Meet the Author: Andreina Cordani
Andreina Cordani is a writer and journalist who writes fiction for adults and young adults. Her titles for young adults include Dead lucky and The Girl Who.... Her latest book is The Twelve Days of Murder which is published by Zaffre on 26th October 2023. You can find Andreina's books on our catalogue.
Who were your literary influences as you were growing up and did you have books around you as a child?
When I was seven years old my mum passed on her treasured childhood copies of Famous Five books to me and I remember staying up late (probably 9pm) because I couldn’t stop reading Five on a Hike Together. Not while Dick was still hiding in that barn! I think my love of outlandish adventure came from those. My dad passed on his love of sci-fi and one day I’d love to write something with space ships in!
When I was a teenager there wasn’t much YA fiction around but I was completely hooked on the suspense novels of Lois Duncan, who wrote I Know What You Did Last Summer. I was also obsessed with the Regency novels of Georgette Heyer.
You started out in magazine journalism. How did you make the jump from journalism to writing YA books initially?
I became a journalist because I didn’t think I had enough life experience to write books yet. That makes journalism sound easy to get into, but it wasn’t! I spent a long time caught up in building my career there but never really let go of the idea of writing fiction.
Then one day in a features meeting we were talking about a famous old case – a young girl who had been plastered all over the papers a decade ago after witnessing a horrible murder. She would have been about 20 by then and I started thinking about how hard it would be growing up with that kind of media fame. That’s where the idea for my first YA book, The Girl Who… came from. It took me ten years to write it though. I’m not one of those people who can just write on their phone while commuting. It wasn’t until I went freelance and part time that I had the headspace to finish it. That was about 10 years later!
Your latest book The Twelve Days of Murder is aimed squarely at an adult audience. Did it start out as a book for adults or when you were writing did you feel it would sit better in that section?
The Twelve Days of Murder was always going to be aimed at adults. In a way it’s a bit spikier than my YA novels. The cast of characters are delightfully ghastly and I feel like I can be meaner to them as they’re grown-ups!
Can you tell us a little about The Twelve Days of Murder?
Twelve years ago a group of (mostly wealthy) students ran a Murder Masquerade society, running elaborate mystery nights with fiendish plots and sumptuous costumes. Then on one Christmas Eve masquerade, their leader, Karl, disappears from a locked room without a trace.
This year, his twin sister has organised a reunion – one last murder mystery – at a remote Scottish house. The game is set in the 1920s and their roles are all based on The Twelve Days of Christmas – so they play Mr Gold, Lord Leapworth, Doctor Swan etc and wonder who the game’s first victim will be… But on Christmas morning Lady Partridge is found dangling – genuinely dead – from a pear tree outside.
So now there are two real-life mysteries – the twelve-year-old riddle of Karl’s disappearance and a killer among them in the present day. The characters will have to face up to their sins to find the culprit and survive the festive season.
The Christmas murder story has a long and distinguished history going back to the Golden Age. Was it a challenge to find a new angle?
Part of the fun of writing it was to play with the tropes of the Christmas whodunnit but put my own spin on it. The setup may be familiar to crime fans everywhere – a group of people snowed in together in a remote Scottish lodge – but the characters are very much a part of the modern world, bringing all its vanities and hang-ups into a classic crime situation.
What does a typical writing day look like for you?
Like many parents of young children, I work school hours, so I’m usually at my desk by around nine after walking my too-energetic dog. I’m still juggling freelance journalism with writing so some days are swallowed up by that, but on a writing day I try and focus as quickly as possible. If I’m having trouble I set up a sprint with my online writing buddies which makes me more accountable. Then time flies until 3pm when I’m off on the school run again. I do try to write in early mornings and at night but then I’m often either too tired or caught up in domestic chores.
Is there anything you can share with us about your latest project?
I just took the decision to put my latest YA project on hold. It just wasn’t holding together enough for me and I think the idea needs more time to percolate in my brain. So now I’m working on three different adult crime ideas, trying to decide which one I’m going to opt for. My agent will help narrow it down once I’ve worked out the details.
One book, piece of music or work of art that everyone should experience?
I’m not very good at these ‘pick one’ questions. There are certain books – like The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle or Educated or Edith Eger’s The Gift – that I will thrust into people’s hands if they give me an excuse to do so, but I can never make blanket recommendations. People are all too different.
Can you tell us one thing about yourself that your readers may not know?
As a teenager, during my Georgette Heyer phase, I was obsessed with historical costume and if cosplay had been invented then, I would have spent my days happily prancing around dressed as Elizabeth Bennett. So the re-enactment aspect of The Twelve Days of Murder really appealed to me, and I’m secretly desperate for someone to ask me to dress up as Lady Partridge for an event!