Tell me a bit about yourself

I never know where to start with this question for some reason. I live in Indiana (US) with my husband and two kids and a couple of cats. Oh, and fish. We have one fish per child, actually one pet per person, I just realized. I like to write books and stories and draw things. I also enjoy video games very much. I’m currently playing Deus Ex on PS3 when I can grab a few spare moments.
How did you become involved in writing?

I started writing very gradually. I loved reading as a kid. I was a total bookworm until I became a teenager and decided that getting into trouble might be more fun.

Writing didn’t interest me until I was well into my 20s. I started jotting down story ideas. My husband thought it was weird. I guess I thought it was weird, too, but I kept going back. Writing settles some restless part of my mind. It gives the creative energy somewhere to go. I feel more settled into myself when I’m working on a book, if that makes sense.

Were you influenced by any particular writing or styles?

I read different kinds of fiction, everything from early 1900s gothic weirdness to Stephen King and Dean Koontz to brain junkfood like Janet Evanovich and James Patterson.

There’s a quote I like from John Sayles. I hope I get this right, “The people who influence you aren’t necessarily who you’re going to write like, but the fact of their existence, of the existence of their characters, the spirit in them, opens up a possibility in your mind.”

Everything I read influences me in some kind of way. I take the techniques I enjoy as a reader and keep them in mind when I write.

 What was your path to successfully publishing your first book?

I publish my own work at the moment. I never really tried to go the traditional route. I read a lot of writer and agent blogs and pursuing a publisher just seemed like a waste of time. Getting published by a major house would be awesome, but from here, it looks like writers waste their time writing all these queries that barely get looked at.

I would rather do my own thing. It’s more work. I have more control, which may not always be the best thing, but I’m happy with most of it.

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You’ve written a horror short story called ‘Frying Tonight’ which is set during the American Civil War. Could you please tell us a bit about it?

I love the research part of the writing process; so when the calls for submissions came for this project, I spent a long period just researching and reading on line accounts of that period.  The idea just crept up on me; without giving too much it really addresses the limits humans would go to stay alive and how this could become sort of acceptable and natural, kind of like something we would today think was barbaric was very every day….sort of Scarlett O’Hara meets Hannibal …saying no more ha ha

Where did you get your ideas from for ‘Frying Tonight’? Did you need to do a lot of research? How difficult was it to write in another time period?

As previously mentioned, I had already made sure I had a clear grasp of the events of that period, common mistake many writers make is just not doing their research especially with regard to language, this was the deep south, so I am very looking in that I have many supportive American friends who checked over the vernacular for me.

You have a keen interest in politics and justice for the people. Do you think that this filters into your writing?

Very much so, although my short stories unfortunately have to be a lot snappier with less character growth, I would like to think my longer novels (when completed) not so much address or change the world (I am a realist), but my characters are real enough to show the reader how life can be for those experiencing injustice.

You have been published three times, one of which is in an anthology called Anxiety Disorders: True Stories of Survival. Can you please tell us a bit about this?

Any form of mental illness is still pretty much not spoken about; this anthology was fantastic because it gave me the opportunity to address a period in my life many years ago, write about it and hopefully inspire others to realise they are not alone and many people from all walks of life either experience anxiety, depression etc, but its not the end of the world….

How long have you been writing?

My mum always said I was born with a book, pad and pencil in my hand.  I have been writing since I could pick up a pen really, moved around a lot as a child overseas, so writing became like the best friend I never had chance to make!

What inspires you?

Living inspires me, what I see around me every day, basic every day things from a horror perspective can be turned into a short story, I just don’t have enough hours in the day!

What is your writing space like?

As I am currently in my last year at university, I have took over the whole house with my books, writing takes a back seat at the moment, but the ideas folder on my laptop is full….and I still try to write a little bit every day, think that’s really important.

Who are your favourite authors and why?

I was an early reader, so had gone through the whole gambit of children’s novels by age 9, so started on my mums bookcase, The Shining (King) and Rosemary’s Baby (Levin) were hidden from her, but really yes, my lifelong love of King started at that age.  I just love his characterisations, bit like Marmite you either love him or hate him.  Dickens, again the characterisation but also the social commentary, the use of words, just brilliant.  And of course, David Moody, not just a great writer, but a friend and I hope one day to be able to write as well as he does.

What is it that draws you to the horror genre? Have you been interested in horror since childhood?

As above….and I had a pretty bohemian childhood so we spent lots of time in the great outdoors, nature is pretty horrific and as children me and my brother were pretty fascinated with dead things both in the sea and on land!

How do you celebrate Halloween?

Of course, it’s a massive deal in my house.  I live in a 200 year old refurbished church, so externally the atmosphere is already there, but always decorate and dress up and throw a party! Most years I’m not a zombie, generally a witch.

Liz Jensen’s eight acclaimed novels include The Ninth Life of Louis Drax and most recently two ecological thrillers, The Rapture and The Uninvited. Her fiction, published by Bloomsbury, spans black comedy, science fiction, satire, family drama, historical fantasy and psychological suspense. It has been adapted for radio, appeared in anthologies, developed for film, short-listed for the Guardian Fiction award, nominated three times for the Orange Prize, and widely translated. She has two adult sons and shares her life with the Danish writer Carsten Jensen, best-selling author of the internationally-acclaimed We, The Drowned. She lives in Copenhagen.

Hi Liz, thank you so much for joining us. That really is an impressive bio. Which books were the source of your early inspiration towards building your passion for writing? 

