It’s always a joy when Red Herrings, the CWA bulletin, flops through the letterbox. There are two articles which drew my attention in this issue. Liz Mistry tells us how writing can be a form of exorcism, exploring our mental demons, and purging them. Certainly I found it enlightening when I delved into the mind of an antisemite in my latest book, Called to Account, the fourth in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures.
I posted yesterday, in Readers Club, my review of A Cry for Mercy. That is certainly a window into the dungeon of a tormented mind. So that chimed with Liz Mistry’s article. The centre pages belong to Richard Creasey and a fascinating account of his father, the best selling crime writer, John Creasey. His book Gideon’s Fire won Mystery Writers of America Edgar award for best novel of 1962. I haven’t yet read any Creasey books, but I’m always on the lookout for great writers. Since one of his books is called Inspector West Makes Haste, I suppose I’d better hurry up and read it. Sorry, what an awful pun.
John didn’t understand as a child how extraordinary his father was. Certainly he admits that none of his friends’ fathers were in the Guinness Book of Records. The record was having accumulated a record 743 rejection letters. I always find it encouraging that writers like Creasey, Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Rowling, were rejected so many times. I use it to perform an exorcism of my own demon, and keep writing. The amazing thing is that Creasey wrote a book a week, despite, or perhaps because, he was dyslexic. Being neurodiverse is quite common amongst extraordinary creative people. You only have to look at Steven Spielberg, Richard Branson, and Winston Churchill. I really don’t think I can avoid reading Creasey’s Inspector West series.