Page 19 - Reader's House Magazine Issue 48

STAR INTERVIEW
RACHEL AMPHLETT
Rachel Amphlett’s journey to becoming a USA Today bestselling crime author is as multifaceted and intriguing as the characters she creates. Before she turned to writing, Rachel’s diverse experiences included playing guitar in bands, working as a TV and film extra, dabbling in radio, and serving as an editorial assistant in publishing. Now, with over 30 crime novels and short stories to her name, she crafts gripping tales of spies, detectives, vigilantes, and assassins.
A dual citizen of Australia and Britain, Rachel is a keen traveler and an accidental private investigator, a role she embraced to add authen- ticity to her amateur sleuth stories. Her passion for crime fiction and spy thrillers is evident not only in her writing but also in her reading habits, which she discusses in this insightful interview. Rachel shares her thoughts on the advantages and challenges of indie publishing, the impact of other authors on her career, and the serendipitous path that led her to become a qualified private investigator. Dive into this conversation to discover more about the creative mind behind some of today’s most compelling crime fiction.
my protagonist can and can’t do is essential.
From studying the course, I can now concentrate on creating a story where the protagonist has defined obstacles to overcome
– both from a practical investi- gation point of view, and from whatever the antagonist throws at them.
Now I just have to write the story...
What has led you to write short stories?
I started out writing short stories and having some success with those prior to writing my first novel. It was a way to test the water again with creative writing as what with playing guitar in bands for seven years and then moving to Australia, I hadn’t written anything in years.
Those early stories had more of a speculative fiction atmosphere about them – I love Rod Serling and Richard Matthieson’s writing, as well as Stephen King’s short stories where he asks “What
if?”. Roald Dahl is obviously an influence too, and although I was too young to watch Tales of the Unexpected when it was on TV in the 80s, I remember the music well and have read the stories since then.
I returned to writing short stories in 2020, more as a palate cleanse after writing the first three books in my Mark Turpin series one after the other, and tied that in with undertaking some online writing craft courses with some mentors of mine in the USA.
That served to dust off some old writing skills and also pushed me out of my comfort zone but it had the advantage of lifting my writing to another level when it came to writing novels too.
Plus, I get to bend the rules a bit with the short stories – the bad guys don’t always get caught, and I get to play with some different characters every time that might lead to new ideas for longer length works.
And it’s fun.
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