MICK HERRON AT THEAKSTON OLD PECULIER CRIME WRITING FESTIVAL

 FIRST ONE ON - SPECIAL GUEST MICK HERRON INTERVIEWED BY NJ COOPER

Yesterday evening was great. It was so bloody good to be back at near normal but with improvements. What they have been able to do is so much better than the facilities we endured before. So in that sense things needed to change anyway for the punters comfort and enjoyment. The ‘ballroom’ where every thing happened is now for book sales and where the events take place is in a bloody large modern ‘tent’. It’s superb and I wonder at what cost. And, what will it be like next year? The back of the ‘ballroom’ has now a big screen where there is digital viewing and comfortable.

The main reasons why we are here starts this morning with Mick Herron at 9am and then a full day of events.

A friend is a massive fan of Mick Herron, Michelle could not get on with him and I have never tried. I always seek out different writers and ideas and since this man was a special guest to be interviewed by NJ Cooper I wanted to listen in. She did an excellent job. Right on the money. 

Herron states that he is not a storyteller. He writes in sentences and is interested in the prose. That might be considered a strange idea, and from that I assumed from that he doesn’t rush his lines. Every word is treated as important because, he says, vocabulary is important and the rhythm as well. In my own words ‘each word has its own importance’ with correct ‘word choices’ being essential.

Writing poetry is what he did first and this has been emphasised in his comments. I immediately thought of Edward Thomas not only his poems but his writings too. The above points I will take back and mention to our writing group. 

Protest is the writers best friend. Much was mentioned and Cooper guided Herron into his possible ‘left-wing views’ to which he replied if and when there is a Labour government then I will have more opportunity for satire. At this time BoJo is his target along with many others. Boris, gets a lot of free press! He can rage when he writes and is political but maintains his calm afterwards. 

He doesn’t read reviews other than those sent to him by publishers. He must have read some because he commented that he would probably get angry if they saw in his writing something that he had not intended or thought un-important. I maintain that is the reader’s privilege. I wonder what he would say if he read this blog. I would be interested but I have paid my money.

Jokes were mentioned in this wide ranging conversation and for the punch line he says syllable count has to be kept short to get the ending out there before the listener gets it. You would have to be a poet to even consider ‘syllable count’.

Slough House, Slow Horses and TV were stated. Something to watch out for during next year but it is on Apple TV - so maybe not.

Okay, summing up - assured and very measured. No surprises there and he spoke well. I felt I got a lot out this 45 minutes by making notes and blogging. I will have to pick up one of his books and give it a go. The subject matter or style may not be to my liking but he has sold a lot of books.