It gives me great pleasure to welcome Pat Black onto the website today. Pat is the author of Amazon bestsellers, The Beach House and The Family. His short stories have been shortlisted for several awards including the Bridport Prize and the Bloody Scotland Short Story Competition. He's been longlisted for the William Hazlitt Essay Prize. And also been a winner of The Daily Telegraph's Ghost Story Competition.
Alex: Tell us a bit about yourself, Pat.
Pat: I live in Yorkshire now, but I'm from Drumchapel in Glasgow. I will always belong to Glasgow, and I will always be from the Drum. I'm proud of that.
I went to a truly great school, St Pius, where my writing and creativity was encouraged by brilliant teachers.
First of all, I loved comics. My mum always brought comics home for my siblings, and I'd pore over these long before I went to school, or could write. I clearly remember holding the issue of Roy Of The Rovers where Roy Race got shot.
She got comics for me, too, and really encouraged and fostered a love of reading. She was a voracious reader herself - one of these pupils who teachers begged to stay in school, but she had to work, unfortunately. A very common story.
She could write a poem in seconds flat. She was gifted with words. I've still got her "Ode To A Tripe", penned after a trip to the butcher's. Tripe was a treat for her, but less so for the rest of the family, and we might have complained. She felt compelled to defend tripe, and did.
She was clever, funny, kind-hearted and wise. She was also tough. She popped out five of us, and carried the entire operation on her shoulders when my dad was out of work for a while in the eighties. I will never know how she did it. Five feet nothing of the good stuff, a complete and utter warrior.
Soon, I imitated these comics and drew my own panels and speech bubbles. Paper and pens were a constant request from me as a boy. I was about six when I started creating my own series and comic strips. I wish I'd kept these. Some of these seem advanced, though I’m going by my recollections, which aren’t as sharp or as trustworthy as I’d like. I'd do an episode per week, just as in the comics. I was not a particularly skilled or prodigious artist and they weren't sophisticated, but they were detailed.
I was bought UK-market versions of the DC and the Marvel heroes. I loved these growing up, particularly Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and the Hulk. But for the most part, from the age of about six or seven onwards, my favourites were from the all-but-extinct world of British comics.
News racks would be full of them – The Beano, Dandy, Roy Of The Rovers, Eagle, Victor, Tiger, Spike, Champ, Warlord, Battle, Scream!, Oink! Football Picture Story Monthly, Starblazer and 2000AD. In some ways these titles seem antiquated – outmoded might be the better term, given the digital competition for children’s attention these days – but I do think we’ve lost something in our culture with their demise.
Some of the old war horses are still going - 2000AD is still a fixture, and what an incredible legacy. Roy Of The Rovers is currently enjoying a reboot, and they've made a brilliant job of it. Commando comics have just hit their 60th anniversary. Just think... someone out there has collected every single Commando comic! Has Commando achieved a higher body count than most other real-life wars put together? I detest warfare, but I love Commando comics. Life's full of these paradoxes.
The Beano's still there, god bless it, and increasing its sales. They’ve got a brilliant team. The pandemic has put paid to some golden Beano Day afternoons, where I'd pick up my daughter after school, we'd buy the comic and have macaroni and chips from the supermarket cafe. The simple things! I'm looking forward to getting back to that when things are under control.
Back to writing - when I couldn't realise the stories I had in my head quickly enough as artwork and speech bubbles, I began to write them down.
Strangely, I wouldn't describe myself as being a voracious reader until I was about 10. I got into story anthologies from Hamlyn, as well as Ladybird’s adaptations of the horror classics. A key moment was when I got a fantastic edition of Conan Doyle's complete Sherlock Holmes short stories, with those beautiful Sydney Paget illustrations from the original Strand Magazine. All those Terrance Dicks Doctor Who novelisations turned me into a reading addict – I used to get stacks of them from Drumchapel library.
I also had a wee pal at school who was forever writing short stories. I was impressed by this, but also a bit competitive, so I thought: "I'll have a crack at that." I was off and running.
