She, his first book, absolute power became a bestseller and it was turned into a film. His latest is called the fix. It is about the detective amos decker who witnesses a seemingly senseless and random murder outside the headquarters of the fbi in washington, dc. David, i would like to start by rewinding the clock back to your childhood when your mother gave you a notebook in which to write stories. Had you always wanted to be a writer . I was at the reader, i was a writer . I was at the reader, i was a kid who never shut up, i was telling tall tales all the time, usually to get myself out of trouble. My mum bought me a journal. My trouble. My mum bought me a journal. My pen head the paper and an epiphany went off in my head. I can ta ke epiphany went off in my head. I can take my imagination and put it down on paper and people can read what i am thinking about, this is so cool. Years went by, and i said to my mum, thank you for such a rift. She said, im so glad it worked out for you but quite frankly, i just wanted to shut you up. Because mums will a lwa ys shut you up. Because mums will always need a little peace and quiet, i will always love you but you never stop talking. In the interim, you became a lawyer, you didnt become a writer, how did that happen . For 15 years, didnt become a writer, how did that happen . For15 years, iwrote didnt become a writer, how did that happen . For 15 years, i wrote fifth the short stories online but you cant make a living doing that. When i sold as lori, they would give me a bunch of free copies that was enough payment. I became a lawyer and practice for ten years in washington. Ten years of practising law, i wrote short stories, novellas, screenplays, and finally, novels. And then you were able to commit to it for time. Fast forward to now and your latest novel the fix. A man shoots a woman outside the fbi headquarters and turns the gun on himself. It is a wide done it rather than a whodunnit. What inspired the story . It is the third instalment of my amos decker series. He has a perfect memory because the brain trauma he suffered. He is the unlikeliest of heroes. Hes a e commerce lobby, obese guy who has no skills and nobody gets along with him. People love him. His motivation is simple, he wants to find out the truth, no matter where it takes him. He looks at the scene, he was a witness at the crime, he sees it. He keeps going back to that scene, it is like hitchcock, is the small stage, he keeps going back and been through, did he really see pretty thought he saw . Throughout the whole novel, the reader is over his shoulder looking at that one scene. I wanted to make it really claustrophobic, i wanted i wanted to make it really claustrophobic, iwanted people i wanted to make it really claustrophobic, i wanted people to be hammered with the scene over and over again. As a lawyer, i know eyewitness accounts are totally unreliable. I thought it would be cool to put that as a plot point in a novel. As you say, amos decker isnt your typical hero. What appeals to you about him . So many of my other countries are fit, well trained, they are classical heroes, 0k . Asa trained, they are classical heroes, 0k . As a writer, if you dont expand and challenge yourself, you with. I wa nted and challenge yourself, you with. I wanted to write a carrot totally different from anything i had written before. Write a character. I channel him so easily. He is weird and quirky and my wife will say she can understand why i channel him because i am that too. The book is topical. The murder turned into an issue of national security, you deal with isis, cyber security, issue of national security, you deal with isis, cybersecurity, hacking, how important is that to you to make the book feel current . how important is that to you to make the book feel current . I am bound by plausibility. Fortunately for me, it seems like anything is plausible. I can write about anything, and someone will say they read it in a newspaper last week. I am very key is about the world, i try and Read Everything i can possibly read. I extrapolate so i can say, what it is going to be like in the nearfuture. Ican going to be like in the nearfuture. I can push the envelope and see what is coming down the road. I had written the scene and thought it was over the top and said read this, let me know if i have to pull it back. And he said i dont have to read it, if you can imagine it, we have already done it. That is chilling. You say you had a conversation with an intelligence guy, i know you talk to members of the fbi and secret service, what kind of things do they tell you . They are wonderfully helpful, they share a lot of information, sometimes they say, i will tell you this but it cant be ina will tell you this but it cant be in a book, and it never does, i do play fair. I would not want to be them. It must be hard to sleep at times. I was struck by how meticulously plotted the novel was andi meticulously plotted the novel was and i wondered do you start from the outset knowing exactly what is going to happen does the story evolve as you are writing it . It evolves organically. I have never known the ending ofa organically. I have never known the