Andrea Mara: How to make friends when you plan murders for a living

Writing books about the darkest of deeds led Andrea Mara to befriend a group of evil geniuses with hearts of gold

Despite spending their days plotting unsolvable murders, crime writers are secretly truly lovely people, says Andrea Mara.

Backstabbing, gossiping, revenge and betrayal; it’s all there between the pages of any given crime novel. But what about the writers behind those novels? Is it all rivalry and backbiting there too? Or can crime authors — arguably competing for the same space on the shelf — ever really be friends?

To my relief, having entered the world of Irish crime (the fictional kind) I’ve found the latter to be true; despite writing about the darkest deeds one human can do to another, despite spending their days researching untraceable poisons and plotting unsolvable murders, crime writers are secretly truly lovely people.

So how do writers become friends, and how easy is it to leave rivalry at the door?

Writing is like any other job, except it’s mostly done at home, alone. No colleagues, no teammates, no banter, no craic. (Many authors have pets, and they’re lovely, but they don’t have much to say about what was in The Bookseller this morning or who got picked for Reese’s Bookclub.) So, we gravitate towards others in the same boat — meeting at launches and literary festivals, gossiping over gin with people who understand the rollercoaster of writing. People who’ll debate the merits of Net Galley or why you should never read your reviews on Goodreads. People who’ll know about the latest Twitter spat and people who’ll tell you what really happened. People who remember what it’s like to start out. People who’ll reach down the ladder to help a new writer up.

When I started out, I knew nothing and no one. But luck was on my side, as was bestselling author, Liz Nugent — literally beside me, at a book event. We got chatting and Liz very kindly said she’d come along to my upcoming book launch. I was delighted that I’d rubbed shoulders with her and that in itself was enough. But to my great surprise, she turned up at my launch, bought my book, read it, and posted about it on social media. Her endorsement is on the current edition of the book and for that, and her ongoing support and friendship, I am forever grateful.

Another Irish crime writer who gave me a boost when I started out is Sinéad Crowley. It’s very difficult to ask for endorsements when you know nobody, but I knew Sinéad a little through my blog, and when I asked if she might read an advance copy of my book, she said yes. I don’t think Sinéad will ever know (unless she reads this) what that meant to this fledgling writer at the time.

L-R Patricia Gibney, Olivia Kiernan, Sinéad Crowley, Catherine Ryan Howard, Andrea Carter, Jane Casey, Liz Nugent, Andrea Mara, Sam Blake.

Likewise, when I had my first launch, I didn’t know any authors to invite, but I asked Vanessa Fox O’Loughlin, aka crime writer Sam Blake, who I’d come to know through her website, Writing.ie. To my surprise, she came along, and to my next launches too. She couldn’t make my most recent one but sent beautiful flowers instead — this from a woman whose characters sew bones inside dresses.

When I was looking for a publisher, Claire Allan kindly sent me lots of useful tips and when I found a publisher, Patricia Gibney read and blurbed all five of my books. These are established authors, who didn’t expect anything in return, but helped me because beyond all the murdering and maiming, they’re good people.

Catherine Ryan Howard writes extremely creepy novels — you’d be forgiven for assuming she might be an evil genius. In fact, she’s someone who knows a lot about the industry and is very generous with her knowledge. When I asked her how to get to know more people in the book world she recommended Theakston’s Crime Festival, aka ‘Harrogate’, an annual event for crime readers that handily doubles up as a convention for crime writers. I went on my own, but was quickly adopted by the Irish contingent; Liz, Sinéad, Catherine, Patricia, and Sam, plus Jane Casey, Olivia Kiernan, Jo Spain, Catherine Kirwan, and Andrea Carter, who were unfailingly kind to me. I travelled to Harrogate again last month, with some of the original crew, plus my crime-writing friends Amanda Cassidy and Fiona Gartland. We gossiped and laughed and took selfies and stayed out late, and when I look back at the photos, it’s hard to imagine these people literally plan murders for a living.

Well yes, that’s all very nice, I hear you say, but surely everyone’s competing for the same prize? Is it a case of keeping your enemies close? Aren’t they all poised to put arsenic in your tea?

The thing is, there isn’t just one prize. There isn’t just one reader or one shop or one space on the shelf. Yes, it’s competitive and yes, it’s very public, with sales figures printed on bestseller charts, but there’s room for everyone. And it’s possible to feel wistful and even envy at a fellow author’s good news while simultaneously feeling genuinely glad, and wishing them well.

And it’s not necessarily a given that writers support writers — just google what Stephen King said about James Patterson or what Ruth Rendall thinks of Agatha Christie. So why are Irish crime writers such good pals? Maybe it’s because the pool is too small to risk anything else? Or perhaps it’s all a fiction — they do tell stories for a living, after all. But from what I’ve seen, it’s real, and it’s because they’re all genuinely good people and genuinely good craic.

Just don’t cross them, or they might put arsenic in your tea. Only in a book, of course.

• Hide And Seek by Andrea Mara is out now.