Debut Author in the Spotlight: Elizabeth Haynes

You may have noticed Elizabeth Haynes and her debut novel Into the Darkest Corner recently.  There’s been quite a buzz on twitter and the novel was featured by Amazon in its Rising Stars programme.  A lot of people love this novel.  As one of the judges for the CWA’s John Creasey New Blood Dagger, you won’t see my thoughts on the novel until later this year.  However, Elizabeth’s day job intrigued me and I asked her what it entails and how it impacts on her fiction writing.  When I was at school, the careers service never mentioned ‘intelligence analysts’ and I’ve not heard it mentioned subsequently.  So, if like me, you are curious to get out of this dark corner and learn more, read on for Elizabeth’s reply...

If you were to contemplate the best day job for a would-be crime writer, what would you come up with? Police officer? Well, that’s a given. Forensic pathologist? Criminal defence lawyer? I’m willing to bet not many people would reply with ‘intelligence analyst’ but that’s because my job is one that has been sadly and persistently overlooked by crime writers and producers of detective drama. The nearest we came to glorious representation on the silver screen was possibly Ben Affleck’s CIA intelligence analyst in ‘The Sum of All Fears’, but to be honest he was a bit more hands-on than we are in real life.