After producing 1,000 episodes of
top-rated primetime drama in his homeland, Peter
May had earned his place as one of Scotland's most prolific, popular
and successful television writers. As creator, script writer and
finally as a producer, his work had won nominations and critical
acclaim. But working in television
meant that for 15 years he was tied to the UK and all
other ambitions were on hold. Finally, a sense of carpe diem, a desire to
return to his first love - writing books, and the pull of a country
half-way around the world would change his life.
How did this Scotsman find himself in China?
From his attic study in the remote
Scottish Highlands, Peter May looked
out over the sea loch to the mountains beyond and an idea took
shape. It involved a cop, not a Scottish cop, but a Chinese
cop in
the capital city of Beijing. It also involved a
pathologist, a female, American, forensic pathologist. As the
mist dropped down to obscure the mountains, May realised he knew
nothing about the Chinese police force and nothing about
forensic pathology. But he turned to his computer and
made
those first initial searches on the Internet, knowing that the
information was out there. Soon, he would be on his way to
China, a country that had fascinated him for years, on the first of
many trips. Over the following
years he would spend many months there, travelling annually to watch
that vast nation undergo a period of radical change.
Honorary
Member
of the Chinese Crime Writers' Association
In his determination to make sure that the descriptions of places and
people in his books are accurate, May has made friends in all walks of
life, from all
over
China: from officials in the Ministry of Public Security, to restaurant
owners, from law professors to engineers, from students to retired
cops, all of whom have helped him to understand the way of life in
China
today. As an acknowledgement of his achievements, his fellow
Crime
Writers in China made him an honorary member of the Beijing chapter of
their
Crime Writers' association - May is the first Westerner to receive such
a tribute
"beautifully
written and very evocative"
Tangled Web
What
does research involve for Peter May?
All
in a day's work:
- examining a recently autopsied corpse at the Shanghai city
morgue then going straight to a banquet lunch with the chief pathologist
- being taken on a hair-raising ride in the pitch dark through the
backstreets
of Beijing to find the hidden headquarters of the homicide squad
- making 23-hour-long journeys across China on trains where no-one can
speak English.
"super-sleuthing in modern-day China...
[May] has extensively researched his novels and gets
right under the skin of his subject every time."
Good Book Guide
He has
had access to places that few outsiders get the chance to visit
He has seen:
- 4,000 year old Chinese artefacts at Beijing University private museum
of archaeology.
- behind the scenes at the terracotta warriors' museum in Xian
- the Beijing Institute of Forensic Science (part of the Ministry of
Public Security)
- the Shanghai police operations center, where banks of television
screens and hi-tech equipment monitor traffic and people across the
city.
Research for the China Thrillers has also taken him to some unusual
locations in the USA
- the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology museum in Washington DC,
where he saw the bullet which killed Abraham Lincoln
- death row and the death house in Huntsville prison, Texas.
- the isolation ward in the U.S. bio-warfare unit at Fort
Dettrick, Maryland - where they deal with the most deadly diseases
known to man (he couldn't stop washing his hands after leaving that
place).
How does he remember all the details?
He uses the latest digital video
equipment to make a record of his research
With a background as a writer and producer of prime time
television drama in Britain, May is at ease using video to help him in
his research. The latest editing software allows him to cut and
play back details of his trips on his computer screen while he is
working, allowing him to concentrate on choosing the right words for
his writing.
"an intense and
fascinating journey
through the city streets and vagaries of the Chinese Police system"
The Good Book Guide
But everything comes at a price, as he
found out one dark winter's evening...
Guanxi
(gwan-shee) is the name for the system in China, where if someone does
you a favour, you owe them a favour in return.
After
several trips to China where he was given total access to
the Beijing and Shanghai police forces, the time came when a car with
blacked out windows turned up one evening to take him to a meeting
where he was
asked to repay his debt...
What happened next? It's no secret that he's still here to tell
the tale, so let him tell you in person...
Writer, Gourmet and Chef
Peter May loves Chinese food - or "food" as they call it in
China. He does all the cooking at home and has collected many
recipes on his
travels.
If you have a wok, some ingredients and a camping
stove to hand, he'll happily give you a
demonstration of how to make some tasty Chinese treats. He even
has
his favourite recipes on his website, and his vivid descriptions of
extraordinary Chinese
meals always attract the attention of fans and reviewers.
Speaking
of
food - he's an expert on dining etiquette in China...
Peter May can answer FAQs, such as:
- How many deep-fried scorpions do you have to eat so you don't insult
your host?
- What's the best way to eat a Shanghai hairy crab?
- What do you do when a group of Shanghai cops challenges you to a
drinking contest?
- How do you cover it when the live shrimps on your plate splash soy
sauce over your shirt?
- What do you do when you realise that those poppy seeds on your
shrimps have legs and - in fact - they're ants?
and finally...
Chilling coincidences
...or can Peter May see into the
future?
A scary catalogue of events from
Peter May's stories have later come
true in life - it makes him concerned about
what he chooses to put on paper next.
Does he have a window on the future?
Does his
writing somehow affect the route the future takes?
Or is it all
simply a series of bizarre coincidences?
Whatever the explanation...
there is a
woman in France, who would be dead today if Peter May had not written
"The Firemaker"
If you would like to interview Peter May for print, radio
or television...
Or if you'd like to arrange for him to give a talk at your bookstore or
group...
for more
information or to contact Peter May:
for all information or to contact Peter May: