Dervla McTiernan

So I was reading voraciously when I was very young and just never stopped.

I've just always loved stories.

Well, let's hear about your bookshelf then.

Where would you like to start?

I think in terms of trying to think of books that have had an impact on me as a writer, I think I would start with Elizabeth George, maybe.

And for anybody who doesn't know her, she writes amazing crime novels, big, great, big books.

you know, doorstops of books.

And they're centered around her.

Her central character is Detective Inspector Linley, who is a sort of an upper class poet policeman, which is an interesting character starting point anyway.

But the book that I has had most influence on me is her book On Writing.

She wrote a book called Right Away, which is all about her process and her approach.

And the first time I read it, I just thought, oh, my God, this woman is crazy.

I mean, she's nuts.

The amount of prep work she does before she starts writing a word, it just

Anyway, it must take weeks.

And I just, I read it all the way through because it was fascinating, but I thought that's never going to be me.

And then I had to write my second novel with a deadline.

And I realized I needed a process.

So I basically stole, happily stole Elizabeth George's process.

And now, and I use that pretty much entirely to write The Scholar.