Dust (42 page)

As for the future, Cornwell has no idea where Scarpetta, Farinelli, Marino and Wesley are headed. ‘Having characters is like having children. At times I don’t handle them perfectly or lead them along the right path. Then there are those other times when they don’t listen to me.’ Whatever happens, Cornwell is determined to keep pushing forward. She may have come to terms with the restlessness from her childhood, but that doesn’t mean it has vanished entirely.

‘You have to shift gears. I work really hard and I refuse to sit on my laurels. If other people want to do the same things I am doing, they are always going to be one book behind me. I will already have moved on to something else. That is the competitor in me. I will keep running to the next thing. What can I explore in this next book that puts me in a place that most people don’t go? I am going to show you something different. That’s really been my mantra from day one. Now it just takes me in different areas than it used to.’

James Kidd