:00:53. > :01:00.So, welcome James Paterson. Thank you. What are Book Shots? Well,
:01:01. > :01:05.hopefully, they're a revolution in reading and the way we look at
:01:06. > :01:11.books. At the least they're going to continue an evolution. They're under
:01:12. > :01:18.150 pages. Relatively inexpensive and hopefully impossible to put
:01:19. > :01:21.down. It's like one of my regular books, at like 145 pages, very
:01:22. > :01:25.tight. You can get on the train, you go to work, you get on the train
:01:26. > :01:30.going home and you have read one. So you have accomplished something
:01:31. > :01:34.which is kind of cool. The slogan is all thriller, no filler. Is that
:01:35. > :01:41.what makes you think somebody will pick up one of these rather than a
:01:42. > :01:46.magazine or go online? It's like reading a movie. There's no fat,
:01:47. > :01:51.it's all story. You know, hopefully with good characters. If you like
:01:52. > :01:54.Alex Cross, here is one you haven't read before but it just happens so
:01:55. > :02:03.quickly. Here in England we are going to start with six. It's kind
:02:04. > :02:07.of a category. There will be a Alex Cross, a zoo, one about the Royals
:02:08. > :02:12.which is fun. There is one about a big heist, a diamond heist. Recently
:02:13. > :02:20.I was interviewed in my office and I pulled out these eight very deep
:02:21. > :02:25.drawers and I have 107 of these book shots that are either finished now
:02:26. > :02:29.or in process and of the so 7 I would say 80 are stories that I
:02:30. > :02:32.created. It's like, oh, my God, the person
:02:33. > :02:37.that interviewed me over there went like this is insane. This is crazy,
:02:38. > :02:43.I said, great, this is insane. But I think for readers this is going to
:02:44. > :02:47.be a real boon. Because they are addictive.
:02:48. > :02:50.You have written some of them but like your full-length novel, you
:02:51. > :02:53.employ a team of co-writers, tell us a bit about how that works,
:02:54. > :02:58.I wrote last year over 2000 pages of outlines.
:02:59. > :03:00.My outlines are always three or four drafts.
:03:01. > :03:08.And usually when I co-write a book, I write
:03:09. > :03:12.an outline, for these it may be 30 pages and it is chapter by chapter.
:03:13. > :03:15.And what I will do with the co-writer
:03:16. > :03:17.is give them the outline, I will say please contribute to the
:03:18. > :03:20.outline because that is useful and it gets the co-writer
:03:21. > :03:30.The template for the BookShots is every single chapter moves
:03:31. > :03:34.both the characterisation and the story forward and turns on the
:03:35. > :03:45.meaning you can't see it, you can't feel it, and taste it
:03:46. > :03:49.and smell it, if it is not moving forward and I'm not interested
:03:50. > :03:51.characters I will say, hold it, we have lost something here.
:03:52. > :04:00.Then I will make suggestions and occasionally
:04:01. > :04:02.I did not figure out the outline correctly or more often
:04:03. > :04:14.If you look at them, they are smaller,
:04:15. > :04:17.thinner and hopefully on the trains and planes you will see
:04:18. > :04:24.I have read that you work seven days a week,
:04:25. > :04:27.52 weeks of the year, is that true, do you not
:04:28. > :04:31.even take a day off for Christmas day?
:04:32. > :04:34.Christmas I would say would be a very light day but generally
:04:35. > :04:39.Somebody said you are lucky if you find something you like
:04:40. > :04:42.to do and it is a miracle if somebody will pay you to do it.
:04:43. > :04:48.Doing these BookShots, it has been the most fun year
:04:49. > :04:57.of my life, because I love to tell stories and I was
:04:58. > :05:00.blocked with the books I had because I had the Alex Cross
:05:01. > :05:04.and it was like we don't need any more hardback,
:05:05. > :05:07.so there was no place for me to let my imagination go
:05:08. > :05:12.I will have more content than Marvel by the end of this year.
:05:13. > :05:15.It is little wonder that you are known as the busiest man
:05:16. > :05:18.in publishing, not just because of the number of books you write,
:05:19. > :05:21.but because of the time and the money you spend
:05:22. > :05:26.on championing literacy, why is that so important?
