It is with very great pleasure that I welcome Sion Scott-Wilson onto the website today. Of his novel Some Rise by Sin, Tracey Chevalier wrote the following: "I felt I was eavesdropping on genuine 19th-century grave robbers... the author's skilled prose... convinced me. I felt I was there in the rough and tumble streets of 1830s London. Grotesque, pathetic, yet with poignant moments of calm and welcome humour."
Alex: Tell me a bit about yourself, Sion.
Sion: My father was in the army so I was brought up around the world: Asia, Europe, the Middle East. My first real memories are of Singapore, in particular, the sound of monsoon rain pelting down on the ceiling of my bedroom. I still love the sound of the rain at night.
I was later sent to an all-boys boarding school in the UK. We still had House Boxing, fagging (look it up), beating etc. I expect it was a formative experience in many ways but would be far too expensive to unpick with therapy. I still have weekly Zoom calls with a couple of great mates from my schooldays. So, it can’t have been all that bad.
I’m a fencer, an epeeist, which I love and find oddly relaxing – again, a legacy from school. I bought an electric bike last year, which my two sons find hilarious, since it’s motor ‘assisted’. But I do a lot of mileage on it, about four and half thousand miles since November.
Alex: How would you describe your writing, and are there particular themes that you like to explore?
Sion: Like you Alex, I was an advertising copywriter. I was fortunate enough to work for the great Tony Brignull, who has zero patience for lazy writing and poor craft. Once I’d got over a long bout of imposter syndrome, it occurred to me that I might actually be able to turn a half-decent phrase. Like many advertising types, I dabbled with different forms: writing articles for travel magazines, one-act plays, full screenplays and a few short stories. I imagined that these would be easier than an novel. They’re not, trust me. My first full-length novel (120K words) was set in the Eighties and, although it was runner-up for the well-respected Fish Prize, remains unpublished. Still, it served to prove (to me) that I could actually do it. People often ask me now ‘how do you actually write a novel?’ The answer is: don’t talk about it, do it; sit down at a keyboard or an empty pad and start bashing away. When you’re finished, you sit down and do it all again. Don’t show it to anyone until it’s done. It’s like the Mastermind phrase – I’ve started so I’ll finish.
Like most people, I dislike injustice and inequity. Considering the current state of the world, the gap between the haves and the have nots is only increasing. This is a certainly a theme in my work along with associated power imbalances and consequent abuses. I think these are universal themes and apply in 1829 London society (the setting for Some Rise by Sin) as much as they do today. That said, I don’t plan my work around these ideas per se. Character and plot are for me, always the starting points.
Alex: Tell me a bit about yourself, Sion.
Sion: My father was in the army so I was brought up around the world: Asia, Europe, the Middle East. My first real memories are of Singapore, in particular, the sound of monsoon rain pelting down on the ceiling of my bedroom. I still love the sound of the rain at night.
I was later sent to an all-boys boarding school in the UK. We still had House Boxing, fagging (look it up), beating etc. I expect it was a formative experience in many ways but would be far too expensive to unpick with therapy. I still have weekly Zoom calls with a couple of great mates from my schooldays. So, it can’t have been all that bad.
I’m a fencer, an epeeist, which I love and find oddly relaxing – again, a legacy from school. I bought an electric bike last year, which my two sons find hilarious, since it’s motor ‘assisted’. But I do a lot of mileage on it, about four and half thousand miles since November.
Alex: How would you describe your writing, and are there particular themes that you like to explore?
Sion: Like you Alex, I was an advertising copywriter. I was fortunate enough to work for the great Tony Brignull, who has zero patience for lazy writing and poor craft. Once I’d got over a long bout of imposter syndrome, it occurred to me that I might actually be able to turn a half-decent phrase. Like many advertising types, I dabbled with different forms: writing articles for travel magazines, one-act plays, full screenplays and a few short stories. I imagined that these would be easier than an novel. They’re not, trust me. My first full-length novel (120K words) was set in the Eighties and, although it was runner-up for the well-respected Fish Prize, remains unpublished. Still, it served to prove (to me) that I could actually do it. People often ask me now ‘how do you actually write a novel?’ The answer is: don’t talk about it, do it; sit down at a keyboard or an empty pad and start bashing away. When you’re finished, you sit down and do it all again. Don’t show it to anyone until it’s done. It’s like the Mastermind phrase – I’ve started so I’ll finish.
