Author Interview: ‘The Desire Card’ by Lee Matthew Goldberg

About the Book:

Any wish fulfilled for the right price. That’s the promise the organization behind The Desire Card gives to its elite clients – but sometimes the price may be more menacing than anyone could ever imagine.

Harrison Stockton has lived an adult life of privilege and excess: a high-powered job on Wall Street fuels his fondness for alcohol and pills at the expense of a family he has no time for. Quite suddenly all of this comes crashing to a halt when he loses his job and at the same time discovers he almost certainly has only months left to live.

Desperate, and with seemingly nowhere else left to turn, Harrison activates his Desire Card. What follows is a gritty and gripping quest that takes him from New York City to the slums of Mumbai and forces him to take chances, and make decisions, he never thought he’d ever have to face. When his moral descent threatens his wife and children, Harrison must decide whether to save himself at any cost, or do what’s right and break his bargain with the mysterious group behind The Desire Card.

The Desire Card is a taut, fast-paced thriller, from internationally acclaimed author Lee Matthew Goldberg, that explores what a man will do to survive when money isn’t always enough to get everything he desires.

 

What people are saying:

“I couldn’t look away for a moment from Harrison Stockton’s thrilling train wreck of a life. Jeer at him, cheer for him, and maybe—just maybe—fall in love with him a little. Lee Matthew Goldberg has created a Bonfire of the Vanities for a new generation, and served it up with style, wit, and empathy. I guarantee you’ll want to devour The Desire Card in one glorious, heart-pounding sitting.” – Laura Benedict, Edgar nominated author of The Stranger Inside.

“Lee Matthew Goldberg’s The Desire Card is a character-driven, enthralling thriller that introduces readers to a dark underworld powered by an equally mysterious organization loaded with as much menace as promise. Goldberg’s characters are well-formed, memorable and complex, adding humanity to a story that is sweeping in scale and remarkably focused. The Desire Card is the kind of book you think about long after you’ve finished it.” – Alex Segura, acclaimed author of Blackout and Dangerous Ends

“Careful what you wish form especially from a nefarious shadow organization, in this gripping start to Lee Matthew Goldberg’s fast-paced, highly-compelling, buzz-worthy new series. If you love your characters morally compromised, richly drawn, and constantly surprising, you’ll love, The Desire Card. I burned through the first book and can’t wait to get my hands on Prey No More to see where this endlessly exciting story takes me next! Love it!” – Daniel Palmer, critically acclaimed suspense author of The First Family and Mercy.

 

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Purchase Links:

Amazon – UK / US

 

Author Interview:

1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?

I’ve always been a writer. As a little kid, I would write a book about my dog and a haunted hotel. After I got my MFA, I really saw it as a profession. I published a few stories in magazines and journals and then my first book Slow Down came out in 2015.

2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?

I usually write in the afternoons in Central Park from around April through November. During winter, I find an indoor spot, but I write best outside surrounded by nature. I have a tree that perfectly contours my back, and I’ve written all my books there. It’s great because you have people around, but there aren’t distractions. I’ll write there forever.

3: Where do your ideas come from?

I’m good at having a lot of ideas. Right now, I have a bunch on the backburner so when I finish one book; I’m able to start another right away. I also have a few series in the works so there will be sequels and more to write. I read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies and that helps spark ideas. I usually outline my books beforehand so when I start writing, I pretty much know where the plot is going.

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?

Most of my books are written with an outline. My first book wasn’t and that one took about eight years so I like having an idea of what is going to happen. Although, I recently finished the latest book in The Desire Card series and decided to write that one with only knowing the ending. I had seen the documentary Free Solo and was really inspired about not having a net. It worked for that book in particular, but thrillers are tightly plotted and it’s hard without an outline.

5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?

So, I’ve published only thrillers, but I’ve written in a few other genres. I have a sci-fi book, a literary novel and a young adult one finished as well. I like to challenge myself. Thrillers are fun and I will always write them. While character is important, you’re focuses on moving the plot forward at all times. It’s helped me for my other books too. Making sure that the plot is always engaging and the readers want to turn the page.

6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?

Great question! For the lead character Harrison Stockton, I think Paul Giamatti or Russell Crowe would be a good fit. For Naelle I’d go for Zoe Saldana and for Jay Howell think I’d go for Richard Gere.

