Interview with Ian Rankin, author of Bleeding Hearts - Page 2

SB: What kind of research do you do for a book like this?
IR: For Bleeding Hearts I did a lot of research into various armaments, and also into the subject of hemophilia, added to which I did some travelling in the USA to ensure the various locales were written about with some degree of accuracy. (Though the book itself was written in France, so a few errors may have crept in!)

SB: What is the most common misconception about you?
IR: The most common misconception about me is probably that I am Detective John Rebus, or at least resemble him greatly in age, personal habits, and so on. I'm ten years younger than him and have never been a cop. Okay, so I do a little drinking for research purposes, but there the similarities end...

SB: Who are your influences?
I have been influenced by many books. As a kid I read A Clockwork Orange and started writing short stories under its influence. Later on, I wanted to explore the darker side of Scotland, and was influenced by writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) and James Hogg (Confessions of a Justified Sinner). In the crime genre, James Ellroy influenced aspects of my style from my novel Black and Blue onwards.

SB: How would you describe your writing style?
My novels may stretch to 400 pages, but I try to write them lean - making the reader do quite a lot of the work. I seldom describe characters at length, inviting the reader to imagine the faces, voices, and so on. I try to use few adjectives and adverbs, and few elaborate similes and metaphors. The style is as simple as my writing will allow.

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

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