Mark Billingham
Mark Billingham
Mark Philip David Billingham is an English novelist whose series of "Tom Thorne" crime novels are best-sellers in that particular genre. He is also a television screenwriter and has become a familiar face as an actor and comic...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth2 July 1961
bit bought business covering forward good insurance kids pay policy sure tax
I bought an insurance policy covering the inheritance tax my kids will have to pay when we die, which I thought was a good bit of forward thinking. And I always know I'm going to have enough for tax because I make sure I keep it back in my business account.
contain darker fact good hear might novels rather
The fact is that most crime novels contain a good many punchlines. They are just rather darker than the ones you might hear in a comedy club.
against although blood discount fact good popular reason taking
Part of the reason why Scandinavian crime has been so popular is the landscape. It is just so strong and alien. Although without taking anything away, you should probably also never discount the fact that blood does look particularly good against snow.
comedy duty good hook hope minute reader start time walk whether
Whether you do stand-up comedy or write a story, you have a duty to deliver. As a comedian, you walk out on stage, and you have a minute to hook them, or they'll start booing. As a writer, it's very similar. A reader doesn't have time to say, 'I'll give him 50 pages, as it's not very good yet, but I hope it'll get better.'
characters good great interest people red tricks twist
When you think of a great twist or a red herring or a way of misdirecting the reader, it is good, but you know that they are just tricks at the end of the day, and the way to keep interest is to write characters that people care about.
audience basement club favourite good grabbed latest money novel shades stage volume whether
Whether your audience is in a sweaty basement club or nestled in a favourite armchair, good money has been paid, and attention has got to be grabbed if you are not to be heckled off the stage or find your novel discarded in favour of the latest volume of 'Fifty Shades of Whatever.'
adapted good hope muppet tv
All you can hope for when you get a book adapted for TV is that you get a good actor and not some muppet off 'EastEnders.'
good
A good agent will sometimes need to be a scrapper, and that's the one you want.
delicious great relax rest thinks time writer
When a crime writer thinks up a delicious twist, it is a great moment. Time to relax and take the rest of the day off. I do think that it can be overdone, however.
although anyone becoming bit books brilliant comfort fear lives outside refresh seem series themselves whatever work writes
There have been some brilliant and very successful standalone books that work in themselves and also seem to refresh a series. Anyone who writes a series lives in fear of it becoming stale, so you do whatever you can to keep it fresh - although it does feel a bit nerve-racking to write outside of your comfort zone.
british classic convince days easy excuse spend streets work
Too much research can be the writer's enemy. You can spend days on end in the British Library or prowling the streets with a Dictaphone, and it's easy to convince yourself that you're working hard. Often, it can be an excuse not to work; a classic displacement activity.
accumulate fear hoard money pay possible
What I usually do is hoard money - I accumulate as much as possible in the fear of not having enough to pay tax.
comedy delivery employs further material matter novels stuff subject
While the subject matter of my novels could not be further removed from the stuff I used to trot out at the Comedy Store, the delivery of the material employs many of the same techniques.
discovered grew
I discovered reading through libraries. I grew up in a house that wasn't brimming with books.