7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?

I read a lot. I love old writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Emily Bronte. I’m a big fan of John Irving and Paul Auster. I’ve been reading a lot of Stephen King as well. He’s great at moving plot forward.

8: What book/s are you reading at present?

Right now, I’m reading The River by Peter Heller. I loved the Dog Stars and the Painter. He’s a very precise writer with beautiful sentences. On my shelf, I have the new Dave Eggers book The Parade, The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin and Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

9: What is your favourite book and why?

Probably the Great Gatsby. Even though that’s an easy answer, it’s just a perfect book. I’m very critical when I read, and with Great Gatsby, there is nothing I wouldn’t change. The sentences are gorgeous, and the characters come to life, even though the novel is so short. I try to reread it every few years.

10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?

It’s a very tough profession. There is a lot of rejection and moments you want to give up. But if it’s what you really want to do, go for it. You have to know you have talent. Not everyone can write as a profession. Start sending your work out there and find people who will give you honest feedback. Go to conferences and meet people. Get stories published any way you can. Start a blog. Read a ton. Write what you love and because you wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.

11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?  

My website is www.leematthewgoldberg.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LeeMatthewGoldberg

Twitter: @LeeMatthewG

Instagram: www.instagram.com/leematthewgoldberg

Amazon page: www.amazon.com/Lee-Matthew-Goldberg/e/B00RPF06TS

I have three novels published and the second book in the Desire Card series coming out later in 2019.

 

About the Author:

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of SLOW DOWN and THE MENTOR from St. Martin’s Press with the film in development. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. The first two books in a thriller series, THE DESIRE CARD and PREY NO MORE, are forthcoming from Fahrenheit Press in winter 2019. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series (guerrillalit.wordpress.com). He lives in New York City. Follow him at leematthewgoldberg.com and @LeeMatthewG

His favorite authors are classic writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Emily Bronte, W. Somerset Maugham and Raymond Chandler. For modern authors, he’s been influenced by Jay McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis, Denis Johnson, John Irving, and Paul Auster.

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Author Interview: ‘Shelter Rock’ by MP Miles

About the Book:

South Africa is under attack from all sides when Elanza, a politically connected heiress blinded by disease and looking for love before it is too late, meets a naïve English boy. Ralph, eighteen and innocent, has accidentally stumbled upon Elanza – and South Africa’s biggest secret.

When Ralph disappears into the darkest part of the Continent to walk home overland, a Swazi spy, the only black African agent working for the apartheid era National Intelligence Service, comes into both of their lives. Angel Rots is uniquely qualified for his official mission to find Ralph and a private mission to settle an old score, but in a pursuit from Cape Town to Cairo, Ralph is always one step ahead and Angel starts to ask questions. Why is this kid so important? What has he found? Looking for answers, Angel discovers a secret that challenges his own loyalties – and could change the course of history.

From illegal nightclubs in South Africa to poachers in Zimbabwe and the Batwa pygmies of Burundi, from arrests in Uganda and drugged hit men in Kenya to thieving Sudanese nuns and a final confrontation in the bazaars of Old Cairo, no one would make it home without an angel watching over them. This pulse-pounding thriller will delight fans of espionage fiction as well as keen readers who see the parallels of the nuclear weapons threat in the book and modern day politics.

 

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Purchase Links:

Amazon – UK / US

 

Author Interview:

1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?

I’m from a small town in Dorset. Aged eighteen I escaped and walked alone through Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, the subject of much of my debut novel, Shelter Rock. On my return I studied agriculture, and then farmed in Dorset and Portugal before ending up trading fresh produce from other farmers around the world. Along the way I learnt to fly, teach scuba diving, and sail. For the past ten years I’ve lived in the beautiful British Virgin Islands on a yacht called Pacific Wave.

I have been writing for a long time, mostly articles, reviews, and yacht test reports for sailing magazines. My trip through Africa as a teenager thirty-five years ago has been stewing for that length of time until, four years ago, I was inspired to write it.

2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?

I live on a yacht in the Caribbean and don’t really work for a living, so I have plenty of free time. I’m very lucky. I spend my day doing something with the boat in the morning and then writing all afternoon, every afternoon, usually sitting on the deck in my trunks under a sun awning, looking over blue tropical water.

