1: You used to work in the Movie Industry as a Focus Puller. What the f*** do they do?

2: Where does Thursday come from?

3: Were you hoping that your books would encourage readers to read more classics?

4: Which school did you go to?

5: Did you have a university degree, or what?

6: In the Well of lost plots, who actually pays for everything?

7: Is there any trick you can reveal to find inspiration?

8: You said you would go into 'The Little Prince' if given the chance. Why?

9: Film in the offing?

10: What are your thoughts on contemporary crime fiction?










1: You used to work in the Movie Industry as a Focus Puller. What the f*** do they do?

A movie camera on a film set has typically five people around it. The Director of Photography who discusses the shot with the director and lights the scene, the Camera Operator who actually frames the shot, the Focus Puller who is in charge of the camera, lenses, putting the film in the camera, the Clapper Loader who loads the film in the magazines and assists the focus puller, and the Grip, who pushes the dolly that the camera is mounted upon. On a busy schedule where time is money, you need that many people; sometimes you will shoot with two cameras so there is two of everyone and an extra loader. The Focus Puller which is what I used to do has the technical responsibility for the camera and all the lenses and would be expected to maintain same and liase with the DOP and production office to make sure specific equipment is on set at a given time. It is the focus puller who will set filters, set the aperture on the lens, turn the camera on and off, call 'speed' so that the clapper loader can clack the board, and most crucially, actually keep the artists in focus during a shot. This is more difficult than it might seem as the 'depth of field' (the amount of which is in focus) can sometimes be quite narrow. Equally crucially the focus puller does not look through the lens as this is going on. Firstly because the camera operator needs to frame the shot and secondly that by the time one might have noticed the shot is 'soft' it is too late anyway. No, the focus puller usually 'pulls focus' (generally by a knob attached to a gear wheel on the lens) by a mix of glancing at marks on the floor that he has made during rehearsals and some brave guesswork. On a close-up actors are constantly moving, sometimes leaning forward, sometimes leaning back, and the focus puller on these shots - when the 'depth of field' might be less than two inches - certainly earns their keep. A soft shot will necessitate another take. More time, more expense. On top of all this bear in mind that the Camera Operator will not necessarily know if the shot is soft, and the only sure way of knowing all is well is to watch rushes the following day. Not for the faint-hearted! It's not everyone's cup of tea. When you get it right no-one notices at all; when you get it wrong production generally look daggers at you and ask: 'what the f**k are we paying you for?' Small wonder that focus pullers are grey before their time and can't wait to move to being a DOP. In the USA a Focus Puller is a '1st AC' (assistant camera) and they are sometimes called 'Follow Focus' on old movie credits. Slang: 'The Sharper' or 'Who's sharping on that movie?'

2: Where does Thursday come from?

This is one of those questions which blind-sided me when I was first asked it at a festival in America a few years back. I knew she was someone I would like to know - even think of myself as Landen, to some extent - but where did she actually come from? I think, after much reflection, she is based on Women Aviators of the Golden Age of Flying - characters like Beryl Markham, Amy Johnson, Amelia Earhart, Bessie Colman, amongst others. These were adventuresses who frequently risked death, pushed themselves to the limits of their endurance and flew with a sort of steely-minded determination that not only placed them firmly in the history books but inspired a generation of women that anything was possible if you put your mind to it.

3: Were you hoping that your books would encourage readers to read more classics?

It wasn't a conscious aim but I am delighted to find out that it has been a consequence. I often get emails from readers thanking me for putting them on to 'Jane Eyre' and rediscovering the joys of the classics. All too often the classics have been reduced to little more than academic texts which is criminal, to my mind. There's nothing to flatten the joy of a novel than studying it. I have also discovered that English teachers have set their students 'The Eyre Affair' with 'Jane Eyre' - in order to prove that the classics don't have to be stuffy and can actually be quite fun.

4: Which school did you go to?

It was a place called Dartington Hall School - it's shut now. 'Progressive Education' was a buzzy thing from the 1930's when many schools were violently institutional and the idea of calling your teacher by their first names or promoting music and art were revolutionary. By the time the seventies and eighties rolled round places like Dartington were slightly anachronistic and had lost their edge. I don't think I learned anything there at all, although I enjoyed it a great deal.

5: Did you have a university degree, or what?

My educashun ended at age eighteen. I worked as a carpenter (always loved building things!) until I got a toehold in the film industry aged twenty and didn't stop from there. I've always had an inquiring mind and a memory like a drift net, so that helped, I suppose.

6: In the Well of lost plots, who actually pays for everything?

I don't exactly know. Sometimes I think the Well exists in a form that Thursday's mind can understand. It is that way because it is the only way she can function within it - a concept that will find favour with many esoteric philosophers, who maintain this is why our world is so.

7: Is there any trick you can reveal to find inspiration?

There is no short cut to inspiration. If I could bottle it and sell it I'd be a millionaire. When I am lost for a good idea I generally just write 'and see what happens'. You would be surprised just how many seriously silly notions drop out of the ether fully formed as my fingers fox-trotted across the keyboard. Going for walks I've found doesn't help, nor does going to the pub. Writers write because they can't stop themselves. Look, I'm even doing it now and it's 4:00 in the morning...

8: You said you would go into 'The Little Prince' if given the chance. Why?

Because I love the book, I suppose, and where love is concerned all the usual rules go flying out of the window and things just become 'so' without the annoying baggage of reason. Witnessing the events described in the book would be like witnessing an historic event. Being there when something truly, truly wonderful happened...

9: Film in the offing?

Not in the near future, if at all. The options and rights are unsold. Since I have made many many films in my career I believe myself to be well placed to direct the adventure. So my standard answer is: 'If I don't make it, it doesn't get made.' But I'm really not sure that film is the right format for the books - I would more likely envisage a five-part high production value TV series. The glamour and the glitz of films doesn't really appeal - or even exist, actually - and when budgets go up, directorial freedom begins to evaporate. Far better a low budget in control than a high budget and always feeling that you're hanging on to the tail of the tiger.

10: What are your thoughts on contemporary crime fiction?

I think the ongoing joke in WOLP is about how fiction of any sort tends to descend into stereotypes as the genre becomes tired. The Crime genre is certainly very tired - has been since the 'Golden Age' of crime fiction, and there does seem to be an overabundance of detectives who fall into that "maverick loner detectives with domestic strife" syndrome. From a writer's point of view it is important to make characters interesting, and sadly many teachers of writing advocate the 'progress the story through conflict' ideal which means many less skilled writers go balls out for the worst possible scenario. 'Caversham Heights' is just this type of clumsily written book which litter the Well of Lost Plots. Thursday is simply trying to help Jack Spratt out of the morass of tired and stereotypical ideas that he has -through not fault of his own- become embroiled. In many ways Thursday's troubles with her own husband are a rejection of the idea that a single female has to have different boyfriends going through her life to keep the story interesting. Going against type - as I like to do - I thought I should have Thursday firmly with one man in her sights - and add difficulties around this idea.



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