I could drone on about my writing influences, but this is already turning into an autobiography. I loved dinosaurs and monster movies, Doctor Who, Jaws and Star Wars, Indiana Jones... it's an exhausting list. Maybe I'll write the whole thing down some day. I do go on.
Other interests... Well, this is the bland stuff at the bottom of a CV. Eh, walks in the country, football, and reading. Sorry. Let's make something up. I'm a masked crimefighter. I roam the mean streets of Leeds, swooping in to take care of miscreants. I can reveal that I am... The Green Satchel. I've been accused of being a furry and have been arrested several times, but, y'know, the authorities can't handle the truth. Better not say that, someone will think I'm serious. Er, yeah, I'm a shark hunter. I'm an astronaut. I'm a lion tamer. I can ride a horse, of course, of course.
Alex: Tell us a bit about yourself, Pat.
Pat: I live in Yorkshire now, but I'm from Drumchapel in Glasgow. I will always belong to Glasgow, and I will always be from the Drum. I'm proud of that.
I went to a truly great school, St Pius, where my writing and creativity was encouraged by brilliant teachers.
First of all, I loved comics. My mum always brought comics home for my siblings, and I'd pore over these long before I went to school, or could write. I clearly remember holding the issue of Roy Of The Rovers where Roy Race got shot.
She got comics for me, too, and really encouraged and fostered a love of reading. She was a voracious reader herself - one of these pupils who teachers begged to stay in school, but she had to work, unfortunately. A very common story.
She could write a poem in seconds flat. She was gifted with words. I've still got her "Ode To A Tripe", penned after a trip to the butcher's. Tripe was a treat for her, but less so for the rest of the family, and we might have complained. She felt compelled to defend tripe, and did.
She was clever, funny, kind-hearted and wise. She was also tough. She popped out five of us, and carried the entire operation on her shoulders when my dad was out of work for a while in the eighties. I will never know how she did it. Five feet nothing of the good stuff, a complete and utter warrior.
Soon, I imitated these comics and drew my own panels and speech bubbles. Paper and pens were a constant request from me as a boy. I was about six when I started creating my own series and comic strips. I wish I'd kept these. Some of these seem advanced, though I’m going by my recollections, which aren’t as sharp or as trustworthy as I’d like. I'd do an episode per week, just as in the comics. I was not a particularly skilled or prodigious artist and they weren't sophisticated, but they were detailed.
I was bought UK-market versions of the DC and the Marvel heroes. I loved these growing up, particularly Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and the Hulk. But for the most part, from the age of about six or seven onwards, my favourites were from the all-but-extinct world of British comics.
News racks would be full of them – The Beano, Dandy, Roy Of The Rovers, Eagle, Victor, Tiger, Spike, Champ, Warlord, Battle, Scream!, Oink! Football Picture Story Monthly, Starblazer and 2000AD. In some ways these titles seem antiquated – outmoded might be the better term, given the digital competition for children’s attention these days – but I do think we’ve lost something in our culture with their demise.
Some of the old war horses are still going - 2000AD is still a fixture, and what an incredible legacy. Roy Of The Rovers is currently enjoying a reboot, and they've made a brilliant job of it. Commando comics have just hit their 60th anniversary. Just think... someone out there has collected every single Commando comic! Has Commando achieved a higher body count than most other real-life wars put together? I detest warfare, but I love Commando comics. Life's full of these paradoxes.
The Beano's still there, god bless it, and increasing its sales. They’ve got a brilliant team. The pandemic has put paid to some golden Beano Day afternoons, where I'd pick up my daughter after school, we'd buy the comic and have macaroni and chips from the supermarket cafe. The simple things! I'm looking forward to getting back to that when things are under control.
Back to writing - when I couldn't realise the stories I had in my head quickly enough as artwork and speech bubbles, I began to write them down.
Strangely, I wouldn't describe myself as being a voracious reader until I was about 10. I got into story anthologies from Hamlyn, as well as Ladybird’s adaptations of the horror classics. A key moment was when I got a fantastic edition of Conan Doyle's complete Sherlock Holmes short stories, with those beautiful Sydney Paget illustrations from the original Strand Magazine. All those Terrance Dicks Doctor Who novelisations turned me into a reading addict – I used to get stacks of them from Drumchapel library.
