I was thinking things had changed: that the next generation of men weren’t as institutionally misogynist as the previous were. And then, suddenly, the Internet came along and gave them a platform to voice their feelings anonymously. And boy, did the bile come out. Val McDermid Read Quote
I said to Ruth Rendell, ‘When you’ve written as many books as you have, it’s easier.’ She said, ‘No dear, it gets harder’. Val McDermid Read Quote
I came from a working-class family, but I was supported by a grant system and had my fees paid, so I came out of Oxford with a debt of something like £200. Val McDermid Read Quote
We weren’t dirt poor, but there was no spare money kicking around. While it was very much understood that the way to a better life was through education, books were a luxury we couldn’t afford. But when I was six, we actually moved opposite the central library, and that became my home from home. Val McDermid Read Quote
One of the reasons we all still read Jane Austen is because her books are about universal things which still matter today – love, money, family. They haven’t gone out of fashion, so it’s not throwing the baby out with the bathwater to rework her in a contemporary style. Val McDermid Read Quote
I was always writing the books that I wanted to write, books that demanded to be written at the time. But, like most writers, you start off feeling your way. Val McDermid Read Quote
It was a bit unimaginable when I began that I’d ever get to 25 books. But it was also unimaginable how much crime-writing would have changed. Val McDermid Read Quote
A lot of reality TV is repellent, but that doesn’t diminish the qualities of some of the people who take part. There are decent people in there who have no alternatives. Val McDermid Read Quote
Growing up in Fife, you were aware that there were these creatures called lesbians, but it was in the realms of complete freakishness. And I didn’t feel like a freak. Val McDermid Read Quote
