Thursday, June 11, 2009

“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?”: Peter James

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
BRIGHTON ROCK [by Graham Greene] it is my all time favourite novel and has, I think, one of the psychologically darkest and most satisfying endings ever written.

What fictional character would you most like to have been?
Sherlock Holmes. He had such style, such amazing powers of observation, yet, like me, was flawed.

Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
Jeremy Clarkson - a fellow petrol head!

Most satisfying writing moment?
After winning Le Prix Polar Noir in France, giving my acceptance speech in French and managing to get a laugh out of the audience!

The best Irish crime novel is …?
LIES OF SILENCE by Brian Moore. But I think young Brian McGilloway is going to be a big new star. I loved his GALLOWS LANE.

What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
LIES OF SILENCE - I don’t understand why it has never been filmed, it is an extraordinary book.

Worst / best thing about being a writer?
The worst is that I live in fear that my next book will be a disaster! The best is the freedom to write what I want and where I want.

The pitch for your next book is …?
A serial rapist who takes his victims’ shoes is on the prowl in Brighton. Is it the same man who last offended twelve years ago, or a copycat?

Who are you reading right now?
Several reference books: One on shoe fetishists, two on the psychology of stranger rapists, and a book of true life accounts of rape victims and how their lives have subsequently been affected.

God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
If God appeared I would realize I had an awful lot of reading to do. Starting with the Bible, all the way through …

The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Fascinated by crime.

Peter James’ DEAD TOMORROW is published by Macmillan.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.