3: Where do your ideas come from?

Shelter Rock is based on true events. In 1982, age 18; I walked alone from Cape Town to Cairo. It took six months, cost only £200, and I returned home with hepatitis and a fat worm living inside my toe. Everything that happens to the boy Ralph in Shelter Rock, the places he goes and the people he meets, is entirely true. I too helped pygmies burn down a brothel in Burundi, was arrested for spying in Uganda, and robbed by thieving nuns in Sudan.

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 have a complete plan in my head, but without much of the fine detail so that there is flexibility to let characters develop along the way. With Shelter Rock it was obvious that it would be a journey from one end of Africa to the other, and this became the trunk of the tree that other branches could hang from.

5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?

The genre is spy thriller. I guess what drew me to that genre is that as a one-time farmer turned fresh produce trader I had some involvement with intelligence services as I travelled the world buying salads and selling vegetables – excellent ‘living cover’. It is important though to make the distinction between spy masters working for an intelligence agency, and those spying. It helps to think less of Bond, and more of that guy behind the bar in a private members club, or that quiet girl waiting tables in a swanky restaurant. Barmen, waitresses, taxi drivers, receptionists, and travelling salesmen all make excellent spies. In fact, if you think of the person you know least likely to be a spy, he or she would be the best one for the job.

6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?

Protagonist Angel is a black African spy with a Cockney English accent and in my head there was only ever the magnificent Idris Elba, and out of character I would love Daniel Craig to play the evil Afrikaans antagonist Nels. For the mixed up South African blind heiress Elanza, Nicole Kidman would work perfectly. I saw her play a Russian mail-order bride in ‘Birthday Girl’ and she is brilliant with accents. Tom Hardy for agent Zac, obviously, and Colin Firth for his older boss Jumbo Cameron. Ralph needs to be naïve, English, and youthful – someone like Jeremy Irvine, the boy who followed his horse to war in Spielberg’s ‘War Horse’.

7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?

My world is the Caribbean sailing community and at every dock and in every bar cruisers leave books for others to take and enjoy – a swap thing. I get all my books this way, maybe fifty a year.

My interests are farming, flying, and sailing. My favourite authors write about those things. As a Dorset-boy I was brought up with Thomas Hardy. I love his tragic ‘country’ characters struggling with their passions in the South West of England. I love the prolific 1950s author Nevil Shute with aviation and engineering providing the backdrop for great characters that are how I would like to be – straightforward, trusting, honest, fascinated by aeroplanes, engineering, science and design. For sailing, nothing can beat Conrad.

8: What book/s are you reading at present?

1. A recent find at a marina in Trinidad was a technical book on astro-navigation, in French but I reckoned I could then kill two birds with one stone. It is heavy going.
2. At a yachties bar in French Martinique I picked up an English language collection of O’Brian’s nautical-historical novels. I hadn’t read any before but as ever; it is the characterization that interests me as much as the boaty stuff.
3. The latest John le Carre, because I’ve read everything else he’s ever written. I’m a fan.

9: What is your favourite book and why?

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis. I’m not familiar with the academic world but he has great characters, it’s clever and very funny. I re-read it constantly and laugh.

10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?

Keep writing until you have faith in it. If you believe it has some worth, others will too.

11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?

 Website – www.mpmiles.com

Facebook – www.facebook.com/MPMilesAuthor

Twitter – @MPMiles_

Instagram – www.instagram.com/iammpmiles

Goodreads – www.goodreads.com/author/show/18848250.M_P_Miles

 

About the Author:

MP Miles is from a small town in Dorset. Aged eighteen he escaped, and walked alone through Africa from Cape Town to Cairo, the subject of much of his novel Shelter Rock. After studying agriculture he farmed sheep and potatoes in England and Portugal before travelling the world buying and selling fresh produce, brilliant ‘living cover’ had he been spying for an Intelligence Service. He is a pilot, a diving instructor, and an award-winning chef. Mark started writing fiction four years ago, having for many years written sailing book reviews and yacht test reports (think Jeremy Clarkson of boats). A lifelong sailor he now lives in the Caribbean on-board a yacht called Pacific Wave.

