My guest today is the fabulous Catherine Fearns, whose amazing new novel Sound is released tomorrow. Keep reading for a fascinating interview, an exclusive extract, and news of an exciting giveaway.
Welcome, Catherine! What prompted you to first start writing? What was the
first thing you wrote?
As a child I was constantly embarking upon grand writing projects –
novels, epic poems, screenplays – which always fizzled out. I have always loved
writing; crafting student essays, writing policy papers at work, even funny
emails to friends; but somehow I buried my love of creative writing deep for a
long time. It only re-emerged four years ago – at the age of thirty-six. I was
a stay-at-home mum volunteering as a breastfeeding counsellor, and was asked to
write a review of breastfeeding apps for a magazine. It was only a 2-page thing
but I enjoyed the writing process so much that I decided to start a blog. I
wasn’t sure what to write about so I combined my two (rather incongruous) specialist
subjects: parenting and heavy metal. It was not only an incredibly cathartic
process but it led to me getting work as a freelance music journalist. It also
gave me the confidence to try creative writing. I joined a local writers’ group
and had a short story published in a magazine. Not long after that the
inspiration for my first novel hit, and I was very lucky to secure a publishing
deal pretty quickly. I haven’t looked back since!
Can you summarise your latest work in just a few words?
Sound
is the third in my Liverpool crime thriller series. The mysterious death of a professor
of psychoacoustics leads D.I. Darren Swift and his unlikely team into the world
of satanic black metal.
What was the inspiration for this book?
Sound is
very much a sequel to Consuming Fire, which ended on something of a
cliffhanger. So it continues Darren Swift’s journey and answers a lot of
questions. But it is also a self-contained story in its own right. When I’m not
writing novels I’m a heavy metal journalist and guitarist, so there is always a
lot of music in my books. And of course Liverpool is a very musical city. When
I was researching this book I read a lot about psychoacoustics; how our brains
process sound, and the effects of sound on our psyche. In particular, how sounds
can induce paranoia – and what could be more important to a crime thriller than
paranoia!
The
book’s title may seem very simple, but it has a dual meaning, because ‘Sound’
is a commonly-used expression in Liverpool, used to indicate agreement or
contentment.
Did you do any research for the book?
Yes,
I always do a lot of research; it’s a process I enjoy very much. This time, I
read a lot of academic books about different aspects of acoustics. It was
fascinating and I found myself down a lot of deep rabbit holes – it was very
hard to stop researching and start writing! I also interviewed sound engineers
and metal musicians, which is always a pleasure.
Another
theme in this book is chaos magick, so I read a lot about that as well, not all
of it convincing I have to say, but very useful for the story.
Location
research is one of my favourite parts of the writing process, and I did a lot
of wandering around the streets of Liverpool taking photographs and thinking. I
got some of funny looks from office workers and builders when I was hanging
around the Kingsway Tunnel Vent on the Liverpool Dock Road with my camera and
notebook!
Sound
features excerpts from a (fictional) seventeenth century grimoire, as well as song
lyrics from a (fictional) black metal band, so I read a lot of real-life grimoires
and song lyrics in order to grasp the styles and techniques.
As
usual I consulted police officers and barristers about the police and court
procedural aspects. And as usual I didn’t always follow their advice! This time
I used a bit more artistic licence, since Darren Swift is now gradually heading
off the rails as a police officer and playing by his own rules. But even though
my books have a supernatural aspect, it’s important to me that readers are also
able to read them as convincing straight police procedurals, should they choose
to.
What does a typical writing day involve for you?
There’s no typical writing
day. I have four young children, so my day revolves around their school and
activity schedule. If I’m lucky, after I’ve dropped them off at school I might
have a stretch between 9am and 3pm to write. But more often than not I’m in
school for a bake sale, PTA meeting or sports event. And after school is a write-off
as far as writing is concerned – it’s chaos until bedtime!
Fortunately I’m very good at
picking up where I left off, and snatching writing moments whenever and wherever
I can. I keep a notebook and pen in my handbag so I’m always ready, and I’ve
even been known to type paragraphs into my phone in the supermarket queue. I
transcribe everything into my computer at the end of the day and it all adds
up.
If I do have some quality
writing time to myself, I prefer to be out of the house so I’m not distracted
by domestic tasks or the internet. I wander from coffee shop to coffee shop,
but I have to admit I always get my best work done in McDonalds.
How do you decide on the names for your characters?
It
can be really tricky! I try to assign names as early as possible, because the
characters seem to come to life for me once they have a name. With my first
book, Reprobation, I couldn’t think so I just assigned people the names of my
old classmates and schoolteachers, and had to remind myself to go back and
change them later.
