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WRITERS MEAN BUSINESS OUR
WRITERS MEAN BUSINESS 
Tell us about your latest book STEEL WITCHES?
Tom Fletcher - an ex-cop - is looking for the truth about a rumour
that's been circulating for years. Did the Americans really build a secret
airbase in Eastern England in 1943 - then bulldoze it and pretend it never
existed? If they did, why? And if not, why is everybody trying to stop him
asking questions?
Where did you get your ideas from?
On one hand, there are things I've always thought would make a
good story - in Steel Witches, there are some of the 'glamour girls' which
American pilots painted on their planes in the war. I've always wanted to
put them in a book, tell their story. On the other hand, I pick up on stories
that other people tell me, things I notice in the news and things I see.
And I've always been interested in the way that isolated communities, or
even families, create their own personalised legends and religions.
Do you draw on personal experience?
Yes, in the way that my characters seek to influence and manipulate
each other. And also the landscape of eastern England itself - which, as
one reviewer pointed out, is actually one of the characters - is very close
to my heart
How much time do you spend researching and how long do you spend
writing?
I spend about 3 or 4 hours a day writing - that's either writing
new material, planning the flow of scenes or revising existing drafts. It
needs to be 7 days a week. A book takes about a year from start to finish.
When the book is close to completion, I try to blank out whole weeks so
that I can work on the draft full time. I think a lot of the character and
atmosphere of my books is built up in those last weeks. Research is more
stop-start, but equally important - I've just spent a day on an RAF base
as part of the research for my next book, climbing in and out of transport
aircraft.
Is Tom Fletcher coming back in your next book?
Yes, it's a four book series, taking Fletcher through ten years
in his life. In the next book, number three, he seems to have found the
peaceful home he's always wanted. The problem is, there's an army barracks
just up the road, and they start taking an interest in him. The wrong kind
of interest.
How do you decide on a title?
I like titles which 'could be nice - could be creepy,' eg for my
first book, 'Corn Dolls.' We were struggling for a title for this second
book - in the end, it came out of a discussion with the people at Hoddder.
I wanted 'Aluminium Witches,' referring to the glamour girls on the old
planes. They pointed out that 'Aluminium' is a very long word to fit on
the front of a small paperback. So 'Steel Witches' sounded right.
What books do you read when you are not writing?
Anything by writers such as JG Ballard, Elmore Leonard, Dennis
Lehane, Walter Moseley. I've just finished the original novel of 'Get Carter'
by Ted Lewis, which I'd recommend to anyone.
What books would you take on a desert island?
Those American crime writers, and also Graham Greene and the poet
Ezra Pound. Plus a scrapbook and a supply of biros.
Who are your heroes?
My little son - he started walking last month!
Where would you most like to travel?
I've travelled quite widely, but somehow missed Scandinavia. That
should be next, maybe. And apparently the bookstores are great.
May 2009