You Are Dead (Roy Grace)

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In the early days I had years of rejection letters as an unpublished author. It was as if there was a wall, like a Berlin wall, on one side of which were the publishers and the published authors, and on the other side were all those desperate to be published authors–and never the twain should meet. I became hugely despondent in my mid-twenties, really believing that the dream I’d held since the age of eight, of being a published author, would never come true. I resigned myself to the fact that I would never be any good at writing novels, that I just did not have what it took.

Roy Grace's wife, Chloe, is struggling with moving house and looking after baby Noah almost single handed; I had the pleasure of talking to Peter James about his latest book and even managed to squeeze in some questions about writing and his career as well.

And the Sandy storyline! We have all been following that from book one. Sandy Grace went missing eleven years ago. Roy did not know what happened to her, and has been accused of murdering her, in the past. There is a lovely development here. I will say no more.*winks* Not only do I sympathize with my villains, I love my villains! And help your readers find something about them they will love by giving your villain something to love…. Their mother/their dog/cat. Your villains are sometimes victims of childhood abuse. Tell us a bit about damaged souls. Do you sympathize with your villains?

That same afternoon, workmen digging up an old asphalt pat in a park in another part of the city, unearth the remains of a young woman in her early twenties, who has been dead for 30 years. I never started out with a finite number of Roy Grace books in my head–and I never imagined, in my wildest dreams, the global success that Roy Grace would have. I love writing these books more than anything I have ever done in my life and just so long as my readers keep enjoying them and wanting more, I will continue. The success of these novels has totally astonished me, I never expected him to be this popular–and it is wonderful –I’m immensely grateful to all my readers and, of course, now I feel very protective of him!

James is patron of the Sussex Police Charitable Trust, patron of Brighton & Hove Samaritans, patron of the Brighton Greyhound Owners Association Retired Greyhound Trust, patron of Brighton and Hove Independent Mediation Service, patron of Relate in Sussex, patron of Terrys Cross House, patron of Little Green Pig, national co-patron of Neighbourhood Watch, co-patron of Sussex Crimestoppers, honorary patron for the South Mid Sussex Community First Responders, vice-president of The Old Police Cells Museum in Brighton. He is an ambassador for the University of Brighton, and a Martlets Hospice Champion (which he also supports through his annual Peter James Golf Classic). He supports Action Medical Research. [6] He also supports and works with The Reading Agency, a charity with a mission to give everyone an equal chance in life by helping people become confident and enthusiastic readers. I can’t not mention the fact that there are developments in the story of Sandy; Roy’s first wife who has been missing for 10 years and is now presumed dead with Roy now happily remarried to Cleo and the proud father of baby Noah. I can’t help feeling a little niggle of disappointment about how this was left at the end of this book and that little niggle is all to do with Roy’s behaviour. He is married to Lara James (m. 2015). [2] His first, 19-year marriage was to Georgina Wilkin, from 1979 until 1998. [3]