subject. There are all sorts of other books I'd love to write, of
many different genres. It'll take a lifetime!
Describe the feeling you get when a new idea begins to take shape. How
do you initially put it all together-- on paper or in your mind?
It's immensely exciting when a new idea begins to form. I
compile it in my mind and then on paper.
How did you get your first book published?
Serendipity. I wrote something that publishers had been
looking for. A financial thriller.
How much input do others have on your writing? (Editors,
friends, family, other writers?)
Difficult to say. All I know is that when you sit down in
front of a blank computer screen, you sit alone.
Are you affected by reader feedback?
Very much so. Having appreciative letters means a great
deal, for, as I say above, writing is extremely solitary.
You mention that Peru is a very dangerous place for journalists--
especially those who are investigating "undercover" practices, as you were for Into the Fire, your third book. Why put your life in danger for the
purpose of a novel?
As the wife of a foreign banker living in that country, my
life was in danger anyway.
Are you a thrill-seeker?
Undoubtedly!
If you knew you'd never sell another book again, would you still write?
Yes, but stories for my child and diaries.
What's one thing you wish you knew about the business of writing earlier?
Be more hands on with the business side. Never
underestimate the power of hype.
What do you think are your greatest strengths and weaknesses as a writer?
I can write evocative physical descriptions of place. I
also tend to write over complicated plots.
What would you advise aspiring novelists to do to be successful?
Don't give up. Have faith in yourself. Be very careful
who you show your work to. Everyone has a view on the
quality of your writing. Not everyone has a clean heart,
or the skill to help.
What are your future writing projects/goals?
To keep being published, specifically to get my baby book
published with beautiful colour illustrations, to get my
fiction to a wider audience.
Visit Linda's website
here, or click the links below to find out more about her books:
Into the Fire (paperback published April 2000).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ISBN=0006511880
Wilderness of Mirrors
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ISBN=0752803565
Nest of Vipers
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ISBN=185797803X