The Cat in the Hat was the first book I remember reading on my own, and it must have lit a fire in me because I haven’t stopped reading in the 50 years since – so thank you, Dr Seuss. I knew by around eight, when I wrote my first ’novel’ (The Ghost with the Wooden Leg) that this was my calling. While on the romantic front, I’d be marrying a baboon or possibly a gorilla. Ah, those early convictions! By the time I was fifteen I’d dropped the primate obsession but was still an avid reader. I remember that Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan and Gormenghast reconfigured my mental landscape the way only good fiction can. I thought then: ’Yes, this is still what I want to do’. Yet paradoxically it was around that time that my confidence faltered. Expressing a wish to write seemed on a par with announcing you’d be flying to Venus in a sequinned ballgown: borderline loony.

At this point it dawned on me that to finance the writing life I wanted (which I assumed I’d be indulging in secret, like a kinky habit), I’d need a ’proper job’. Journalism ticked the Normal box, and felt like a smart way in. I took some risks by catapulting myself to first Hong Kong and then Taiwan, where I got lucky. Back in the UK the career took over, and there was a decade or so in which the Grand Writing Plan simply got shelved and semi-forgotten because I was too busy. But there were moments when I  remembered. One of them came in my late 20s when I read Jeannette Winterson’s Oranges are Not the Only Fruit. That novel thrilled me to the core. Realising that someone my own age could write incisive, ground-breaking novels that told fundamental truths was an inspiration.

Which writers/authors currently inspire and delight you? 

I am going through a phase of reading American literature, in particular memoirs and fictionalised memoirs: what in Scandinavia they call auto-fiction. The Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgaard paved the way for books like Jenny Offil’s Department of Speculation and Ben Lerner’s 10:4, both intelligent hybrids that splice memoir, fiction and elements of the poetic truth together, forming a vivid perspective on how we humans cope with everyday reality. You could argue that the emerging genre is navel-gazing incarnate, and the literary equivalent of the selfie. But at its best, forensic introspection can be generous, illuminating and creative. I have also recently discovered the memoirs of Mary Karr, who among others paved the way for all these writers. I’ve returned again and again to The Liars Club,  Cherry and Lit, all read by Karr herself (luminously, by the way) on audio. The combination of searing honesty and deadpan humour is perfectly-judged. It feels almost artless, but it’s far from that: she comes from poetry, and you can sense it in her choices and rhythms. Tobias Wolf told her once: ’don’t be afraid to look like an asshole’. She was brave enough to take that advice, and it led to a truly striking body of work. Then there’s the brilliant essayist Rebecca Solnit, who I first discovered through her iconic essay Men Explain Things to Me. A Paradise Built in Hell,  her investigation into the way ordinary people co-operate to re-build their lives after disasters, is a masterpiece.

Was the first novel you ever wrote the first to be published? How long had you been writing before this happened?  

When my then husband was offered a job in France, I jumped at the chance to leave the BBC and start a new life: now I’d finally write that novel. Two years later, I was living in a tiny village, making cement sculptures, doing freelance journalism and translation, and experimenting with everything under the sun including hang-gliding. But still no novel. By the time I was pregnant it felt like now or never. To begin with I set myself the task of writing 1,000-word pieces every day, just to get into the writing habit. Those exercises – about French village life – consisted of factual prose that kept trying on fiction’s clothes and enjoying what it saw in the mirror. I never sent them anywhere, and although looking back they weren’t much cop, they were a neccessary stepping-stone into something wilder and truer. Despite the writing exercises, I still didn’t have a story to tell all through my pregnancy. Oddly enough, it was giving birth that did it. It started because I was so traumatised by the pain, thanks to a failed epidural, that I had to write the horror out of my system. Next I tried turning some of that post-traumatic-stress stuff into a proper scene, rather than an existential scream, and that led me to write further scenes. Then there was my son himself: the sudden, vivid presence of an extraordinary, demanding little person who was all personality, gave me both a narrative and a reason to write. In between breast-feeding and watching a soap opera called The Young and The Restless on French TV, I was amassing sentences that became paragraphs and then chapters. Interestingly, the gruesome childbirth scene never made it into the finished book. But other things about motherhood did, and I have my son to thank for that. I learned then: anything can get you going. And you’ll know when it has, because you’ll feel it yelling for you in the night as loud as any infant.

In all, I spent four and a half years after my son’s birth wrestling with the novel that became Egg Dancing. Writing is a voyage of discovery. You take wrong turns. You give up for a bit and you re-start. You try to keep faith in yourself. You keep trying to show off to the people you love.

Do you have a particular place to write? Or a set time of day/night?

I’m pretty flexible. During the years when I had pre-school and school-age children, my working day revolved around their schedule. When they were elsewhere, unless there was a particularly compelling reason to think about them, I didn’t: I just entered whichever imaginary world I was occupying at the time, and wrote in my study. When they came home, the working day often ended there. But you never quite switch off: a novel is always bubbling away at the back of your mind. Although I never wanted my boys to think my work was more important than their company, I didn’t feel bad about grabbing every spare moment I had.

Ever since they grew up and left home, I’ve had far more time to work – but I can’t say it has made me more productive. In fact the more constrained my time is, the better I deploy it. Recently I hit a wall with my writing and decided to try doing things differently. So now I go to a cafe around the corner from my home in Copenhagen and write in a notebook, in longhand. I find this frees me up. If I have written anything worth pursuing, I will follow it up back at my desk, on the laptop. Dangerous as this may sound, I’m not opposed to introducing alcohol into the equation: it can trigger a useful mental shift. And hell, it worked for JG Ballard.

