Hello There
Well, I know what you’re thinking.
You’re thinking ‘What’s it like to be a new author so close to publication of a first novel? Oh, why won’t somebody tell me what that’s like?’
Well. Reckon I can help you there.
Less than three weeks before the book launch that will change the lives of this great island’s book buying public and make a megastar out of me, I can tell you it’s a veritable whirlwind of interest and events.
Media whoredom is gathering pace to a degree that it could probably now win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Newspaper interest snaps at my heels like the hungry dog that it is. I can hardly walk outside my door without someone asking. ‘Who are you dating?’ ‘What outfit are you wearing?’ ‘Got any change for a cup of tea, mate?’
Celebrities all want to be my pal. George Clooney turning up at all hours with Domino Pizza? Try telling him I prefer the Hut. He won’t listen!Then there’s Angelina Jolie. Never off the phone and you know what she’s like. Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered and I probably would but I’ve seen Troy and I actually don’t fancy a tangle with her old man.
Of course things came to a head last night on Question Time. I regret it. I shouldn’t have said it but the studio lights were hot and I was on the spot. I just said. ‘Listen Dimbelby, you’re no’ Robin Day and you never will be so just can it wi’ the credit crunch pish. If you’ve got somethin’ you want to ask me… just ask. Or away and get an effin grip o’ yersel.’
Alistair Darling was quite upset and had to be comforted by Sir David Owen. Mo Mowlam on the other hand. She was right up for a rumble. Said I should pour the water jug over Germaine Greer’s head and if that Aussie Beehach kicked off, she’d be right in there after me.
She’s a nutter that lassie though, eh?
One of the nicer things to happen to me this week was my Interview with Emily Hobbs of ‘Don’t Panic’ Magazine
She was nice!
It went a bit like:
EH : So Decade is your first novel, had you dabbled in writing before or did you just decide to have a go from scratch?
PWH : Dabbled would be the word. Under my real name, I’ve been involved in reviewing and some creative promotional stuff but Decade is the first go at Fiction. It’s like I’ve been threatening to do it for ages, knew I had the story but didn’t have the motivation. It took time to get to Decade but I’m glad because I think the writing’s the better for it.
EH : You've said in interviews before that although the novel is based on your own experiences, it is not autobiographical and the characters are entirely fictional. How true is that really? Did you borrow heavily from your past or simply use it as inspiration?
PWH : It’s like the start of “Anchorman” ‘The book is based on a true story. Only the peoples names, dates and events have been changed.’ I can honestly say that the main event of the meeting of Colin and Martin meeting and all the major events of fighting, jail-time and drug deals gone wrong are complete fiction. Background events may have happened. The 5L class and the Cosmos & Rhumba Clubs are all pretty accurately based on fact and the characters are definitely an amalgam of people I met but not to the extent that anyone reading would be able to say ‘That’s me, that is!’
EH : Are you still in touch with any of the people you reference from you own past in the book, or have you reinvented yourself in a completely new life?
PWH : Yeah, I still have contact. I don’t live far away from Dundee now and still enjoy the odd night out there. Moving away in the first place wasn’t an attempt to re-invent myself. I’ve no interest in re-inventing myself and hope I never do!
EH : You write under a pen name - is this because you wish to remain anonymous for reasons of personal safety?
PWH : Trust me, I’ve no reason to fear my safety. Sure a few football casuals may be upset at their portrayals in the book but football casuals fall into two categories and they know it. There’s the proper nutters who won’t be offended in the slightest and who know me anyway and then there’s the bottle merchants who… Well, they’re bottle merchants, so what do I care?
EH : You used to be a punk before you were a raver. Both of those musical movements were very visceral and era-defining. I can only really think of one such movement that's happened since then - grunge. These days the way people experience and involve themselves with music seems to be quite sanitised in comparison; do you think there will ever be another musical movement like rave or punk?
PWH : Hope so for the sake of today’s youth but I doubt it! If I can probably slightly mis- quote a current leader of philosophical thinking, Mr Scroobious Pip. ‘There are no longer any musical genre’s, just different dress codes and fashion styles.’ Most of what is now tagged ‘new music’ is just young guys with Seventies haircuts playing Eighties music. Every last one of them is after the elusive ‘contract’ and there can’t be any greater obstacle to true originality and creativity than commercial considerations. Quite sad really.
EH : There is a strong anti-drugs moral to the story, was your intention to make a statement against drugs with this book?
PWH : Not Anti drugs, No! Couldn’t really do that, it would be a bit hypocritical. The drugs message in the book is that if you rip the tits out of it… Expect repercussions. The moral might just be ‘Enjoy drugs… Responsibly.’
EH : You intend to write a sequel, can you give any teaser as to where the story is going to go in the next book??
PWH : Funny, I didn’t intend to write a sequel. I sat down to write another novel using some bit part characters from Decade but now that it’s about four chapters from a finished first draft, I might as well admit to myself. It’s a sequel. Writing’s like that though. It can take you to places that you didn’t necessarily intend to go. So the second novel starts with a policeman named Clover who was very much involved with Martin Bridges. Never having met Colin before, this one involves Clover realising that Colin is a partner. And so the chase begins. But expect twists, that’s all I’m saying.
EH : There will inevitably be comparisons drawn between you and Irvine Welsh - how do you plan to answer those?
PWH : Firstly I should say I’m a fan of Irvine Welsh. I do however think that that comparisons are tenuous and based really only on the overt Scottishness of the stories. I actually think that it’s unfair to compare Irvine Welsh with Irvine Welsh. By that I mean. If you compare books such as… for instance ‘Marabou Stork Nightmares’ with ‘Crime.’ Completely different stories with only the theme of sex crime really linking them. The marker for Welsh will always be ‘Trainspotting.’ Though won’t it? Difference between my stories and his is that Welsh injects more fantasy. You couldn’t really read Trainspotting as a story that might have actually happened. You probably could with Decade.
EH : Why do you think there have been so many stories told about the Scottish rave scene and comparatively so few stories about the English rave scene?
PWH : Cue incredibly pretentious answer. Nah, not really. I didn’t sample that much of any particular English scene. Club For Life a couple of times and went to See Paul Wain in Nottingham on occasion and clearly these scenes were no less vibrant or vital. I think it’s more to do with the Scottish disposition to tell stories. Something we share with the Irish I think. Not to decry English literature but if you look at the size and population of Scotland that’s a hoor of a lot Literature we’ve lent the world (Burns, Scott, Lois-Stevenson, et al). Equally it might well have been that English clubbers were to busy having the times of their lives to be sitting behind a word processor. Yeah… Probably that really.