Author Interview: ‘The Line Between’ by Tosca Lee

About the Book:

In this frighteningly believable thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee, an extinct disease re-emerges from the melting Alaskan permafrost to cause madness in its victims. For recent apocalyptic cult escapee Wynter Roth, it’s the end she’d always been told was coming.

When Wynter Roth is turned out of New Earth, a self-contained doomsday cult on the American prairie, she emerges into a world poised on the brink of madness as a mysterious outbreak of rapid early onset dementia spreads across the nation.

As Wynter struggles to start over in a world she’s been taught to regard as evil, she finds herself face-to-face with the apocalypse she’s feared all her life–until the night her sister shows up at her doorstep with a set of medical samples. That night, Wynter learns there’s something far more sinister at play and that these samples are key to understanding the disease.

Now, as the power grid fails and the nation descends into chaos, Wynter must find a way to get the samples to a lab in Colorado. Uncertain who to trust, she takes up with former military man Chase Miller, who has his own reasons for wanting to get close to the samples in her possession, and to Wynter herself.

Filled with action, conspiracy, romance, and questions of whom–and what–to believe, The Line Between is a high-octane story of survival and love in a world on the brink of madness.

 

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Purchase Links:

Amazon – UK / US

 

Author Interview:

1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?

The first time I ever blurted out the words “I want to write a novel” I was home for spring break my freshman year in college (this is 1989 for those counting ;). I was telling my dad how I loved that a great book was like a roller coaster with its ups and downs, twists and turns. And then I blurted it out: I want to write a novel.

That day, my dad made me a deal: he’d pay me what I would have made working as a bank teller that summer, if I spent the summer writing that novel and treated it like a job.

Today, 30 years later as I finish my 12th to-be-published novel, the dream is different. I still want to build roller coasters, but the reason has changed. Because I’ve lost track of the readers who have told me, sometimes through tears, how important novels have been during trying times in their lives: during a difficult marriage, while caring for an ailing parent, in the midst of illness, recovery, or psychological challenges. When they couldn’t work, felt alone, or otherwise simply needed to escape, if only an hour at a time.

2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?

I write in the upper level of the old, original farmhouse where I live in the country. It’s hot in the summer and cold in winter!

3: Where do your ideas come from?

In 2017, soon after Firstborn released, I met with my publisher in New York to talk about what was next. I had a short list of favourite story concepts—the idea of a cult escapee starting over and a pandemic rising from the permafrost among six or seven others. My publisher said, “I like both of those. I think you should put them together!”

It worked out strangely well! I wish I could take credit for the combination, but it was my publisher’s idea.

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’ve learned that I have to outline—or else face several rewrites.

5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?

This book—and the two before it—are thrillers. I love the concepts, the characters, and the pacing that is the hallmark of a thriller!

6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?

So I’m probably weird, but I never think of my novels in terms of celebrity casts. Even though I currently have several novels in development for television, this is the hardest thing for me to answer!

7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?

It just depends on what’s happening and whether I’m on deadline. I probably don’t have favorite authors so much as favorite books I’ve returned to throughout my life. Interview With the Vampire, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Mists of Avalon, Bird by Bird, and On Writing.

8: What book/s are you reading at present?

A World Lit Only By Fire

9: What is your favourite book and why?

This is very hard, but The Mists of Avalon is a long-time (30+ years) favorite of mine.

10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?

My number #1 rule of writing is: Write like no one is ever going to read it. Why? Because then you aren’t watering down anything with fear about what anyone will think. My #2 rule is: finish your article/essay/memoir/book. It’s the thing that separates those who want to make a career of it from those who actually do. Those who do it as a career finish—again and again. Also, surround yourself with the people you need: other writers to take this journey with you. Mentors, advocates, and encouragers who will remind you not to take everything so seriously. My husband is this person to me—the one, who reminds me, when it seems like everything is falling apart, to have fun. Because writing is a lot of work. If you’re not having fun, your reader won’t either. And then what’s the point?

11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?  

Website: www.toscalee.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorToscaLee

Twitter: @ToscaLee

Instagram: www.instagram.com/toscalee

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/toscalee

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/427839.Tosca_Lee

 

About the Author:

Tosca Lee is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of ten novels including THE LINE BETWEEN, THE PROGENY, FIRSTBORN, THE LEGEND OF SHEBA, ISCARIOT, and the Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestseller Ted Dekker. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages and been optioned for TV and film. A notorious night-owl, she loves movies, playing football with her kids, and sending cheesy texts to her husband.

