So lucky ol' me had the opportunity to put some questions to Sarah Pinborough, ahead of her appearance at the World Horror Convention, and what a very lovely interviewee she was too. Even if I needed to be told the definition of a series...We discussed her new book, A Matter of Blood; Sexism, and Paranormal Romance among other things.
Sarah thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me. How are you?
Thank you for asking me! I'm very well thank you - currently trying to get little odds and ends done before World Horror in Brighton next week.
You have a new book out, A Matter of Blood: Book One of the Dog Faced Gods Trilogy, what's it about?
I won't go into too many details for fear of giving too much away, but it's a gritty crime thriller set in London that has a supernatural subplot - which over the course of the three books becomes far more central. I've set the book about 5 years in the future to allow for a more darkly, dystopic feel, having placed the world in an extension of this current recession we're struggling to escape. The main character, Detective Inspector Cass Jones, is quite a troubled man who, while trying to hunt down a serial killer calling himself 'The man of Flies', finds himself a suspect in his own brother's death.
It's very interesting that the current economic difficulties are very much part of the story. A situation which holds a very real fear for many people. What was your thinking when you developed this story?
The current economic climate was very much in the forefront of my thinking when I was planning out the trilogy. I'm fascinated by dystopic situations and when we had the Northern Rock crisis and various other banks looked as if they were teetering as a knock on effect of the US sub-prime problems, it was the first time I'd realised how much the world was now inter-linked. I couldn't help but imagine how society might change if the decline continued. Hence the creation of The Bank, as it exists in A Matter of Blood.
It seems to be traditional that in times of change where society is feeling unsettled, people look to dark fiction. The stories often act as metaphors for societies ills anyway. Take Dracula - women were starting to wrestle with the chains and want some freedom and rights in the world. This caused tension in a male-dominated society, and lo and behold, the only sexually liberated women in the book were bitten by a vampire, corrupted by evil and then had their heads chopped off! Someone was making a point! When Frankenstein was written people were afraid of all the developments in science that were taking place and which threatened religious belief systems and therefore the monster represents all the evils of the scientific world and what might happen if man overstepped his natural boundaries. Horror and dark tales are natural outlets for the things that frighten us. Long may this period of gloom last, I say, if it brings us great scary stories! Ha!
The lead character in the new book is a Detective Inspector, sometimes the boundry between Horror and Crime can seem very thin. What are the main differences if any that seperate the two genres in your mind?
Some people might say that Horror needs elements of the supernatural, but I don't agree with that. Silence of the Lambs is a Horror story. Horror is an emotion not a genre. A lot of crime novels have horrific elements and a lot of violence. I guess it's easier to try and define a crime novel as separate to Horror. To me a crime novel needs to have a series of twists and turns and clues and a mystery, and normally some police involvement. A Horror novel can include anything.
I'm sure I read somewhere that you've written a Torchwood book for the BBC?
I wrote a Torchwood novel called 'Into the Silence' last year, and also wrote a short story for a Torchwood book called 'Consequences' that had 5 interlinked stories by different writers. I really enjoyed doing them, and if the series returns to TV and if they want another one from me, I'd be more than happy to do it - schedule willing. I liked working with someone else's characters and the team are all good at BBC books.
The World Horror Convention is about to take place in Brighton, the first time outside of North America. You'll be there, what are your plans for the Convention?
I'm really looking forward to catching up with lots of friends at WHC! I'll be doing a reading on the Thursday night from A Matter of Blood - don't know which bit yet, and then two panels on Saturday. One is on women in the Genre, and the other is called 'Keeping them reading' about getting the Harry Potter generation to move on to other fiction. And then of course there will be wine. In the bar. A lot of it. And my birthday on the Sunday!
Well that Sounds like fun. Moving on, what about your own future plans? Obviously there is the rest of The Dog faced Gods series to come, any other projects lined-up you want share, TV perhaps?
Thank you for asking me! I'm very well thank you - currently trying to get little odds and ends done before World Horror in Brighton next week.
You have a new book out, A Matter of Blood: Book One of the Dog Faced Gods Trilogy, what's it about?
I won't go into too many details for fear of giving too much away, but it's a gritty crime thriller set in London that has a supernatural subplot - which over the course of the three books becomes far more central. I've set the book about 5 years in the future to allow for a more darkly, dystopic feel, having placed the world in an extension of this current recession we're struggling to escape. The main character, Detective Inspector Cass Jones, is quite a troubled man who, while trying to hunt down a serial killer calling himself 'The man of Flies', finds himself a suspect in his own brother's death.
