Lucky 13 Interview With Matt Killeen

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

Orphan Monster Spy is the story of German Jewish girl who is orphaned in an escape attempt at the outbreak of WW2. She runs into a British agent, who she saves and then goes to work for him, undercover in a school for the daughters of elite Nazis. In this place full of human monsters she needs to befriend the child of a reclusive nuclear scientist, but the mission is more dangerous than she could ever imagine. Its sequel, Devil Darling Spy, is out in January and sees her travel to central Africa in search of a German bioweapons project and sees imperialism at its horrifying work.

2 – Are you a plotter or a panster? I'm a plotter, cusp pantser! I know the start and the end, plus a few critical events in-between, and then I write chronologically in that framework. That gives the characters a chance to surprise me - they're kind of in charge - and it allows the research I do as I go along to affect the plot. It means I get unpleasant surprises from time to time. Towards the end of Orphan Monster Spy a minor character from the middle of the book popped up without my permission and made everything more complicated. I asked my writer friends what I should do about him, and they all replied KILL HIM! 3 – Savoury or sweet? That's tough, but I traditionally take four spoons of sugar in my coffee, so...I've replaced that with sugar-free hazelnut syrup which just about OK and has reduced the amount of sugar in my diet by half. It's very expensive though. 🙁 4 – Three books to a desert Island. Go! Watership Down - Richard Adams The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien The Cruel Sea - Nicholas Monsarrat 5 – Star Wars or Star Trek? Oh, you're killing me! I refuse to choose. I was a big Trekkie back when there were just two seasons of TOS and three movies, so I'm old-school geek there. TNG grew a beard when I was at Uni and it was our go-to TV. We had these VHS tapes that went round and round. I don't think there was anything to touch it at the time. All that said, I watched that Star Destroyer fly over my head at the cinema when I was five and it changed my life forever. I have five lightsabers, two for actually duelling, at which I suck. 6 – If you could have any superpower, what would it be? It should be something to save the world, but I'm not sure what that should be. I doubt it can helped by force - which is at the heart of most superpower fantasies. I've always wanted to be fluent in multiple languages, like my heroine Sarah. She's very good at things I'd like to be able to do. Maybe if I was able to read minds too that would be valuable...hang on, isn't that The Prize from Highlander? 7 – You’re a professional wrestler. What would your ring name be? My football number has always been 666 so I imagine something devil related would work, walking on to Williams' Imperial March. 8 – If you could live anywhere in the world, and take everything that you love with you, where would you choose? There are many places I'd like to visit, but am quite content where I am. Hawaii was the closest I've ever been to just not going home. I'd probably drag my house, adjoining park and woods closer to central London. I have a real hankering to return to my hometown, Birmingham, if only to watch the Blues every fortnight, but my family is less enthused. 9 - Your favourite karaoke song? I do Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi. It's always on the list, it's beautifully pompous and it has that call & response bit which no one can resist. I'm getting old now and my voice has lost a lot of range, so my Queen repetoire is contracting. 10 – One piece of advice to an aspiring writer? Write - every day if you possibly can. If you can't write, read & think. If you can't read or think, play. 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? It's a damning inditement of current British society that the money would be best used in a food bank - we're one of the richest countries on earth and people have to beg for food. There were 41,000 packs given out in 2010. Last year it was 1.6 million. The current government and it's coalition partners have engineered this on their watch. No one should forget that. And if your response is, yes, but...then you're a monster. As for my half...realistically I'd probably use it to ensure I can keep writing full-time, which for an author is not a given. 12 – Horror films, yes or no? Yes, although I'm not as hardy as I used to be. I think Takashi Miike broke me. One of my favourite video games is Alien: Isolation which is a terrifying experience. I hide in space station closets in my free time. 13 - What are you currently working on?

Well, it's new book time so I'm discussing what follows with my publishers...it is both an exciting and terrifying moment.