You can find Tosca at ToscaLee.com, on social media, or hanging around the snack table. A SINGLE LIGHT, Tosca’s highly-anticipated sequel to THE LINE BETWEEN, releases September 2019 and is available for pre-order now.

Blog Tour: ‘Ginger Snapped’ by Chloe Sunstone

Today I’m happy to share an exciting thriller with you all called, Ginger Snapped by Chloe Sunstone! There’s an exclusive excerpt and a giveaway to enter, so be sure to check it out!

Ginger Snapped: A Cybercrime Thriller with a Twist

Genre: Thriller/ Cybercrime

Publication Date: October 22nd, 2018

How does an amazing professional opportunity descend into a living nightmare?

Carefree Ginger’s motto of “Work Hard, Play Harder” shapes her life. So when her husband, Jake, gets a job offer on the other side of the country, she is up for the adventure.

But after Jake accepts the promotion, nothing is as expected. While Ginger remains in Cleveland to sell their house, she is plagued by strange prank calls, premonition-like nightmares, and the feeling that she is being watched. Is Jake’s new job putting her in danger?

Unfortunately, she ignores her intuition and soon finds herself face to face with a ruthless killer. Trapped in a deadly world of corporate corruption and murderous greed, she must overcome her own fears and rely on her wits if she plans to survive.

*Although the first in the Ginger Gibson series, this is a standalone book.

Goodreads

Amazon

Excerpt

Oh No! I’m back. I am surrounded by inky black nothingness. The air is musty…damp, my nostrils fill with the smell of dank basement. Like in a haunted house, filled with saws and chains and bloody hooks, this is the perfect place for any psycho to hide his tools of the crazy trade. I’m trembling, from the all-encompassing fear, eating at every cell in my body. Where am I? My fingers search out for clues. Beneath me is a thin mattress on a hard surface. My head rests on a concrete-like pillow. My breathing escalates as the panic rises in my chest. I open my mouth to scream, but only a muted croak escapes. Over the thunder of my pounding heart, I hear a booming crack, a gunshot. I recognize the sound from a trip to the range with Jake years earlier.

I swing my legs over the side of my perch, thinking in my blind panic to run even though I cannot see. I can’t ignore this intense urge to flee. But my impulse is thwarted by an unknown restraint trapping my left arm, a rope? Panic has me in its grip. I gasp for air to fill my lungs but produce only whimpers and muted pleas.

A loud screech reverberates through the darkness. Rats? Oh, please, no rats! Could this get any worse? Hysterical, I yank relentlessly on the rope tethering me. With each tug, the line cuts deeper into my skin. My arm warms as blood seeps from the gouges, coating my hand and fingers. Behind me, the pounding sound of footsteps startles me. Before I can turn to confront my visitor, I feel the rush of air preceding the impact to the back of my head. A blaze of bright stars then, a different blackness envelopes me.

About the Author

After over twenty years in Human Resources, Chloe decided to make a change. She returned to her first love of writing. She combined her corporate experience with her love for the written word to create engaging cyber-crime thrillers.
On a personal note, Chloe lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her loving husband, Mike. They spend their free time boating, scuba diving, and of course, reading. Her latest cybercrime mystery, Ginger Snapped, is available on Amazon.

Chloe Sunstone| Twitter |Facebook|Goodreads

For your chance to win a signed copy of Chloe’s book, click the link below!

*Note: Open to North America Only

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Jan. 14^th

Reads & Reels (Promo) http://www.readsandreels.com

Reading Nook (Promo) https://readingnook84.wordpress.com/

Yearwood La Novella (Promo) https://yearwooddailybookreview.com/

From Belgium with Book Love (Review) https://frombelgium.wixsite.com/withbooklove

Jessica Rachow (Review) http://jessicarachow.wordpress.com

The Writer’s Alley (Review) https://www.jacobrundle.com

Jan. 15^th

Life at 17 (Promo) https://lifeat17.wordpress.com/

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Jan. 16^th

Misty’s Book Space (Promo) http://mistysbookspace.wordpress.com

Tsarina Press (Review) https://tsarinapress.com/

Hannah’s Beautiful Fantasy (Promo) https://hannahsbeautifulfantasy.blog/

Jan. 17^th

Bobo’s Book Bank (Promo) https://bobosbookbank.com/

Dash Fan Book Reviews (Guest Post) https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/

