12 June 2015

Author Q&A Session #45: With Ben McPherson



Good afternoon folks,

In an all new author interview session, we have that incredibly talented author who penned a thoroughly gripping psychological thriller, A Line of Blood which reflects a perfect-yet-somehow-imperfect-English-family in London where the 11 year old son along with his father discover their neighbor's dead body in his house, and the consequences, followed by the discovery, completely changes their lives forever. Yes, we have today Ben McPherson who is also a television producer and director.

So let's chat with Ben today to know more about this compelling debut novel of his, about his journey as an author and also his life beyond books and all.

Read the review of A Line of Blood






Me: Hello and welcome to my blog, Ben. Congratulations on your debut book, A Line of Blood. Since this is your first novel, how are you feeling about it?

Ben: I’m a bit bowled over, Aditi. I never envisaged that my book would be of interest to people outside the UK, and I could not be more delighted that it’s made it to India! I just hope readers there like it… This all feels very new to me, and very exciting. A Line of Blood is also on its way to the Netherlands, to Italy, and to North America.


Me: What was your source of inspiration for this book, A Line of Blood?

Ben: I wanted to write about love inside families, and that’s very difficult when things are working properly. I needed something to go very badly wrong! That’s where the corpse in the next-door house comes in. It becomes clear that all three members of the Mercer family have a relationship with that dead neighbour, though Alex, the protagonist, does not yet realise this. So I started with the crime, and worked backwards from there.

The book is also about a very cynical generation of British parents - people who want to be good, but don’t really know how. They have seen the spectacular failure of the models of the past - first the authoritarian post-war model, then the anti authoritarian hippy model - and find themselves alone and without a template. What do you do? How do you pass on the best of yourself to your child, and not the worst? And how do you guide your child when your own world is falling apart in front of you?


Me: Given the book falls into the noir/psychological thriller category, which is your favorite psychological thriller?

Ben: Tricky! Of recent novels, I love Claire Kendall’s The Book of You, and of course Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, for its bravado. I’m not normally a fan of psychopaths in fiction, but there is something so charming about Hannibal Lecter that you almost forgive him his cruel deeds. And there’s a warmth and a humanity to Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta novels that makes them very moving, despite the coldness of her subject matter.

But my absolute favourite psychological thriller isn’t a book: it’s the film Alien! The way in which it manages your terror, so that by the film’s climax you are completely emotionally in tune with the heroine - there’s a lot there for writers in any genre to learn from. I used to watch it in my lunch breaks before writing scary scenes.


Me: Tell us one trait of your main protagonist, Alex, that intrigues you the most?

Ben: Like many of us, I suppose, Alex thinks he’s a good man, though he's terrified that he might not be. He’s actively trying to be a better father and husband, but he’s spectacularly blind to his own failings: he understands that he shouldn’t drink and swear and smoke in front of his son, but he doesn’t see the subtler forms of damage that he’s doing. His blindness threatens to rob him of everything that he loves, it makes him do the most terrible thing half way through the book, though he doesn’t at first understand just what he has done.


Me: What did you expect your readers to get away with after reading, A Line of Blood?

Ben: I’d like them to think very hard about what should happen to the killer, and about why the killer killed.


Me: How will you describe your journey so far as an author? Was it always your one true dream to be an author?

Ben: It’s much lonelier than working in TV, which I did before, but I love it. I have written - on the side - for years, but never really dared hope...


Me: What other passions do your have apart from writing?

Ben: I love travelling, and I’m a bit of a language nerd. That helps, I guess, because I’m married to a Norwegian woman, and we live in Oslo, the capital of Norway. My wife and I love to scuba dive - difficult with young children in tow - but at some point in the next ten years we’re going to back to the Galapagos Islands! I’d like to say I’m an outdoor type - many Norwegians are - but actually there isn’t much I like more than lounging around at home on a warm day with the door open, drinking coffee and eating good food with friends and family.


Me: How will you describe your normal writing schedule? And what do you do to get away from the stress?

Ben: I try to have a routine, and I try to stick to it. I drop my older son off at school in the morning, go to a café, read the paper, and then go to the Oslo House of Literature, which has a loft space for writers. At around one I walk home, make some lunch, and work on into the afternoon.

Our younger son is only eleven months old, so routine is very important - for all of us! Men are expected to do their share of the child-rearing and housework in Norway, though I feel I constantly fall short. I drink far too much coffee, which often leaves me feeling strung out and paranoid, though that can be useful for a thriller writer.

I’m a decent cook, and making food whilst listening to BBC Radio seems to calm me down. That, and fishing with my son.


Me: What's next up on your writing sleeves? Please tell us briefly about it.

Ben: I don’t want to say too much about the next book, except that it’s about brothers, and an inheritance that goes spectacularly wrong. The body count is slightly higher than in A Line of Blood. There’s also a gun...


Me: Thank you so much Ben for joining me today on this interview session. I wish you luck for all your future endeavors.

Ben: Aditi, it’s a huge pleasure. I hope to be back talking to you again in the future!
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Ben's Bio:




Ben McPherson is a television producer, director, and writer. He studied Modern Languages at King’s College, Cambridge, and worked for many years in film and television production. From 1998 to 2007 he was a director and producer for the BBC.

In 1998 Ben met the woman he would go on to marry at the Coach and Horses in Soho. Similarities to the characters in his novel, A Line of Blood, end there.

Ben speaks fluent Norwegian and lives in Oslo with his wife and son. In 2012 he covered the Breivik trial for TheForeigner.no. He is now a columnist for Aftenposten, Norway’s leading quality daily newspaper.






Connect with Ben on: Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

2 comments:

  1. I have read a review for this book and I believe the reader enjoyed it quite a bit. The love inside families is a great theme to focus on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for stopping by, glad you liked the interview :-)

    ReplyDelete

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