Interview with Stephen May

Today I’m fortunate enough to be able to interview Stephen May. I reviewed his new novel “Stronger Than Skin” in my previous blog post here.
http://iandavidkirkpatrick.blogspot.co.uk/2017/03/stronger-than-skin-by-stephen-may.html 

Firstly, I have to declare an interest, following in the best of journalistic traditions. Back in 2012 I attended an Arvon course at The Hurst, “Starting to Write Your Novel” co-tutored by Stephen with Lizzie Enfield. Stephen was very much the self-styled bad cop to Lizzie’s good cop, but for me he was inspirational. At the time his second novel “Life! Death! Prizes!” had just been published by Bloomsbury, but he elected to read us the first few pages of his debut novel “TAG”, which to my mind is a perfect example of how to craft a stunning opening chapter. I have read and reviewed each of his novels on my blog pages and he and I have become pals over the last five years.

My feeling is that “Stronger Than Skin” is probably his strongest novel yet (somewhat appropriately) and so I asked him the following questions: -

Stephen, there are so many books out there. Why should anyone read yours?

Because it's Apple Tree Yard meets The Graduate! (that was a description gifted to me by a mate and there's something in it...) I'd been saying it was the love child of William Boyd and the Evelyn Waugh of “Brideshead Revisited”. It's got some propulsion, some poke, some of that page-turneryness of a decent thriller, but it's also a rites of passage story and a reflection of how strange the turbulence of adolescence can be. It's also an investigation into pubs, a portrait of Cambridge in the 1990s and one of the very few novels where the protagonist actually ends up in Felixstowe! It is also, I hope, a novel that looks hard at a lot of the nonsense that fills up our lives. I also write about the family which a lot of men shy away from doing.

“Stronger Than Skin” is your fourth published novel. As a self-confessed late developer, do you feel as though you are now hitting your stride? 

I hope so. I think every novel sees me increase the range of colours on my palette. But writing novels is a bit like climbing mountains. A successful ascent of one Alp doesn't mean the next one will be easier. They're all different. This last one was the hardest actually - though hopefully that doesn't show.

Many of your characters are underachievers, non-performers or drunks. Why are you so drawn to the daydreamers in life?

Because I'm writing what I know. The under-achievers are my people! Kerouac has a character in “On The Road” make a statement about how he is drawn to the mad ones, the mad talkers, the wild. I'm irritated by the mad and the wild, annoyed by how much attention they get. I prefer the quiet. I'm drawn to the dawdlers, the day-dreamers, those who are full of doubt... The cack-handed and the slow... And I'm definitely one of them. The people who were told they were lazy, that we would never amount to anything and it looked for a long time like I would prove these predictions correct. Incidentally I started writing seriously the year my father died and I think his death (which was very sad obviously - he was only 62 and it was sudden) was the removal of a psychic roadblock. I started getting myself together a bit then.

I can personally vouch for the fact that you’re a very effective teacher. What do you still get from the teaching process and does this influence your writing?

Thank you. Teaching creative writing only influences my own work in that it allows me to meet a lot of people and because it does make me think hard about what is I'm trying to do. And it keeps me on my toes, keeps me sharp because I see a lot - A LOT -  of unpublished talent and so it reminds me how lucky I am to get my books out. Teaching aspiring writers tells me that I have to stay good... I can't relax or get complacent.

You mentioned to me that “Stronger Than Skin” had a strange trajectory and a traumatic birth. Would you like to explain a few of the difficulties that you had to overcome?

I painted myself into a lot of corners, ran into a lot of cul-de-sacs. Couldn't get the tone right or the structure. Had too many characters. Showed it to my agent and publisher way before it was anywhere near cooked. I probably should have quit but discovered I was way more stubborn and tenacious than I had thought. I kept getting up off the canvas to go another round, and eventually the novel began to go where I wanted. I'm very proud of it now, but there were times when I hated the book and hated myself for having written it. I hope the next one (if there is a next one) will be easier because of the trouble STS gave me. But it might not be the case. I might be deluding myself.

