Despite wanting to be a writer since she was four years old, Alexandra took the scenic route, becoming an indie-rock singer, a composer for film and TV, an actor, and a university lecturer, before writing full time. She lives by the sea in Eastbourne with her husband, writer Guy Adams, their daughter Verity, and their dog, Dame Margaret Rutherford.
Meet Alexandra Benedict
Questions on Writing
What is the hardest part of your writing experience?
The hardest part of the writing experience for me is getting through times when things aren’t going well. Freelance life often means scrabbling around trying to find enough money to pay the rent and bills, and you never know if a book is going to sell enough for a publisher to consider your next book viable. Keeping going at those points, having faith in my writing, is difficult,
What have you learnt about yourself when writing?
I learn something about myself in every book or story I write, but it’s often not until I’ve finished something, or even years later, that I see what was going on underneath. A lot of my early short stories involved people being trapped in some way, because I felt paralysed. When my life shifts, so do my stories; and sometimes my stories help me move on in my life.
Do you make yourself write everyday/regularly, or only when inspiration strikes?
I write regularly as, for me, that’s the only way to finish a book, short story or script. If I wait for inspiration to arrive, then procrastination turns up in its place!
What does literary success look like to you?
Literary success, for me, is making a living through writing.
How much planning/world building do you do before writing, and how much comes along as you write?
I usually have the central, one line premise first, followed by a strong idea of the central character. I then do a lot of thinking and imagining before plotting, concentrating on structure, reversals, and emotional beats. Then I have fun writing the world into being.
You seem passionate about writing crime novels, particularly set at Christmas time, is there a reason for this?
I love Christmas, crime fiction, and puzzles, and now I get to combine them in my books! Christmas is a season associated with goodwill to all men, but it is also a time where the year is at its darkest and tensions in relationships reach a peak.
How do you celebrate when a book is published?
I mark publication day with a meal or a day out, somewhere new. Sometimes I buy myself flowers!
Questions on Books and About You
Firstly, the most important question, what books are currently ‘on your bedside table’?
On my bedside table is Black Thorn by Sarah Hilary; Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville, out next year; The Half-Burnt Man by Alex North, Bleak House by Charles Dickens; Holly by Stephen King, and about twenty others.
What children’s book would you suggest every adult read?
Holes by Louis Sachar
What does your writing space look like?
My study is usually incredibly messy, filled more books than shelf space, a Christmas tree all year round, many hundreds of strange perfume vials, stickers, washi tape and other stationery gubbins, half-finished crafts, the little ghosts I collect… I often write in communal office space, or cafes and hotels by the sea, to get a change of scene, and to trick my brain out of procrastinating. And when deadlines approach, I often book time away.
How many books do you think you own?
I’ve no idea how many books I own. We have a tiny house so lots of our books are in storage, but I’d say my husband and I have thousands of books.
Who is your literary icon?
Angela Carter, with Agatha Christie, Margaret Atwood, Charles Dickens, and Raymond Chandler as honourable mentions.
If you could own one rare/1st edition copy of a book, which would it be?
I’d love to own a signed first edition of T S Eliot’s The Waste Land.
Is there an author who you always read?
I always have a Dickens on the go!
And finally, are there any plans for any new books? If so, what teasers can you give us?
I’m currently writing Little Red Death, a speculative mix of crime and fairy tales, which will be published in 2025. I’ll then be writing my next Christmas mystery…
Thank you Alexandra 😊 The name of your dog really had me chuckling to myself! She sounds so regal.
Alexandra Benedict’s Books
Books By Your Bedside 