:05:27. > :05:29.For me, the most important thing is getting kids reading.
:05:30. > :05:32.Because if our kids do not become competent readers,
:05:33. > :05:34.especially kids at risk, how are they going
:05:35. > :05:40.If they get through, ten and 11 and they are not competent...
:05:41. > :05:46.There'll be a drag on society and the city
:05:47. > :05:50.and all of us, and it will make for a harder life for them
:05:51. > :06:00.As an individual I can't do much to solve global warming
:06:01. > :06:04.or health care crisis, whatever, but as an individual
:06:05. > :06:08.we can all get the kids in our homes reading, mostly,
:06:09. > :06:11.we can help the local school, we can help the local libraries,
:06:12. > :06:15.libraries are a big issue now and how they get funded in England.
:06:16. > :06:18.I just hope that people will stand up and go,
:06:19. > :06:21.our libraries are really important, we need the money for libraries.
:06:22. > :06:25.How much does your interest in this stem from the fact
:06:26. > :06:28.that you had a son who was a reluctant reader?
:06:29. > :06:37.When he was eight-years-old, that summer, we said you can read every
:06:38. > :06:44.And we said yes, unless you want to live in the garage because we read
:06:45. > :06:58.But we said this is going to be painless,
:06:59. > :07:02.so we've got a dozen books like Percy Jackson,
:07:03. > :07:05.and one of mine and by the end of the summer Jack had read
:07:06. > :07:08.a dozen books and his reading skills went up dramatically,
:07:09. > :07:10.and ultimately they have SAT scores in America
:07:11. > :07:13.so a perfect score in reading is 800 and he had 800 in reading,
:07:14. > :07:15.and he is going to an Ivy League college.
:07:16. > :07:18.In terms of what can happen, if you take charge
:07:19. > :07:19.with your children, make it your responsibility.
:07:20. > :07:21.There is nothing more important than a mother or
:07:22. > :07:25.father or grandparents to do than make sure the kids read.
:07:26. > :07:30.It is good you get them out with exercise but they
:07:31. > :07:37.You are hugely successful, a writer of
:07:38. > :07:41.commercial mainstream fiction, do you hanker
:07:42. > :07:43.after writing the great American novel?
:07:44. > :07:45.I have already - they are just commercial!
:07:46. > :07:56.On my gravestone, "James kept a lot of people up late at night."
:07:57. > :07:58.And BookShots are going to be one of the reasons.
:07:59. > :08:15.This is going to change the way people read.
:08:16. > :08:23.Although she says that she thinks of it as comic, the comedy is darker
:08:24. > :08:30.than forever. For one of our most prolific and most read authors Crock
:08:31. > :08:36.lat was an international bestseller and memorable film.
:08:37. > :08:43.Sler An exploration of some of the most troubling relationships between
:08:44. > :08:47.teachers and pupils and the havoc they can sometimes wreak. It strikes
:08:48. > :08:52.me that schools attract you, you like them, don't you? I am very
:08:53. > :08:56.fobbed of schools, I taught in them for 15 years and they're wonderful
:08:57. > :09:01.observations of community. The observation here is as I said at
:09:02. > :09:07.the beginning, pretty dark. It's funny, it's touching. But it goes to
:09:08. > :09:12.some very dark places. Both in terms of the staff and their charges. It
:09:13. > :09:15.does. I found that schools are a kind of perpetual stage for tragedy
:09:16. > :09:19.and farce and everything in between. So many things can happen. It's an
:09:20. > :09:23.unpredictable environment. And that isn't just because of setting, it's
:09:24. > :09:28.because of the age of those involved. You are talking about
:09:29. > :09:32.adolescents going through crises, some imagined, some real and
:09:33. > :09:38.relationships with teachers which are inevitably delicate things. I
:09:39. > :09:41.think so, yes. It's an intense stage of life, adolescence, you feel
:09:42. > :09:46.things very strongly. You can experience experience things for the
:09:47. > :09:50.first time and they can be powerful that they're completely create an
:09:51. > :09:53.upheaval in your life. I found it interesting to be part of but it's