Like most people, I dislike injustice and inequity. Considering the current state of the world, the gap between the haves and the have nots is only increasing. This is a certainly a theme in my work along with associated power imbalances and consequent abuses. I think these are universal themes and apply in 1829 London society (the setting for Some Rise by Sin) as much as they do today. That said, I don’t plan my work around these ideas per se. Character and plot are for me, always the starting points.
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?
Sion: Good question. I recently wrote a blog piece on this very subject – Standish and Deliver (https://sionscotwilauthor.wordpress.com).
The answer is, I’ve done and do both. On a book tour this question was asked and a famous crime writer explained that she wrote organically and didn’t herself know whodunnit until the final chapter – stops the readers being able to guess. Amazing.
Alex: Tell us about your latest novel.
Sion: It’s titled Some Rise by Sin and set in London at the tail end of the Georgian period. Samuel Samuel and Facey are a couple of so-called ‘resurrection men’, making a living among society's fringe-dwellers by hoisting the newly departed from the churchyards of London whilst masquerading as late-night bakers. Operating on tip-offs and rumours in the capital’s drinking dens and fighting pits, the pair find themselves in receipt of some valuable intelligence: an unusual cadaver has popped up on the market, that of a hermaphrodite.
For any medic worth his salt it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a medical curiosity and rara avis—and famous anatomist Joshua Brookes commissions the two men to obtain the body, at any cost. But this corpse holds an awful secret, and before long the enterprise becomes a deadlier and more complex undertaking than either man could ever have imagined.
I’ve tried to explore what ambition can mean for poor people in a society that conspires to grind them down at every turn and how individuals can remain fundamentally decent despite being engaged in appalling occupations.
It’s the product of a huge amount of research and is, I hope, authentic and a true reflection of the sights, sounds, smells and language of the period.
Alex: What was the first book you read?
Sion: I think it might have been Roderick the Red, if memory serves, about some kind of crap pirate. I also used to read a lot of comics: Beano, Dandy etc.
Alex: How much research do you do and what does it usually entail?
Sion: Since I’m writing period novels, I do have to use a good many primary and secondary sources. I try to be very careful with my facts and avoid anachronisms. This means that I often have to check on the most trivial things. For example, I was writing a scene in the sequel involving the opening of a champagne bottle. This was before the wire cork cage was in use and so champagne corks were secured by means of a complicated string arrangement. It took about forty minutes of research time to discover that particular detail, resulting in a brief four-word sentence on the page. It’s not a great ratio but it beats the ‘Dear sir, I believe you may be mistaken here’ letters.
What I particularly enjoyed about the process was in capturing the language of the people and the time: getting the cadences of dialogue right and researching the period speech and cant through a variety of primary sources. I’m very particular about this and try to maintain an authentic voice in the form of Samuel Samuel, the first-person narrator. It’s not always easy, since although Sammy does have a modicum of education via one of the earliest of the ‘ragged schools’, he’s not a particularly learned man and so his vocabulary and grammar can only extend so far.
Sion: Good question. I recently wrote a blog piece on this very subject – Standish and Deliver (https://sionscotwilauthor.wordpress.com).
The answer is, I’ve done and do both. On a book tour this question was asked and a famous crime writer explained that she wrote organically and didn’t herself know whodunnit until the final chapter – stops the readers being able to guess. Amazing.
Alex: Tell us about your latest novel.
