 In Part Two of our interview with debut author, Tom Gaisford, he offers his advice for aspiring authors, shares his favourite reads, and remembers being mistaken for Coldplay's Chris Martin. What advice would you give to someone with a great idea for a novel but no idea where to begin?
Tough one - as the novelist Joanna Briscoe wrote in The i Paper recently, ‘There are no rules to creative writing’ - but here goes:
What’s the best book you’ve ever read (other than yours, of course)? The honest answer is I couldn’t tell you. I read widely and find lots to love in most things. On the list, however, would have to be John Fowles’s genre-defying The Magus, described by Eliot Fremont-Smith’s in the (1966) NYT as ‘…at once a pyrotechnical extravaganza, a wild, hilarious charade, a dynamo of suspense and horror, a profoundly serious probing into the nature of moral consciousness, a dizzying, electrifying chase through the labyrinth of the soul, an allegorical romance, a sophisticated account of modern love, a ghost story that will send shivers racing down the spine...’ Among the novels/novellas that I have read and admired recently are Foster by Claire Keegan, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, The Other Hand by Chris Cleave, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid and The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard. To those I would add Ben Hinshaw’s linked short stories, Exactly What You Mean, and Anthony Gardner’s book of poems, The Moss in Lanthwaite Wood. In terms of non-fiction, I’ve just read No Somos Parte Del Mundo (We Are Not Part of the World), Soraya Nárez’s fascinating account of her upbringing as a Jehova’s witness and her expulsion from the group, and Jane Monkton Smith’s equally insightful In Control: Dangerous Relationships and How They End in Murder. Publishing has become a saturated market and the ease of self-publishing has only exacerbated this. What do you think makes a book stand out from the crowd? That’s a great question. Paradoxically, I suspect that what makes a book stand out is often the same thing that makes some publishers apprehensive about signing it: originality. All the more reason to stick to your guns, follow your heart and write the book you want to write (you are quite literally the only person who can…). Give me a brief ‘day-in-the-life’ during your peak writing time. I’m not sure I have a peak writing time as such; I take any moment I can to write and in periods of inspiration, it becomes hard to think about much else… I think and write best first thing in the morning, which could be a hangover from the Bar. As a barrister I would regularly get up at 4:30am and be in chambers an hour later - or on a train to one of the many far-flung immigration courts scattered around the country. I’d use that time to absorb information, research, draft an argument, think about how I was going to present my case, handle witnesses, et cetera. Then, often, I would do the same thing the next day on a different case – and so on. It could be brutal at times, but it taught me a different level of concentration and, it transpires, to hold lots of storylines in my head at the same time… Which author do you admire the most? So hard. Claire Keegan would be up there, as would Jenny Erpenbeck. More than anything, I’m drawn to stories with heart. I recently read a beautiful short story by Benito Lynch, ‘The Sorrel Colt’, in which ostensibly little happens (but tell that to its young protagonist to whom the pony is everything). On the lighter side, I’m a big fan of Anthony Horowitz’s metafiction, Alex Michaelides’s twisty thrillers and…I must stop; there are too many wonderful authors to choose from - and I’ve limited myself to the living! Now you can say you’re an author, which profession do you prefer: immigration lawyer or author? I love these questions. Every career has its pros and cons. I don’t miss neglecting my young family to mug up on cases, travel all over the country, etc, though I do miss the cut and thrust of courtroom advocacy, the intellectual jousting, the camaraderie with colleagues and the privilege of representing vulnerable, often fascinating clients. But I wouldn’t trade the creative and intellectual freedom I have as a fiction writer. On a subliminal level at least, I’ve always known that I would write books. The difference today is that I have a better understanding of the intrinsic, aesthetic and persuasive value of art – something I owe in large part to my sister, the artist Molly Gaisford, who some years ago pulled me up on my failure to see it. You can invite five famous people for a dinner party, dead or alive. Who do you choose and why? Easy: Sir Lenny Henry, in character as Delbert Wilkins. I used to love watching the Lenny Henry Show with my (magnificent and equally silly) late Dad in the 80s and I still remember lines such as – if memory serves - ‘Winston, don’t touch! Three million silk worms DIED to make this jacket!’ Professor Janja Lalich, the American sociologist. I’d love to talk to her about her experience of belonging to a cult, her escape and transition into academia, her compelling theory of ‘bounded choice’ - and anything else she cared to talk about. The flamenco ‘cantaor’, Camarón de la Isla (RIP), and his guitarist, Tomatito. Of course, they’d be invited to play for us. And when, perhaps, Sir Lenny and Professor Lalich were deep in private chat, I’d ask them all about their lives growing up in Andalusia and their best moments performing together. Finally, to document the evening’s proceedings, I would invite Diane Morgan as Philomena Cunk. You are stranded on a deserted island, what four books do you wish you had with you? In addition to The Complete Works of Shakespeare? Poetas Del 27, an anthology of poetry from the so-called ‘Generation of 1927’ (which includes the likes of Lorca, Alberti, Salinas, Cernuda, et cetera). It’s a thing of rare beauty, replete with musicality and wisdom. The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grosssmith - a classic work of humour, which will always remind me of my dear parents. Don Quixote, which I have only recently begun reading and is proving every bit as glorious and funny as its billing; indeed, it might be the best book I’ve ever (not yet) read. The SAS Survival Handbook, first edition, given to me by my late godfather, John Zulver, for my (10th?) birthday. Tell me a surprising fact about yourself. Before my hair deserted me, I was often mistaken for Chris Martin of Coldplay and sometimes found it hard to disabuse fans of their misbelief. Once, for instance, I performed an a cappella song for some fans I met in the football stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I carried the tune just about, but had to get quite creative with the lyrics. If you could write your second novel anywhere in the world, where would you be? Here on Guernsey with my beloved wife and our beautiful young daughters - only in a custom-made summer house in the garden, with soundproofing and a bouncer on the door to field questions about, say, Zog’s wing-to-body ratio, how Father Christmas knows when kids have been naughty if he’s not omnipresent, et cetera. Alternatively, I’d be in the Alpujarra mountains, Granada, or in Greece or the Caribbean, where I was lucky enough to do a legal internship in my late twenties. Read Part One of Tom's Q&A here. Sanctuary is available for pre-order here. Comments are closed.
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