For this week’s Author Influences I’m delighted to be joined by crime and thriller writer Alex Walters.

Which authors/books did you like to read as a child?
A lot of Enid Blyton – still think she’s a brilliant writer for children. Then, as a teenager, people like Alan Garner, a lot of science fiction, then discovered Agatha Christie and crime fiction…

Were you good at English at school? Did you like it?
It was my best and favourite subject – went on to study English Literature at university.

What genres do you like to read? Have they had an impact on the genre you write?
I read anything and everything, really, though probably more crime fiction than anything else. There are a few writers I’d cite as direct influences but I think the impact is mostly about trying to learn from the best.

If you were to write a different genre what would it be and why?
I’ve mainly written various forms of police procedural to date (though often with a twist or two), so I think I’d be most likely to explore other areas of crime fiction or thrillers. I’ve also written some supernatural fiction and would quite like to do more in the area.

Did any author’s work encourage you to pick up your pen and write and if so who, what and why?
As a teenager, the writers who made me want to write myself were people like Alan Garner and various science fiction writers, like Samuel R Delany. They made me excited about what it was possible to do with words.

Are there any authors who, as soon as they publish a new book, you have to get it?
It used to be Reginald Hill, author of the Dalziel and Pascoe series, who’s sadly no longer with us. Now I’m struggling to keep up with the books I’ve already bought!

Which books have you read that have made you think ’Wow, I wish I had written that’ and what was it about the book?
Reginald Hill’s The Wood Beyond (and various others) – ingenious plotting, three-dimensional characters, witty writing, and addressing important issues. Various Ruth Rendells for the same reasons.

Have any of your plots/characters been influenced by real life events/people? (Be careful, I don’t want you getting sued!)
The influence is usually indirect – some real life event which sits in the back of my brain until it sprouts into something rather different in a story. One of my books starts with a real life event which I shifted from Stockport to Mongolia. And my current series set in the Scottish Black Isle uses mainly real locations, with the first book, Candles and Roses, featuring a walk-on part from a real person (with his permission!).

A huge thank you Alex for taking part.

Alex’s latest book Dark Corners was published on 9 December 2016 and is the second in the DCI Kenny Murrain novel. Check out all of Alex’s books on his Amazon page HERE.

About Alex Walters

Alex Walters has worked in the oil industry, broadcasting and banking and now works as a consultant mainly in the criminal justice sector including police, prisons and probation. As Michael Walters, he published three crime thrillers set in modern-day Mongolia, which are now being re-published as Alex Walters in new, re-edited versions. As Alex Walters he has written two thrillers set in and around Manchester and featuring the undercover officer, Marie Donovan, Trust No-One and Nowhere to Hide, and two books Late Checkout and Dark Corners featuring, alongside Marie Donovan, the distinctive DCI Kenny Murrain. Alex is also the author of Candles and Roses, the first in a new crime series set in Scotland’s Black Isle. The second in the series will be published in September 2017.

Alex currently lives in Manchester with his wife, occasional sons and too many cats.

He can be contacted at:
Twitter: @mikewalters60
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexwaltersauthor/