Q&A: Dervla McTiernan, crime novelist, 43

Novelist Dervla McTiernan on The Good Turn, getting through the lockdown with kids — and how she rebuilt her life from scratch.

“The dream just happened”: Dervla McTiernan. Picture: Julia Dunin

Your new novel The Good Turn went straight to No.1 on the bestseller lists just a few weeks ago – then you had to go into lockdown in Perth. How are you coping? Oh god, it’s strange. But I can’t complain – I was so lucky that I got in and out before everything hit. It must be devastating for writers who’ve just released debut books they’ve been working on for years. At least I got to have my celebration.

You’ve live-streamed a reader event from home. How are you handling the new technology? I kind of like it. It’s a nice way of connecting; there’s a warmth that’s surprisingly rewarding.

How do you keep in touch with your extended family in Ireland? We’ve always used WhatsApp but now we’re doing these group phone calls... I think the key is to keep the numbers low. I have three brothers and three sisters, and we tried to do a call including all the cousins the other day. My two, who are reasonably quiet kids, said: “Mum, this is just chaos!”

The last global crisis, the GFC, changed your life in radical ways. What happened? I had a small legal practice in Galway; I’d worked hard to make it a success but suddenly clients could no longer pay. My husband Kenny and I spent our savings, sold our house for half of what it had been worth and came to Australia in 2011. We were starting from scratch, with nothing but a new baby and a two-year-old. It was a hard few years but things slowly got better. We had a little list – everything on it that we’d hoped for came to pass, and then some.

What was on that list? Having our own home again; for me, being able to write. When I went back to work it was part time and I started writing at night. I still didn’t think it was realistic that I’d be published. But to actually finish a book, find an agent, get the book published, then the book became a bestseller, then I was able to write full-time... it’s like: What? Kenny [an engineer] loves his work and the kids are happy... The dream just happened. Australia has been outrageously good to us.

You make it sound like your debut novel The Ruin (2018) happened like magic. But didn’t you bin 40,000 words at one stage? Yeah. I also scrapped a lot along the way. You just know when it isn’t right, even as a beginner.

After three Cormac Reilly books, what are you working on? I felt when I got to the end of The Good Turn that Cormac was battered and bruised and exhausted... I wasn’t ready to write another book with him. This other idea was nagging away at me; it’s set in the US and it’s with my agent now.

Why the US and not Australia? I lived in the States for a couple of summers – and Australia has always been a tricky one. The truth is I was a little afraid I’d screw it up. But during the bushfires my first Australian story just landed in my head; I think it was because I was angry about everything that was going on. Maybe I need to be angry to write a book [laughs].

Do you think the lockdown is easier on writers and other solitary types? On the face of it our lives haven’t changed much. But in other ways they have changed profoundly. Even if you’re an introvert, these are really weird times. And all I see on Twitter is writers going, “Aaaargh I can’t write, my brain is melting!” But I think we’ll settle down. We’re finding new ways of connecting with each other; it’s just a bit of trial and error.

Your kids are 8 and 10. How’s home-schooling working out for you? Do you know, it’s not too bad – we are more or less trying to stick to school hours otherwise they’re going to be climbing the walls. But we don’t do academic work all that time – we do a bit of maths, some cooking, board games, whatever takes our fancy.

What are you cooking? Kenny’s on dinner duty, which has been glorious. Other than that we’re baking, which is a problem, because we’re consuming the baking! We made Nigella Lawson’s banana bread with chocolate icing and sprinkles and it lasted 24 hours.

The film rights to The Ruin have been optioned by Hopscotch and production companies are on board... any updates on that? I think it is moving ahead but a little slowly now, like everything. But I’d love to be able to go back to Ireland and stand on the bridge in Galway and watch a scene being shot... Given where we were when we left on that rainy day in October 2011 with just enough money to pay for our flights and our container, it would be extraordinary. We’ll see.

The Good Turn (HarperCollins, $32.99) is out now.