The darkness meter
One of the things any author who writes crime has to grapple with is the level of darkness in their stories. Indeed, crime stories are often categorised by the level of violence in them.
Quantum physics tells us that everything in the universe is energy, and that that energy is affected by everything we send out into the world. Knowing this, I feel a responsibility for what I add to this huge energy matrix. And that means I choose not to write about dark and graphic violence.
Every writer, and every reader, has their own darkness meter, the level of violence beyond which they feel sickened. In my opinion, there are far too many thrillers and crime books with very dark and graphic violence on the page.
Somebody will no doubt make the same argument they do for violent video games - it's only make-believe. But books have a power all their own. Witness the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter books, with millions of kids dressing up like Harry and emulating him. If J.K.Rowling had made her hero more violent, perhaps we wouldn't be so complacent.
So I've made my choice. I'm on the light side of the meter. I don't want to put more darkness into the world. As I'm writing future crime I'm not sure if I exactly qualify as a cosy crime writer, but I'm near enough to fit in with them.
So I'm joining the Deady Dames, a group of cosy crime writers, at Purbeck Literary Festival next week, as a guest to talk about my books. I'm happy with being described as a cosy crime author. It means I'm not adding more darkness to the world.
Quantum physics tells us that everything in the universe is energy, and that that energy is affected by everything we send out into the world. Knowing this, I feel a responsibility for what I add to this huge energy matrix. And that means I choose not to write about dark and graphic violence.
Every writer, and every reader, has their own darkness meter, the level of violence beyond which they feel sickened. In my opinion, there are far too many thrillers and crime books with very dark and graphic violence on the page.
Somebody will no doubt make the same argument they do for violent video games - it's only make-believe. But books have a power all their own. Witness the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter books, with millions of kids dressing up like Harry and emulating him. If J.K.Rowling had made her hero more violent, perhaps we wouldn't be so complacent.
So I've made my choice. I'm on the light side of the meter. I don't want to put more darkness into the world. As I'm writing future crime I'm not sure if I exactly qualify as a cosy crime writer, but I'm near enough to fit in with them.
So I'm joining the Deady Dames, a group of cosy crime writers, at Purbeck Literary Festival next week, as a guest to talk about my books. I'm happy with being described as a cosy crime author. It means I'm not adding more darkness to the world.
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