It's very interesting that the current economic difficulties are very much part of the story. A situation which holds a very real fear for many people. What was your thinking when you developed this story?
The current economic climate was very much in the forefront of my thinking when I was planning out the trilogy. I'm fascinated by dystopic situations and when we had the Northern Rock crisis and various other banks looked as if they were teetering as a knock on effect of the US sub-prime problems, it was the first time I'd realised how much the world was now inter-linked. I couldn't help but imagine how society might change if the decline continued. Hence the creation of The Bank, as it exists in A Matter of Blood.
This is your first time writing a series of books, have you found much difference from writing a stand alone novel?
Well, this is a trilogy rather than a series - the main character has a definite arc; something that doesn't happen in a series, so in essence this has been like writing one very long novel (with still a third to write..sigh..). Flippancy aside, it has strained my brain slightly. Crime novels are complex and this is certainly no exception to that, and then add in weaving in a separate conspiracy that has to unfold over three books and there have been moments where I've wanted to tear my hair out!
Oops, I meant trilogy haha! You've also written a few short stories, I've recently read and enjoyed Our Man in the Sudan, published in the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. What are your thoughts on the Short Story format? It seems to be highly valued by writers, but perhaps less so by readers.
I'm not a natural short story writer - I do them because they can bring you new readers rather than because I overly want to. I do however think that genre stories really suit this format. I actually much prefer reading horror short stories than novels. The same with science fiction. Plus, between books, or in a knotty place in a book, working on something that can be done in a couple of days can be a nice change of pace.
You've travelled a fair bit and spent some of your early life in the Middle-East. How much have these experieces influenced you as a writer?
It's been good in that I've got those sensory memories of different places and cultures. They haven't overtly influenced my work, although I have written two short stories - Our Man in the Sudan, and The Bohemian of the Arbat that have been specifically based in settings and times that I lived there. I think any travel is good for a writer - it all helps us understand what makes different people tick.
Recently SFX magazine published a Horror special and failed to mention a single women writer in the field. Is the Horror genre sexist?
No, the Horror genre isn't sexist - certainly not where it counts, in the business end of it. SFX did a piece on me in their regular issue that month. My editor is a woman, and I've never felt my gender has held me back in any way. I wonder if maybe there is a tendency for some people (and I certainly don't include SFX in this) to think that women write paranormal romance rather than horror as that field is definitely dominated by women - over the past year or so I've had several people ask me if that's what I write - I never had that question before the surge in popularity of that sub-genre. To anyone that wonders - I DON'T write paranormal romance.
So what do you think of Paranormal Romance, and the rebranding of some bookshop Horror sections as Dark Fantasy?
Well, this is a trilogy rather than a series - the main character has a definite arc; something that doesn't happen in a series, so in essence this has been like writing one very long novel (with still a third to write..sigh..). Flippancy aside, it has strained my brain slightly. Crime novels are complex and this is certainly no exception to that, and then add in weaving in a separate conspiracy that has to unfold over three books and there have been moments where I've wanted to tear my hair out!
Oops, I meant trilogy haha! You've also written a few short stories, I've recently read and enjoyed Our Man in the Sudan, published in the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. What are your thoughts on the Short Story format? It seems to be highly valued by writers, but perhaps less so by readers.
I'm not a natural short story writer - I do them because they can bring you new readers rather than because I overly want to. I do however think that genre stories really suit this format. I actually much prefer reading horror short stories than novels. The same with science fiction. Plus, between books, or in a knotty place in a book, working on something that can be done in a couple of days can be a nice change of pace.
You've travelled a fair bit and spent some of your early life in the Middle-East. How much have these experieces influenced you as a writer?
It's been good in that I've got those sensory memories of different places and cultures. They haven't overtly influenced my work, although I have written two short stories - Our Man in the Sudan, and The Bohemian of the Arbat that have been specifically based in settings and times that I lived there. I think any travel is good for a writer - it all helps us understand what makes different people tick.
Recently SFX magazine published a Horror special and failed to mention a single women writer in the field. Is the Horror genre sexist?
No, the Horror genre isn't sexist - certainly not where it counts, in the business end of it. SFX did a piece on me in their regular issue that month. My editor is a woman, and I've never felt my gender has held me back in any way. I wonder if maybe there is a tendency for some people (and I certainly don't include SFX in this) to think that women write paranormal romance rather than horror as that field is definitely dominated by women - over the past year or so I've had several people ask me if that's what I write - I never had that question before the surge in popularity of that sub-genre. To anyone that wonders - I DON'T write paranormal romance.
