The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Marcus Sedgwick

Bookbag loved Marcus Sedgwick's Revolver. It's densely written and chilling in every sense of the word. We jumped at the opportunity to ask him some questions about his work.

• When you close your eyes and imagine your readers, who do you see?

The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Marcus Sedgwick

Summary: Bookbag loved Marcus Sedgwick's Revolver. It's densely written and chilling in every sense of the word. We jumped at the opportunity to ask him some questions about his work.

Date: 30 May 2009

Interviewer: Stefan Bachmann

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Marcus Sedgwick: This always sounds a little arrogant but I don't see my readers when I'm writing. Even if I tried I don't think I'd have a clue, or get close... I think you have to write the book you want to write, and then hope that it finds favour with people; I don't think you can second guess what people want to read.

• BB: Many of your books, Revolver included, take place in bitter cold and snow-bound lands. Do you like cold weather?

MS: Yes, I love it! I travel a lot in the winter to northern and eastern Europe, and I love the bracing feeling of a snowy landscape. As long as you're prepared for it, you don't get cold.

• BB: I thought Revolver was quite different from anything you had written before (and far scarier!). What do you yourself want to accomplish with Revolver?

MS: I wanted to write a short novel, and I think I did that! But I also wanted to write a very taut and tense story with a tight plot, the sort with twists and suspense, and I wanted to write about a really big moral choice - in this case, whether it's right to use a gun, or not.

• BB: For its short length, Revolver is incredibly dense and complex. Did you have to plan it out in minute detail beforehand in order to write so concisely?

MS: Yes, in this case I planned almost everything before I wrote a word of it. I did allow some room for 'accidents' to happen as I wrote, but the key moments and beats were pretty much laid out first.

• BB: What kind of research did you do in order to get just right all those little details Revolver sports?

MS: For a short book there was lots of research. I couldn't travel to Alaska, so those sections I did using books and the net, but I did travel to the arctic circle to Swedish Lappland, to get the feel of the main episodes of the story. I also had to do a lot of research into Colt revolvers, which I did at the Royal Armouries museum in Leeds (an amazing museum) and by travelling to eastern europe in order to fire a real Colt revolver with live ammunition.

• BB: You are a very prolific writer with sometimes as many as three of your books released in a single year! How long does it normally take you to complete a novel?

MS: A book such as Revolver takes about a year though most of that time is thinking/dreaming/planning and not writing. But it can take much longer, and the gestation period for an idea in the first place can be very long.

• BB: Are there any books that have influenced your writing especially?

MS: Too many to mention I would think. Sorry!

• BB: Can you remember the first story you ever wrote?

MS: The earliest thing I can remember was a short horror story I wrote for a competition as a teenager, and I'm pleased to say it won. But then there was probably only one entry...

• BB: Who is your favourite character in literature?

MS: James Bond. Today, but tomorrow it might be...

• BB: What's next for Marcus Sedgwick?

MS: Breakfast.

• BB: Thanks a lot, Marcus. Enjoy your breakfast!

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