Back in the late 90s, I was a sports reporter for a university paper called ‘The Oxford Student’, a slightly downmarket, tabloid sister of the more established ‘Cherwell’ (and more entertaining for it, we hoped). The editor of the paper was one Katy Darby, who has since gone on to publish a blockbuster Victorian romp called ‘The Whores’ Asylum’, so saucy it has had to be retitled ‘The Unpierced Heart’ (http://www.katydarby.com/). The other day she sent me a series of questions, known as the ‘Next Big Thing’ (the big thing being one’s next book); the idea is to answer them, then ‘tag’ five writers at the end who will do the same. Words like ‘meme’ are being bandied about, but I struggled with that term when reading ‘The God Delusion’, so cannot use it with confidence. Anyway, here goes with some answers (am concerned Katy might fire me if I don’t meet the deadline), with some lucky pals tagged at the end…
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
An Aurelio Zen mystery, if Zen were hauled out of his home country and forced to adapt to a foreign land.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
It’s short and exciting, and hopefully can be consumed in a single gulp…
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Tagged writers — I can only include ones with blogs, so have had to miss many out:
Lewis Crofts, author of the stunningly good ‘The Pornographer of Vienna’, about to unleash his follow-up novel on Karl Marx — http://www.lewiscrofts.com/
Jessie Childs, a historian whose factual writing sizzles as hotly as Hilary Mantel’s fiction — ‘Henry VIII’s Last Victim’ won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for biography, and her next book is set to top even that —http://www.jessiechilds.co.uk/index.html
Claus von Bohlen, author of ‘Who is Charlie Conti?’ and ‘To Greet the Sun’, both so gripping and different that they show more range than a professional darts player — http://www.clausvonbohlen.com/
Conor Fitzgerald, author of the brilliant Alec Blume crime novels: the recent CWA nomination says it all — http://www.conorfitzgerald.net/
Matthew Kimberley, author of ‘How to Get a Grip’, a self-help manual that tells it like it is — http://www.matthewkimberley.com/blog/
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