Interview with an author

I had the pleasure of meeting Sebastian in Wellington, our home town, a couple of weeks ago. A mutual friend had put us in touch and so we met one day in a cafe in New Zealand to chat about the journey of writing.
I must admit, I was a bit intimidated to meet, and have coffee with, an actual published author, one way younger than myself. I didn't know what I expected but Sebastian was the nicest guy. He was genuine and warm and very friendly and open about his experience.

After we met, I asked him if he would kindly allow me to throw some questions his way for this blog. I run another business so although I am not on here much, it is a place I love coming to and I hope, as I go along merrily in my own writing journey, that you come along and enjoy the ride with me.


What inspired you to begin writing?
It's something I've done for such a long time that I can hardly remember. I used to sketch to get my ideas out when I was younger, and I think I decided at some point that I needed the grandiose format of a novel to expand on them.


Where do your ideas come from?
I tend to start off with a 'mood', which is quite a vague thing but a starting point. The Train to Paris began with a recollection of the atmosphere of the Basque country in Southern France, which I had travelled through on my first trip alone to Europe when I was eighteen. I thought at the time, this would be the perfect place to set a story that has all the suggestions of romance and opulence, even if, underneath all the surface beauty, it's just like any other part of the world. And then I started conceiving of Paris in the same way.


What inspires and informs your writing?
Other works of art, not limited to literature. Film definitely inspires me because I'm a visual thinker in many respects – I, like a lot of people, often picture how a book would work as a film when I'm reading it. And of course painting, photography and sculpture, given I spend a lot of my time studying Art History. The Train to Paris was very much inspired by Impressionist painting.

How do you begin a novel?
Again, with a mood. I like to jump straight into the action rather than laying out the backstory, which I think should come through naturally as you write. So The Train to Paris begins with an anonymous man arriving at a train station, and it's really just his observations setting the scene until halfway through the chapter when he starts talking to another character.

Do you pull any real life conversations into novels?
No, I try to keep my fictional worlds as separate from the real world as possible.

Do the characters evolve over time or do you know who they are right from the start?
It depends on the character. Some of them require more thinking through than others. Élodie Lavelle in The Train to Paris came out of nowhere, and she arrived absolutely fully-formed – it was like running into an old friend, even though I've never known anyone like her.

Do you pull any real life conversations into novels?
No, I try to keep my fictional worlds as separate from the real world as possible.

How long did it take you to write The Train To Paris?
I wrote the first draft quickly (over about six weeks) and then spent two years revising it.

What is your writing routine, if you have one?
I wish I had one! The thing is, if I have a project going then it takes precedence over everything. Earlier this year I found myself with an idea for a short story while I was on a twelve-hour flight, but I didn't have my laptop with me. So I wrote it on my phone, with that tiny keyboard, just because I couldn't help myself. If the inspiration strikes, I have to get it down

Are there times when you feel rather stuck when writing? If so, what do you do about that?
I don't think anyone can deny writer's block exists. Hemingway read over his other work whenever he hit the wall, which I do sometimes. Usually if I go out for a prolonged run the problem sorts itself out.

Approximately, how many drafts of a manuscript will you complete before you are happy to utter the words “It’s done”?
About five or six. But even then, they're living things and I don't think they stop changing unless you force yourself to let go of them.

Who are your favourite authors?
I'm a bit of a Hemingway fanatic, and I've started revisiting the other great Modernist writers lately – Fitzgerald, Woolf, Lawrence, Joyce and Faulkner. Out of contemporary authors: Ian McEwan, Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Philip Roth, Paul Auster, Michael Cunningham, John Irving and Mario Vargas Illosa all have a high place on my list.

If you won the lottery tomorrow and didn’t have to think about how to make money, would you still write?
Writing is so independent of money for me. I do it because I love it.

When you are not writing, what might one find you up to?
Getting as much out of life as possible – reading, researching, exercising, cooking, taking photographs, spending time with my friends, and travelling as often as I can.

Do you have advice for writers beginning their writing journey?
In a word, persistence. If you really love what you do then you can't give up on it.

Ok, so someone tells you they have written a book and now what? What advice would you give?
If this is what they're passionate about, they should absolutely try and share it with a wider audience. There's no limit to what you can do with your talents.

Thank you Sebastian :)