Camilla Läckberg
 

It’s always been my life’s dream to write detective novels. It first came true in 2003 when my first book The Ice Princess was published in Sweden and now, my seventh book, The Lighthouse Keeper has reached the shelves in Sweden at the same time as the rights to my books have been sold to over 30 countries worldwide. Here on my website you can find out about me, my books, and Fjällbacka, the place where I grew up and the scene of all my murders. Most of the characters in my books are fictional, but some are real people living in the area, and I’ll be telling you more about them in these pages. Happy reading! Camilla Läckberg

Camilla’s books are set in Fjällbacka, the coastal village where Camilla was born and raised. In northern Bohuslän, about 140 km north of Göteborg, lies the little community of Fjällbacka. Already a fishing village in the 17th century, Fjällbacka is now an idyll that’s steeped in history. Its name derives from the imposing rocky outcrop that the village encircles. Thousands of tourists visit Fjällbacka in the summer. For the rest of the year, there’s about 1,000 permanent residents. Fjällbacka might be small, but there are still hotels, cafés and shops. The best way to get to Fjällbacka without a car is by train to Uddevalla. You can also take a train to Dingle and from there take a bus to Fjällbacka, or alternatively fly to Trollhättan and make your way from there.

Principle character

Hopefully by now you’ve started to realise that all this crime novel writing isn’t something that only the chosen few can do – it’s also something that YOU can do too! And the best is yet to come – creating a principal character!

Creating a principal character

Few crime novelists have opted not to have a principal character. The principal character very much sets the tone of the novel and if you’re planning to write a series centred on this person, it’s important that you get a real feeling for, and can relate to, him or her.

Think about whether you want to have an amateur or professional sleuth. The advantages of a police officer is that you can get your principal character involved credibly in crime investigations, while the advantage of an amateur is that it enables you to explore a fresh perspective in the crime genre. Examples of authors who have chosen amateurs as their principal characters are:

Ingrid Kampås – nurse

Liza Marklund – journalist

Agatha Christie – knitting old lady

You can also choose a person who isn’t a police officer, but who still comes into contact with crime investigations:

Kay Scarpetta – medical examiner (semi-amateur at least)

Åsa Larsson – lawyer

Jonathan Kellerman – psychologist

It’ll be to your advantage if you can use a profession with which you’re familiar. Ingrid Kampås, for example, is a nurse, and Liza Marklund, as we all know, is a journalist. Go with what you know!

EXERCISE:

Think about who you want as a principal character. Write at least two sides of A4 introducing him or her.

RECOMMENDED READING:

“Människans varg” by Ingrid Kampås” (in Swedish)

Any of the Miss Marple series by Agatha Christie

Please address all queries about Camilla Läckberg and her books to Nordin Agency for further assistance. E-mail: info@nordinagency.se Phone: +46-8-571 685 25 Address: Nordin Agency, P.O. Box 4244, 203 13 Malmö, Sweden For questions regarding sponsoring and press, please contact Christina Saliba at Weber Shandwick. E-mail: christina.saliba@webershandwick.se Phone: +46-70-341 46 54. For more information in Swedish about Camilla Läckberg please visit Camilla's Swedish website: www.camillalackberg.se .