Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve had an eventful life, having travelled to Afghanistan over 30 times in search of antique textiles, old carpets and tribal handicrafts. On most trips I managed to travel through India as well. I wanted to write about a soft-boiled detective, and decided that I could set him in pre-independence India. I had in mind the classic period of English detective writing. I’m now working on the sixth book in the series.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Calcutta Cabob. Calcutta Cabob in the fifth in the Jonathan Prosper series. Cabob is the Anglo-English form of Kebab. The idea was to write one novel involving several different intertwining stories. I’ve just published the book on Amazon, and I feel that I succeeded in making a satisfying kebab.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’ve had to fit my writing time around running my rug/textile business, which I have done for nearly 50 years, working with my wife, Alexandra Copeland, an artist. We’ve also worked together on Alexandra’s ceramics in a studio in Jingdezhen, in China, involving months work each year in China. My best periods of writing have been when I can get away by myself, holed up in budget accommodation in India – but that’s only happened twice. Right now I have more time, and sit on a comfortable couch with my laptop. I frequently need to refer to old Indian travel guides and railway schedules.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The great 1930s English crime writers, obviously – Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Josephine Tey. Georges Simenon’s Maigret books are simple and straightforward, and firmly set in a particular location, Paris. A post-war writer that I much admire is Lawrence Block. He’s a versatile writer, but his Bernie Rhodenbarr books have the light tone that I’d like to achieve.
What are you working on now?
The sixth book in the Jonathan Prosper series will be Blind Eyes and a Full Purse. It’s about a confidence trickster using a Ponzi scheme – but that’s a term that wasn’t used in the 1930s. I know where it starts, and I think I know where it ends. Somewhere in the middle I’m using a plot line inspired by Somerset Maugham’s series of short stories about the British Agent, Ashenden.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m only just getting around to promoting my books.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write about what you know. Obviously I don’t know Calcutta in the 1930s from first-hand experience, but I know a bit about Calcutta, and I’ve read all the travellers stories. Find your own voice. I intended writing 1930s crime fiction, but I’ve become very involved in my characters and I think that they write the book to some extent.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Lawrence Block’s TELLING LIES FOR FUN & PROFIT: A Manual for Fiction Writers is valuable. For me, his best advice was – always have your next book in mind so that you can work on it when you get stuck on the book you’re writing.
What are you reading now?
I’m actually reading Donna Leon’s latest Commissario Guido Brunetti book, set in Venice – Trace Elements. I try to keep up with the current English police procedural crime writers. I particularly like Reginald Hill.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I have a few more Jonathan Prosper books to write. I (of course) have an idea for a film script – 1930s, but not India.
What is your favorite book of all time?
The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame – I read it when young, I read it to my son, and and I hope to read it to my grandsons. I found a copy in a bookshop in Kabul, and I read it then. It’s known as a children’s book, but like any good children’s book it works for adults.
Author Websites and Profiles
Leigh Copeland Website
Leigh Copeland Amazon Profile
Leigh Copeland’s Social Media Links
Facebook Profile