I also had a wee pal at school who was forever writing short stories. I was impressed by this, but also a bit competitive, so I thought: "I'll have a crack at that." I was off and running.
I could drone on about my writing influences, but this is already turning into an autobiography. I loved dinosaurs and monster movies, Doctor Who, Jaws and Star Wars, Indiana Jones... it's an exhausting list. Maybe I'll write the whole thing down some day. I do go on.
Other interests... Well, this is the bland stuff at the bottom of a CV. Eh, walks in the country, football, and reading. Sorry. Let's make something up. I'm a masked crimefighter. I roam the mean streets of Leeds, swooping in to take care of miscreants. I can reveal that I am... The Green Satchel. I've been accused of being a furry and have been arrested several times, but, y'know, the authorities can't handle the truth. Better not say that, someone will think I'm serious. Er, yeah, I'm a shark hunter. I'm an astronaut. I'm a lion tamer. I can ride a horse, of course, of course.
Alex: How would you describe your writing, and are there particular themes that you like to explore?
Pat: I have four books out now, published by Head of Zeus/Aria/Aries, all crime fiction. Here's the Amazon link. In my other, boring life I work in the media and wade through a lot of copy regarding the jaw-droppingly bad things people do to each other on a daily basis. Writing these books may be a form of therapy, or catharsis.
Bear in mind I'm only reading about it like anyone else, and not a front-line worker actually dealing with it. Some of the stuff I've heard from family lawyers alone would drive you to drink, never mind what police, doctors, paramedics and others have to do as part of their ordinary working days. This includes the aftermath of murder and violence, as well as its immediate effects, which forms a large element of my stories.
I am also interested in institutional and structural problems in society which facilitate terrible crimes. It's very easy these days to get into tinfoil hat territory, but there are many miscarriages of justice carried out by corrupt officials, some of them unfolding as we speak. The Grenfell fire inquiry testimony almost defies belief, as does the Daniel Morgan murder case. And in the past few weeks, think about all those unmarked graves they’ve found at the site of residential schools in Canada.
Even a sober evaluation of these events when they are exposed can be terrifying. That’s before you even find out a name, or see a face, or hear from a family member. Your trust in how society functions at a basic level is violated. And that's just the cases we know about. My writing also reflects this.
Pat: I have four books out now, published by Head of Zeus/Aria/Aries, all crime fiction. Here's the Amazon link. In my other, boring life I work in the media and wade through a lot of copy regarding the jaw-droppingly bad things people do to each other on a daily basis. Writing these books may be a form of therapy, or catharsis.
Bear in mind I'm only reading about it like anyone else, and not a front-line worker actually dealing with it. Some of the stuff I've heard from family lawyers alone would drive you to drink, never mind what police, doctors, paramedics and others have to do as part of their ordinary working days. This includes the aftermath of murder and violence, as well as its immediate effects, which forms a large element of my stories.
I am also interested in institutional and structural problems in society which facilitate terrible crimes. It's very easy these days to get into tinfoil hat territory, but there are many miscarriages of justice carried out by corrupt officials, some of them unfolding as we speak. The Grenfell fire inquiry testimony almost defies belief, as does the Daniel Morgan murder case. And in the past few weeks, think about all those unmarked graves they’ve found at the site of residential schools in Canada.
Even a sober evaluation of these events when they are exposed can be terrifying. That’s before you even find out a name, or see a face, or hear from a family member. Your trust in how society functions at a basic level is violated. And that's just the cases we know about. My writing also reflects this.
Alex: Are you a writer that plans a detailed synopsis or do you set out with a vague idea and let the story unfold as you write?
Pat: Some books live inside my head for years, so there's always something "ready to go" when I sit down to write (unless it's a bare concept I came up with that the publishers like - which has happened twice already). However, I can't pretend that I plot things out in massive detail. I would dearly like to, but the reality is I don't have the time. I've got a full-time job and young children, so my writing time has to be stolen either first thing in the morning or last thing at night. (Checks watch. Continues.) As a result, I am more of a pantser than I would like to be.
