About Elliot Finer

My wife and I live in London. We are owned by two cats. My career has included spells as a research scientist, a civil servant, and the CEO of a company serving the chemical industry. I enjoy reading, writing, gardening and creative DIY.

I recently realised I have aphantasia – I have no mind's eye: see here.

How I became a thriller author

'If you're going to write a novel, you need to do a creative writing course first,' said my wife, Viv.

'I can't be bothered,' I said with annoying arrogance. 'I've read so many books, and written so many reports and papers, that I obviously know how to write a novel.' I thought back to when my father had taken us from our rural village to High Wycombe library every Saturday. We were allowed two fiction and two non-fiction books a week. Then there was the library in our town in Cheshire, and, from when I was 15, libraries in our north London suburb. And the science fiction paperbacks I bought once a month from the local newsagent. And now, not only the library, but also Amazon, airports… I did some mental arithmetic (also a way to annoy Her). 'I've read thousands of novels.'

My baseless self-confidence was boundless. 'You remember when I used to meet Michael Dobbs regularly, when he was an advertising executive working on that campaign I was managing? He came back from a beach holiday one summer and told me he'd found the airport novels he'd read so poor that he was sure he could do better. I've got the signed copy of House of Cards somewhere. If he could do it, so can I.'

I wanted to write a revenge thriller, because I found that genre exciting. I had a plot in my head, and started writing. Nine months later I had finished the first draft, which turned out to be rather different from my original idea. The grammar was flawless, but it was full of basic mistakes.

It took over three chastening and fascinating years to get to the published version of Killing Power. Hugely valuable input from Viv, many friends and relatives, and two professional editors taught me how to write dialogue, how to 'show not tell', how to create real characters (who, I found, often took over the plot and changed it) – all the things I would have learnt had I taken the course. But I did learn, and the praise I've received for Killing Power and the three subsequent novels has been ample reward for the time and effort. I hope that Killing Power, State of Resistance, Dead Personal,‍ ‍The Consequences of Time, and my short stories continue to bring pleasure to many readers.