I spent five years in the Territorial Army
When I was at University, I joined the Territorial Army, where I spent five years, firstly as an Officer Trainee in the Infantry and then, after going to Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst to get commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant, as a Troop Commander in the Royal Engineers. I loved my time in the TA, the teamwork and comradery, but most of all the opportunity to push my mind and body to the limit, and I still miss it. Also - and I didn’t realise it at the time - but my five years in the TA opened the door to me becoming a writer and for that I am eternally grateful.
Two Little Girls
I never intended to become a writer
I wrote White Crocodile, my debut thriller, which was published in 2014, while working as Managing Editor, Land Based Weapon Systems, at Jane’s Information Group, the world’s leading publisher of defence intelligence information. As part of that role, I spent a month working alongside professional mine clearers in the land mine fields of northern Cambodia. That area of Cambodia is still riddled with an estimated ten million anti-personnel mines and Cambodia has more amputees per head of population than any other country in the world. Most of the amputees are men who were injured whilst working in the fields, trying to earn money to feed their families, or children who thought that the mines they found were toys. There is no social security, so families of amputees face an incredibly hard struggle to survive. Off the tourist trail, Cambodia is a heart-breaking place to visit, and left a huge and lasting impression on me. I felt very strongly, on getting back to England, that I wanted to shine a light onto what I found to be a very dark and disturbing world, layered with exploitation, particularly of the physically weak, which unfortunately means primarily women and children, and hence the idea for White Crocodile was born. Set in the Cambodian mine fields, White Crocodile tells the story of emotionally damaged mine clearer Tess Hardy, who travels to Cambodia to discover the truth behind her estranged, abusive husband’s death.
Once White Crocodile was published, to rave reviews, my agent said: ‘You’re a writer now. What are you going to write next?’ It had never occurred me that I would become a ‘proper’ writer and actually have to write a second, let alone a third and now, a fourth, novel.
I am fascinated by the ‘why’s’ of human behaviour
Many years ago, aged eighteen, I decided to study for a degree in Psychology as I have always been fascinated by the ‘whys’ of human behaviour. In my naïve teenaged enthusiasm, I was certain that I would emerge from those three years, a virtual psychic, able to peer, keen eyed, straight into people’s brains - decipher the secrets hidden inside. Needless to say, I was bitterly disappointed! The human brain is far too complex to be accessed so lightly.
But when my agent asked me to come up with an idea for a second novel, it made huge sense to me to revisit that love of psychology when carving out a character to be the lead protagonist. Clinical psychologist, Dr Jessie Flynn, is the embodiment of my interest in psychology and she has allowed me to continue to study, through my writing, that ‘why’.
The first novel in the Dr Jessie Flynn series was inspired by a real case I learnt about while studying for my degree in Psychology.
Fire Damage, the first novel in the Dr Jessie Flynn series (of which Two Little Girls is book three) has Jessie counselling Sami Scott, a deeply traumatised four-year-old boy whose father, a Major in the Intelligence Corp, was badly burnt in a petrol bomb attack whilst serving in Afghanistan. Sami is terrified of someone or something called ‘The Shadowman’. Sami’s parent insist that his trauma stems from seeing his father in hospital burnt beyond recognition, and that Major Scott is ‘The Shadowman’, but Jessie feels that that something far darker explains Sami’s trauma.
I was inspired to write Fire Damage after studying a case during my Psychology degree about a little girl who was terrified of ‘ the ghost man under the carpet’. It was a very strange and psychologically disturbing case.
I pretended to have been mugged in New York for a dare
Many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I went to New York with my boyfriend for a long weekend. I really can’t remember why, but he dared me to pretend that I had been mugged. The police were amazing – questioning me at length to get a detailed description of the muggers, getting me to look through books of mug shots and sending out squad cars to scour the neighbourhood – and my dare got completely out of hand. I was only saved from having my lie exposed, as I had to leave the police station to go and catch my flight. To this day I am ashamed that I ever did that dare and hope my children never do anything so irresponsible.
I was shot at in Washington DC
When I was at Jane’s Information Group, I travelled to Washington with one of my Editors, who was responsible for writing a new book about small arms. The police offered to take us for a drive in one of their squad cars to experience some of the most violent parts of the city. We ended up getting shot at – not by a hand gun, but by a semi-automatic - and came back to the station with the police car riddled in bullets. It was, without doubt, the scariest experience of my life and it was a miracle that we all escaped without injury. I have so much respect for people who, as police, risk their lives on a daily basis and of course, that experience exacerbated my New York shame!
I was the only child at school not to be allowed into the choir as I am so tone deaf
One of my father’s great passions was opera and hence, long before I discovered an interest in writing, I wanted to be an opera singer. Blessed with a loud voice, I used to sing constantly, particularly in the bath and was convinced that opera singing was my calling. When it came to try-outs for the choir, I stepped forward with complete and utter confidence - a confidence that was unceremoniously shattered when I was the only child in my whole year not to be allowed into the choir. At the end-of-year musical, I was given the role of the dog, as it was the only character that didn’t have a speaking part. I still insisted on barking the whole way through the final song though, just so that I could have my moment. I’m not sure that I have ever quite got over that early dashing of my dreams and so I try to encourage my own children to have big dreams and to do everything they can to make sure those dreams happen.
I sponsor a rat
I found the minefields of Cambodia exceptionally traumatic and wanted to do more than write about them when I got home. I did some research and found a charity, www.apopo.org, that is training African pouched rats to clear land mines. The rats are very effective mine clearers as they are highly intelligent, have a great sense of smell and so can sniff out the explosive used in mines, and they are too light to set the mines off themselves. They are called HeroRats and my rat is called Hector. I think Hector the HeroRat has a lovely ring to it.
I broke my leg after being attacked by a swan at a wedding
One of my good friends got married at a Chateau in France. It was a very glamorous wedding and my husband and I took the Channel Tunnel and drove for hours to get there. The wedding was going swimmingly, until we decided to go for a romantic, sunset wander around the moat with our glasses of champagne. What we didn’t realise was that the moat’s resident swans had a nest of cygnets. The male swan, who was humungous, took exception to the fact that we were perambulating on his territory and chased us, squawking, pecking and flapping his huge wings. My husband turned and ran and I decided, for some bizarre reason, to jump into the moat to escape. Unfortunately, I landed, twenty-feet down, on a floating pontoon that I didn’t realise was there and snapped my Fibula. I still haven’t forgiven my husband and counsel my daughters not to marry someone who legs-it in a crisis.
My dog sleeps under the covers with me, curled up around my feet
Sticking with the animal theme, I have to admit that I am sucker for anything furry and love all animals. Our family dog, who is a cross between a Jack Russel and a Beagle, is called Oddie because she looks so odd. She spends the day lying under my desk, keeping me company while I write. And like all terriers, she loves to tunnel, so I let her tunnel under my duvet and sleep on my feet at night. She knows to stay very quiet and very still, as my husband always turfs her out if he realises that she’s there.
Two Little Girls by Kate Medina is published on March 22nd.