I broke quite a few rules with it (the story effectively begins with a massive info dump) but primarily the old one about writing what you know. The story's a first person narrative told from the point of view of a 15-year-old schoolgirl musical genius. I, on the other hand, am a 46-year old bloke who failed spectacularly in his musical education. Also the story might be described (pretension alert!) as rather high concept: music takes you into the Great Somewhere Else — and I wanted my story to have the same effect. It was an exhausting high wire act. Thank goodness for toast and lime
marmalade.
Which did you enjoy most?
Stories were submitted anonymously and this brought a great sense of freedom. I fondly fancy that Gary really thought the story had been written by a 15-year-old shrapnel-gathering schoolgirl.
What sets the novelette apart from the other things you have written?
I usually take five years to write a story, ever the fine-tuner that I am. "fight Music" was written very quickly - perhaps because I'd just finished writing the pantomime for our local group. Panto writing is very much a headlong sleeves-rolled-up experience.
In what way is it similar?
I think I've retained my widescreen visual sense in this story. Also an almost throwaway weirdness, burying a tiny oddity within a paragraph dealing with the apparently everyday.
What will your next book be about?
I've been working on a long story that may very well become a book one day. It deals with the infiltration of mermaids into the British film industry during the 1930s. Of course, no one notices — until it's too late...
What would you say has been your most significant achievement as a writer?
I was pondering this question and how to answer it when my brother texted this evening to say how much he enjoyed a story in my "Soil Society" collection. We don't communicate a great deal so, odd and small as it may sound, this would figure quite highly among my writerly achievements.
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