Writers Abroad Magazine Issue 7 November 2017 | Page 10

WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
AUTHOR INTERVIEW –
B.A.PARIS
BY Angela Williams
Bestselling author, B. A. Paris has achieved the kind of
commercial and critical success that most writers dream of.
She has very kindly agreed to share a few of her secrets with
us.
Bernadette, welcome to this edition of Writers Abroad
Magazine! You too are a writer abroad. Why and when did
you decide to leave the UK and settle in France?
Thank you, I’m delighted to be answering your questions! I left the UK to live in
France over thirty years ago as I wanted to be able to speak French fluently. I
thought I’d stay for a year but I was enjoying Paris so much I decided to stay a
while longer. During my second year there, I met my husband. I always thought
we’d go back to the UK but then we started having children and before I knew it,
I’d spent more years living in France than in the UK. We also spent four years
living in The Hague – my youngest daughter was born there. We’re now moving
back to the UK, for family reasons. My parents are elderly so I want to be able to
see more of them, my sister and brothers too. My eldest daughter lives in Paris
and my two youngest ones are both at university in Lille, so we’ll be going back
to see them regularly, and to catch up with our friends. I won’t be abandoning
France completely!
Did you start writing when you moved abroad or were you writing fiction
before?
I only started writing a few years ago, when my two older daughters were away
at university. With only three daughters at home, I began to have some time to
myself. So I did what I’d always wanted to do, and started writing. That was in
2008 and I haven’t stopped since.
You write psychological thrillers with female protagonists. Which authors
have influenced your writing the most, and in what way?
I’m not sure that I am influenced by other authors, in relation to my female
protagonists. I was an avid reader of Agatha Christie when I was in my early
teens, so she probably had the greatest influence on me. The other writers I enjoy
reading are Leon Uris, James Clavell and Wilbur Smith, who wrote/write huge
sagas rather than psychological thrillers.
I very much enjoyed Behind Closed Doors (soon to be made into a film) and
The Breakdown which were both set in the UK. I was wondering if you plan
to set a future book in your adopted country, France?
I’m glad you enjoyed them! I don’t have any plans to set future books in France,
although Bring Me Back starts in France. My fourth book will be set in the UK
too.
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