Colin Falconer

COLIN FALCONER - books you can't put down. Hi, I'm Colin Falconer, I write crime fiction and historical fiction. I’ve published twenty-six novels so far, and been lucky enough to have them translated into 23 languages. Real ones too, not just Esperanto and cockney rhyming slang. My favorite character is DI Charlie George, who you may have met if you’ve read Lucifer Falls. Charlie was originally named after our two spaniels, Charlie and George. Charlie is the extrovert, you’ll see him around a lot, I use him in some of my publicity photos; he’s the one with the great lolling tongue and sad droopy eyes – no, wait that’s me. You won’t see George, he’s cute but camera shy – definitely not like me. Charlie George also happens to be one of Arsenal’s legendary football players from back in the day; he’s the player Charlie’s father, the fictional one, named him after. I have had a lucky life. That I’ve made a decent living as an author for almost my entire adult life astonishes me. It certainly astonishes my family. I was born in North London, and my relatives all came from places like Bethnal Green, Dagenham and Hackney. My first word was blimey. In between leaving school and securing my latest publishing deal, I found time to chase black witches across Mexico, travel the silk road, and occasionally play the guitar in pubs. My only claim to fame from those days is completing all the verses of ‘All You Need is Love’ during a bar fight in the Stella Maris Sailors Club. A promising career as an elite football player was cut tragically short because I wasn’t very good at it. After a short stint in advertising – it’s a great business, 90% lunch and 10% commission – I became a freelance journalist. I quickly gravitated to radio and television, and finally, miraculously ended up as a novelist. I admit I almost threw it in at one stage to become a full-time paramedic. The black humor characteristic of my crime novels probably comes from those days. I discovered that it was heartwarming saving people’s lives but it’s much more fun finding new and inventive ways to knock them off, and that’s how I found my way into crime fiction. I now live near the river in a beautiful city that time forgot with a woman who not only puts up with me, but has made me happier than I’ve ever been in my life. When she’s not here, I spend my days in front of a laptop talking to spaniels and imaginary people. People sometimes ask me if I ever get out of my pajamas, but I don’t wear pajamas. (Now you’ll have to spend the rest of your day trying to get that picture out of your head.) Last year I signed a deal with Little, Brown for the new Charlie George series. My new historical fiction novel, Loving Liberty Levine, is published by Lake Union. You can find the rest of my list on these pages. Thanks for reading, and for your reviews! You can find more at my web page: colinfalconer.org NEWSLETTER: https://www.subscribepage.com/colinfalconer.org