Linwood Barclay at Waterstones, Lincoln

What a brilliant night.  Linwood is a truly brilliant speaker.  He told us all about his background and how he became a writer after being a journalist in Peterborough, Ontario.  He would ring the police every morning to source anything interesting that had happened.   Of course, he always wanted to be a writer!   He discussed his novel 'No Time For Goodbye' which was a Richard and Judy Read in the UK, and is about someone waking up to find everyone has disappeared!!

Me and Linwood:

Of course he described his latest novel - of which I got a signed copy - A Noise Downstairs, and stated he thinks it is his best since No Time for Goodbye.

Octobers Writing Magazine (www.writers-online.co.uk) have an interview with Linwood in which they say of A Noise Downstairs that it is (arguably) his darkest novel to date.  I have to say I loved it.  A psychological thriller with a little bit of murder and supernatural thrown in!!

Questions from those attending at Waterstones included the obligatory 'How's' of being a writer.  Linwood discussed the need for a serious work ethic and the need to treat being an author as you would being a plumber.  You get on with it!   If you write 10,000 words a week, you will have a first draft in two and a half months.  Linwood writes a book a year and has never missed a deadline.  He added, 'It beats working in a bank. I can't think of any other job I would rather do'.

He discussed the difficulty of being an author when you are not just competing against other authors, but also with the Internet, TV, Netflix, Boxsets, Phones etc.  There is a need therefore to grab the readers attention very quickly.  They way he plots is to keep asking 'What If?'   He starts with the bare bones and has an idea of the end. He doesn't always know the 'big mushy' middle.  He just starts writing.

GET ON WITH IT (I have written here!)

See: www.linwoodbarclay.com