I love the image of you as Rocky! For me, the structure of “Stronger Than Skin” with its alternating timelines is one of its strengths. Did you have this structure in mind from the outset, or did it evolve during the writing process?

I experimented a lot. Alternating chapters, 1990 strand as one discrete novella, contemporary strand as another. Finally - in the very last draft - I just began with the contemporary strand and pushed on until I felt it needed a change of scene or pace. In the end, I allowed myself to be guided by intuition and that worked out a lot better. The opening didn't change that much but everything else did.

In Mark Chadwick you have another first-person narrator. How do you ensure that the voice you create has sufficient differentiation to say Billy Smith in “Life! Death! Prizes!” or Nicky Fisher in “Wake Up Happy Every Day”?

Well, they're definitely related to each other! They share a lot of characteristics and ways of thinking. Again, I was - in the end - guided by instinct and what felt right. I don't give the voices too much thought. I usually know my main character pretty well before I begin (and they probably are based on me at least a bit; based on how I would think and what I might say if I was in their shoes).

Beckett’s “Fail Better” seems to be something of a mantra both for you and for many of your characters. Do you think you’re learning to fail better yourself?

With this book Kept trying. Kept failing. And not always failing better. quite often failing a lot, lot worse... You're right though - Beckett's line is something of a guiding mantra for me. A light in the darkness.

Aside from promoting “Stronger Than Skin” (and trying to sell a few books) what else are you currently working on?

I've been writing short stories - have published five over the last year or so, so I'm hoping there might be a collection of those. I've been writing some stage pieces and I want to do more of that. I'm hoping to be working with dancers and a theatre company on a play about football in time for the next world cup and I'm working on a new novel but I'm the early stages of trying (and failing) with that one... and yes, I'm busy meeting readers wherever I can. Any book club, any library, any bookshop, any festival. Stronger Than Skin deserves an audience and if I have to win the world over one book group at a time then I'll do that.

Well, best of luck with that aim. Thank you for your time today.

“Stronger Than Skin” is published by Sandstone Press and is currently available from your bookseller of choice. 

"Stronger Than Skin" by Stephen May

Stephen May’s new novel “Stronger Than Skin” is an absolute belter and continues his ongoing theme of obsession with the male psyche. The plot grabs you by the throat from the outset and is relentless in its intensity. May is a master of first person narration, and he gives his protagonist Mark Chadwick an authentic voice which is both engaging and beautifully constructed.

May’s second novel “Life, Death, Prizes” was much lauded, sweeping all before it as it scooped up a nomination for the Costa prize. His third novel “Wake Up Happy Every Day” was less commercially successful, despite a strong premise and a great line in self-deprecating humour. “Stronger Than Skin” is a far more satisfying read, with a great cast of characters, and a sweeping visual sensibility that probably owes much to May’s experiences as a screenwriter.

At the outset of the novel Mark Chadwick’s carefully constructed life takes a sudden left turn, and May deftly plots out a twin storyline as the reader slowly learns the parallels between the toxic relationship from his past and the domesticated order of his current life. May slowly teases out clues, drawing the reader into Chadwick’s intricately fashioned and convoluted world.

I particularly enjoyed the depth of characterisation within the novel. Even the minor characters are sharply delineated. When Chadwick meets an overly self-confident ex-pupil May gives his protagonist the telling line “I’m not a big fan of certainty. I don’t trust it.” I smiled for the rest of the chapter. 

