CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE BELIEVES DEBATING WITH CREATIONISTS IS LIKE TRYING TO TEACH A PIG TO SING
CUIDE RI CATHY – CHRISTOPHER BROOKMYRE
Monday 2 November, 10pm, BBC ALBA
Enjoying a low profile as a writer, Christopher Brookmyre, one of Scotland’s most successful and prolific novelists, describes how he can’t stand the ‘pretentious navel gazing’ from the more literary writers discussing the act of writing and the creative process.
Consistently best selling, critically acclaimed throughout the press and a multi-award winner with his own unique blend of crime and satire, Christopher Brookmyre (41), the Glasgow born author has just published his 13th novel, ‘Pandemonium’.
Conjuring up characters and plot lines is no easy task even for experienced novelists. In the latest programme of the Cuide ri Cathy series on BBC ALBA, Cathy MacDonald takes a walk with Christopher Brookmyre along the Clyde and past Bothwell Castle, the route that provides inspiration for many of his ‘big stories’.
First writing short stories for his own amusement at the age of seven, Christopher was hugely influenced by what he’d seen on television or at the cinema, particularly Jaws and James Bond. His fascination with some complex secret base, creating a “big labyrinth that the action could take part in” is evident throughout his work.
His family are very supportive of his work particularly his wife who is now happy that she’s not brought into the creative process as much as in the early days. Christopher recalls when he was “lost in utterly baffling plot lines” they’d go to the pub together and “by the end of the session it’d all make sense - maybe it was just by the end of the session it made sense in our inebriated state - but it was hugely helpful.”
Christopher Brookmyre probably has the strangest book titles of any author in Britain – ‘Boiling A Frog’, ‘All Fun And Games Until Somebody Loses An Eye’, ‘Attack of The Unsinkable Rubber Ducks’, ‘A Big Boy Did It And Ran Away’ and ‘A Snowball In Hell’ are just some of his illustrious titles.
Christopher said: “I’ve always liked long titles and titles that have a rhythm to them when spoken aloud. They suggest a lot of energy and also a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s also a reminder to me not to get bogged down too much in the serious and always remember to try and be funny.”
Always being witty and outspoken, during the course of the programme, he gives a lecture at the National Library of Scotland telling the audience about the last time he was at the library at a debating event with creationists.
“Debating with creationists is a bit like trying to teach a pig to sing. You’re never going to get anywhere and all your going to do is annoy the pig and then it’s going to make a spectacle of itself.”
He also has a go at pretentious writers who take themselves too seriously: “I don’t like talking about writing. I generally just like talking about stories. When I hear the more literary writers discuss the act of writing and the creative process, my response is one of awe – I think ‘oh for f*** sake shut up and tell us something interesting instead of this pretentious navel gazing’.”
For all that a lot of his books feature crime and bloodshed, he attracts fans from unexpected quarters, including a woman in her 90’s: “She wrote to me after reading ‘A Snowball In Hell’ and said that having lived a very quiet, respectful and law abiding life, she loves reading about all this violence and bad behaviour because of the vicarious thrill she gets from it.”
CUIDE RI CATHY will be broadcast on BBC ALBA on Monday 2 November at 22.00.