John Connolly is a very busy man. He unfailingly publishes a new book every year, alternating between his long-running Charlie Parker PI series as well as novels that can only be described as departures, or other creative endeavors such as “He” which he published in 2017, or his collections of short fiction, his collaborations and occasional pieces of journalism.
John has
recently completed his Master’s Degree from University College Cork, Ireland.
He hosts his own Radio show ABC to XTC
with John Connolly Saturdays on RTE at
17:00 - 18:00 and he happily travels the world to promote his books and
entertaining his readers and fans.
He has just completed a tour to
promote THE CHILDREN OF EVE in the UK and Ireland [read the Shots review HERE]. In fact, you can follow John on Instagram HERE where he reviews
all the hotel rooms he stays in while on tour. You are always guaranteed a
chuckle.
So just before taking a well-earned
break from the UK and Ireland leg of his promotional tour, John found time to
answer a few questions about his latest work, including links to his previous
work such as The
Black Angel which predates The Children of Eve by a quarter of a century;
how the Charlie Parker series is progressing, and early word about a new book
set against the backdrop to the Watergate Affair……
“…poor banished children of Eve / to
thee do we send up our sighs/Mourning and weeping in this vale of
tears:” Can you comment on that?
John
Connolly: I was raised Catholic, and still
have some vestiges of faith, so that prayer has always stayed with me. The
novel never had any other title, but I suppose I liked the idea of those words
being directed towards an entity that was about as far removed from the Virgin
Mary as one could get…
John
Parker: Where did the idea of mother and
the children come from? I researched a bit and came across information about
Inca mythology and the Capacocha ritual where children were chosen for
sacrifice. Am I on the wrong track?
John
Connolly: It arose from a road trip I took
while in Argentina about fifteen years or so ago, when I stumbled across a
curious, macabre, and poignant piece of archaeological history and stored it
away for use someday, as writers will do. I’m reluctant to go into too much
detail, as one of the mysteries that Parker is trying to solve in the novel
concerns the nature of the children. It’s a difficult book to discuss without
giving too much away!
John
Parker: Charlie is now middle-aged and
seems to be noticing it more. There’s not a lot of running around these days.
Hardly surprising, I know. Tell us about how you see the evolution of the man.
John Connolly: He’s in his late fifties, and his closest colleagues are older still. He’s in a certain amount of physical pain, he prefers to avoid physical confrontations when he can, and his reactions are not what they once were. In other words, he is, like many of us, getting on a bit. But he’s also more at peace with himself than he once was, and his rage has abated. He, like the books, is moving towards a conclusion – or a revelation, perhaps.
John
Parker: Charlie’s late daughter plays an
important role and perhaps you are changing tack and heading towards the grand
finale of the saga? I say this because of the appearance of figures in that
“unreal lagoon” who are perturbed by her presence.
John Connolly: I’ve said for a long
time that I felt Parker’s story required a conclusion, and the novels are
moving in that direction. The difficulty for me is that I still love writing about
him, and have no shortage of ideas that I’d like to explore, so I’m trying to
balance one imperative against a desire to continue in that universe. The
Children of Eve offers a suggestion as to how that might be
accomplished, but then there are other books I’d also like to write, some in
other genres. I guess I’m dealing with the issue of what kind of career I
envisage for myself in a decade, or two decades, should I live that long.
John Parker: What a surprise to see
the return of Martin Reid from
2005’s The Black Angel. Can you talk about that? Has his return always been
part of your plans?
John
Connolly: I plan in general terms – I know
where the series is going – but I’m always open to whatever ideas or characters
pop up along the way. I was writing that section and Martin emerged from the
woods, bless him. I think my unconscious must have been quietly preparing the
way for him.
John
Connolly: Next year’s book is my first
mystery to move away entirely from the Parker universe. It’s called The
Castle and is set against the backdrop of the Senate Watergate
hearings in 1973. After that, I’ll return to Parker for 2027’s novel, which I’m
working on at the moment, and then I have a hankering to return to historical
fiction for one book.
John Parker: Here’s a question I always ask you; what are you currently reading?
John
Connolly: I’m working my way through
Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe novels, along with Ian Leslie’s John &
Paul: A Love Story in Songs and Lucy Mangan’s Bookish: How Reading Shapes Our Lives. I tend to alternate between
fiction and non-fiction.
John
Parker: And as you are a music lover with
your own radio show and a big fan of the podcast
Word in your Ear, can you remember the first record you ever bought?
John
Connolly: The first album was ABBA’s
Arrival, and the first single was Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush. Both were
hugely expensive relative to my income. I think I put less thought into buying
my first car than I did that first single…
John
Parker: That’s great! Thanks for giving us
your time, John.
John Connolly: And great to talk
again, stay well John and all at Shots Magazine.
Shots
Magazine would like to thank Laura Sherlock, and from Hodder and Stoughton
Publishing Rebecca Mundy and Francesca Russell – for their help in organizing
this short chat with writers John Connolly and John Parker.
More
information about Laura’s work is available HERE
More
information on the work of John Connolly is available HERE and from Shots Magazine’s
Archives HERE
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