Random Things Blog Tour – Book Review – Hattie Brings The House Down by Patrick Gleeson
I am pleased to be a part of this Blog Tour and I am grateful to Patrick Gleeson for taking the time to answer my questions on the writing process behind this theatre mystery.
I hope that you enjoy reading these answers as much as I did.
What was your inspiration for the book?
Fifteen years ago I went to drama school to study stage management, then spent several years working backstage in theatres. It struck me that the techies I met were far more nuanced, weird and interesting than their actor colleagues – but it’s always the people onstage who get all the attention. So I promised myself that one day I’d write a book highlighting the wonderful world behind the scenes in theatre… and a couple of years ago I finally got around to it!
Where did you write this book?
In the spare-bedroom/study where I work from home at my day job, desperately trying to hit my daily word count in my lunch breaks and down time.
Do you have a notebook where you can take notes on the go or do you write it in chunks as and when?
I once tried buying an old AlphaSmart ‘digital typewriter’ so I could write on the go without being hampered by my terrible handwriting, but the second time it crashed and lost an entire day’s work I gave up, and now only write on my home computer.
Do you write your chapters/parts of the book in order or does it all come together at the editing stage?
I tend to go start to finish in order for the first draft, but then go back and break everything up into chunks when I start rewriting for draft two.
When did you know who the murderer was going to be?
I think I worked out the basics of the ending by the time I’d written the first draft of act one. That was the point where I convinced myself that my initial scribblings could be turned into a book with a proper beginning, middle and end. Over the course of the rewriting and editing process almost everything about the story changed, but the murderer remained the same.
How long did it take to research and write? Was it mainly based on personal experience?
I’d say it took 6 years of working in the world of theatre to learn enough about it to feel confident to write a book about it (although I didn’t know at the time that what I was doing was researching a book – I thought I was building a career as a sound designer). Then the actual writing process was fairly condensed: maybe four months to put together the first draft, and then most of the next year trying to wrestle that into a successful story.
Who are your favourite authors and have they influenced your writing style?
My all time favourite writers are P. G. Wodehouse, H. G. Wells and Terry Pratchett. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a ton of crime writers who I love too, and who I look to to understand how to craft a compelling mystery, but in terms of direct influences, I think those three have had the most impact on me.
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