I
try to be as authentic as possible with names, but at a certain point you have
to be a bit arbitrary. It just has to feel right. And of course you have to
check that you’re not offending or slandering anyone, especially with the names
of the bad guys!
There’s
no such thing as the perfect name, and after all, in real life nobody gets to
choose their own name!
Do you plot your novels in advance, or allow them to
develop as you write?
I
have the general plot worked out in advance. Otherwise I would be writing into
the dark which would be a bit stressful, plus it would waste so much time going
down dead ends.
But
you have to be very flexible. As you go on the various characters’ journeys
with them, almost everything changes along the way, even the ending.
There’s
a lot of debate about whether writers are ‘plotters or pantsers’, but I think
most of us do a bit of both.
Which writers have influenced your own writing?
I
write crime thrillers and I have read a lot of crime writers, both classic and
contemporary, so some of them must surely have influenced my style. I would
highlight PD James, who was in fact the first crime writer I devoured as a child,
and whose gentle, understated style I have perhaps unconsciously adopted. I
would also mention those crime writers who evoke a strong sense of place, such
as Dennis Lehane (Boston) and Ian Rankin (Edinburgh).
Having
said that, I don’t think my writing is typical of the crime thriller genre. I
have quite a clipped, sparse tone, a result of my professional background as a financial
risk analyst; and a fairly literary style – I like big words!
There’s
a lot of gothic horror in my books, perhaps because I have read a lot of Victorian
gothic. I also love high-concept novels that play with structure – for example
Stephen King, Michael Crichton and Alexandre Dumas, and in my books I like to
trace grand themes onto a small canvas.
What has been the best part of the writing process…and the
worst?
The
best part is when you’ve just had the idea for a new book and the whole project
is laid out ahead of you, it’s so exciting! I couldn’t wait to get started with
Sound. Although I have to say it’s a very different feeling when you
already have a publishing deal. The first time it’s terrifying and you question
your very existence, never mind your ability to write a book. But now, with a
publisher to support me, it’s an absolute joy.
The
worst part is when you hit the 40,000 word mark and you don’t know if you’re
going to make it or throw the whole thing in the bin. It’s a huge and painful slog between 40,000
and 65,000 words, at which point the end is in sight.
Now the book is published and ‘out there’ how
do you feel?
It’s a scary moment when you finally let the book go – you’ve been
through the editing process and you have to stop ‘tinkering’ and sign it off to
go to the publisher. I did that a while ago and since then I have moved on to
the next project. But it’s always a very anxious time around release day as you
wait for the first reviews to come in. I hope those who have read Reprobation
and Consuming Fire will have their expectations met, and I hope to get
some new readers too. As a fairly inexperienced author, negative reviews hurt
more than poor sales figures! But if even a few people love Sound, I
will be happy.
Is there a message for the reader?
Keep an
open mind. We are living in strange times. The message of this book is perhaps the
same as the central tenet of Chaos Magick: nothing is true; everything is
permitted.
Do you have any advice for new writers?
1.
Read
everything, in different genres and different styles.
2.
Take
a notebook everywhere, and try writing longhand – you’ll be surprised at how different
and effective it is.
3.
Join
a writer’s group and/or take a course – if there isn’t one locally, find one
online.
4.
Learn
your craft – self-belief is great but there is so much to learn. The best
writers keep a beginner’s mind at all times.
5.
Beta
readers are crucial – and they shouldn’t all be your friends!
6.
Develop
a thick skin – you will need it!
What can we expect from you in the future?
I’d love to continue D.I Darren Swift’s journey, and I have some great
plot lines in mind. So if people still want to read my Liverpool books, and my publisher
still wants to publish them, I’ve got plenty more in my head!
But I have
to admit I’m working on something completely different right now. A stand-alone
historical drama. I’m very excited about it.
SOUND
Can you hear it?
A professor of psychoacoustics is found dead in his office. It appears to be a heart attack, until a second acoustician dies a few days later in similar circumstances.
Meanwhile, there's an outbreak of mysterious illnesses on a council estate, and outbursts of unexplained violence in a city centre nightclub. Not to mention strange noises coming from the tunnels underneath Liverpool. Can it really be coincidence that death metal band Total Depravity are back in the city, waging their own form of sonic warfare?
Detective Inspector Darren Swift is convinced there are connections. Still grieving his fiancé's death and sworn to revenge, he is thrown back into action on the trail of a murderer with a terrifying and undetectable weapon.
But this case cannot be solved using conventional detective work, and DI Swift will need to put the rulebook aside and seek the occult expertise of Dr Helen Hope and her unlikely sidekick, guitarist Mikko Kristensen.
