| Joseph Knox - Author of Sirens and The Smiling Man |
In spite of his busy media schedule this week, his publishers Transworld Books granted me some time with Joseph on the day of his book release.
- When you set out the first book ‘Sirens’ – did you have the plot for the sequel in mind already or did it come to you following the success of the first novel?
I was asked to write a short
story for the Waterstones edition of Sirens, and it took place a little after
the events of that book. As the story came to an end I realised that someone
awful was watching Aidan, and that he was unaware of it, and I knew then that
would inform the next book…
- Was there a temptation to keep Waits fighting his demons/addictions or was the journey of sobriety necessary to character development/arc?
There’s nothing more tedious
than watching a character learn a lesson in one book and then be re-set back to
normal in the next. Aidan will keep moving forward as long as I’m writing him.
Also – his idea of sobriety is just to stop popping pills. Hopefully as long as
he can keep drinking he’ll stay sane…
- Do you know someone like Waits or is he a collage of people?
He reminds me of one guy I know.
- I was struck by the warmth of the book, it is set in summer and I found that atmosphere radiating off the page, was that deliberate?
That’s very nice to hear, thank
you. It was intentional to go for that as a reaction against the deep freeze of
Sirens. Probably the same reason Aidan got off speed. I didn’t want to write
the same book twice.
- How many drafts did you go through?
Agh, impossible for me to say
I’m afraid. I rewrite every time I re-read, which is a lot, and when I was
hacking at The Smiling Man I worked 20 hours a day for six months. I’d often
re-write a scene several times before I let myself get up and leave. Lots and
lots of drafts.
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| That's a lot of writing - ''I worked 20 hours a day for six months' |
- Did you lay out the plot or follow the Lee Child way of writing it as it comes to you and Waits?
As with Sirens I had a kind of
tone, a kind of atmosphere that I was writing towards, but I’m afraid I don’t
plan. Maybe my life would be easier, but I think the books, or certainly the
characters, would feel less natural.
- What noir have you been reading lately? Anything else you recommend?
Not what anyone else would
really call noir, but my idea of it certainly (as it pertains to tone, language,
atmosphere, weirdos and doom), Ottessa MoshFegh’s short stories, Homesick For
Another World.
- Will we be seeing Waits again soon?
I’m working on the next Aidan
novel as we speak. After that, I don’t know…
- Do you have a wish to write in a different genre?
Not really. A lot of crime writers seem to come to the
genre having crapped out of what they really wanted to do – but for me it’s
true love. I feel like Smiling Man is so different to Sirens, and my idea for
book three is so different again, that I can keep pushing forward and
challenging myself in this genre. It helps that they take place in a kind of
heightened noir-ish landscape where anything and anyone seems possible.
The Smiling Man is out from Doubleday Press now in Hardback
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