About the Book:
When the Delaney family scam a man at a motorway service station, they have no idea he is a Contractor – a freelancer who is hired to commit any number of criminal activities.
Including murder.
He enlists them to work for him on the next few jobs he has lined up. And suddenly, their lives are turned upside down as they understand the potential rewards on offer.
And the dangers.
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Author Interview:
1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?
I work in IT during the day so my writing is a side-hustle, limited to when I can fit it in around everything else in. I’ve always been interested in writing and it was after reading a book called Doctor Rat by William Kotzwinkle I was inspired enough to start writing myself. I wouldn’t call myself a geek, rather I enjoy problem-solving and IT allows me the best way to do that and get paid for it.
2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?
I’m one of these people who gets up quite early so that is when I tend to do most of my physical writing. Ideas and planning I’ll do throughout the day when I get the chance. I don’t really have a favourite place as such. The computer I use is a desktop PC anyway so I can’t really move it around from place to place! If I go out running, I’ll work on various narratives. A number of years ago, I was inspired to work on the book that eventually became Moving Pictures following a two-hour run where I worked out the entire story. Of which 50% had changed by the time the book was published.
3: Where do your ideas come from?
Everywhere and anywhere. Something will trigger a what-if train of thought, whether it’s a news article, something I see, a conversation. For my latest the book, The Contractor, in fact the opening scene is pretty much what happened to me at a motorway service station, when a man came up to me and gave an impassioned sob story about how he was stranded there without any money.
I only realized it was a con, (probably), once the man and his family were speeding off. Unlike in the book where the con artists are caught, in reality I never saw them again so instead I was able to channel my inner-Harlan Coben and produce the book!
4: Do you have a plan in your head of where the story is going before you start writing or do you let it carry you along as you go?
I will have the beginning and the end. Then maybe some scenes in between then it becomes a matter of joining the dots, so to speak. It allows me some flexibility in terms of where I can go. So for The Contractor, the beginning wrote itself and I had an ending which wasn’t radically different to how it actually finished. As for the rest of it, the last scene to be developed was a poker game that appears about two thirds of the way through.
5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?
My books generally fall into the Sci-fi / thriller spaces. More thrillers although Schrodinger’s Elephant is sci-fi and I’m currently working on another sci-fi work. At one time, I thought about going off into other genres and did write a reinterpretation of the Daedalus/Icarus/Minotaur with the intention of it being one of a number of alternative, Greek-myth stories I was going to write.
6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?
The book is based in the UK so the actors would need to be situated here. Funnily enough, the BBC run an Open Call programme for TV and Radio scripts and I have adapted the book into a TV script which I sent in just before Christmas. It works pretty well in script form. For the main four characters, I would go with Jason Watkins, (The Crown) as Marcus and Claire Skinner, (Bridget Jones’s Diary), as Geraldine. Millie Gibson, (Doctor Who), would be great for Scarlett. For Zack McCarthy I would say Bailey Patrick, (London Kills), although he might need to shave his head! Check them all out on imdb.com.
7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?
I generally don’t read much fiction these days, I don’t really get the time. For fiction, I’m a fan of Robert Harris and Christopher Priest. William Kotzwinkle has done some excellent work and I’ve enjoyed Ben Elton’s work in the past.
On the non-fiction side, for me Bill Bryson is head and shoulders above everyone else. I can recommend The Body.
8: What book/s are you reading at present?
None really apart from when I’m proof-reading my own stuff!
9: What is your favourite book and why?
I don’t have a favourite fiction book at all. For non-fiction, I would go for Bill Bryson’s book The Body.
10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?
Don’t give up the day job! I would say do it because you enjoy it and if you’re able to make a bit of money on the way then great.
11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?
www.jonathanframe.com and I’m also on Linkedin.
About the Author:
My latest book, The Contractor, started off as an incident at a motorway service station in August 2022. In fact, the first half of the first chapter is pretty much what happened to me, when a man effectively narrated a sob-story about how he and his family were stranded there, without money, and a car which was running on a few drops of petrol. And even though I had suspicions, the performance of him and his wife was excellent. I gave them some money and they sped off, ignoring the service station’s ranks of petrol pumps.
Of course, unlike the book where the fraud victim catches up with the con artists, I never saw the car again but it did inspire this book.
Each chapter is told in the first person, by one of the four main characters. The story itself was inspired by an incident that happened to me last year when I was ripped off, basically the first half of the first chapter.
I was born in Birmingham in the UK and over the years have gradually moved north to reach Cheshire.
I enjoy books and movies in different genres, and I see no reason why my writing should be limited to a particular type of novel. Having that said, I cannot imagine ever writing a chick-lit style book, but if inspiration is strong enough …..
Reading Nook 