What my editor and proofreader think of this is unrecorded, but easily deduced. "You can fix everything in post," he said, nervously.
I wish I was one of these people with the time to dedicate six weeks to plotting it all out, with a cork noticeboard, multi-coloured tacks and a mindmap, or a ring-binder with clear plastic wallets containing detailed character studies. Maybe a wee charcoal sketch of their faces, drafted on an idle morning. I am working on it, though. I will get there.
One thing I will say for just putting it all down without so much prep-time - sometimes that's the spark you need, discovering new things about your plot or characters as you go along. Stephen King likened storytelling to uncovering a fossil - it's all there, you just need to dig it out of the rocks and soil. You do some of this work with pick and shovel; you do some of it with a fine brush.
Flannery O'Connor also said something about having a character do something bizarre like stealing a briefcase in one of her stories, "but I had no idea he was going to do it until the moment he did it". Creativity follows its own warped paths, and can end up in some delightful places.
Some crazy and confusing ones, too, admittedly.
Pat: Some books live inside my head for years, so there's always something "ready to go" when I sit down to write (unless it's a bare concept I came up with that the publishers like - which has happened twice already). However, I can't pretend that I plot things out in massive detail. I would dearly like to, but the reality is I don't have the time. I've got a full-time job and young children, so my writing time has to be stolen either first thing in the morning or last thing at night. (Checks watch. Continues.) As a result, I am more of a pantser than I would like to be.
What my editor and proofreader think of this is unrecorded, but easily deduced. "You can fix everything in post," he said, nervously.
I wish I was one of these people with the time to dedicate six weeks to plotting it all out, with a cork noticeboard, multi-coloured tacks and a mindmap, or a ring-binder with clear plastic wallets containing detailed character studies. Maybe a wee charcoal sketch of their faces, drafted on an idle morning. I am working on it, though. I will get there.
One thing I will say for just putting it all down without so much prep-time - sometimes that's the spark you need, discovering new things about your plot or characters as you go along. Stephen King likened storytelling to uncovering a fossil - it's all there, you just need to dig it out of the rocks and soil. You do some of this work with pick and shovel; you do some of it with a fine brush.
Flannery O'Connor also said something about having a character do something bizarre like stealing a briefcase in one of her stories, "but I had no idea he was going to do it until the moment he did it". Creativity follows its own warped paths, and can end up in some delightful places.
Some crazy and confusing ones, too, admittedly.
Alex: Tell us about your latest novel.
Pat: The Runner (Amazon link) has a simple concept: imagine finding out that a serial killer was your dad.This is what happens to Freya Bain after her mother dies. She discovers from the will that her father is the notorious serial killer known as the Woodcutter, who hunts down lone runners in remote places and chops them up with an axe.
Appalled, but also curious, Freya meets her father in prison. He tells her that he was fitted up for these crimes by the authorities.
Is her father telling the truth? And if he is... is the real Woodcutter still out there? Freya's determined to find out, whatever the cost...
Alex: What was the first book you read?
Pat: It was from the book club at school - Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the UFO, by David A. Adler. These books are still in print, and I gather they are well known in the United States and Canada, though less so in the UK.I was about six. I've still got it, somewhere in the shelves behind me. It's set at Halloween and concerns funny lights in the sky over the woods. Is it aliens? Cam and her pet cat Neptune and her best pal Eric investigate...
For an eighties kid, anything with aliens in it was worth having. We were bombarded with images of UFOs and the paranormal at that time, presided over by Arthur C Clarke. Doing the hard yards, from his paradise beach home in Sri Lanka. Hard knock life. “Did aliens abduct this man when he went missing on his way home from the pub?… No. Tune in next week, when we take a look at poltergeists.”
There's a great mystery in Cam Jansen, too. There are clues to follow, suspects to question. It’s all very logical. David Adler was a maths teacher, which might have some bearing, here. The gimmick is that Cam has a photographic memory. This makes her an ace detective. It's all about the details.
