Pyre: Soundtrack & Questions 1

Where did the idea come from?

I lived a while near Malham in North Yorkshire, so the landscape and scattered community was something I was used to, drawn to. Some time ago I went back to visit and saw a farmer burning something, I don’t know what, high on a hillside. I thought, apart from me and the farmer no one knows that’s happening. Anything could be being burnt. From there the story began to take shape.

Why is the protagonist a woman?

Why not? Initially it was a man but as I worked through the story I thought having a female protagonist gave greater scope for the themes I wanted to explore and the tension also.

Some people might say a man should not write a woman?

Sometimes your protagonist is immaterial, in the sense what you’re writing is about themes. Pyre is about isolation and not knowing or being able to admit who you are and what you want. Being caught, and the consequences of that. These are universal themes that transcend gender, religion, sexuality, nationality.

Also, I’m a storyteller and being able to express the themes through the characters is something we have to do. So, I did what any storyteller would do and listened. I listened to the women in my life and around my life. I listened to how they talk, how they communication, what they say. I watched for mannerisms. There is not one sentence in Pyre spoken by any of the female characters that I haven’t heard, or can hear a woman say. I believe in the authenticity of the voices.

Why is it only a novella and not a novel?

It’s not always what you put into a story, it’s often what you leave out. You leave space for the story to breathe in the reader’s imagination. Also not everything has to be 80,000 words or more. I felt I was able to say everything I wanted to say in the space I used and taking it out to a full novel would just be adding secondary storylines I didn’t want to explore, or detract from what I wanted to say and explore.

The style is very cinematic.

It’s how I write and also I originally had Pyre in mind as a screenplay but I don’t know how to write a screenplay and I don’t know what to do with one even if I could.

What about the regional dialogue?

That wasn’t easy. Part of my dyslexia is that I struggle to hear certain sounds and then connect the sound to the word and the spelling, and so on. I got some help along the way and I think there’s a suitable level of accuracy. If not I hope that people will accept it for what it is, and also accept my apologies.

Does the farm at the centre of the story actually exist?

Sort of. Otterburn does. I lived there, and there are very similar farms to what I describe in the book, but not exactly that farm. Some things are spot on. There is a magistrates house in Otterburn, although not in the state I describe. There is a bridge and a burn, or brook. There were sculptured Roman heads found in the village being used as gateposts, but there is also a great deal of poetic licence being used.

Will there be a follow up?

No. Pyre is a stand alone story.

Tell me about the Without Whom Gallery.

There’s my children and my wife and my mother. I think they’re obvious. My children are both creatives and seeing them pursue what they love is a constant inspiration for me, and gives me courage. My wife and my mother are amazing women. They do not blow smoke up your arse. They push and push you to be as good as you can and not settle for anything, but they have my back. They help me find order within things.

Leo is my writing partner of many years. We sometimes write alongside each other, never together and watch out for each other. We’re both writers, we like to procrastinate when left alone. Bill is very similar, always encouraging, questioning. He’s been there, done that, has a wealth of knowledge and is incredibly generous. Letty and Peter worked with me on Prompety Prompt, Joe I’ve known for a few years now, they all allow me to dream but know when to nudge me gently back to the real world. Plus, their energy is immense. I know that can sound knobbish but I suffer from massive imposter syndrome and having people energetically saying ‘you can do this’ is so precious.

Steve is my Barnsley super hero. He was a friend for many years and he stepped in some years ago to pull me back from a dangerous brink. I can get very emotional when I talk about him.

And where is Pyre available from?

Click on this link Available now