Like much of May’s work “Stronger Than Skin” defies simple categorisation. It is a carefully constructed high-wire act, balancing a psychological thriller with a romantic character study. Yet it works brilliantly, and May delivers it with his trademark wit and charm. Comparisons with Nick Hornby and David Nicholls are probably inevitable, but to my mind they are simply lazy reviewing. May has a better ear for dialogue than either of them, and he pulls no punches when it comes to emotional impact. He also doesn’t over-write, so whilst the ending satisfactorily resolves the main plot threads, not everything is neatly parcelled into a pat conclusion. I have a feeling May would approve of a suspended chord at the end of a song, much like The Who’s “Pinball Wizard”. Stephen May compared with Pete Townshend – I think he’d approve of that too.

"Safe Sext"

It’s been a while since I’ve posted to my blog so I thought I’d write an update of where I’ve reached in the process.

I completed my re-write of “Safe Sext” and I think it’s a far better novel than it used to be. Thanks must go to my friend Sarah Garrett who suggested I should do a search and destroy mission on the word “that”. It’s one of my worst habits - over-use of the dreaded “T” word. I went through the whole manuscript and managed to delete about a hundred unnecessary “that’s”. Result.

Whilst I’m thanking friends I must also mention Fran Quinn who has consistently made incisive suggestions about the plot and the storyline. I’m grateful for the time she has devoted to helping me when she’s concurrently trying to re-write her historical novel “The Smallest Man”.

I’ve also been trying to work on an elevator pitch for the novel, which seemed to be a harder task for me than writing the whole book. Neatly encapsulating such a complex plot in three sentences has been a tough ask. However, I wanted to share the elevator pitch I’d developed,

“Safe Sext” is a contemporary and realistic love story that follows a group of teenage friends. It explores the phenomenon of sexting and how easily a simple situation can dramatically escalate through the misuse of social media. It focuses primarily on Nick and Chlöe and how their new relationship is threatened by a malicious Facebook post of a naked photo of Chlöe.

It’s hard for me to get sufficient critical distance to know whether this ticks enough boxes, but I wanted to try and get a sense of the marketability of the novel. I remain convinced that the basic premise captures the zeitgeist of teenage life, even though it’s some years since I was a teenager myself. I can only hope that one of the agents I’m currently submitting to agrees with that assessment and can see the potential in the novel. My fingers are crossed, which might explain those typos!

Curtis Brown Creative Summer School

I have reached an important decision. I would like to start posting to my blog again.

In the past many of my posts were reviews of novels that I had enjoyed. However my current aim is for my blog to document my journey as a writer, reflecting the process of my writing. I thought I would start with a brief post about Curtis Brown Creative.

I attended the Six Month Novel Writing course in spring 2014, tutored by Louise Wener and Anna Davis. I reflected on my experiences on approaching the end of the course in a previous post here: - http://iandavidkirkpatrick.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/curtis-brown-creative-approaching-end.html

So ten months further on, what have I achieved? Firstly I completed the re-write of “Ilona”, the mid-life crisis crime thriller that I had been writing throughout the CBC course. I submitted it to a number of literary agents, with a degree of initial optimism, but an undercurrent of realism. It was rejected by all of them, although both Gordon Wise and Sheila Crowley had the decency to offer some excellent suggestions about narrative voice and pacing which I intend to act upon in a future re-write. So I have decided to shelve "Ilona" for a while. She's glaring at me as if I've somehow betrayed her, but if I'm honest I think my new novel has a better narrative voice, better pace and represents a more commercially viable proposition.

Over the course of the last six months I have been working on a second project, a Mature Young Adult novel with the working title of "Safe Sext". This explores the consequences of the sexting phenomenon for a group of teenagers, who unwittingly find themselves at the centre of a revenge porn shit-storm.

I have just signed up for the Curtis Brown Creative Summer School in July, once again led by the excellent Louise Wener. I intend to workshop an extract from “Safe Sext” as part of that course. So why have I decided to fork out more money and return to CBC?

What CBC offer is a sympathetic magic; a sense that your writing will be transformed through a process of sharing, workshopping, meeting and listening to other writers. Creativity through a process of contagion. It sounds ambitious; yet for me it worked. I was inspired, enthused, challenged and forced to raise my game.