It's the first 'proper' text novel that I can remember reading, away from picture books. I was enthralled. There was a logical conclusion, evidence-based. No trickery, no magic wands. Added to Scooby Doo's spooky adventures, which I also loved, this made an impression on me.
Alex: How much research do you do and what does it usually entail?
Pat: Not as much as I should. We're down to time, again. I am in physical pain when I write anything about police procedure. No matter how well I research it, I just know that a serving police officer would throw it across a room. But I guess this is true of people in any occupation, when they read about it in novels. As a journalist, I am familiar with this. You see a lot of the same representation in the soaps and other TV shows - journalists harassing people, getting in the face of victims before court cases, etc. Reporters must be the most-punched occupation in drama. "Hi, this is a Scream movie, and I'm Gale Weathers, live from Woodsboro." Thwhack!
The press have done and still do some awful, immoral, harrowing things, but some of the depictions I see and read are laughably off-track. It's worth saying that there are great people working in journalism who carry out important work for the sake of a free, fair and democratic society. But I would say that, wouldn't I?
Every piece of fiction will offend reality in some way. I try not to be too hard on myself. And get help from responsible adults who know what I am trying to talk about!
Alex: Do you ever base your characters on people you have encountered in real life?
Pat: No. Writers gather bits and pieces from life, events, experiences - if you didn't do that, then you couldn't be a writer. What was it Bono said? Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief.Every word of fiction is a lie, but it has to come close to the truth, or no-one will believe it.
When it comes to characters, I enjoy fashioning them in their own image, no-one else's. There's a pride in having your own little creation, their own tics and ways, their likes and dislikes, prejudices, their appearance and moods. I'm just playing with action figures, in my own head. Freud identified this trait in creative people, I think.
Ultimately, there’s only one character we know intimately, and that’s our own. We are hero and villain; coward and warrior; captain and skivvy; lover and miser; jealous and generous; nice and nasty; cupid and demon; honest and wicked; sweet and sour. Sometimes, we can’t even trust ourselves.
Maybe the only character I can ever write is variations of me. Or John Malkovich, if Charlie Kaufman has it right!
Alex: Which was the last book you read that blew you away?
Pat: Ghostland, by Edward Parnell. Psychogeography, I think they call it - personal memoir, intertwined with historical studies of ghost story writers. Sad, but wonderful. Enlightening, too. Thoroughly recommended, especially if you love the stories of MR James.
Alex: How do you market your books?
Pat: Through social media, almost exclusively. Again, not as much as I'd like, and not as creatively as I'd like, either, owing to time constraints. I am fortunate in that my publisher does some heavy lifting. The work of book bloggers, and interviews like this one, are a huge help.
Alex: What are your interests aside from writing? And what do you do to unwind?
Pat: Once you have kids, you'll be lucky to have any hobbies, until they develop their own! I used to like going to the cinema. And the pub. And restaurants. I loved to listen to music. I played guitar. I used to watch football. I used to go running... No, really! And I used to climb mountains. So nowadays I like: baking buns, colouring in, the world of Paw Patrol and Fireman Sam, going to the park, and making daft little comedy videos with the kids’ toys. And, full disclosure, I am delighted by all of these.
My wife and I go to the Hay Festival when we can... books, talks, beer, good food, beautiful scenery; if there's a heaven and I go there, that's what my corner will look like. Fingers crossed it'll be on this year! (The Hay Winter festival, not heaven.)
I'm afraid I don't really unwind, as such. I wouldn't say I was a hive of activity - there'd be some loud laughter in this house if I was to suggest that - but I do like to have something "on the go", and that's usually writing, when I can spare the time.
Being unconscious is quite good. I do that when I can.
Alex: Which authors do you particularly admire and why?
Pat: Stephen King has to be at the top. Simply for the fact that he is still there, still bringing out the books. The engine is still going at full pelt. Long may it run. That's wonderful. I wish I could do that. Just batter it out, every working day. I imagine his mind as being like The Mangler, except it spits out typed A4 sheets instead of body parts. He's written so many great things that you actually forget about some of them. He wrote The Dead Zone! He wrote Misery! These might not even be in his top 10 best books. He wrote (Rita Hayworth And) The Shawshank Redemption! He wrote Salem's Lot when he was in his twenties!
