Roger “R.J.” Ellory

Roger “R.J.” Ellory is the recent winner of the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year Award and author of The Anniversary Man.  His latest novel is Saints of New York.

From his Q & A with Anna Metcalfe for the Financial Times:

What book changed your life?

The Shining by Stephen King. When I was 13 and quarantined for chicken pox in my school dormitory, I would hear the footsteps of nurses in the corridor and by the time I’d got to the door to look, there was nobody there. I realised then the power of fiction.

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Who are your literary influences?

I read as many writers as possible who make me feel embarrassed about how clumsy my words are: Steinbeck, Faulkner, Hemingway, Capote, Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx.

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Who would you like to be stuck in a lift with?

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, John Steinbeck, Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Conan Doyle, Audrey Hepburn and Elvis.

Read the complete Q & A.

Also see Ali Karim's interview with R.J. Ellory at The Rap Sheet.

--Marshal Zeringue