What moments in your career have given you the greatest pleasure and inspiration?

My first novel being accepted by an agent was such a shock that I lost my voice for a week. And when I signed a contract with Bloomsbury, I switched overnight from being a fundamentally dissatisfied person to a fundamentally satisfied one. It never ceases to thrill me that I have managed to make a living out of spinning stories from thin air. My only ambition is to be able to carry on doing it.

I love exploring new genres, and passing on what I know to those who are starting out. Teaching is a joy, especially when students blossom and produce exciting work. I enjoy the company of my writer friends and the writing community, both in the UK and Denmark, and online. It’s a generous, stimulating world to be part of. And everyone loves to talk shop.

I’m still processing the pleasuure of The Ninth Life of Louis Drax being made into a movie. Max Minghella’s screenplay injects new elements I wish I’d imagined myself: it’s a thrilling creative metamorphosis that takes the story to a new level. On the set in Vancouver last November, I kept wishing I could freeze time: I don’t think I’ve ever felt so spoiled, or on such a protracted high. It’s surreal to think that something you dreamed up a decade ago could suddenly involve helicopters and catering vans and fake coma facilities and silicon dummies. The Drax cast and crew were warm, funny, hard-working, and utterly committed. I sat on the sidelines with my family, crocheting many mis-shapen garments, including a little headband for Jamie Dornan’s baby, and a weird snood for Aiden, the brilliant young boy who plays Louis: the activity kept me calm. For a week, I was the hectic woman with the big ball of wool and the Cheshire cat grin.

As a creative writing consultant, what advice would you give to students and aspiring authors? 

Read, read, read. Don’t expect to get it right first time. Don’t be afraid to emulate writers you admire. Your own voice will end up shining through no matter what. If you don’t have a big idea, play around with smaller ideas and see what happens. Be your wildest self at all times: be receptive to what Stephen King calls ’the boys in the basement’. (And read his essential On Writing too). If you have an extreme thought, a thought you are almost ashamed of having and can barely articulate, strive to put it into words. This is what people want when they read.

And as an experienced and successful author?

Read, read, read. And since it’s garbage in, garbage out, read quality.

How does one begin writing a novel? 

Good question. But I have no proper answer. You might think that having written one novel the next is easier, but it isn’t. With each story you tell, all you learn is how to tell that story.

I like to start with a big idea or a theme – but in order to convey that, I need to find the right voice. The story and the setting emerge once the voice begins to get into its stride. I might know the ending early on, but find that the middle is a blank, so it’s a question of reverse-engineering it. I believe in spending a lot of time on the opening pages, because that’s where you are establishing a tone and a world. If you have a first chapter you are proud of, that sets a gold standard for the rest of the book.

Genre-wise, I have lately been moving into new territory, and working on a book that has elements of memoir. So I’ve stopped focusing on openings, and on story structure: this project is much looser and more instinctive. The idea is that the fragments I’m amassing will somehow jigsaw into place and I’ll have something I can call my next novel.

Rejection is a huge obstacle in the path to publication; do you have any stories or advice you can share to help writers deal with this?

Don’t show or send your work too soon, and don’t show or send it to the wrong people. It’s a mistake I have made all too often myself. For the most part, loved ones are there for you to love: they are not there to judge your art. There is always too much at stake, and others will do a more honest job. But make sure the readers you elect are real readers. By that I mean if they don’t read a lot of quality fiction,  then don’t risk it, however keen they are. They won’t be able to help you and they may actively make things worse.

If you find an astute reader who loves your work, but will always push you to do even better, then you have hit the jackpot. I have a reader like that: she is Polly Coles, author of the memoir The Politics of Washing: Real Life in Venice. We have swapped work over many years: as well as being a seriously talented writer, she has one of the sharpest literary brains I know.

Lastly, if you want to be a professional novelist, behave like one. If you get negative feedback or are rejected, swallow your pride and get constructive by analysing what went wrong and working out how to fix it. Or by putting it aside and starting something new. Many published writers have a few discarded stories or often whole novels in their bottom draw. It’s about dogged persistence as well as inspiration. If you have heard this before (and you surely have), there’s a reason: it’s the bald truth.

And finally, if you hadn’t become an author, what job would you have done? 

I’d have continued as a radio producer. I loved putting together radio documentaries, and I made some I was proud of. It’s such a dynamic and layered form of storytelling. When I listen to podcasts like This American Life, Radiolab, and (my all-time favourite) Lea Thau’s addictive Strangers, I find myself missing that life just a little. It’s no coincidence that one of the characters I’m playing around with now is on the fringes of that world. What I love about audio – and here I include audio books, my new passion – is the luxurious intimacy of a story told directly into one’s ear in a compelling voice. I cherish that intensity, that deep submersion in another world, that soul-expanding trust that comes when you opt to take a journey with a stranger.

But another part of me yearns for hard physical work, outdoors in the sun and the rain. I need to use my my hands, and get them dirty: I need to sweat. Give me weeds to pull, soil to turn and mud to stomp through. I worked on a kibbutz once, picking grapefruit. My arms were covered in bloody scratches from the thorns but I was in Heaven.