So what do you think of Paranormal Romance, and the rebranding of some bookshop Horror sections as Dark Fantasy?
I can't get into the Paranormal Romance thing at all personally. I know that lots of people love it and there are lots of people making great money writing it, but it's just not for me. I'm not a romance fan, and as far as I'm concerned if something's dead I don't want to kiss it. But that's just my personal taste. As for the re-branding of the genre, I don't care what they call it if they're stocking the books. Writers don't care much for labels - it's all just stories!
The world can be a pretty gloomy place, and these are uncertain times in so many ways. You might expect people to be looking for things to cheer them up, so what's the attraction to Horror in these times?
The world can be a pretty gloomy place, and these are uncertain times in so many ways. You might expect people to be looking for things to cheer them up, so what's the attraction to Horror in these times?
It seems to be traditional that in times of change where society is feeling unsettled, people look to dark fiction. The stories often act as metaphors for societies ills anyway. Take Dracula - women were starting to wrestle with the chains and want some freedom and rights in the world. This caused tension in a male-dominated society, and lo and behold, the only sexually liberated women in the book were bitten by a vampire, corrupted by evil and then had their heads chopped off! Someone was making a point! When Frankenstein was written people were afraid of all the developments in science that were taking place and which threatened religious belief systems and therefore the monster represents all the evils of the scientific world and what might happen if man overstepped his natural boundaries. Horror and dark tales are natural outlets for the things that frighten us. Long may this period of gloom last, I say, if it brings us great scary stories! Ha!
The lead character in the new book is a Detective Inspector, sometimes the boundry between Horror and Crime can seem very thin. What are the main differences if any that seperate the two genres in your mind?
Some people might say that Horror needs elements of the supernatural, but I don't agree with that. Silence of the Lambs is a Horror story. Horror is an emotion not a genre. A lot of crime novels have horrific elements and a lot of violence. I guess it's easier to try and define a crime novel as separate to Horror. To me a crime novel needs to have a series of twists and turns and clues and a mystery, and normally some police involvement. A Horror novel can include anything.
I'm sure I read somewhere that you've written a Torchwood book for the BBC?
I wrote a Torchwood novel called 'Into the Silence' last year, and also wrote a short story for a Torchwood book called 'Consequences' that had 5 interlinked stories by different writers. I really enjoyed doing them, and if the series returns to TV and if they want another one from me, I'd be more than happy to do it - schedule willing. I liked working with someone else's characters and the team are all good at BBC books.
The World Horror Convention is about to take place in Brighton, the first time outside of North America. You'll be there, what are your plans for the Convention?
I'm really looking forward to catching up with lots of friends at WHC! I'll be doing a reading on the Thursday night from A Matter of Blood - don't know which bit yet, and then two panels on Saturday. One is on women in the Genre, and the other is called 'Keeping them reading' about getting the Harry Potter generation to move on to other fiction. And then of course there will be wine. In the bar. A lot of it. And my birthday on the Sunday!
Well that Sounds like fun. Moving on, what about your own future plans? Obviously there is the rest of The Dog faced Gods series to come, any other projects lined-up you want share, TV perhaps?
I've got the third Dog-Faced Gods book to write, and I've already sold the TV/Film option on A Matter of Blood which I'll talk about more fully on my website when we've finished dotting the i's and crossing the t's. I'm also writing a Young Adult trilogy for Gollancz under a different name. The first one of those, The Double-Edged Sword, will be out in September, so it's on to the second for me now! Busy is good. ;-)
Thank you so much Sarah.
Thank you so much Sarah.
Thanks for having me!
For more information on Sarah Pinborough and her work visit her website here
You can also get up to date information on Sarah and other Gollancz writers on the new Gollancz Blog
My friend and fellow blogger Amanda has also been chatting to Sarah on her blog Floor to Ceiling Books Check it out!
A Matter of Blood: The Dog Faced Gods Trilogy is available from Gollancz Publishing on March 25th. Look out for my full review next week.
Buy this book at the The Book Depository
For more information on Sarah Pinborough and her work visit her website here
You can also get up to date information on Sarah and other Gollancz writers on the new Gollancz Blog
My friend and fellow blogger Amanda has also been chatting to Sarah on her blog Floor to Ceiling Books Check it out!
A Matter of Blood: The Dog Faced Gods Trilogy is available from Gollancz Publishing on March 25th. Look out for my full review next week.
Buy this book at the The Book Depository
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