‘I wanted to write a suburban Reacher’: Richard Osman talks to Lee Child about class, success and the secret to great crime writing

The two bestselling authors who both started in TV discuss writing as a second career, natural justice – and what they really think of literary fictionIn the four years since Richard Osman published his first Thursday Murder Club novel he has consistently topped the bestseller lists, and now his quartet of retirement-age detectives will be portrayed on screen by a cast including Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan. Having grown up in Sussex, Osman started out in TV, where he created and co-hosted the gameshow Pointless. His forthcoming novel We Solve Murders – the start of a new series – features a writer billed as the world’s bestselling novelist, “if you don’t count Lee Child”. Child, the creator of former military police officer Jack Reacher, has enjoyed phenomenal popularity since he left his career – also in TV, where he worked on shows including Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown and Cracker – and started writing, with his first novel published in 1997. Raised in Birmingham, he moved to the US in 1998 and now lives between Manhattan and rural Wyoming. He wrote 24 Reacher novels before announcing in 2020 that he would be handing the series to his brother Andrew.Lee Child I feel that writing is always a second-phase career, or at least should be. It’s that rare thing that not only can you do it when you’re older, but you should do it when you’re older. Pick your cliche: your gas tank is full, your database is compiled. You are a person. You are ready to write.... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2024-09-14 09:00:23 UTC ]
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Harper Lee tops World Book Night picks

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 15:15 Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird has been voted the most popular title to be given away as part of World Book Night 2012. The organisation launched a public vote last month asking people to vote for the titles they... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #markus zusak #jane austen #organisation launched #popular title #public vote


Harper Lee tops World Book Night pick

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 27/07/2011 - 15:15 Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is the most popular title among the public to be given away as part of World Book Night 2012. The organisation launched a public vote last month asking people to vote for the titles they... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | All news stories tagged with: #markus zusak #jane austen #organisation launched #popular title #public vote


Reynolds to write new Doctor Who novel

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 13:00 British Science Fiction award-winner Alastair Reynolds is the latest author to try his hand writing a Doctor Who novel, after signing a deal with BBC Books. Editorial director Albert DePetrillo bought world rights from Robert... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld readies Reacher digital exclusive

Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 14:40 Transworld is to release a digital exclusive Jack Reacher story based on the famous "butt-kicker's" time as a thirteen year old living on a military base. It said it was the first time it had published a major author in digital... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Headline preempts debut about child abduction

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 18/07/2011 - 12:15 Headline has pre-empted a debut novel about a man's whose nine month old daughter is abducted by carjackers in South Africa. Publisher at large Martin Fletcher bought world rights to Held Up by Christopher Radmann from Juliet... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Sheila Bair to Write Book on Financial Crisis

Sheila C. Bair, who ended a tumultuous five-year term as chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this month, has landed a book deal to give her inside account of the financial crisis. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Crossan writes three YA titles for Bloomsbury

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:01 Bloomsbury has acquired three YA books by Irish author, Sarah Crossan. Senior commissioning editor Ele Fountain acquired the trio of titles through Julia Churchill at Greenhouse, with the first title, Breathe, to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Neil and Childs leave Waterstone's

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 28/06/2011 - 11:38 Waterstone’s commercial director Michael Neil and operations director Roger Childs have left the bookseller today (28th June) with “immediate effect”. Neil joined the company from book wholesaler Bertrams earlier this year and... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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du Sautoy and Child to collaborate

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Tue, 28/06/2011 - 08:26 Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy is to collaborate with children's author Lauren Child as a "super geek consultant" on her latest series of books, titled Ruby Redfort. The first book, Look Into my Eyes, will be published in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writing young-adult fiction: Better than going to the prom.

Young-adult books are being sold to an audience that can't vote, yet they're being written by people commonly referred to on the Internet as "the olds." We should know. We're two of them. Both of us have made our living writing. One of us in journalism (Grady) and the other in literary fiction... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Salon CEO Richard Gingras Leaves, Set to Join Google

Richard Gingras, who acted as CEO of the Salon Media Group for the past two years, is leaving the company to join search giant Google as global head of news products. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The secrets of Y-Service to Aurum Press

Publication Date: Thu, 23/06/2011 - 05:28 Aurum Press has bought a biography about the service that monitored and intercepted the German military's radio traffic during the Second World War. Publisher Graham Coster bought world English language rights to The Secret Listeners by Sinclair McKay... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Vintage Launches Crime Fan Site, 'The Weekly Lizard'

Under the auspices of its Vintage Crime/Black Lizard imprint, Vintage Books is launching the Weekly Lizard, a mobile-optimized online site devoted to news and feature content about crime and mystery writing. While the Weekly Lizard is designed to attract readers interested in crime, mystery and... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-06-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google in Talks to Buy AdMeld for $400 Million

Google is in talks to buy AdMeld, a display advertising company, for $400 million, according to the New York Times. TechCrunch first reported the acquisition, but inside sources told the Times that the deal hadn’t been finalized and that negotiations could still fall apart. An acquisition of... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Literacy encourages success, says former director of Ofsted

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Wed, 08/06/2011 - 09:29 An early engagement with books in the home is a core function of a child's future success, the former director of Ofsted has said. Speaking at a parliamentary reception for the children's literacy charity Volunteer Reading... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Daily's Cook: Subscribers Wanted!

Christine Cook, head of sales and advertising at The Daily, used a panel discussion at Internet Week to hawk subscriptions—making one wonder just how much the outsized attention News Corp. is getting for its daring iPad-based newspaper experiment is translating into paid circulation. When... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Child and Collins join Kindle Million Club

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Mon, 06/06/2011 - 14:49 Lee Child and Suzanne Collins are the latest authors to sell more than a million Kindle books. The pair join Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts and Charlaine Harris. Child, who has written 16 Jack Reacher thrillers... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Desmond in talks to sell US OK! to Time Warner

Richard Desmond is in talks with US media giant Time Warner about the possible sale of the US edition of celebrity OK! magazine, sources have confirmed. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin to release £30 Jamie's Great Britain in September

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Wed, 25/05/2011 - 09:55 A new Jamie Oliver title, Jamie's Great Britain, will be coming from Michael Joseph this September, containing more than 100 new recipes from around the country. The title, to be released on 30th September, will tie into... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Secret World of Apps

Last week, Apple went to Washington, D.C., to answer questions from U.S. lawmakers about consumer privacy in the mobile marketplace. The visit was triggered by the discovery that Apple’s iPads and iPhones tracked and kept users’ locations for up to a year, creating a step-by-step picture of... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2011-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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