If you could co-write with one author, who would it be and why?

A: Neil Gaiman. Except that wouldn’t work – he’s too damned good, and his style is too individual and quirky.

So maybe it’s Mark Greig. Mark is a highly successful TV writer who’s written for Life on Mars and is currently writing for the spin off series, Ashes to Ashes. I commissioned Mark to write an episode of Taggart some years ago – I think it was his first TV commission – and he’s cool, and stylish, and has an ability to write thriller material that awes me. Plus he’s fun. I could imagine co-writing a feature script with Mark; or better still, developing a TV series together. And I love that collaborative way of working, for drama at least.

Oh and Joss Whedon. He can be part of our gang too.

(Wow, that would be quite a gang! I look forward to seeing your collaborations!...)What do you hope to achieve as a writer?

A: Solvency.

But that may be too ambitious a dream! So I’d settle for – creating a body of work that I’m proud of. And I feel I’m some way towards that – mainly because of the radio dramas I’ve done which are mine, all mine; and say something, and which audiences connect with. And with Debatable Space and Ketos out next year, I feel I have an oeuvre (oh I love the pretentiousness of that word!) of stuff that’s me, that’s got Palmer written all over it, and which has some resonance for the people who read or see or hear my work.

Could you tell us a little about the journey your story undertook to be published? How does it felt now to be soon-to-be published author? Being published on both sides of the Atlantic at once, I'd imagine that feels good!

A: Writing Debatable Space was a huge gamble which failed. I spent a year, maybe a year and a half writing it, and then, that was that. I just couldn’t sell it. I had an agent who was and is a highly esteemed and successful drama agent who didn’t like SF, and had no notion whatever how to sell the damn book. So I’d pretty well written it off and was moving to other things. But then, in a stubborn moment, I startling Googling SF novel agents, to give it one last try. One name kept leaping out – John Jarrold, former SF editor turned literary agent. So I emailed John – then I think I sent him the novel, or maybe just the first chapters – and he snapped it up. About three months later he’d got the book to the attention of every single SF publisher in the UK and sold it to Orbit.

I was in Patisserie Valerie with two very good friends having a chat and a coffee when John called to say Tim Holman was very interested. That certainly was a good day; although (on my part) a very bad and incoherent conversation.

The news that Tim was moving to the US and hence there was a very good chance of getting a simultaneous US publication was icing on the cake.

Writing’s a risky business; to do anything that’s good you often have to do so much on ‘spec’, which means for no money. So a great agent is vital.

And John’s a great agent; he’s extremely nice, and funny, and clever, and he delivers.

While reading, I became particularly fond of the fire beasts – super-intelligent, able to burst a man into fire, uber-cool ... what isn't there to love!? When creating an alien race, what would you say was more important – a distinctive appearance or an unusual characterisation?

A: Alby, the flame beast, is based on a friend of mine who is super-intelligent and able to burst a man into fire with a single glance, and who is called Alby - so that bit was easy. I think the key to aliens is making them real, without making them human. Who were those cuddly aliens in Star Trek which bred like rabbits – Tribbles? That was a great concept. And Asimov did an entire book from an alien’s POV and it was hugely intriguing.

But I think it’s very hard to avoid cliché when creating aliens, and that’s the challenge for an SF writer.

For the next book I’m aiming to create a whole series of alien creatures – an alien ecosphere.

Which characters have changed the most from your original idea of them to how they've appeared on the page?

A: Lena, as I say, started as a minor character then stole the book – cheeky minx. The other characters came alive in their very first scene – I could see them all. And the rest I think was about discovering more facets to each character; but they didn’t change so very much.

When writing, are you the kind of writer who sits in front of himself with notes written on everything (walls, cups, arms, etc!) -- a planner basically, or do you just sit and write and let the Great Muse inspire you? (That questions was slightly biased towards the latter option, as that's my approach!)

A: I lost all my Post-Its five years ago and haven’t been organised since. I do like to be spontaneous, when writing novels and radio. For screen work, I’m more inclined to plan intensely – I write ‘scene by scene breakdowns’, what some people call ‘step outlines’, which plan the story in every single beat and particular. Then I add dialogue.

For Ketos, which has a large cast of characters, I have a piece of paper stapled to the cabinet beside me with a family tree for all the characters. Otherwise, I get lost about who’s who and how they’re related.

I wrote a blog about Jeremy Dyson (the writer of League of Gentlemen) who likes to have everything totally organised, and claims it’s impossible to write unless you have a tidy desk. I by contrast have a room full of clutter and sometimes lose coffee cups for days on end. My computer, however, is pretty well organised, with Folders for everything and everything in its Folder.

(Ditto!) Are there any genre type of things for TV or Radio, that you're currently involved in or planning? And do the those ever overlap into your novel writing? I caught a reference to Isaac Newton, whom you depicted in your radio play, The King's Coiner, in Debatable Space, which is what made me ask =D!

A: I loved doing the Newton play – Isaac Newton, detective! was my pitch, and it’s a true story. I’ve been to the Public Records Office in Kew and read and held the interview transcripts of felons interrogated by Newton in his days as a thieftaker.

I have a couple of genre movies – a film noir and an action thriller – which I’m trying to get financed. And a cool new zombie movie I want to write when there’s time.

Yes, there’s quite a bit of overlap. I researched brainwashing and mind manipulation for my radio play Breaking Point; and that’s become one of the main themes of Ketos. I call it ‘hommage’, but basically I steal from myself all the time.

Well... it seems I've run out of steam! I'm sure by book two, though, that I'll have come up with more ;) I'd like to take the opportunity now to thank you for taking part in this Q&A, and wish you very good luck with the release of DS. I'll of course be pimping Debatable Space as it's release gets closer and closer! Any last words? (Make them famous!)

A: Thanks Chris. I don’t believe in last words – too deathbed a subtext for my taste – but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this Q & A.

I’ve just received the bound proof of Debatable Space, and it’s the coolest feeling.

___

Interview by Chris, The Book Swede
http://thebookswede.blogspot.com/