I love Ray Bradbury. Lumped into the SF bracket, but he is a poet trapped in the form of a prose writer. As a result, he had range. He could go from SF to folk tales to nostalgia to... weird things that are Bradbury and Bradbury alone. That other great Ray, Mr Harryhausen, the man who brought the monsters to life, was another influence.
Linking the work of both, “The Fog Horn” may still be my favourite piece of writing.
Citing George Orwell comes close to cliche nowadays, but I have to give him a shout. Lots of people mention him on social media, many of whom I suspect have never actually read him beyond a teenage fling with Nineteen Eighty-Four or Animal Farm. That's always a great big floofy red flag, to me.
Orwell’s fiction made his reputation, but his essays are the real meat. There are some fantastic collected editions of these and I've almost finished a 1200-page monster from Everyman. Even taking away the politics (he would laugh at that; it was Why He Wrote, after all), Orwell’s mastery of simple prose is something worth envying, and emulating. Be direct. Cut unnecessary words, particularly adjectives and adverbs. Avoid cliche. If it sounds trite, or it sounds like “writing”, cut it out.
Of course, I don't follow these guidelines and nor should anyone in the business of writing. Rules! LOL! Adverb away. Split infinitely. (Editor frowns, makes note in margin.)
But I do love reading Orwell's essays. There is a purity to them, even if his truth doesn't chime with yours. There's sweet, simple music in his style. “Some Thoughts On The Common Toad” is my favourite, but there’s some less well-known stuff that was an absolute pleasure to discover, such as the As I Please columns.
John Le Carre had a wonderful career. His books are considered, measured, perfectly executed. He takes his time. It's luxurious. As a younger reader, I might have been bored by his work; now, every return to Le Carre’s world is a real treat. James Bond for grown-ups. Though I’m not averse to a bit of Bond. Le Carre’s memoirs are coming up on my audiobooks list.
Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier... this is like saying you’re a fan of ice cream or fillet steak, it almost goes without saying. But it's so good. I read a staggering statistic, that it sells busloads of copies every single week. The figure is so large I won't quote it for fear of looking like a fool. Few books capture atmosphere so well.
Virginia Woolf might have been the best of her whole gang. I would recommend the short story “Solid Objects” to anyone. Perhaps the ultimate example of a story which is seemingly about nothing, and is in fact about everything.
Then there’s Douglas Adams, Iain Banks, Irvine Welsh, Agatha Christie, even Enid Blyton, fair dues… I could be here all day.
I will finish with a tribute to Terrance Dicks, who we lost recently. I am not alone in owing him a massive debt. Those Target Doctor Who novelisations were a gateway drug to more ambitious fiction for me as a young boy. I loved Doctor Who anyway from the television, but reading really took off as an addiction from my first experience of Doctor Who And The Monster Of Peladon.
There’s a big furry monster on the cover, menacing a lime green Ice Warrior with the texture of a boiled sweetie. Fantastic stuff. How could you not read on?
Alex: Terrific stuff, Pat. Thanks a million for such fullsome, thoughtful and entertaining answers. I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to you.
Pat: Thanks Alex. It's been a lot of fun.
Pat: The Runner (Amazon link) has a simple concept: imagine finding out that a serial killer was your dad.This is what happens to Freya Bain after her mother dies. She discovers from the will that her father is the notorious serial killer known as the Woodcutter, who hunts down lone runners in remote places and chops them up with an axe.
Appalled, but also curious, Freya meets her father in prison. He tells her that he was fitted up for these crimes by the authorities.
Is her father telling the truth? And if he is... is the real Woodcutter still out there? Freya's determined to find out, whatever the cost...
Alex: What was the first book you read?
Pat: It was from the book club at school - Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the UFO, by David A. Adler. These books are still in print, and I gather they are well known in the United States and Canada, though less so in the UK.I was about six. I've still got it, somewhere in the shelves behind me. It's set at Halloween and concerns funny lights in the sky over the woods. Is it aliens? Cam and her pet cat Neptune and her best pal Eric investigate...