Sion: It’s titled Some Rise by Sin and set in London at the tail end of the Georgian period. Samuel Samuel and Facey are a couple of so-called ‘resurrection men’, making a living among society's fringe-dwellers by hoisting the newly departed from the churchyards of London whilst masquerading as late-night bakers. Operating on tip-offs and rumours in the capital’s drinking dens and fighting pits, the pair find themselves in receipt of some valuable intelligence: an unusual cadaver has popped up on the market, that of a hermaphrodite.
For any medic worth his salt it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—a medical curiosity and rara avis—and famous anatomist Joshua Brookes commissions the two men to obtain the body, at any cost. But this corpse holds an awful secret, and before long the enterprise becomes a deadlier and more complex undertaking than either man could ever have imagined.
I’ve tried to explore what ambition can mean for poor people in a society that conspires to grind them down at every turn and how individuals can remain fundamentally decent despite being engaged in appalling occupations.
It’s the product of a huge amount of research and is, I hope, authentic and a true reflection of the sights, sounds, smells and language of the period.
Alex: What was the first book you read?
Sion: I think it might have been Roderick the Red, if memory serves, about some kind of crap pirate. I also used to read a lot of comics: Beano, Dandy etc.
Alex: How much research do you do and what does it usually entail?
Sion: Since I’m writing period novels, I do have to use a good many primary and secondary sources. I try to be very careful with my facts and avoid anachronisms. This means that I often have to check on the most trivial things. For example, I was writing a scene in the sequel involving the opening of a champagne bottle. This was before the wire cork cage was in use and so champagne corks were secured by means of a complicated string arrangement. It took about forty minutes of research time to discover that particular detail, resulting in a brief four-word sentence on the page. It’s not a great ratio but it beats the ‘Dear sir, I believe you may be mistaken here’ letters.
What I particularly enjoyed about the process was in capturing the language of the people and the time: getting the cadences of dialogue right and researching the period speech and cant through a variety of primary sources. I’m very particular about this and try to maintain an authentic voice in the form of Samuel Samuel, the first-person narrator. It’s not always easy, since although Sammy does have a modicum of education via one of the earliest of the ‘ragged schools’, he’s not a particularly learned man and so his vocabulary and grammar can only extend so far.
Alex: Do you ever base your characters on people you have encountered in real life?
Sion: Yes, no doubt of it. As in the case of most authors, they do however, appear cunningly disguised. I swipe elements of personality, so often many of my characters are essentially amalgams.
Terrible thing to admit, but I actually pinched one of my own characters from a play I’d written and revived him as a Georgian. No imagination, I’m afraid.
Alex: Which was the last book you read that blew you away?
Sion: I’m quite an eclectic reader – I do, of course, read and love novels from my general period: Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, Surtees, Austen, the usual suspects. In terms of contemporary writers, I’m a huge admirer of John Irving -The World According to Garp; J.P. Donlevey – The Ginger Man; and the incomparable John Kennedy Toole – A Confederacy of Dunces, which I adore, but every time I buy a copy I end up giving it away to someone.
Alex: How do you market your books?
Sion: I’m quite active on social media and I’m fortunate enough to have a publicist. I’m currently in talks with my publisher about releasing a special edition involving a unique app. I’m pants-droppingly shameless about touting my work, I’m afraid. I’ll do anything, go anywhere to publicise. We recently bought a new house and in an unprecedented reversal of roles, I even hustled my estate agent to buy a copy.
Alex: What are your interests aside from writing? And what do you do to unwind?
Sion: As a member of the Bristol White Eagle club, I’m a regular weekly fencer. As I’ve said, I also cycle a good deal – yes, on my ‘assisted’ bike. Once away from the angry queues of motorists and out into the countryside I’m able to consider ideas and mull over plotlines. I’m also a tennis player and keen skier (although that has been one of the many activities denied us by the plague).
Alex: Which authors do you particularly admire and why?
