Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Peter Bailey
Book Title: Rats in a Maze
Released: 09/21/20
Genre: Cop drama/Sci-Fi Thriller
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “Rats in a Maze”?
Bailey: It was a film where Bad Men break into a place ready to do Bad Things. This is standard Hollywood plot #57, and the usual colloquy is plot #57A where there are already Bad People waiting for them (see Don’t Breathe for example.) But I started to wonder what if what was waiting for them was so far out of their league that they were frogs in the mouth of a crocodile.
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process, or your book?
Bailey: I had a very fixed (almost ritual) writing process. I start work at 19:30 (not 19:29 or 19:31) and work till ten when I close the laptop. During the day I muse about what words to use, but not a character hits the page until 19:30
If "Rats in a Maze" was adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Bailey: Tommy Lee Jones, the worlds most grizzled actor, but specifically the Tommy Lee Jones from Men In Black II where you can actually see that he’s been round the block more times than an Ice Cream van and he’s had enough.
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Bailey: I have no idea! I’ve never seen this and I never want to.
What is your favorite book, genre, and/or author?
Bailey: It used to be Stephen King, and I once joked I’d queue up to read his laundry list, but now it looks like he is publishing his laundry list (See Elevation or The Outsider for examples) and I’ve switched tracks to the smart detective thriller (Robert B Parker’s Spenser and Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch) which does tend to explain my answer to the next question.
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Bailey: Read! Read out of your genre, read P G Wodehouse for the delicious similes, read Hemingway for the crystal clear prose, read a New York Times best seller just to see how they did it, even if you have to grit your teeth while humming We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful.
What are you working on next?
Bailey: I was working on 'They Do Terrible Things', a detective thriller which opens with the line The knife was beautiful: smooth, mirrored steel that glowed like fire under the streetlights, which gives you an idea what the rest of the book is like. I’m currently hawking this around the publishers, and who knows what will happen.
Then I can start work on 'Police Mistakes' (working title) which will open with the line DCI Jack Lavery was ten feet from his car when it exploded. None of the book is written yet, I have all the words cluttering up my head
Interested in checking out the book for yourself?
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