Manual work is underrated. To truly appreciate the world we need to inhale it, see the wildness at the edges of all we’ve tamed, feel the thump of its heart.

Visit www.lizjensen.com

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The movie The Ninth Life of Louis Drax, adapted for the screen by Max Minghella, will be released later this year or in 2016. It stars Jamie Dornan, Sarah Gadon, Aaron Paul and Aiden Longworth. #The9thLifeofLouisDrax

Leesa Harker, playwright, author, Open University student, and mother, has had tremendous success over the past twelve months with her books and her play 51 Shades of Maggie, which is currently touring the UK and has recently triumphed in Australia. I caught up with Leesa to ask her a couple of questions.

You have had phenomenal success over the last twelve months-What has been your favourite highlight?

There have been many! I’ve just had my play sell out at The Grand Opera House in Belfast which was amazing. But, I think seeing my book on the shelf in the main bookstores in Belfast City Centre has to be the personal highlight for me. Because it’s something I had dreamt of since I was a child. And I could finally call myself, a writer.

How did you find the adapting of the dialect for the UK/Australian audience?

I didn’t adapt the Australian one myself, the production team and actress did that over there. I’ve never been to Australia! The UK one was actually quite straightforward. I have always been good at ‘doing’ accents. So, I watched Eastenders, then wrote a little (it’s an East-End version for the UK) then watched again the next night and wrote a little. My thoughts in my head were in an East-End accent, so it just flowed from there. That makes me sound like a schizophrenic!

You have started your own theatre production company-what are your plans for this?

Well, I have learned so much in the last year. In particular, don’t sign contracts until you have an agent. So, taking that on board, I decided to produce the next Maggie Muff play myself. I want to be in control of my own creativity – and profit. I have a business background – so I thought – why not! I’m not one to be afraid of taking a risk or grabbing an opportunity. I’m very excited!

Adele De Silva plays the lead in the UK adaptation-did she instantly like the script?

Yes! She had her audition in Belfast and she really took on the role of Maggie right away. She ‘got’ it. I’m looking forward to seeing her on stage as Maggie in September.

Who inspires you-and why?

Quite a few actually! Writers wise – I have always been a Marian Keyes fan – in fact, she is the one who inspired me to write. Her conversational style and real characters makes it look easy! (It’s not.) I really admire strong female writers – I love Kay Mellor. She writes for TV – I remember watching Band of Gold on TV and thinking – I want to do this. I also love Ruth Jones. I think writing for TV is a male-dominated environment, so that’s why I especially admire female TV writers.

What is your favourite line from 51 shades of Maggie?

There’s quite a few belly-laugh moments. But one of my favourites is when Mr Big invites Maggie for dinner…and it’s oysters. Maggie has never had oysters before – she’s used to dinner dates at KFC. But she gets drunk and eats a load of them. Then, Mr Big takes her to the bedroom. She is on the bed on all-fours when he comes closer to admire her bottom. She says, ‘See if I do an oyster fart now…he’s gonna end up with his eye-brows singed…and a squint!’

Has your studying with the Open University helped your writing?

Definitely. The course materials were great…mostly. But more importantly, reading other students work and seeing what they did right, and wrong helped me. Aside from that, my Creative Writing tutor was the one who told me that I had a gift for writing comedy and not to shy away from that. I had been worried that other students in my group were writing about death and cryptic poetry and here I was writing about a slimming class. So, I suppose, the Open University gave me the confidence to dip my toe in to comedy and here I am!

What advice would you give budding playwrights/authors?

I think there are a lot of talented people who can’t get the break. I was lucky to get my break in a unique way. I think you just have to keep writing and putting your work out there. Join Twitter. There are lots of authors/agents on there who are a great support and you can learn who is doing what etc. Look at authors who write like you and find out who their agent is. If you are interested in writing for TV, The BBC Writers Room website is a must. Without sounding cheesey…believe in yourself!

How did the Australian connection/adaptation come about?

The production company who are producing Mrs Brown’s Boys in Australia got in touch with my production company here. There have been a lot of comments about Maggie Muff being the new Mrs Brown – which is flattering…and terrifying! And within weeks, they had booked the tour. It all happens very fast.

In your opinion what is the most important part of the writing process?

For me, it’s character. Things like structure, technique, story can all be taught and fiddled with, edited etc. But you have to have a great character at the centre of any story, whether it’s for a novel, play or TV. I think if you have the character, the rest will come.

You have two young daughters-what do they think of mum’s success?

My 3 year old doesn’t understand really. But the 5 year old does. She comes to some book signings and puts the stickers saying ‘Signed by the Author’ on the books. She knows I write books and plays about Maggie Muff – but that’s the extent of her knowledge on that! The material is not suitable for children! But she sees me in the papers and on the radio and is delighted.

What is your favourite book/author?

I read a lot. And have lots of favourites. I can literally go from Stephen King to Harry Potter to biographies. I always loved the book (and film) Bridget Jones’ Diary. I think Helen Fielding did something new at the time – it was beyond chick lit. I am a big Marian Keyes fan too. Recently, I raved about Jojo Moyes book ‘Me Before You’ and am currently reading ‘Gone Girl’ which is also fab. This is the question I dread! I wasn’t into ‘Little Women’ or things like that as a child – I read ‘Sweet Valley High’ and Stephen King novels!