Anna, Louise and Rufus were a constant source of encouragement and reassurance to me. Together they equipped me with the tools that I hope will enable me to achieve my ambition of publication. They make no promises. It’s a journey that I’m still negotiating, but I feel that CBC have given me a road-map.

Second Life by S.J.Watson

The writer writes; the reader reads. As you slowly become immersed in the book a delicate balance of trust develops. As a reader you trust that the writer will tell you the story, because in the end it’s the story that really matters. You hope that the writer will be honest and fair and will not cheat. You hope that your faith will be rewarded.

 

Steve Watson understands his genre perfectly. His writing is simple yet nuanced. His prose is sparse yet perfectly pitched. His structure is beautifully judged. When writing in the first person as a female protagonist he is utterly believable. He draws you in. You begin to trust him. Don’t.

As a writer he fucks with your mind and he does it brilliantly. I am in awe.

If you are currently wondering “Should I read this book?” do not hesitate. Buy it. Read it. Reach your own decision. But do not trust the judgment of anyone who tells you that this is not well-written, because it is.

"Tripwire" by Lee Child

“Tripwire” is Lee Child's third Jack Reacher novel and I enjoyed it even more than the first two. His debut, “The Killing Floor”, was written in first person whereas the second novel, “Die Trying” was written in third person, as is “Tripwire”. However it seems to me that with this third book Child is really hitting his stride as a writer. 

“Tripwire” is written with a broader canvas and with greater depth to all of the minor characters. In Hook Hobie Child has created a great villain, ruthless and psychotic. 

Although the story follows a similar blueprint to the first two Reacher tales with many similar elements the writing does not seem formulaic. Child has a fantastic ability to keep the reader guessing and his plotting here is exemplary. I particularly enjoyed seeing how he carefully wove the plot strands together, slowly resolving each thread for the reader. It's a real skill.

His prose has a sparse economy. He often uses short sentences to rack up the tension. It's a trick that works.

There were a couple of interesting decisions that he made throughout the novel. Whilst he provides his readers with a satisfying resolution to the main plot he deliberately chooses not to resolve the fate of some of the minor characters. In some senses I can understand the desire to not tie everything up too neatly, but having spent a few hundred pages in their company I suppose I would have liked just a hint of resolution. It’s a very minor gripe in an otherwise excellent novel.

I look forward to reading the fourth novel in the series by way of comparison.

"Before We Met" by Lucie Whitehouse

There has been rather a glut of thrillers with unreliable narrators recently. I guess it’s been a bit of a publishing trend. However, I found “Before we met” to be superior to many that I have read, both in structure, tone and tension. I think that this is down to Lucie Whitehouse’s skill as a writer in creating believable characters with consistent voices throughout which draw the reader into the story. I found myself unable to resist the immersion, but for me it really worked.

The premise of the novel appears to be straightforward at the outset. Having reached her mid-life without a significant other Hannah Reilly appears to have finally met the man of her dreams, in upstate New York of all places. Mark is rich, successful and single, and after a whirlwind romance they marry and relocate back to the UK where Mark’s business is based. However when Mark unexpectedly fails to return home from a business trip back to New York Hannah slowly begins to discover that all is not as it might appear on the surface. She begins to question everything that she thought she knew about her new husband, and discovers that the truth is not quite as easy to navigate or explain.

The plot is beautifully judged, without veering into ridiculous or ill-conceived set-ups. I found the novel to be a bit of a slow burner at the start. There is a lot of back story to get through (not all of which can be relied upon) and many of the early chapters explore this aspect of the story. However as a reader I found that once you get past this initial hurdle you find yourself drawn into a labyrinth of riddles and lies from which there seems to be no easy escape.

This is the first of Whitehouse’s novels that I have read, but on the strength of this I’m tempted to try her debut, The House at Midnight. In the interim I would have no hesitation in recommending this well-constructed thriller.