Q&A with Gillian Philip

What was the inspiration behind your first novel, Bad Faith?
Bad Faith came from a lot of different directions. Several thoughts colliding, I suppose, which is my chaotic way of starting a book. There was a sad local news story about a man who had got lost and was never found, which got me wondering how a body could lie undiscovered. There was a character in my head called Ming who wouldn't go away (and refused to change his name). There were the Bible John murders from years ago - my Holy Joe is not Bible John, but he undoubtedly grew out of that mystery. For the setting I used my own upbringing in a church that was very liberal and tolerant - but at the time I was writing the book, freedom of speech was starting to be curtailed by stealth, and fundamentalism in all faiths was on the rise, and some terrible beliefs and practices were being excused as 'cultural' because nobody thinks they could happen here... so all that fed into the story's background.
And then there were all the small events, like having to finish off rabbits that have just been hit by cars (this happens to me a lot). Lots of things sparked off the story, but once it got started it took on a life of its own, the way stories do.
 
How did it feel when your received a copy of your first novel?
What a thrill. I carried it around with me for days. I loved the cover from the moment I saw it, the contrast between the red and the white, and I just liked taking it out and looking at it. And stroking it. Sad obsessive stuff like that. I was over the moon.
 
Your second novel, Crossing The Line, hits the stores in April can you give us a little preview of the story?
It's about a guy called Nick who has done some terrible things, but is trying to turn his life around. It isn't easy, because a boy died, and the girl he is in love and lust with is that boy's sister. Meanwhile he's having to keep half an eye on his own deranged sister and her imaginary friend, especially when a dangerous figure reappears from Nick's past.
 
Your novels deal with some very strong themes (rape, religion, alcoholism, knife crime, bullying and violence) did you always set out to write books with strong themes or did they develop through the story-writing process?
I hadn't thought of it like that, honestly! I don't set out to write about themes or issues - usually it's a character who appears first. They'll lodge in my head and demand to have their story told. But as I like lots of action, I throw terrible things at the poor souls. Writers are sadistic that way, I reckon. We love our characters, but what we put them through... Of course the characters have minds of their own, and they do misbehave, so it's partly their own fault.
 
By August you will have had three books published, what is behind this creative splurge and do you have anything else coming out towards the end of the year?
It's not so much a creative splurge as a logjam that's been released. I decided five or six years ago that I was going to write hard and get published. I invested in manuscript assessments, and sent stuff out, and when I got rejections, I went back to my desk (or the kitchen table - it's warmer) and wrote something else. There's a four-novel fantasy series sitting on my hard disk. As I gradually made friends and contacts, I got work writing short fiction for an educational publisher, and then a series called Darke Academy for book packagers Hothouse.
Then last year a lot of things happened at once - an agent took on Crossing the Line and sold it to Bloomsbury, Strident accepted Bad Faith and published it in October, and Hodder bought the Darke Academy series - the first book comes out this August. I think that's it for this year though!
 
Do you play with displays in bookshops so that your novel is facing out?
Oh sure! Doesn't everybody? I do it for my friends' books too. We're probably the bane of the staff's lives.
 
Before becoming a published novelist what were you doing?
Trying to become one - and before that, trying to avoid the issue because I thought it was too difficult and it wouldn't ever happen. This was pure denial, as I've never really wanted to do anything else but write. While in denial, though, I've been a barmaid, theatre usherette, record store assistant, radio presenter, typesetter, and political assistant to a parliamentary candidate. (That was the only time I used my degree. He didn't get elected, so we got married instead.)  I lived abroad for twelve years, in the West Indies, and was a singer in a band in an Irish bar. That was so much fun I couldn't believe I got paid for it.
 
 
What are you working on at the moment?
I'm writing my second book for Bloomsbury. There was one false start - I realised I was writing the wrong book about the wrong people. It's coming together better now. I'm also working on the second book in the Darke Academy series.
 
Can you describe your self in three words?
Always catching up?
 
Did you have a favourite book as a child?
My copies of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings literally fell apart through over-reading. If I hadn't re-read those so often, I might have got around to some others I won't name (because I'm ashamed I haven't read them yet).
 
What was the last book you read? 
Because I'm deep into work I haven't sat down and concentrated on a book for weeks. The last books I finished were Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and The Darkness, a thriller by Bill Kirton. Both were absolutely wonderful, so I've had my 'fix' to get me through. But I'm gradually reading Doctor Who: The Writer's Tale by Russell T. Davies, who is one of my idols.
 
Who would you like to write the novelisation of your life and do you think that it would be an entertaining read?
Oh, Stephen King. The man can't write a boring sentence, and he can bring something sinister and thrilling to the most prosaic events, so in that sense it couldn't help but be entertaining. What's more, he's written the best book ever about writing (I mean On Writing, not Misery...) He understands writers' tics and obsessions because he shares them, so he'd be forgiving of my worst habits - like forgetting to make the kids' supper because I'm finishing a chapter, or not listening to my husband because my head's in another world entirely, or sneaking off to my laptop in the middle of Christmas Day...
 
If you could swap lives with any fictional character who would it be?
That's tough! The characters in my favourite books tend to get into a lot of trouble. But I'll say - Meggie, from Cornelia Funke's Inkheart. To be able to 'read' characters out of a book and meet them in the flesh - that would be bliss! I know it gets her into terrible danger, but if I was careful, and could control who gets read 'into' the book by way of exchange... now that could be useful, too...