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.