Val McDermid
Scottish lesbian crime fiction writer
“I am completely out. I don’t want to live a half-life. I want to inhabit the whole world, not just a corner of it.”
"There's no logical reason why the position of indifferent planets at our birth should have an impact on personality, but I've been impressed by how often detailed personal horoscopes are remarkably accurate."
-- Val McDermid
DATA: Valerie Lesley Campbell McDermid, born 4 June 1955, 04.15 (4.15am) GDT (1he), Kirkcaldy, Scotland (03w09, 56n07). Data from birth certificate as quoted to Sy Scholfield via email from Caroline Gerard. RR: AA.
FEATURES: PERSONALIZED PLANETS:
Gemini SUN (on Ascendant), Gemini MERCURY (on South Node), Cancer URANUS (on IC; semi-square Sun; trine Moon), Cancer JUPITER (on IC; semi-square Sun; trine Moon), Leo PLUTO (on Base; square and dispositing Scorpio Moon); Scorpio MOON (on Descendant), Aquarius CHIRON (on MC).
PATTERNS: FIXED T-SQUARE (Saturn-Moon opposite Venus, all square Pluto), T-SQUARE (Chiron opposite Uranus-Jupiter, all square Neptune).
SHAPE: LUCKY HORSESHOE. CHINESE SIGN: WOOD GOAT. NUMEROLOGY: "3" LIFEPATH.
"I'm a Gemini with Cancer rising, and for those who know about this sort of thing, it does say something about me! There do seem to be trends in my life that are not explicable by mere coincidence. For example, almost all my close friends are Librans (air signs, like Gemini) or Capricorns and Virgoans (earth signs). My relationships with fire signs have almost always followed the same pattern of: great closeness, then an explosion, then an embarrassing fizzling out. I could go on, but you're already falling off your chair ..." -- Val McDermid
Val McDermid is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels starring her most famous creation, Dr. Tony Hill. [detective Pluto in creative Leo in the 3rd, the House of writing].
McDermid comes from Kirkcaldy, Fife and was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she was the first student from a state school in Scotland (Kirkcaldy High School), and became President of the Junior Common Room. After graduation she became a journalist, and worked briefly as a dramatist. However, her first success as a novelist, Report for Murder: The First Lindsay Gordon Mystery, did not appear until 1987.
Work
McDermid's notable characters are a lesbian journalist, Lindsay Gordon; a private investigator, Kate Brannigan; and a psychologist, Tony Hill, who suffers from sexual dysfunction [Pluto ruling Moon in sleuth sign Scorpio in 6th, House of sexual frustration]. Her books mainly fall into three series: Lindsay Gordon, Kate Brannigan, and, beginning in 1995, the Tony Hill and Carol Jordan series, the first entry in which, The Mermaids Singing, won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger for Best Crime Novel of the Year. The Hill/Jordan series has been adapted for television under the name Wire in the Blood, starring Robson Green.
McDermid considers her work to be Tartan Noir. As well as her novels, McDermid contributes to several British newspapers and often broadcasts on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland.
Her novels, in particular the Tony Hill series, are known for their graphic depictions of violence and torture [Pluto and Scorpio are strong in her chart].
Personal life
McDermid is a lesbian. She and her former girlfriend share custody of their son Cameron (conceived to McDermid's ex via donor insemination). She is a Raith Rovers supporter. She lives in Manchester and Northumberland with three cats.