Kitty Fitzgerald is the author of Pigtopia (2005, Faber and Faber), Small Acts of Treachery (2002, Brandon), Snapdragons (1999, Brandon) and Marge (1985, Sheba), 4 plays for Radio 4 and 8 theatre plays. She was also shortlisted for the 2013 William Trevor/Elizabeth Bowen International Short Story Story Award. Ink Pantry elf Deborah Edgeley caught up with Kitty about her screen-writing experience.

You won the most original screenplay for Dream On (Amber Films) at Le Baule Film Festival, France. Can you please tell us a bit about it, why you think it was original, where you got your idea from and what inspired you?

We always worked in teams at Amber Films; I’d been working with a group of women on a council house estate for 5 years, running a weekly writing group and I was convinced from what I’d learned that a fictional film based around the lives of these women would be good.

So three of us women in the collective began research work, film work, filmed interviews and eventually persuaded the collective that it should be a our next film.

We brought in professional actors to work with the women – several of whom played themselves in the film – talked about scenes and did some devising. In the end I took all the material away and came up with a full script. The three us then spent a week talking it through and I wrote shooting script. It changed a bit in the filming e.g. my script was ninety minutes and the finished product was over two hours.

It was thought original because it told the story from three different viewpoints and we also use direct to camera comments from the three women. Also the subjects covered: Bulimia, Child Sexual Abuse, Alcoholism, Glue-sniffing, Violence against Women and Clairvoyance were then rarely seen on the big screen.

You were a partner in Amber Films and produced heritage scripts for museums and other venues. This also sounds really interesting. Could you please tell us a bit more about it?

The heritage scripts weren’t for Amber, they were for other companies such as Atacama Films. I really enjoyed it. It involved researching particular periods in history and coming up with an entertaining storyline for the script; Border Revivers, Craft Workers on the Titanic, Children in the mines and so on. Sometime I was given an historic object and had to build a story around that.  The films were then used in museums and other heritage venues and as educational resources

Do you think in images when you are planning a screenplay, or do you write the story first and then adapt it for the screen?

I always think in ‘scenes’ so the process is very visual from the start. I do the same with theatre scripts.

Which films would you recommend as inspiration for first time screenwriters with regard to crafting a film?

Recommending films is really tough. I like so many and all for different reasons. But in terms of script, I love Casablanca. I’ve just seen it again on a large screen (at Whitley Bay Film Festival) and its wonderfully crisp and ironic.

With regard to structure, how do you manage to piece the scenes together? Is this the hardest part of screen-writing for you?

I think getting the structure right is the fun part. I find first drafts very painful but once I’ve got that, I write the bones of each scene on postcards and play at shuffling them into different sequences. Sometimes it throws up great surprises. The difficult thing is working with producers or directors whose only real interest is in making money not making good films. They will cut corners that shouldn’t be cut and dwell on things that should be minimised. The last one I worked with said: Don’t make any scene linger than 2 minutes, that’s the level of audience general concentration. Naturally I disagreed with him. That’s why I like the new interest that has developed in Nordic film making; they have no fear of dwelling…in the right places.

What elements of screen-writing do you enjoy the most and why?

I enjoy the development of a new idea/character/setting or the revisiting of old themes; thinking about it, playing with it, walking around with it in my mind until it feels ready to hatch. As I said above, doing the first draft of a script is tough but then I get the playfulness of the editing and redrafting stages.

http://www.kittyfitzgerald.com/

Hugely successful author Caroline Smailes, Open University tutor and editor, has written six novels, including The Drowning of Arthur Braxton, Like Bees to Honey, In Search of Adam, Black Boxes, 99 Reasons Why and Freaks. This year, she had Arts Council funding for her latest novel The Continuing Story of Martha Lost. Deborah Edgeley caught up with her.

In The Observer, you have been described as being an arch-experimentalist. Can you please tell us a bit about the style of your work?

I think (and hope) my style of writing evolves and adapts to each story I try to tell. In the past, I’ve used different fonts to indicate altered voice and mood. Key words, themes and repeated phraseology were signalled through a consistent font choice being assigned to them. I’ve also included sign language, short chapters, eleven possible endings to one novel and script, as well as considering the use of white space. The aim was to give the words life and breath on the page. I wanted the words to be given a creative expression beyond the surface meaning, so I experimented to add a depth that could not be obtained through standard presentation and storytelling.

But saying all of that, the novel I’ve just finished follows standard grammatical rules and standard format. And it only has one ending. So, I don’t feel I have a style, as such, it’s more about using available tools to tell a story in the best way that I can.

Your innovative digital novel 99 Reasons Why is a huge success. The iPad version has a spinning wheel at the end of Chapter 89 for the reader to choose one of eleven possible endings. In your talk at the MMU this year, you mentioned ebooks and the difficulties in transferring various fonts, white spaces and layouts into the ebook format. Do you think that this will improve in years to come?

Yes without a doubt, I think this is changing all the time. It’s ‘simply’ (in a very complicated way!) a problem that requires software to improve.

You also mentioned having a soundtrack to a book, and linking it to Spotify. This is also fascinating. How would this change the reading experience, do you think? Would it enhance it or distract?

I don’t think this is an easy question to answer, simply because it’s down to the tastes of the individual reader. For me, it’s about giving readers choice and enhancing their reading options. A reader can listen to the Spotify tracks or look at images that inspired where a novel was set, and for some it will enhance their understanding and reading experience. Other readers won’t want the distraction but my hope is that they’ll simply ignore the links that have been made available.

Personally, I like that the reading experience can be offered on a number of levels now and I’m excited about where technology will take us, as both readers and writers.

