The Interview - Philip Cox

I always wanted to write a book. I took a short-term break from the day job in 2009 to be a stay at home father. I found I had the time and opportunity then to begin to write. One I had finished the book ("After the Rain") I spent the next few months trudging around London looking for a literary agent, unsuccessfully. I then discovered the Amazon Kindle platform and got the book published on there.  I also read that whereas most people are able to write one book, if they put in the time and effort, but not everyone can write a second.  So I wrote the second, was on a roll so I wrote the third. And so it went on.  I never returned to the bank.

I write it down before I forget it!  Then I will finish my current project first. I can multi-task (despite what my wife says!) but not to that extent.  Whatever is the best course of action wold I guess on what works best for the person concerned.  Personally, I find parking a new idea works best for me.

A bit of both. Normally I'd have a pencil outline and work on the laptop from there, but sometimes Once I'm on the laptop I'll get carried away and go in a totally different direction.  That happened with my latest, "Two Kinds of Guilt".   It ends in a totally different way than I had originally planned.

Reporter Jack Richardson takes nothing at face value.

I think we all do.  The tip I follow is make sure you write something.  If I'm suffering I try to write a chapter for the current book, a future chapter, maybe the one of the last chapters. I do tend to change it when I get to the end of the book though.

I have two teenage daughters. Next question.

Seriously, I like watching movies, especially classic horror pictures, up to the mid-seventies. I know most of them aren't very good, but I love watching them.  I am also into model railroading (in the UK we call it model railways), and I like to keep abreast of the contemporary rail scene.

I also enjoy reading.

For this book, I spent a few days researching and exploring the parts of London which feature in the book. I also spent a couple of days at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) watching two murder trials.

Yes, I did.  My covers tend to be a picture of the locale where the story is set, and my name and the title of the book clean and colourful so it stands out fro the crowd, as it were. We looked through literally hundreds of images before this one was chosen. The image to some extent dictates the colour of the book title.

I am halfway through reading a book from the British Library Classics series - The Poisoned Chocolates Case. It was first published in the 1930s, and is set in 1920s London. As one would expect, the narrative is  bit clunky and the dialogue and attitudes are of their time; nevertheless it is an enjoyable read.  Some might say it harkens back to a simpler time. Not sure if that is actually the case.

As well as the Jack Richardson [London newspaper reporter] series, I also have a series around LAPD detective Sam Leroy.  I have just started the seventh in the series (as yet untitled) and hope to have this published Spring 2025.

About 9 months.  Longer than usual for some reason. I think in the early weeks I was finding it harder going.

Not sure why.  Normally I'd start on the manuscript early September, when the schools go back, and finish just before Christmas. Then start the rewrites, etc, in the new year.

I tend to write at home, when my wife is at work and my children are at school.  If any of them are around, I go to the library.  Coffee-shop writing is very prosaic, but doesn't work for me - too many distractions.