For an eighties kid, anything with aliens in it was worth having. We were bombarded with images of UFOs and the paranormal at that time, presided over by Arthur C Clarke. Doing the hard yards, from his paradise beach home in Sri Lanka. Hard knock life. “Did aliens abduct this man when he went missing on his way home from the pub?… No. Tune in next week, when we take a look at poltergeists.”
There's a great mystery in Cam Jansen, too. There are clues to follow, suspects to question. It’s all very logical. David Adler was a maths teacher, which might have some bearing, here. The gimmick is that Cam has a photographic memory. This makes her an ace detective. It's all about the details.
It's the first 'proper' text novel that I can remember reading, away from picture books. I was enthralled. There was a logical conclusion, evidence-based. No trickery, no magic wands. Added to Scooby Doo's spooky adventures, which I also loved, this made an impression on me.
Alex: How much research do you do and what does it usually entail?
Pat: Not as much as I should. We're down to time, again. I am in physical pain when I write anything about police procedure. No matter how well I research it, I just know that a serving police officer would throw it across a room. But I guess this is true of people in any occupation, when they read about it in novels. As a journalist, I am familiar with this. You see a lot of the same representation in the soaps and other TV shows - journalists harassing people, getting in the face of victims before court cases, etc. Reporters must be the most-punched occupation in drama. "Hi, this is a Scream movie, and I'm Gale Weathers, live from Woodsboro." Thwhack!
The press have done and still do some awful, immoral, harrowing things, but some of the depictions I see and read are laughably off-track. It's worth saying that there are great people working in journalism who carry out important work for the sake of a free, fair and democratic society. But I would say that, wouldn't I?
Every piece of fiction will offend reality in some way. I try not to be too hard on myself. And get help from responsible adults who know what I am trying to talk about!
Alex: Do you ever base your characters on people you have encountered in real life?
Pat: No. Writers gather bits and pieces from life, events, experiences - if you didn't do that, then you couldn't be a writer. What was it Bono said? Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief.Every word of fiction is a lie, but it has to come close to the truth, or no-one will believe it.
When it comes to characters, I enjoy fashioning them in their own image, no-one else's. There's a pride in having your own little creation, their own tics and ways, their likes and dislikes, prejudices, their appearance and moods. I'm just playing with action figures, in my own head. Freud identified this trait in creative people, I think.
Ultimately, there’s only one character we know intimately, and that’s our own. We are hero and villain; coward and warrior; captain and skivvy; lover and miser; jealous and generous; nice and nasty; cupid and demon; honest and wicked; sweet and sour. Sometimes, we can’t even trust ourselves.
Maybe the only character I can ever write is variations of me. Or John Malkovich, if Charlie Kaufman has it right!
Alex: Which was the last book you read that blew you away?
Pat: Ghostland, by Edward Parnell. Psychogeography, I think they call it - personal memoir, intertwined with historical studies of ghost story writers. Sad, but wonderful. Enlightening, too. Thoroughly recommended, especially if you love the stories of MR James.
Alex: How do you market your books?
Pat: Through social media, almost exclusively. Again, not as much as I'd like, and not as creatively as I'd like, either, owing to time constraints. I am fortunate in that my publisher does some heavy lifting. The work of book bloggers, and interviews like this one, are a huge help.
Alex: What are your interests aside from writing? And what do you do to unwind?
Pat: Once you have kids, you'll be lucky to have any hobbies, until they develop their own! I used to like going to the cinema. And the pub. And restaurants. I loved to listen to music. I played guitar. I used to watch football. I used to go running... No, really! And I used to climb mountains. So nowadays I like: baking buns, colouring in, the world of Paw Patrol and Fireman Sam, going to the park, and making daft little comedy videos with the kids’ toys. And, full disclosure, I am delighted by all of these.
My wife and I go to the Hay Festival when we can... books, talks, beer, good food, beautiful scenery; if there's a heaven and I go there, that's what my corner will look like. Fingers crossed it'll be on this year! (The Hay Winter festival, not heaven.)
