21 - Will Dean & The Horror of the Fens

Ready for the first GREAT book you’ll read this year? Our guest this week is Will Dean, calling all the way from the middle of a Scandinavian forest to talk about his new novel, The Last Thing To Burn.

I’ve been banging on about this book since I read it in December. It’s a latter-day masterpiece, a read-in-one-sitting, this-has-to-be-a-movie kind of book. Think Misery, think Room and then think how much worse could the horrors be. The truth, a lot worse.

Will and I talk about off-grid living, both his bucolic existence and his protagonist’s torment. We talk about the difference between writing the English and Swedish landscapes, and why the English fens are much scarier than the Scandi woods. We also talk about how you capture a monster’s voice, and whether you know you are going too far in a novel. It’s a great conversation, and you’ll end up inspired you to quit your job, build a house, and live in it! If you want advice on how to do it, or just to peer into his idyllic life, you can find Will on Youtube @ Will Dean Forest Author

 Along the way we discuss a range of classic novels, including:

•  Misery (1987), by Stephen King
• On Writing (2000), by Stephen King
• Room (2010), by Emma Donaghue
• The Collector (1963), by John Fowles
• The Road (2006), by Cormac McCarthy
• Asylum (1996), by Patrick McGrath

 Enjoy!

Come talk books with us on Twitter @talkscaredpod, on Instagram, or email direct to talkingscaredpod@gmail.com.

Thanks to Terry Smith Audio for sound editing and Adrian Flounders for graphic design.