Linda La
Plante |
Lynda
La Plante, one of the country's best known crime writers, recently
took time out from her busy schedule to pop into 大象传媒 Norfolk for
a chat with Andy Archer.
The
Liverpool-born novelist trained as a RADA actress before switching
to writing. She has penned eight bestsellers including The Legacy,
Bella Mafia, Cold Shoulder and Sleeping Cruelty.
But
some of La Plante's finest moments have been her TV serialisations
for which she has won a clutch of awards from Baftas to Emmys.
The
screening of her latest tale, Trial and Retribution (ITV, June 19
and 20) adds to a long list of TV credits which range from Prime
Suspect to The Governor and Widows.
And
in a very hectic month for La Plante, her novel Royal Flush (Pan
Macmillan) has just been published.
But
there were some tense moments when she discovered her plot resembled
the foiled Millennium Dome Diamond heist - but fortunately her getaway
plan was flawless!
AA:
Do you miss Liverpool when you're in New York or Los Angeles?
LLP:
No. I've been away from Liverpool for a very long time, since I
was 16 and went to RADA. It is odd when I go back though because
I'm doing a movie script - it is the first movie script I've written
- and there's an extraordinary network of tunnels in Liverpool that
I've only just discovered.
Most
Liverpudlians don't know they're there. They are called the Williamson
Tunnels and they're very hesitant to have a link in any way to the
slave trade - and Liverpool was the biggest slave trade dock in
England.
This
man Williamson was also in the tobacco trade, but he began in his
own property, in his cellar, and he employed local workmen and it
got bigger and bigger. These tunnels stretch across Liverpool and
they're only starting to excavate them now. They have to be seen
to be believed because they're works of art.
AA:
Have you used them in any of your stories?
LLP:
I'm just about to. That was why when I learnt about them I asked
if I could go down. What is extraordinary is the Liverpool sense
of humour. There was myself, Jason - one of my researchers, Lucy
- one of my researchers, and a co-producer from La Plante productions,
Sophie.
We
met this man and within two seconds I'm Lind, she's Soph, Jason
is Jase and it's "Come on, Jase, let's get down there!" It's that
familiarity that I don't find anywhere else in England. "Come on,
Lynd, down the ladder. Oops, I touched ya bum!" and you don't mind
at all!
AA: I remember going into a pub in Liverpool and not knowing
anyone and by the end of the lunch session I knew everyone. It is
a wonderful place.
LLP:
Yes. And now I keep on telling people, "Do you know about the
Williamson Tunnels?" and nobody does.
AA:
I was checking you out on the internet and I discovered you're a
collector. You enjoy buying junk, what sort of junk?
LLP:
I'm afraid so. Quite large junk I am. I'm serious junk. I'm here
today and I could be driving past and I could see a wardrobe. Most
people would say I'm not going to bother with that, but oh no I
purchase wardrobes, I purchase tills.
Things
like old pianos. Old piano legs make the most amazing lamp standards.
You'd be surprised how many wondrous carved piano legs you can find.
AA:
What do your friends say when they come around and see all this
junk?
LLP:
I have to say they do laugh. A lot of my purchases like life-size
horses' heads - I buy anything that takes my fancy because once
I wanted a life-size ebony panther.
I used to pedal past this in a window of a shop. At the time I wanted
a sofa bed and I had 拢400 for this sofa bed and I kept pedaling
past this shop and eventually I went in and it was the most extraordinary
looking thing.
It
was early Victorian, it had amber eyes, beautiful white ivory teeth
but it was the movement of the panther.
So
I said to the man, "How much is that panther?" and it was 拢10,000
and I said, "拢10,000 for that panther." I said, "What
is it?". He said, "It's a collector's item. I've had it for nine
years."
For
nine months I went backwards and forwards and then it was closing
down and everything was half price and I thought if I hang on that
thing is going to come down to 拢3,500. So I hung on and hung on.
He
knew me by then, he used to say, "Hello, Lynda. Coming in to see
your panther?"
And
it got down and down and I thought sod it, I'm going to buy it and
I went in and it had sold on its tail. I'll never forget the feeling.
I
said, "Have you kept it for me?" and he said, "No, I sold it 10
minutes ago." I said, "But that's mine, it's my panther. You can't
have sold it." He said, "I'm sorry, you've been after it for a year!"
I
was so upset I went and bought a horse's head. Every time I walk
into my house I see this horse's head and I say that's the lesson:
when you see something you want go for it. Don't let anyone talk
you out of it. I dream about that panther. Twenty years later I'm
still maudlin about that panther.
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