You described writing your first draft of each novel as a ‘vomit draft’! What is your preferred way of turning the first draft into a novel, or does it change with each book?

It changes with each novel. Sometimes I write longhand, so the ‘vomit into a novel’ comes as I type the words. Other times, it comes with a stripping back of the text and considering the use of every single word. The ‘turning it into a novel’ stage is my favourite stage of writing.

Which authors inspire you and why?

Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, John Fowles, Neil Gaiman, Angela Carter, Roald Dahl, The Brothers Grimm, Chris Cleave, Alice Walker, Thomas Hardy, Sylvia Plath, Hans Christian Anderson, T.S.Eliot… I could go on, and on. For me it’s all about the unexpected, about twists and turns and the unleashing of magic. Sometimes writers are wizards. I long to be better than I am.

As an editor, do you find that you proof your work as you go along (after the vomit draft!) or can you wait until you get your ideas down first? I guess you don’t need much proofing done when it’s finished. 

I’m getting better. Now I tend to get a first draft down, then I edit and edit and edit some more. Working as an editor has definitely altered how I write. I’m aware of common mistakes and I’ve become ridiculously anal/precious with letting people see my writing. When I did my MA in Creative Writing, I was happy to hand over 5,000 words weekly to a group of readers. Those words were possibly a second draft. Now, no one will see my work until at least the seventh or eighth draft. Shockingly, there are still many mistakes in it. I can edit, but I am truly rubbish at proofing.

At the Latitude festival this year you took part in Emma B’s TableTalks. Can you please tell us a bit about this?

TableTalks is the amazing baby of the wonderful Emma B. It’s an informal debate, ‘born out a bunch of friends’ desire to talk and share opinion about stuff that matters and occasionally stuff that doesn’t much’. Emma invited me along to Latitude to join in a debate surrounding, ‘This house believes that the book is dead!’ I talked about ’99 Reasons Why’ and its eleven endings, attempting to explain why I wasn’t killing off books by writing a digital-only novel. There was much wine, debate and a fabulous audience.

You were a judge at Pulp Idol in Liverpool this year. What makes a good read for you?

I like an opening that hooks me in. I like sharp dialogue, a lack of flowery description and short chapters. For me, it’s all about being pulled into a world in the opening paragraph and feeling sadness when the book ends and the world is taken from me.

Your recent novel The Drowning of Arthur Braxton deals with dark themes and been likened to a modern day fairy tale. Where did you get the inspiration from to write this novel? Do you usually do a lot of research in the same genre as what your book is written in?

I love that it’s been classed as an urban fairy tale, mainly because I adore fairy tales. The novel has three different voices. One of them is a young girl called Laurel, who goes to find work in a swimming bath that locals believe has magical properties. At the same time we follow Arthur, who’s just experienced a very modern humiliation after meeting a girl on Facebook. He hears noises coming from an abandoned, almost derelict, swimming baths and when he investigates he finds a naked girl swimming in the water.

Originally the novel was going to be set in a lighthouse on the coast of Talacre, but then Victoria Baths (Manchester) was suggested as a possible location. I was able to go along and look inside the building. I fell in love with the beauty, with the space and with the stunning original features. The novel started forming as I walked around, absorbing the history and exquisiteness. Added to this, the novel is a retelling of three Greek myths, so the inspiration is from a number of places.

But, perhaps this is weird, when I’m writing (the vomit draft) I can’t read books in that genre or any genre. I’d never research by reading a book in a similar genre, I’d be too terrified about copying a style and forgetting to be me. I envy people who can read whilst writing.

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What sort of a child were you? Were you always into death and ghouls?

No not at all. I was a happy child until the day a zombie…..nah, things were cool. Although I will say that we did live near marshlands & people were always speaking of things on the marsh & the strange people there so maybe that seeping in! I’m not a writer who does excessive violence or hardcore horror. In fact, there are hardly any swear words in any of my books. I’m like a twisted version of Jon-Boy from the Waltons.

When did you start writing and what made you start?

I started a writing course in 2008 but it was rubbish so I quit. Someone told me to write about what I like so I wrote about zombies. I published my first book in 2009 with Severed Press & have gone on from there. I’ve always loved reading so I suppose I just wanted to give it a go. My advice to others would be to do the same – you just have to make a start then improve as you go….

You have been educated at the London school of Economics and have been working in Business for over ten years. Do you still work in business or are you now focusing entirely on writing and fighting zombies? If you still work in business, how do your colleagues respond to your zombie-related activities?

Yeah, I went to the LSE but was pretty much the thickest person there. I still work for a living like most writers. Zombies are my hobby. Even with all the books, it’s not a money thing. By the time we factor in all the shows, giveaways & charity stuff we do, we just about break even but I love it. Colleagues are mixed. Some think I’m weird for sure. I meet more hardcore fans (those with a plan) at events.

Zombies

What is it about zombies, as opposed to other undead persons like vampires, that interests you and how did this interest develop?
Mmmm…good question. I just loved the survival element to the stories. The idea of the living battling against hordes of the undead. Zombies always felt so real to me & so it just felt natural. I did warn you I was a bit weird. Zombies are like a blank canvas for writers – that’s what I like.

What is your favourite Zombie book/Film?

Film wise – I have to say Dawn of the Dead – either version. Book wise – I have to honour the work of our patron saint Max Brooks – his work has inspired me so much. In addition, I should mention 28 Days Later although the creatures are technically not zombies.

