David Baldacci

May’s author of the month is none other than Mr David Baldacci, author of the fantastic new novel The Finisher!

We met up with David for a quick chat while he was over in London spreading the word about his latest novel, a fantasy adventure set in “a village surrounded by danger and built on lies”. Did you visit libraries much when you were growing up? I grew up in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, and my parents took us three kids to the library every week. I had secret deals with the librarians so that I could take out more than the normal amount of books. You were only supposed to be able to take out 12 – but they would let me take out sixteen! Can you remember the first story you ever wrote? When I was a little kid I used to talk all the time and I would tell all of these wild stories. And so my mother bought me a blank notebook and said “Why don’t you start writing some of this stuff down?”. Years later I thanked her, and I said “Wow, thanks Mom, you completely changed my life”, and her response was “Well frankly, I just wanted you to shut up! I’m your Mom and I love you but, sometimes I just need a little peace and quiet!” Tell us about your new book, The Finisher – who is your favourite character? That would have to be Vega Jane. She’s really the reason that I wrote the book. I wanted to tell her story and channel the point of view of a fourteen year old girl – I raised one, so I think I that am entitled to! I just loved writing her, and I can’t wait to see how she evolves and what happens to her. How much fun was it to make up your own world? It was a huge amount of fun. One of the reasons I wrote The Finisher was so I could create a world. All of my other books are tethered to the real world, and so I have to abide by the rules there. Here I could do whatever I wanted to do – I felt like I was a kid again!