I'm a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling thriller author

[Bestseller101]

• ask me anything!

Have you had any tv/film adaptations?

The thing is whether you like a book or not can be very subjective. All best selling and / or critically acclaimed books will have at least a few reviews saying what absolute trash it is.

But yes it is very hard to get an agent and hard to get published. The stats testify to that but also just go along to any writing group or speak to a bunch of creative writing graduates and see how many of them are struggling to get published despite putting a lot of time, effort and resources into pursuing their dream.

I have an idea of a book based on a real life event that happened to me ..

What would be the first steps in publishing?

Do you need to write the whole book or just an idea effectively?

Thanks so much for this thread, @Bestseller101 it's so interesting to hear more about this 😀

If you're writing thrillers do you have contacts to ask about police procedures etc? Or do you make it up? Did you have a profession before you were solely a writer?

Do you have any feelings on digital sales of books or library/ audio book sales free or otherwise?

Darling, you are living my dream!

I would have no idea how to do that. When I tried to find someone this wasn’t a thing… thank you for replying though! It was a long time ago.

Are you Christina McDonald?

I have promised myself this year that I will write something. It's always been my dream. I have a massive amount of respect and admiration for you.
Thank you for the thread. If you fancy an apprentice dm me :)

How did you start writing? Was it a hobby you'd had for years be for you decided to make it your career or did you just have a lightbulb moment one day and get typing?

*before

Yup. I also write novels but I have a job, too. So does virtually every novelist I know.

This is so inspiring! Good for you, I've been writing since early teens and I'm over 50 now but just for fun. I have a job that's bad for my health. I'd love to know if I could write a short novel or a book of short stories. How can I restart my writing, I'm lost but have lots of ideas.

😮

‘Ralph’s Party’. I can’t remember exactly why I hated it as it was a long time ago but I just remember the feeling of hating every page of it. When I finished it I literally threw it in the bin (I had this weird thing where I had to finish a book no matter what, which I’ve since scrapped). I didn’t even want to donate it to charity. I’ve looked up reviews and it seems there are people who love it and I think it may even have a sequel 😬

That would be brilliant! Although I’m pretty sure she’s a best seller in practically every country in the world, not just UK, Canada and US.

Belinda Bauer?

Regardless, I'd love to read your books. Always on the lookout for good crime fiction. I will scour the bestseller lists now!

Did you always know that your genre was your genre or did you have a go at other genres before this one clicked? Do you ever think you will write outside your genre?

.

Perfect reply 😂

This is so interesting. I'm desperate to know who you are because I want to know if I've read any of your books. I absolutely love reading thrillers.

Not sure if this thread is still going as it was so busy but now looks on my phone at least like it's been silent for 6 hours!
Do you find as a writer you have a burning need to write any time any place or is it something you do as you love the craft but sitting down and getting on with it can feel like a chore at times?
Asking because I'm the latter whereas my 12 yo DD is very much the former- not sure if it's an age/life stage/free time issue or whether I'm just not a born writer :)
Same with reading - DD is proper bookworm gets lost for hours whereas these days I find it harder to make time for a book - still love it when I do though!

Have you got a lot of writer friends? Are they happy for you or is there lots of competition? Do you inspire each other and meet up in cafes/book clubs etc? Do you read each others drafts? I am interested in the peer group aspect of being a writer to avoid the loneliness. Or is it much more a virtual thing these days?
Sorry I know lots of Bloombury cliches in there, but fascinating to me.

Do you write for TV and Netflix etc and adapt your novels for it?

Come back OP! I think you are Elli Griffiths.