The Omega man project.

In May this year, you isolated yourself in an ex cold-war bunker for five days, and you blogged about this. What gave you the idea to do this? What, if any, has been the effect of this experience on you or on your writing?

It was just that the opportunity came along so I grabbed it. It wasn’t easy to set up but it was a challenge I’ve always wanted to to do. Being isolated for days on end just appealed to me. The experience was unique – that much is sure. I don’t know about the impact on my writing. I don’t think I’m a good enough writer for it to be really profound & I didn’t write much in the bunker, only the blog. However, I certainly learnt something about surviving alone. If you watch the video blogs you’ll see what I mean – www.ministryofzombies.com

The Ministry of Zombies

Tell us a little about the Ministry of Zombies. How did it come into being, how many people make up the ministry and what do they all do? Is the current government supportive of your ministerial activities? Why is there a link to Michael Bolton on the Ministry’s website?
The Ministry of Zombies is a lose network of myself, my wife Constance, a few reviewers & other writers – it’s not a big. Imagine a small office, with a dusty old phone & a pile of books in a bunker in London – that’s us. We don’t make a stack of cash or anything – whatever books get sold, much of the money goes into events (minus my slush fund in Taihiti).

The government in the UK is more worried about asteroids than zombies – it’s sad time. We used to be at the front end of anti-zombie work – now we’ve listed 22nd in the world. Not good news really. Plus we drink far too much tea.

I include Michael Bolton as he is a vocal master – his power ballads would see us all through a zombie outbreak. Hail to the master!

And the Ink Pantry’s Halloween Question: Do you have any advice for other authors on how to scare their readers?

Just my opinion but I find merging fact with fiction to be the best angle. Readers are hardened to most shock tactics. You have to undermine their reality slowly & with precision. My books are not really ‘scary’ but I hope they leave people wondering which parts are true & which not. I blend a lot of this in & I find it works well.

Kathy Reichs is a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, forensic anthropologist and writer of crime fiction.

Her work varies from teaching FBI agents how to detect and recover human remains, to separating and identifying commingled body parts in her Montreal lab.  A consultant for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Québec, member of the team who helped to identify remains found at ground zero of the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Kathy is a respected member of her field, being one of only eighty-two forensic anthropologists ever certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.  It is from this varied work she gets hints of inspiration for her books.

Kathy’s first novel Déjà Dead catapulted her to fame when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel.  Since then there have been another fifteen books in the Temperance Brennan series, three in the Virals series co-authored by her son Brendan and two novellas.  To add to this long list Kathy is also a producer of the hit Fox TV series, Bones, which is based on her work and her novels.

How did you come to write your first fiction novel?

I was working as a visiting professor in Montreal when police authorities called me in to consult on a series of grisly murders. By examining the victims’ bones, I was able to determine that the suspect was very skilled in dismembering his victims, and likely had some sort of professional training in that area. The police were able to use this information to profile and track down the killer, who turned out to be a butcher. That experience became the basis for my first novel, Deja Dead. The rest is history.

Having read Deja Dead in 1997 I was fascinated by the details, and realised the amount of research you must need to do for your books.  ‘How do you divide your time between your work as a forensic anthropologist and researching and writing your novels?

I’m under contract for one Temperance Brennan book a year, and also co-author a series of young adult novels, the Virals series, which I write with my son, Brendan. In between those projects, I try to stay sharp by consulting on forensic work or testifying in criminal cases. My schedule keeps me very busy!

As you have mentioned you not only write your Temperance Brennan series, but you also collaborate on the Virals series of books aimed at teenage readers, with your son Brendan.  How did this come about?

The Virals series was actually Brendan’s idea. I’d thought about writing a YA book for years, but never seemed to have enough hours in the day. At the same time, Brendan was growing tired of being a lawyer and was looking for a new career. When a friend of his in New York mentioned that a publisher might be interested in something we could write together, he jumped at the chance. A few weeks later we had a concept, a book deal, and a partnership.

If you could go back to the time before you chose your speciality in college, is there anything you would have done differently. A different career you would have chosen?

Nothing. I’m one of the lucky few that can honestly say I’m doing exactly what I want to do.

As a budding writer, I choose to write in a totally different genre to the one I read for relaxation.What is your chosen genre for relaxed reading, and which authors feature predominantly on your book shelves?

I am a big fan of non-fiction, and enjoy modern history. I do read quite a few thrillers, and have great admiration for writers like Sandra Brown, Elmore Leonard, and Stephen King. One should always read the masters in your chosen field!

When working on a novel, do you write everything out long hand first, dictate into a machine for someone else to type up or work directly onto a computer?

I write directly into my iMac. I couldn’t write four sentences longhand before my hand seized up. Well out of practice.

How long on average would you say you spend writing one of the Temperance Brennan novels, from that initial idea jotted down to the last word or comma in the final edit?

It’s a year. Call it one month to plan, six months to write, two months to edit, then three months to promote. Rinse, repeat!

Your novels have been used as the basis for the television series ‘Bones’.  How much influence did you have in the choice of actors chosen to portray the characters?

I’m a producer of the TV show, so I was present for all casting decisions, and have had no qualms about any of them. We have a phenomenal group of actors on Bones. I also review every script for technical accuracy, or at least scientific plausibility. We try to stay as to true to real-life forensic science as possible.

I follow you on Facebook and Twitter.  Have you found social networks to be a good or bad influence on your work, or that they can be intrusive in any way?

