CRIME writer Martina Cole is a sponge for every bit of news going.

She scans the newspaper for crime stories and has the news channel on throughout the day. This constant “resource” of ideas might be one of the reasons Martina, who grew up in Essex and until recently loved in Benfleet, has sold more than 10million books in the UK alone. She delves unflinchingly into the gangster underworld, revealing violence, betrayal and intrigue.

I catch Martina in the midst of a writing frenzy when I call her at 11am one weekday morning.

“I haven’t been to bed yet,” she admits when she answers the phone in her trademark husky voice.

“I’m a night owl when I have a book on the go. I have never been a great sleeper and so working at night has always worked for me.

“It’s the only time the phone isn’t ringing and there aren’t people, kids and grandkids coming in and out.”

Martina is a bestselling author of 17 novels. Her latest book, the Life, is due out in May.

She finds the writing process is all-consuming. “There is no feeling like it when you are on the final draft and the adrenaline gets going,” she says. “After the final paragraph I have a large whisky. I feel so relieved that finally I can rest.” She gets a lot of her ideas from reading news stories.

Martina says: “I am obsessed with news. If I hear that a woman has been killed I fill in the rest of the story in my head,” says Martina.

“I’ve spooked myself before. I write the story and get into the characters and then I re-read it back and think God that was violent! “You feel numb to it at the time because the story is writing itself.” Martina’s route into writing has not been easy or in any way inevitable. Aged 14, she dated a bank robber and, at 15, she was expelled from Grays Convent School for reading Harold Robbins’s the Carpetbaggers.

At 16 she got married, she divorced at 17 and fell pregnant with her son, Chris, at 18. It wasn’t until she was 30 that Martina sent off a manuscript called Dangerous Lady to an agent.

She says: “My parents didn’t see my career take off but they would have been proud. “My mum would have loved the TV shows because she was into films. “It’s been 30 years but I still miss her. I hear something and think ‘oh I must tell my mum’ and forget she’s not around.

“I’ve written my mum into my books a few times. It is cathartic for me because I still miss her. I wrote my son in as the chief of police in the Lady Killers – he said ‘oh thanks, mum’. “I also slip my friend’s names in for a laugh – one was a madam and she loved it!”

As a young mum Martina lived in a bleak hostel in Tilbury with no carpets. She was a wine waitress and used to take Chris with her. Later she would come home and stuff leaflets into magazines until 4am. She credits her genes for her good work ethic and strong nature.

Her mother, Eileen, was from Glasnevin, County Dublin and her father, Chris, a merchant sailor was from Cork City. “My mum kept it all together and looked after five kids while dad was away. She was a strong woman. She was Irish and I think Irish women are strong. There is a long line of women like that in my family. My nan came over to visit one weekend and stayed for 11 years! ”They were all grafters and when things got bad they just got on with it. “I have always been like that.”

Martina is taking part in the Essex Book Festival this month where she will talk about her books and also the idea of the Essex girl. “I love Essex and I’m proud of it,” she says. “You get the same thing in Manchester and other places. We like to take care of ourselves and most of the time the rest of the country follows. “People all over the world love Towie, there are queues for Minnie’s Boutique in Brentwood and tour buses with people coming all the way from Australia.

“I used to go to the Sugar Hut when it first opened.”

But has Martine got stick for it within the literary world?

“The writing community can be snobby and being blonde, from Essex and a woman does affect how I am perceived,” says Martina. “But I have never said that I write literature. I want people to lie on a beach reading my book because I spin a good yarn.” She is looking forward to the festival and being back in Essex having moved to Kent. Martina says: “I am a real reader and it is nice to be part of the Essex Book Festival. “It is nice they are doing it because it is important. I am excited about it.”

Martina’s latest book, The Life, is due to be released in May this year.

She says: “It’s about a family and the deceit and betrayal and how far that runs. I think betrayal in family is the worst thing.” Martina has clear views on the importance of keeping close friends. She adds: “We’re always suspicious of people who don’t have old friends.

“I’ve got the same group of friends I grew up with and we go on holiday to my place in Cyprus together.”

Martina has a close attachment to her characters and it was important that they were represented correctly when the books were adapted for TV.

“Tom Hardy really was Freddie Jackson in the Take. He was exactly how I imagined him! Keirston Wareing was just like Jackie Jackson. She is a fantastic actress and that’s why we got her back for the Runaway.

Martina is a lover of theatre who donates money to the Theatre Royal Stratford East and also The Broadway Theatre in Barking.

She says: “Seeing my novel Two Women adapted for the stage was great as I am a big theatre fan. Martina, who treasures the freedom she has to travel with her job, has just come back from visiting the favelas in Rio.

She says: “If the kids didn’t have football they wouldn’t have anything. You climb right up and there are open sewers. The people are amazing. I stayed for the carnival and we were at the front. There are gangs there but under the surface.

“I might use the experience in a book – maybe drugs washed up in Eastborune so I can work it in somehow.”

When we say our goodbyes, Martina goes back to her favourite pastime – reading the papers to search for the grizzly story that will be the inspiration for her next novel.

What Next for Essex? From Essex Man to TOWIE – and beyond. Martina is coming to the Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, Queen’s Road in Brentwood on Friday 15 March at 7pm. Tickets cost £5 and £4 concessions. To book tickets call the box office at 01206 573948.