• Books Home
• Features
• 
• 
• Bookmark this site

No Time for Goodbye was the bestselling novel in the UK for 2008, and has sold over half a million copies in Germany. As a Canadian author, why do you think your books have such international appeal?
I think I managed to tap into a kind of primal fear in No Time for Goodbye – the fear of losing your parents, of being abandoned, of being left behind. Anyone, regardless of nationality, can identify with that feeling, and can imagine themselves in that situation.

You quit your job with the Toronto Star to pursue novel writing. What do you find is the most difficult thing about being a full time author?
I'll tell you this; it's a lot easier than doing a novel and more than a hundred columns a year. I've been writing full-time since 1993, when I moved from being an editor at the Star to writing three columns a week. Becoming successful enough at writing books that I could devote myself to it exclusively actually became something of a relief. It reduced my workload, and allowed me to give my novels the attention they deserved. Writing thrillers is such a wonderful way to make a living I wouldn't dare complain about it.

Unlike working at The Star, your deadlines are self-imposed - how do you ensure you stick to the task at hand?
After thirty years of newspapers meeting deadlines becomes ingrained. Once I'm into writing a book, I just want to finish it. I try to find a period of time – two to three months – when we're not travelling or have few other obligations so that I can write a first draft without interruptions. I tend to deliver my manuscripts several months early, which just means editors have time to make more suggestions, so maybe I should rethink this.

No Time for Goodbye, Too Close to Home and Fear the Worst are serious crime thrillers, yet your columns for the Star were humorous – why the change in voice?
I have written four, funnier mysteries that came out before No Time for Goodbye, and which will be coming out here eventually. But it wasn't that hard to go serious. A lot of humour is rooted in anger and darkness – my satirical pieces that took on various government officials were evidence of that – so you simply end up channelling those feelings in a different way. Every once in a while, though, I'll write a scene that borders on farce. Fortunately, my agent and editors rein me in.

What should readers expect from Fear the Worst?
One of the best thrill rides ever. Fear the Worst moves the fastest of anything I've written. Real people in extraordinary circumstances. Just pray none of it ever happens to you.

Simon Ostheimer

Fear the Worst is published by Bantam.

Linwood Barclay speaks at Grappa’s Cellar on July 8. See www.dymocks.com.hk or call 2965 0421 for details.