ending of a book i have written. I wouldnt be creating a novel, for me every day is an epiphany. I might think, what am i going to do . If it doesnt work, i can hit the delete key and try something else. For me to plod along with an outline that i thought about before i even created a character, how dull and boring could that be . I think that boring nest would come through the pages. That must be even more difficult because you sometimes have more than one novel on the go. You have a phenomenal work load, you write two oi phenomenal work load, you write two or three novels a year, how do you fit it all in . I am obsessive about it. I think if i didnt love to write, i would have stopped by now. But every day i get up and i think to myself it is so fortunate that i can tell another story today. It is the joy. I tell a spiralling writers, i say, the joy. I tell a spiralling writers, isay, make the joy. I tell a spiralling writers, i say, make sure you are in it for the right reasons. If you can live without writing, and do something else, because that will get you through all the bad times, the rejections and the criticisms that people throw at you. It is a bullet proof armour, the joy of writing. How difficult is it to keep coming up with different plot and ideas . You have to have nonstop curiouser about the world and life. Igoto curiouser about the world and life. I go to places, i talk to people all the time, i absorb knowledge and information. I think if you know a lot about a lot of this Different Things and you can write some really unique stories. Writing is not a job, it is not a hobby, it is not even a passion, it is a lifestyle, this is who i am and it permeates throughout my entire life. I am also thinking about, i am looking around and seeing is off and ideas are coming to me. How do you relax . I love to write. I love to read, i love to write. I love to read, i love to write. I love to read, i love to go out of the water, i like watersports, i have a nice amberley, and it is a nice life. But at the end of the day, it is the book and pen that draws you back. My wife gave me a journal on christmas day, i say to people, never give blank journal on a holiday because you will never see them for the rest of the day. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, there. You have probably heard that storm dylan is coming to the british isles. You can see how things have been developing rapidly over recent hours. The cloud is appealing wrapping around the area of low pressure. This Rapid Development is right on our doorstep and their is. It will bring stormy winds to Northern Ireland and scotland, that is where the met office has issued this amber weather warning for strong winds. Gusts of wind could get up to 70 mph. A band of rain in Northern Ireland, pushing through scotla nd Northern Ireland, pushing through scotland and in the mountains. Wet and windy night for england and wales but milderfurther and windy night for england and wales but milder further south as well, with temperatures no lower than 10 degrees in london and plymouth. Strong winds with us for new years eve morning. Window heading from Northern Ireland into scotla nd heading from Northern Ireland into scotland as we go through the morning. Gusts this strong could bring down trees, disrupt transport and drink power cuts as well as power lines are brought down as well. Sunshine in the afternoon and through the rest of the day, it will bea through the rest of the day, it will be a blustery day. Strongest winds head out into the north sea as storm dyla n head out into the north sea as storm dylan gradually fades into the afternoon but we will have fairly blustery conditions nationwide. Heavy and thundery showers, snow on the mountains of scotland and quite a range of temperatures between six in the north and i2 a range of temperatures between six in the north and 12 in the south. We can see how the showers continue to rattle a number risk winds. Not as cold as it has been over recent nights. New years day, further outbreaks of rain will move in over southern england, could bring in localised flooding. Still quite a range in temperatures but things turning for a time at least a little bit cooler. Further bouts of heavy rain and the variations in temperatures from day to day. That is your weather. This is bbc news. The headlines at 11 reports of growing violence in towns and cities across iran, as Anti Government protests gather momentum for a third day. Beatles drummer ringo starr and bee gees singer barry gibb receive knighthoods, while strictlyjudge Darcey Bussell is made a dame, in the new year honours. Manchester firefighters have tackled a blaze in a i2 storey block of flats in the citys northern quarter. One person has been taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation. Millennials will enjoy the biggest inheritance boom of any post war generation, but not until theyre into their 60s, according to a new report. And in half an hour well have a look at tomorrows front pages, including the times, which claims the government is planning to tax internet giants if they dont help combat terrorism
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