Book Talk: Debut author finds experience not key for success

By Belinda Goldsmith

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - German writer Leonie Swann, whose hit debut novel has been translated into 26 languages, has some advice for other aspiring writers -- don't be deterred by your lack of experience.

The success of her first novel "Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story" has meant 31-year-old Swann has put a hold on studying for a doctorate in English literature in Berlin to concentrate full-time on writing.

Her novel, just released in the United States, is a detective story with a twist. Shepherd George Glenn is discovered murdered in a sheep pasture, with a spade in his chest, but the humans are helpless so some talking sheep come into play to solve the crime.

Swann, who lives in Berlin, spoke to Reuters by telephone:

Q: Where did the idea of sheep detectives come from?

A: It's hard to tell. The compound word in German (for sheep detective story) does not exist but it just popped into my head. I kind of got curious. I started to experiment and tried to find out what a sheep detective story might look like. I thought it would be a short story but when I started at the first scene I realized that I had no idea who the murderer was so I had to write on and it started to look like a book.

Q: So you didn't set out to write a book?

A: No. I've always loved to read and loved stories and invented little stories, but I always felt you had to be very experienced to write a book and I never felt up to it until I started doing it. In the course of this process I realized you don't have to be perfect from the beginning but writing can be like a craft, you keep on working at it.

Q: Had you lined up a publisher in advance?

A: I didn't expect it to be published at all. I started looking when I had finished the book and was more or less happy with it. I started sending the book to publishers myself but then I found an agent who made editors look at the book there were five or six publishing houses interested. The whole process went rather fast.

Q: Have you started your next book?

A: I am working on a sequel. There will be the same sheep but it will be a different kind of story. There were a lot of things that did not really fit into the first story so I collected them for a second book.

Q: Why did you decide to write under a pen name?

A: It feels more comfortable. Writing and publishing a book is a very personal act and a pen name helps me separate public and private life. I don't want people to Google details about my private life.

Q: Why Leonie Swann?