I enjoy Facebook and Twitter, though they can also be a burden at times and I do take an occasional hiatus. That said, social media is probably the greatest way to connect to fans on a personal level. So for that I am grateful.

Finally do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Write. Write, write, write. Writing is a skill, not an art. It takes practice to make perfect (or get reasonably close).

Kathy, thank you once again for doing this interview.

Visit her website: http://kathyreichs.com/ .

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kathyreichsbooks

Follow on Twitter: @KathyReichs

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas with our readers. Could you please tell us a little about your current book, The Words We Use are Black and White, and the reasons for writing it?

According to the blurb on the back, the novel is an ‘interwoven story of love, family and our inability to make ourselves understood’. It started with a poem, a long time ago, and that gave me the setting and character – I’m fascinated by the power of language, and the many ways that people (try to) communicate with each other: when we speak to someone, for example, do we have any idea if they understand what we are saying? And when what we say is (to us) so important that our happiness depends on it, does that make it even more important that we make ourselves heard, or are the opportunities for misinterpretation even greater because we deem any response so vital? This book was a way for me to explore these ideas and themes within a multi-layered narrative, allowing the characters and their interactions to build on each other to make what is hopefully an entertaining and thoughtful novel.

Which books were the source of your early inspiration towards building your passion for writing? 

I think I can trace it all back to the poetry and prose of Edward Thomas. From there I read de la Mare, Housman etc., and then started consuming all I could, from ‘trash’ fiction to the ‘classics’. As far as novels go, it seems that Gabriel Garcia Marquez first got me interested in what could be achieved, and how, and his work led me to that of Faulkner, Nabokov, Pynchon, to name but a few. But there are still so many good books out there waiting to be read…

Which writers/authors currently inspire and delight you?

DeLillo, Murakami, Franzen, Kundera – and above all, Marquez, whose precision of writing still thrills and enchants me. There’s a novel called Icefields by Thomas Wharton, which I find myself going back to over and over again, and a collection of poetry by Patrick Moran called Green which is so wonderful it’s hard to describe.

What advice would you personally give to students of creative writing and aspiring authors?

Just write – once you’re confident enough to show your work to someone else make sure you find someone who will be honest, and whose opinion you trust and respect. When you’ve done that, write some more. There’s no secret to it, really – it all comes down to hard work, practice, and being able to recognise your weaknesses and strengths. If you want to write then give it the commitment it needs, regardless of what anyone may say. To put it simply, writing is work. Get it done.

How difficult is it to combine your work as a university lecturer with time for your personal writing?

Very difficult. I wrote a creative/critical piece on this topic which was published last year (available at http://www.textjournal.com.au/oct13/holloway_prose.htm). And it’s not just the teaching and the admin that get in the way – there’s also the need to keep writing critically on the subject of creative writing. But I believe that if anyone wants to write then they’ll find the time: the drive has to be strong enough, that’s all.

As someone whose career is focused around inspiring others to embrace creative writing, what moments have given you the greatest pleasure and inspiration?

I have to disagree with the question: my career is focused not on inspiring others to embrace creative writing, but to develop and utilise their creative abilities in whatever way they choose. Having said that, the creative work that I get to see is often exciting: it’s gratifying to see the writing produced when a writer is courageous enough to embrace their own personal voice, to write the way they want to, rather than the way they think others want them to.

Do you have a particular place to write? Or a set time of day/night?

I need a place to work: it doesn’t really matter what that place is, as long as it’s ‘mine’ in some way and I can customise it with mental comforts – that might be a photograph, an object, a particular coaster for the endless cups of coffee, depending what I’m working on. And I work best at night…my brain has this annoying tendency to wake up around eleven no matter how tired my body is, and lets me curl up at my desk and disappear into the work. It leaves me exhausted during the day, but that’s the way it is.

You have been published in a wide number of genres, Simon, such as poetry, fiction, screenplays and many more. Is there one particular genre which you enjoy working with above all others?

Each medium has its own appeal, I find. Fiction charms me with its possibilities: there’s so much that can be done with the careful placement of phrases, hints and dynamics of narrative. It’s possible to say so much whilst saying and doing so little, and to leave readers feeling that they’ve worked hard and got their reward; as a reader that always pleases me. Poetry too, of course, but in a different way, and I’ve recently started writing much more poetry than I have for years – the precision and detail needed make me work harder, and there are things I can say in poetry that I can’t say as well in any other form. Scriptwriting is (for me) a collaborative act, so that brings its own challenges and rewards. I can’t say I have a favourite – to me it’s all storytelling, in one form or another, it’s just the method of delivery that changes.

As a reader, do you have a preferred genre?

Aside from novels and poetry, I’m becoming increasingly fascinated by short fiction, and the ways in which allusion and perception can be revealed as much by omission as by inclusion: less is often much, much more!

Finally Simon, do you have a firm idea on your next writing project, or are you still pondering over ideas?

I’m in the middle of a critical book for Palgrave MacMillan, about certain aspects of the actions of writing, and my co-writer and I had an idea for another sitcom which we’d very much like to write, given the time. Waiting patiently for its turn is my next novel, so far four years late, and although I’ve done huge amounts of the essential preparation work, I haven’t written a word of it yet! There are plenty of projects I’d like to be doing right now – it’s simply a case of deciding which one to commit to next and then giving it everything it needs. Writing is work – I just have to get it done.

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