Sion: Dickens, I love. Amazing characters and incredible imagination. John Kennedy Toole – funny, eccentric, poignant. Alas, he was rejected for publication so often he took his own life. His mother persisted with the manuscript and eventually got it published. He was only a young man when he wrote A Confederacy of Dunces. One can only speculate on the kind of work he might have been capable of had he continued in his writing career. I’m also a big fan of a fellow Bristol author, Derek Robinson. He’s nowhere near as well-known as he should be. Nominated for the Booker Prize in 1971 with an early work, Goshawk Squadron, but according to Robinson was vetoed by John Fowles who described the book as execrable. Boo, John Fowles and boo, The Magus too.
Alex: I'm pleased you've mentioned John Kennedy Toole. I was lent a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces by another copywriter friend years ago. It is an extraordinary book and Toole's demise at just 31 is so incredibly sad. I'm not familiar with Derek Robinson. I shall have to grab a copy of Goshawk Squadron. As for John Fowles and The Magus, all I can say is that not a single author appearing on these pages has cited it as a favourite read. Need I say more? Anyway, thank you Sion for sharing your take on this curious business of writing fiction. It's been fascinating.
Sion. It's my pleasure, Alex. Thanks for inviting me over.
Sion: Yes, no doubt of it. As in the case of most authors, they do however, appear cunningly disguised. I swipe elements of personality, so often many of my characters are essentially amalgams.
Terrible thing to admit, but I actually pinched one of my own characters from a play I’d written and revived him as a Georgian. No imagination, I’m afraid.
Alex: Which was the last book you read that blew you away?
Sion: I’m quite an eclectic reader – I do, of course, read and love novels from my general period: Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, Surtees, Austen, the usual suspects. In terms of contemporary writers, I’m a huge admirer of John Irving -The World According to Garp; J.P. Donlevey – The Ginger Man; and the incomparable John Kennedy Toole – A Confederacy of Dunces, which I adore, but every time I buy a copy I end up giving it away to someone.
Alex: How do you market your books?
Sion: I’m quite active on social media and I’m fortunate enough to have a publicist. I’m currently in talks with my publisher about releasing a special edition involving a unique app. I’m pants-droppingly shameless about touting my work, I’m afraid. I’ll do anything, go anywhere to publicise. We recently bought a new house and in an unprecedented reversal of roles, I even hustled my estate agent to buy a copy.
Alex: What are your interests aside from writing? And what do you do to unwind?
Sion: As a member of the Bristol White Eagle club, I’m a regular weekly fencer. As I’ve said, I also cycle a good deal – yes, on my ‘assisted’ bike. Once away from the angry queues of motorists and out into the countryside I’m able to consider ideas and mull over plotlines. I’m also a tennis player and keen skier (although that has been one of the many activities denied us by the plague).
Alex: Which authors do you particularly admire and why?
Sion: Dickens, I love. Amazing characters and incredible imagination. John Kennedy Toole – funny, eccentric, poignant. Alas, he was rejected for publication so often he took his own life. His mother persisted with the manuscript and eventually got it published. He was only a young man when he wrote A Confederacy of Dunces. One can only speculate on the kind of work he might have been capable of had he continued in his writing career. I’m also a big fan of a fellow Bristol author, Derek Robinson. He’s nowhere near as well-known as he should be. Nominated for the Booker Prize in 1971 with an early work, Goshawk Squadron, but according to Robinson was vetoed by John Fowles who described the book as execrable. Boo, John Fowles and boo, The Magus too.
Alex: I'm pleased you've mentioned John Kennedy Toole. I was lent a copy of A Confederacy of Dunces by another copywriter friend years ago. It is an extraordinary book and Toole's demise at just 31 is so incredibly sad. I'm not familiar with Derek Robinson. I shall have to grab a copy of Goshawk Squadron. As for John Fowles and The Magus, all I can say is that not a single author appearing on these pages has cited it as a favourite read. Need I say more? Anyway, thank you Sion for sharing your take on this curious business of writing fiction. It's been fascinating.
Sion. It's my pleasure, Alex. Thanks for inviting me over.