I'm afraid I don't really unwind, as such. I wouldn't say I was a hive of activity - there'd be some loud laughter in this house if I was to suggest that - but I do like to have something "on the go", and that's usually writing, when I can spare the time.
Being unconscious is quite good. I do that when I can.
Alex: Which authors do you particularly admire and why?
Pat: Stephen King has to be at the top. Simply for the fact that he is still there, still bringing out the books. The engine is still going at full pelt. Long may it run. That's wonderful. I wish I could do that. Just batter it out, every working day. I imagine his mind as being like The Mangler, except it spits out typed A4 sheets instead of body parts. He's written so many great things that you actually forget about some of them. He wrote The Dead Zone! He wrote Misery! These might not even be in his top 10 best books. He wrote (Rita Hayworth And) The Shawshank Redemption! He wrote Salem's Lot when he was in his twenties!
I love Ray Bradbury. Lumped into the SF bracket, but he is a poet trapped in the form of a prose writer. As a result, he had range. He could go from SF to folk tales to nostalgia to... weird things that are Bradbury and Bradbury alone. That other great Ray, Mr Harryhausen, the man who brought the monsters to life, was another influence.
Linking the work of both, “The Fog Horn” may still be my favourite piece of writing.
Citing George Orwell comes close to cliche nowadays, but I have to give him a shout. Lots of people mention him on social media, many of whom I suspect have never actually read him beyond a teenage fling with Nineteen Eighty-Four or Animal Farm. That's always a great big floofy red flag, to me.
Orwell’s fiction made his reputation, but his essays are the real meat. There are some fantastic collected editions of these and I've almost finished a 1200-page monster from Everyman. Even taking away the politics (he would laugh at that; it was Why He Wrote, after all), Orwell’s mastery of simple prose is something worth envying, and emulating. Be direct. Cut unnecessary words, particularly adjectives and adverbs. Avoid cliche. If it sounds trite, or it sounds like “writing”, cut it out.
Of course, I don't follow these guidelines and nor should anyone in the business of writing. Rules! LOL! Adverb away. Split infinitely. (Editor frowns, makes note in margin.)
But I do love reading Orwell's essays. There is a purity to them, even if his truth doesn't chime with yours. There's sweet, simple music in his style. “Some Thoughts On The Common Toad” is my favourite, but there’s some less well-known stuff that was an absolute pleasure to discover, such as the As I Please columns.
John Le Carre had a wonderful career. His books are considered, measured, perfectly executed. He takes his time. It's luxurious. As a younger reader, I might have been bored by his work; now, every return to Le Carre’s world is a real treat. James Bond for grown-ups. Though I’m not averse to a bit of Bond. Le Carre’s memoirs are coming up on my audiobooks list.
Rebecca, by Daphne du Maurier... this is like saying you’re a fan of ice cream or fillet steak, it almost goes without saying. But it's so good. I read a staggering statistic, that it sells busloads of copies every single week. The figure is so large I won't quote it for fear of looking like a fool. Few books capture atmosphere so well.
Virginia Woolf might have been the best of her whole gang. I would recommend the short story “Solid Objects” to anyone. Perhaps the ultimate example of a story which is seemingly about nothing, and is in fact about everything.
Then there’s Douglas Adams, Iain Banks, Irvine Welsh, Agatha Christie, even Enid Blyton, fair dues… I could be here all day.
I will finish with a tribute to Terrance Dicks, who we lost recently. I am not alone in owing him a massive debt. Those Target Doctor Who novelisations were a gateway drug to more ambitious fiction for me as a young boy. I loved Doctor Who anyway from the television, but reading really took off as an addiction from my first experience of Doctor Who And The Monster Of Peladon.
There’s a big furry monster on the cover, menacing a lime green Ice Warrior with the texture of a boiled sweetie. Fantastic stuff. How could you not read on?
Alex: Terrific stuff, Pat. Thanks a million for such fullsome, thoughtful and entertaining answers. I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to you.
Pat: Thanks Alex. It's been a lot of fun.
