Ruth Rendell
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, CBEwas an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth17 February 1930
difference famous knock work writer
You don't knock television, even if you don't always like what they make of your work. It makes all the difference between being an also-ran writer and very famous.
activities characters disclose future judging noticed novice readers recent reveal work writers
In judging other people's work, particularly short stories, I have noticed how novice writers tell the readers everything about their characters in the first paragraphs, disclose their motives, reveal their recent activities and their future intentions.
european holds literature thriller unusual whose work writer
unusual thing: a European thriller writer whose work holds up as literature.
carry good notebook pick
I never carry a notebook while walking around London. I just pick those things up. I'm very good at quizzes.
knew politics
I knew quite a lot about politics before I went to Parliament.
cupboard large quite stuffed
I have two quite large houses, and every cupboard and drawer is stuffed with books.
good people
I just want to tell a good story, so I always ask myself, 'Are these people real to me?'
love
I'm not much of a shoe person, but I love a pair by Bruno Magli that I've had for 10 years.
details few head narrative plot written
I never make notes; just a few small details when I'm writing, but nothing much. The plot is never written down. I will tell the story to myself, but I won't plan it. I'll speak the narrative in my head for a while.
car fond named orleans saw street tennessee
I'm very fond of Tennessee Williams' plays, and when my husband and I went to New Orleans in the late 1970s, we saw 'A Street Car Named Desire.'
younger
I've done the big 12-city tours, and I'm never going to do that again - never. I was younger then. It wears you out, you know.
change doubt life quite separate sure upset
Violence is very much with us, and we like to see it. I doubt if you can change that, and I'm not sure you should want to. I have occasionally been very upset by something I was writing, but it's quite rare: I keep my writing very separate from my life.
episodes history patients treatment
The treatment of patients with contaminated blood has been described as one of the most tragic episodes in the history of the NHS.
good kept lose nicer none others people tried turning various wrote
I started by writing short stories, but they weren't very good; I tried them on various magazines, and none of them was published. People were nicer then about turning you down, and so I didn't lose heart - I kept on writing and wrote a lot of books, one or two of which I finished, and others I didn't.