Lucky 13 Interview With David Wharton

1 – Can you start by telling us a little about your current book?

Hmmm. Well, off the top of my head…(or possibly the blurb page of my website): London at the start of the 1960s. Delia, an expert shoplifter from the East End, needs to atone for a terrible mistake. Tess can’t work out how to escape her bourgeois upbringing and become the artist she wants to be. Jimmy might turn out to be a genius if he doesn't destroy himself first. Bill is a playwright and activist whose best days are probably behind him. Finer Things depicts an era of dizzying social change; a city whose past weighs heavy upon it, but also one where social class, sexuality and gender are all about to be made anew. Where the boundaries between crime and celebrity are beginning to crumble. Inspired by the real-life shoplifting careers of Alice Diamond and Shirley Pitts, the novel takes in Soho’s bohemian culture, the early days of the British anti-apartheid movement, and the rise of some famous gangsters.

2 – Are you a plotter or a panster?

Like most writers, I mix up planning and pantsing. I’m a Plantser. Both of the two novels I've written were at 60, 000 words before I figured out what the third act was going to be. I usually have some sense of the general direction, a couple of key turning points, and then story logic takes control and the novel starts writing itself. That's how the first draft comes together, anyway; there are a lot of redrafts after that. I don't do those spreadsheets or grids, but early in the process I’ll make scrappy notes and draw little diagrams with lots of arrows and so on. Later, when I look back at my notebooks it’s instructive to see how far the finished product has deviated from those initial ‘plans’.

3 – Savoury or sweet?

Either, according to the needs of the moment. Bitter is also an option, as is sour.

4 – Three books to a desert Island. Go!

One I know really well, one I’ve read half of, one I need to read properly. Not saying which is which, but: The 1001 Nights, Ulysses, Wuthering Heights.

5 – Star Wars or Star Trek?

Dark Star

6 – Music or silence when writing?

Most days it starts with music - instrumental only, I find words are too intrusive. If the writing goes well, silence will arrive without my noticing.

7 – You’re a professional wrestler. What would your ring name be?

The Punctuator.

8 – If you could live anywhere in the world, and take everything that you love with you, where would you choose?

Exactly where I am now, only before that ludicrous referendum sent everyone mad.

9 - Your favourite karaoke song?

The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore

10 – One piece of advice to an aspiring writer?

Read everything you can, and learn from everything you read.

11 – You win £1 million, but you must give half to charity. Which charity do you chose, and what do you do with the rest of the money?

I'd donate it to Refuge via Richard Herring's annual 'When's International Men's Day' campaign. With the rest, after I'd bought maybe two new guitars, I'd have absolutely no idea what to spend it on.

12 – Horror films, yes or no? If yes, any favourites?

Oh yes. Obvious ones, really: Alien, The Exorcist. Hellraiser, The Shining. Les Diaboliques is ultra cool, though it's more of a psychological thriller than straight-out horror. Does Old Boy count?

13 - What are you currently working on?

A novel. Can’t say more than that for fear of jinxing it. Soz.