'Always better for the experience'

 

“It is the job of the novelist to touch the reader.” – Elizabeth George

 

Born in Warren, Ohio on this date in 1949, George has earned a basketful of awards, including Great Britain’s Anthony and Agatha Awards and France’s LeGrand Prix de Literature Policiere – a writing version of an Academy Award – for her mysteries.

 

A master of “journaling” to keep track of day-to-day happenings around her, George capitalized on the technique while writing about “ordinary and extraordinary” days in the life of an English detective 6,000 miles away from her home, her “Inspector Lynley” series (also an award-winning television series).

 

“I’ve always liked creating a journal.  It’s like the way I clear my throat,” she said.  “I write a page every day, maybe 500 words (that’s two pages double-spaced).  It could be about something I’m specifically worried about in a new novel; it could be a question I want answered; it could be something that’s going on in my personal life.  I just use it as an exercise.”

 

George, who said she knew by age 7 that she wanted to be a writer, earned degrees and worked in teaching (twice named Teacher of the Year for California’s largest county) and counseling/psychology before turning to writing about Detective Lynley.   To date the BBC has adapted 11 and created a new 4-part series about the detective.  All told, she’s written 27 novels, 2 nonfiction books and 3 collections of short stories.  Her latest being 2025’s A Slowly Dying Cause.

 

“I try to create a challenge for myself in each book,” she said.  “And sometimes, believe me, I just kick myself afterwards and say, ‘Why on earth did you ever attempt this, you idiot!’  But I’m always better for the experience.”