A Late Bloomer

Frances Crawford's debut novel A Bad, Bad Place is the result of patience, persistence and courage

- DAWN GEDDES

IT has been a whirlwind few years for Glaswegian author Frances Crawford. The novelist's debut, A Bad, Bad Place, is published this February after being sold in a 10-way auction to Transworld.

Frances, a self-proclaimed late starter, tells me that she went back to university later in life, graduating with an MLitt in creative writing with distinction at the age of 60.

"I got a scholarship to study a master's in creative writing at the University of Glasgow," she explains. "I wasn't planning on writing a novel. I thought I'd write some little short stories.

"My hero is James Kelman, who writes these lovely little slices of Glasgow life. I thought it would be great if I could write something like that and have it published one day."

Frances tells us that one of the tutors on the course, The Cutting Room author, Louise Welsh, encouraged her to turn her hand to longer fiction.

"Louise is amazing. She is such a great tutor. One of her mantras when teaching creative writing is that crime fiction is never just about crime, and that really got me thinking. She set us an assignment to write 3,000 words.

"My piece featured Janey, the girl who is one of the main characters in A Bad, Bad Place. Louise said, 'This child's voice could be expanded into a novel'. If Louise Welsh tells you to write a novel, you don't ignore that!"

A Bad, Bad Place is set in Glasgow in 1979. While out walking her dog, 12-year-old Janey finds a murdered woman on an old railway and her innocent childhood ends in a moment of trauma.