【明報專訊】Adrian Ho, the 25-year-old local writer of English detective stories, published his new novels this summer. He has written and published a total of 11 novels in his eight-year writing journey. Without doubt, he has been a detective story fan himself since he was a child. He started reading Sherlock Holmes in primary four, then Agatha Christie's stories in secondary school.

The impulse

Apart from his love of detective stories, his blood disease also drove him to become a writer. "When I was in form one, one day I fainted then remained unconscious for three weeks in hospital. I knew that I wouldn't grow up in the same way as my schoolmates, like I could no longer do strenuous exercise."

When he woke up on his hospital bed, the impulse of writing something popped into his head. Later he published his first book His Last Coffee in 2010, featuring a detective and his partner and secretary, along with a gripping storyline of a murder mystery.

The readers

Adrian's novels are popular among young readers, and he likes going to schools to share with students his experience of creative thinking and writing. He gave them some tips on how to stimulate ideas, "Visualise the book when you read it, and try to come up with an alternative ending."

The key

He also promoted associative learning, "For example, when we talk about the colour 'red', I think of fire engine and you may think of cherry. Connect these two objects and imagine what's going to happen."

His realistic novels

In Adrian's novels, you find no aliens or supernatural power, as he likes creating stories in a real-world setting.

■English highway﹕come up with

If you come up with something, you think of an idea, answer etc.

e.g. She came up with some good ideas for the promotion project.

■Glossary

strenuous (adj) 劇烈的

gripping (adj) 吸引人的

visualise (v) 使形象化

associative learning (n phr) 聯想學習

[Smarties' Power English 第221期]