Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian James Rankin, OBE, DL, FRSEis a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth28 April 1960
lighting months nine pub
I have him going into a pub and lighting up, and then being told by a barman that he has got only nine months to go before he has to stop.
character good gregarious music musical reader shorthand small taste whether
Music is a good shorthand way to delineate character. If you want to tell the reader a lot about a character in a small space, just tell them what their musical taste is. You'll get their age, their background, whether they're gregarious or a loner.
good music shorthand
Music is a good shorthand way to delineate character,
auction books early failings feeling miserable sign strange
It's a strange feeling to see one's books come up at auction and also, to some extent, a sign of my miserable early failings as an author.
growing perils pitfalls
It's a young man's book, all about the perils and pitfalls of growing up.
bosses clause seems whether wish
Whether Rebus's 'skills' are ones his bosses would wish retained is a moot point, but it seems I have my 'get-in' clause should I need one.
beginning crimes fact forget lives people profoundly taken themselves unique whose
When a murder is satisfied, it isn't the beginning of the story; it's the middle. We shouldn't forget that fact because murder has ripples. You never go back to being the same. The people that investigate these crimes never go back to being the same as they were before they started the investigation. The people's whose lives have been affected, the victim's families, even the murderer themselves are profoundly changed. That's why murder is still the most interesting crime for us to write about, because it is the only crime where something unique is taken away from the world, something that can't be replaced.
almost beasts closed crime harvey jack novels sex wrote
Jack Harvey wrote thrillers, which are very different beasts to crime novels: lavish, almost pornographic descriptions of weaponry; sex scenes; world travel. These things were closed to me in the kind of crime novels I was writing.
amoral fan few fiction good heroes life pulp tales urban villains writes
He is a big fan of pulp fiction/American private-eye stories. He writes very tough, amoral tales of urban life with very few good cops, and usually it is the villains who are the heroes of his books. It is a very interesting take.
ban brought definitely drink fairly retire smoking somewhere sun
By that time, Rebus will be 59 and, for a CID officer, he is getting fairly long in the tooth. They will have brought in the smoking ban by 2007, so he will definitely want to retire to somewhere in the sun for a drink and a smoke.
short-love reading writing
I love short stories - reading and writing them. The best short stories distill all the potency of a novel into a small but heady draught. They are perfect reading material for the bus or train or for a lunchtime break. Everything extraneous has been strained off by the author. The best short stories pack the heft of any novel, yet resonate like poetry.
hard-work ideas luck
You need a great idea, but then you've got to carry it through. If you get it right, you're going to be a critical success. But not everyone who works hard gets it right, or has the success they deserve: there's an element of luck.
albums should holism
A good album should be more than the sum of its parts.
life son men
Witches never existed, except in people’s minds. All there was in the olden days was women and some men who believed in herbal cures and in folklore and in the wish to fly. Witches? We’re all witches in one way or another. Witches was the invention of mankind, son. We’re all witches beneath the skin.