Bantam • Crime & mystery

5 Things I Do To Avoid Writing My Next Novel - By Christopher Fowler

Transworld author Christopher Fowler is the acknowledged master of the dark and the unexpected. He is the author of twelve novels, including Roofworld; Spanky and Soho Black. He is also the creator of the critically acclaimed Bryant & May series featuring octogenarian detectives Arthur Bryant and John May. The curmudgeonly duo return in their sixth adventure this June in The Victoria Vanishes.

In the spirit of Bryant & May, we at Between-the-lines decided to do some detective work of our own, and asked Christopher what are his five favourite things to do in order to avoid writing his next novel!

5 Things I Do To Avoid Writing My Next Novel.

1. Stare at St Paul’s Cathedral
I can see it from my desk. For the first time in my writing career I have a view across London. It’s not a pretty city, but in the summer is amazingly green. Today I can count twenty two cranes raising the city ever higher.

2. Write something else
The Bryant & May series is great fun, like having imaginary friends you can visit any time, but occasionally you need to get away from them, otherwise we’ll all see too much of each other and get fractious. So I try to write a different book between the novels. The next non-Bryant & May book is ‘Paperboy’, out in March.

3. Get fit.
I work at home, which means the fridge is next door and I don’t ever have to go out, so a personal trainer comes in and makes me do crazy stuff in order to stay limber. At the moment he’s teaching me to walk on my hands, so if the writing career fails I can join a circus.

4. Go to exhibitions
London has too much going on, but I try to see as many exhibitions as time and money allow. The joy of going in the week is that you often have the place to yourself.

5. Write the next novel
Sometimes there’s no avoiding it. And I shouldn’t; I never forget how privileged I am to be able to pursue my greatest love for a career, Many people have jobs they hate. I can’t wait to start mine each day. I love concentrating on peculiar problems at my desk - although I do drink too much tea.