Minette Walters

Nominated Title: Disordered Minds
Other Works: Too numerous to mention but include 'The Ice House',
'The Sculptress' & 'Acid Row'.

Having packed her eldest son off to school in 1987, Minette Walters decided that it was "now or never" time and got down to writing 'The Ice House'. Perseverance proved, once again, to be the key, as it took two years to write and a further two to sell. Once that was accomplished, however, there was no looking back, as the best sellers came thick and fast.

'The Sculptress' followed a year later - winning Minette the Edgar Allen Poe Award in the USA and was adapted for television superbly, with Pauline Quirke playing the highly unusual Olive. 'The Scold's Bridle', published in 1994, won the author the coveted Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award.

A published novel in each of the last ten years shows that dedication to the craft brings its own rewards. A televison adaptation of 'Acid Row' is underway, with further novels in the pipeline.

Away from the pen, Minette lives in Dorset with her husband, two boys and two dogs, Benson and Hedges. Relaxing? It is far more likely to find Minette with a drill and a hammer in her hand for no other purpose than getting two bits of wood to hold together, rather than doing somebody to death with them; Minette is an avid Do It Yourself addict.

www.minettewalters.co.uk