Five fascinating facts about Peter James
He’s written 28 brilliant novels, been labelled ‘the king of the police procedural’ and has sold 16 millions books worldwide, so it’s no wonder that Peter James has been awarded the 2016 CWA Diamond Dagger. Loved by readers and fellow writers alike, Peter isn’t just a great author but also a real champion of crime writing in general. His most-loved character is Detective Sergeant Roy Grace, a Brighton-based sleuth whose adventures are heavily influenced by the on-the-beat research Peter has undertaken with the Sussex Police Force.
But enough of what you do know about Peter, here are some facts that prove the man himself has a life every bit as compelling as his characters.
1. Peter was once a cleaner for Orson Welles.
He may be a bestseller now, but there was a time when Peter needed to make some money and decided to turn his hand to cleaning, despite having no experience. He replied to an advert from a Mrs Welles, who needed someone to clean at her Fulham home, just around the corner from Peter’s abode. What he didn’t know was that his new work premises were home to a rather famous resident.
“On my second day, I was on my knees cleaning the skirting board in the hall when the morning post fell through the door, and I saw all those letters addressed to Orson Welles,” Peter told Shots Magazine.
“I wondered if there had been some kind of error by the postman! A short while later the front door opened and in came the great man himself. I stared up at him in shock and awe, suddenly realising that a golden opportunity had presented itself. If I could get him to like me, maybe I could get a huge leg-up my future career path! I was a bag of nerves. He looked down at me with an amiable smile, the kind of smile he might have given to a funkily-shaped dog turd, stepped past me with a cursory, ‘Good Morning’ and vanished up the stairs as I gasped out a strangled reply. Later that day he left for the US, and I never saw him again! Two weeks later, Mrs Welles very sweetly told me she didn’t think I was really cut out for this job. I had to agree…”
2. Peter’s writing regime is super-cool
He’s a man of great flare but also deeply dedicated to his work. So it won’t surprise you to know that even Peter’s writing regime has a trademark element of cool. Mind you, no writer gets to be as prolific as Peter without taking their work seriously, and he does that just.
“I try to ensure that, whatever I’m doing, I leave myself time to write 1000 words, six days a week,” Peter told writing blog Jaffa Reads Too... “I have offices in my Sussex and Notting Hill homes, but I can write anywhere – airplanes, the back of the car, hotels. My favourite writing time is 6-9.30 in the evening. I got used to that when I was working full time in film and TV, and made this my ‘me’ time. I have a stiff drink – often a vodka martini, with four olives, put on music and get in the zone. I really love this time of day.”
3. Peter wrote two books inspired by his own stalker
Fame and fortune come at a price, as Peter learned when he became the target of a stalker. The experience was a traumatic one and even resulted in Peter having to move house when his stalker sent him a photo she’d taken inside the grounds of his property.
“The plot for Not Dead Yet was actually partly inspired by my own stalker,” Peter told the Bournemouth Echo. “It started when I saw this woman at a book event in Glasgow, smiling as if I knew her. Then I started seeing her at events all over the country. Soon I got a weird email praising what I was wearing and thanking me for smiling at her. I did reply, at first, but then stopped. She seemed harmless until she sent me a photograph of her Peter James shrine complete with burning candles. It had all my books, but also secret photographs of me getting into a car or coming out of a restaurant. So I decided to write a book about my experience.”
4. Peter has a large collection of police memorabilia
Thanks to his meticulous research and strong links with the Sussex police force, Peter has a great reputation with the police all over the world. He’s endlessly fascinated by talking to officers and detectives wherever he travels and has been gifted with a lot of collectables along the way.
“I’ve met police all over the world, from Moscow to Australia," he told The Telegraph. "Everywhere I go, I’m given police memorabilia; truncheons, handcuffs, badges. I’ve built up a collection over the years, and all these objects now sit pride of place in my office where I write my novels.”
5. Peter is the owner of a haunted house
Detective Superintendent Roy Grace has an interest in the paranormal, and that’s something he and Peter share. Peter’s last book, The House On Cold Hill, is a supernatural thriller, and he is very open about the fact he believes in ghosts. He’s also had the misfortune to live in not one, but two haunted houses – including the Brighton property he resides in today.
“It is built on top of a burial ground from the Battle of Lewes (1264), and we have a whole host of ghosts,” Peter told Shots Magazine. “I keep leaving my computer on at night in the hope they might finish my next book for me, but so far I’ve had no luck! But seriously, I did have to move from my original study in the house as I could not work in it – for the one and only time in my life I had complete writer’s block. A clairvoyant we brought in said it was built over the grave of a soldier, and I was disturbing him! Not half as much as he was disturbing me, I thought. But I moved to a different part of the house and then I was fine again – and the clairvoyant cleared away the soldier’s spirit. So he’s probably now bothering someone else!”
Congratulations to Peter!
| Copyright © 2016 The CWA, All rights reserved. |
|
|
