What crime novel would you most like to have written?
For the royalties: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson. But for the kudos: THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY by Patricia Highsmith.
What fictional character would you most like to have been?
I’m going to stretch fictional to include film and go for Mick Travis from If…
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
It’s not who but what – I read cycling books for guilty pleasure (although I don’t feel that guilty about it). Other books are normally somehow related to what I’m writing or intending to write. Cycling books are read for their own sake – and to help when I’m cycling through the rain on my way home from work.
Most satisfying writing moment?
My first novel has just come out and I guess it’s seeing it there on the Amazon page. Although I think being accepted by a publisher comes a close second as it represents vindication form someone outside my circle of friends and family.
If you could recommend one Irish crime novel, what would it be?
I have a strong taste for the surreal or strange and so I’ll go for THE THIRD POLICEMAN by Flann O’Brien. I’m never quite sure which parts of the book I read and which parts I dreamt after reading it.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
For a film I’d like to see something low budget, black-and-white and gritty, so I’ll flatter my host and choose EIGHTBALL BOOGIE.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
The best is being able to channel some of the angst that others have to express in road rage incidents. It’s also a way to help my thoughts find expression. The worst is the lack of genuine opportunities for success – I guess that’s true of all the arts.
The pitch for your next book is …?
Paris, 1930. A femme fatale. A missing man. A private detective plunged into the dark and ugly underbelly of the City of Light.
Who are you reading right now?
I’ve just finished a book by Alex Butterworth, THE WORLD THAT NEVER WAS. It’s a non-fiction piece on the early history of the anarchist movement in Europe. Next up is THE BONNOT GANG by Richard Parry. It’s also non-fiction. The Bonnet Gang were a bunch of criminals operating in France in the years before World War 1. They were also loosely associated to the French Anarchist moment. There’s a deliberate theme there.
God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
My answer to this one fluctuates but I’ve settled on read. I love writing but my girls have just reached the age where they like to hear Secret Seven books at bed time – I’ve had years of reading picture books about teddy bears and fairies. My eldest, aged 7, is also a keen writer and how would I explain that God won’t let me read her work? (I’d also have to explain what God is and I don’t think she’d buy that one).
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Dark, funny, fast.
Seth Lynch’s SALAZAR is published by Nemesis Publishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment