Life and times

Author Lynda La Plante

I LOVE SUMMER. Long, lazy days… at least in theory. But in fact I often find myself busier than ever, especially as I have always arranged activities for my son during the summer holidays. This was much easier before he became a disgruntled teenager. Recently he had friends over for a barbecue, but before the grill was even lit, the eight teenage boys, all 6ft tall, had consumed two cases of Coca-cola. Four racks of ribs, 10 hamburgers, a huge marinated steak and 20 sausages all disappeared before I had tossed the salad, followed by an enormous bowl of fruit salad, ice cream and 30 giant cookies. And they left more water surrounding the pool than in it.

I remember going to parties as a child and there would be tea at 3.30pm followed by a few games and party bags ready for a prompt departure at 5pm. My son’s friends showed no inclination to go home at all – they headed off to a movie and for more hamburgers, before returning later to stay overnight. The next morning, they were up and ready for breakfast – polishing off bacon and eggs as if they had never seen food before.

I AM VERY FORTUNATE to live in a large house in Surrey, and although the mortgage is a dead weight around my neck, it is a hive of activity. At the moment, the film director Steve Mcqueen is turning my 1980s television series, Widows, into a film (out in November); and I am also working alongside a writer adapting one of my novels as a US TV series. I asked him if we should bring it up to date, as it is set in the early 1990s, but he said he was sick of watching crime shows with CCTV footage and mobile phones. The lack of CCTV and DNA evidence is one of the reasons I enjoy writing about that period, but researching police murder teams from that time does make one realise how far science has progressed, especially in forensics.

I am also working on a new novel, and at the same time getting another, Murder Mile, ready for publication. When I’m writing, I hide in my office over the garage. It takes me a long time to start a novel and then it feels as if I have a gun to my head to get it written – although I’m the one putting the pressure on. I spend a lot of time researching the plot lines and characters from the security of my sanctuary. I loathe interruptions, but apart from the sound of leaf blowers driving me to distraction, I can concentrate well.

I TEND TO WORK all hours – and I would not have it any other way – however when I do take a breather I head to the Hamptons, Long Island, with my son. There, I paddleboard, although my attempts at surfing have been less successful. My good friend Jimmy Buffett [the musician] tested me out on dry land and I fell off the board even then. He suggested that perhaps I had left it a bit too late to begin surfing, which was annoying as I’d just bought a wetsuit.

But for now, we are still at home. There are no leaf blowers but even as I write this, my son began churning up the lawn on his motorbike. When he’s tired of going round in circles on it, he’ll kick-start his go-kart, which is even noisier. He ordered it online and it arrived on a huge truck that the driver refused to bring down the narrow lane to the house. I didn’t know it was a DIY kit – I don’t think my son did either – but between us we managed to carry all the parts in a wheelbarrow in several trips. When he pieced it all together and started it up it sounded as if we were hosting Formula One. On balance, I think I prefer the leaf blower… Murder Mile, by Lynda La Plante, is out on Thursday (Zaffre, £18.99)

Before the grill was even lit, the eight teenage boys, all 6ft tall, had consumed two cases of Coca-cola