Purchase link: mybook.to/sound
Here's an exclusive extract:
In this scene, Norwegian death metal guitarist Mikko
Kristensen has been recalled to Liverpool as a witness for the prosecution. He
goes to Merseyside Police HQ to review his statement, and DI Darren Swift spots
an unorthodox opportunity to get Mikko’s help with another case.
Darren couldn’t
help but smile as he stood up and signalled to the skeletal figure who was
traipsing his way across the office. Mikko Kristensen, lead guitarist in
Norwegian death metal band Total Depravity, walked with a half-swagger,
half-slope; looking furtively from side to side from under his trilby hat with
an expression that was an odd combination of sleaze and earnestness. His
clothes were varying shades of black, and tattoos escaped from his clothes up
his neck and onto his fingers, like thorns on a bush, poison ivy on a tree. A
confusing beard straggled in blond wisps from his chin. The only clue that he
had in fact studied this look in detail was the freshly applied eye make-up.
This was the ridiculous person who had solved a murder case quicker than Darren
and his team, and probably saved Helen Hope’s life. They shook hands, and as
Mikko struggled to meet his eye, Darren remembered that despite this man’s
terrifying appearance and presence when he was on stage, he was actually very
shy.
They went through his statements, in
which Mikko explained how he had been contacted by the police in October of the
previous year in connection with a murder investigation. The inverted axe
carved into the forehead of a murder victim was an exact match with the logo of
his death metal band, Total Depravity. It was a strange coincidence that his
band happened to be touring the UK at the time, and had been in Liverpool on
the night of the murder. Mikko had also been contacted by Sister Helen Hope,
who had made the inverted axe connection herself, independently of the police.
Fearing themselves suspects, he and Helen had conducted their own parallel
investigation, and in many ways had got further than the police.
As they wrapped things up, Darren
remembered his USB, and decided to take a chance.
‘Can I ask you something? If I play
you a recording, can you tell me what type of heavy metal it is?’
This was a little unorthodox, Darren knew, but how long might he have to
wait for the audio team? He felt that he and Mikko had a unique shared history
that had created trust between them and made it somehow acceptable. He handed
Mikko some earphones and pressed play. Mikko listened intently, and after a few
seconds began nodding in recognition. Surely
he doesn’t actually like that terrible noise? Darren thought. After about
thirty seconds Mikko took out the earphones and said, ‘Ok.’ He gave Darren a
knowing look.
‘Ok what? Don’t tell me, it’s top of
the heavy metal charts. It’s from your new album.’
‘No way. That isn’t even music,
dude. It’s noise. But it is backmasked as fuck. And backmasking is like
super-metal.’
‘Backmasked?’
‘You know. It’s recorded backwards.
I can tell from the sound. It probably has like a hidden message or something.’
‘Hidden message? But why is that…
metal?’
Mikko waved his hand in dismissal.
‘Oh, it was this whole thing in the 1980s. They accused metal bands of hiding
satanic messages in their songs, telling people to kill themselves, or
whatever. They even put Judas Priest on trial for it, there was this whole
court case when a kid committed suicide after listening to heavy metal in his
bedroom.’
Darren raised his
eyebrows sardonically. ‘The music must have been really terrible then.’ Mikko
put up his hands in protest.
‘Hey, you can’t blame it on metal,
dude. It was the Beatles who did it first.’
‘The Beatles?
‘Yeah, on their Revolver album. Not
one of their best, I have to fucking say. I think it was Yoko Ono’s idea.’
‘Anyway. So you’re telling me that
if I play this in reverse, I might be able to decipher something.’
‘Exactly, dude. Fucking cool. Or,
maybe not so cool. Maybe the person who made this was really scared of
something.’
***
Catherine
Fearns is a writer from Liverpool. Her novels Reprobation (2018) and Consuming
Fire (2019) are published by Crooked Cat and are both Amazon bestsellers. As a
music journalist Catherine has written for Pure
Grain Audio, Broken Amp and Noisey.
Her short fiction and non-fiction has appeared in Toasted Cheese, Succubus, Here Comes Everyone, Offshoots and Metal Music Studies. She lives in Geneva
with her husband and four children, and when she’s not writing or parenting,
she plays guitar in a heavy metal band.
Social Media Links –
Giveaway to Win a signed trio of Catherine Fearns books
plus merchandise (Open Internationally)*
Prize includes: SOUND T-shirt, coaster, magnet and bar blade, plus signed copies of Reprobation, Consuming Fire and Sound.
* Terms & Conditions: Worldwide entries welcome. Please enter using the Rafflecopter link below. The winnder will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel's Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winner's information. This will be passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel's Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
Huge thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to take part in this blog tour.