Banshee Irish Horror Blog (Promo) http://bansheeirishhorrorblog.com/

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Jan. 18^th

Didi Oviatt (Promo) https://didioviatt.wordpress.com/

The Return Cart (Promo) http://thereturncart.com/

Rockabilly Spoonie (Promo) https://lauramorningstar.com/

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Author Interview: ‘A Lot of Nerve’ by Ian McCulloch

About the Book:

Nothing is quite what it seems…

Jones is a chancer, a schemer, always on the lookout for the next big deal.

In a pub one day he notices some papers changing hands for large amounts of money. He manages to insert himself into the middle of what looks like an extremely lucrative deal, but the can of worms he opens catapults him into a situation more volatile and dangerous than he could ever have imagined.

Caught between a violent gangster and the machinations of the state, Jones finds himself playing each side off against the other in order to stay alive. In a world of deception and intrigue, the only thing he can be sure of is that people are prepared to kill for the mysterious papers.

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Purchase Links:

Amazon – UK / US

Author Interview:

1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?

I’d worked for Marks & Spencer and one of their suppliers for quite a long time and when their fortunes took a bit of a downturn I, along with many others, was made redundant. I’d always had the dream of writing a book, so I decided I’d take a couple of months off and give it a go. When I was offered the opportunity to write freelance for Fulham Football Club and then for a number of magazines, the book found itself plonked on the back burner. I tried to write a ‘literary masterpiece’ in my spare time for a few years, but finally focussed sufficiently to write something a bit lighter and, hopefully, a bit more commercial.

2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?

Throughout my writing career I’ve worked from home and found concentrating incredibly difficult. Whenever deadlines have loomed I’ve generally gone somewhere like Starbucks to get things finished. But when I started on A Lot of Nerve I took my laptop and a chair out into the garden and discovered that without all the distractions of being in the house I could actually focus on what I should be doing. There is now a little patch of garden that I call my office – luckily I live somewhere warm at the moment. When I first started writing professionally I discovered that mornings are a terrible time for me creatively. Three o’clock in the afternoon to eight in the evening is my good time.

3: Where do your ideas come from?

No idea. I can sometimes feel quite daunted when I first sit down at the computer, but once I start typing something always seems to turn up.

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?

With A Lot of Nerve, I had a half page of notes – a vague main character, a rough idea of a plot and an ending. While they stayed fairly constant, huge parts of the story and a couple of other main characters appeared out of nowhere. I was definitely carried along by it all – I think I enjoyed not knowing what was coming next. There were two re-writes once I was taken on by David Haviland, and while they didn’t change the feel of the book, it looked fairly different at the end of the process. A big thanks to David for all his support.

5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?

A Lot of Nerve is a thriller, peopled by gangsters and villains. It’s hard bitten but with a sardonically humorous edge. It’s actually a genre I don’t read. Perhaps I was drawn to it because it was a blank page, I had no preconceptions about what it should look like.

6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?

Jones should definitely be played by Tom Hiddleston! Finch by someone like Michael Gambon. DI Hernandez? Perhaps by Emily Blunt.

7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?

I do read a lot. I particularly like historical novels – writers like Bernard Cornwell and Philipa Gregory are favourites – and cold-war spy novels from writers like John Le Carre.

8: What book/s are you reading at present?

I’m reading The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. He’s another favourite – I’ve read most of his stuff and just marvel at the sheer imagination of the man.

9: What is your favourite book and why?

Impossible question! I’ve loved so many books over the years it’s very difficult to name just one, but I’ll say Alice Through the Looking Glass. I read it first when I was little and have read it regularly ever since. It’s like an old friend.

10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?

I’m not sure I’m the best person to offer anyone any advice, but I would say that while being a writer is a very, very difficult career, it’s one that can be the most rewarding in the world. In my case I’ve learnt that there is no substitution for hard work, just being prepared to do something over and over until you get it right.

11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?  

You’ll find me on Twitter @ianmcculloch