:09:54. > :09:56.daunting as well because later I realised as a teacher you can really
:09:57. > :10:00.influence somebody's life and people remember you and they remember what
:10:01. > :10:04.you said and if it was unfair they will resent it in a way that an
:10:05. > :10:08.adult I don't think would resent. Some bad things happen in this book,
:10:09. > :10:11.I will not talk about what they are, it's safe to say you are led into
:10:12. > :10:17.territory that's become more familiar to us in the last two or
:10:18. > :10:22.three years, allegations of sexual impropriety and misconduct and so on
:10:23. > :10:25.and emotional trauma with staff and pupils, did you know that's what you
:10:26. > :10:28.were getting into when you started? Not entirely, no. I think what
:10:29. > :10:34.happened was I started off with a germ of an idea in this book and
:10:35. > :10:37.then in real life Operation Yewtree started to unfold and I found there
:10:38. > :10:40.was an uncomfortable crossover in what I was writing about and what
:10:41. > :10:43.happened in the world. It became much darker and more topical than I
:10:44. > :10:48.thought it would be. You touch on the question in this book of
:10:49. > :10:53.atmospheres that can develop, rather hysterical ones leading to a kind of
:10:54. > :10:56.almost a witch-hunt atmosphere, or a territory where there are false
:10:57. > :11:00.accusations and difficulties and great damage done as a consequence.
:11:01. > :11:04.It's something that clearly fascinates you, the unfairness that
:11:05. > :11:10.is lurking there under the surface. Yes, I think so. Also the past and
:11:11. > :11:16.how the past affects the present. And how memory is not inherently a
:11:17. > :11:20.reliable tool, particularly when dealing with experiences of trauma,
:11:21. > :11:25.how memory can be affected by all kind of things happening in the
:11:26. > :11:31.present day and how memory can sometimes be both unreliable and
:11:32. > :11:35.frightening. The main character has been a teacher for a long time, this
:11:36. > :11:39.has happened to him again and again. There's that interesting sense of
:11:40. > :11:44.having seen generations of pupils coming through in his case to learn
:11:45. > :11:47.classics or not to learn, first of all, you clearly adore him. I am
:11:48. > :11:51.very fond of him. We are not entirely the same person but I might
:11:52. > :11:56.have grown into him if I stayed at the school in which I taught for
:11:57. > :11:59.long enough. He's flawed in a lot of ways but ultimately he has a good
:12:00. > :12:03.heart. He is warm, he is affectionate. He loves his job. He
:12:04. > :12:08.is aware of the consequences of the job that he does. He is aware that
:12:09. > :12:13.he is affecting young lives and he has a strong sense of duty. I also
:12:14. > :12:18.like the fact that he is a bit of a subversive. That he has various
:12:19. > :12:22.prejudices which is unaware of, he has favourites and he is unaware of
:12:23. > :12:26.this. He is bad with technology. He likes the odd sneaky fag outside
:12:27. > :12:30.when he shouldn't have. One of the interesting things about the way you
:12:31. > :12:39.construct the narrative here is that you have got an older man talking
:12:40. > :12:41.but you have youngsters as well so they're inhabiting different -
:12:42. > :12:45.they're in the same place in the school. That's right. I had the
:12:46. > :12:50.benefit of being in that environment for long enough to pick up a lot of
:12:51. > :12:55.voices, to remember the way teenager boys talked, the way older members
:12:56. > :12:59.of staff talked, and so I have borrowed from colleagues, from
:13:00. > :13:10.pupils who are now ex-pupils and watch the whole process with joy
:13:11. > :13:14.from Twitter and Facebook. You are a great Twitter user? I am, yes. A lot
:13:15. > :13:17.of boys say I remember this and read this book and often they turn up to
:13:18. > :13:25.readings and of course they all think I am writing about them, which
:13:26. > :13:29.isn't quite true, but there are certainly little vinets. It's a dark
:13:30. > :13:36.story but you are having fun. You are a successful author, widely
:13:37. > :13:41.read, are you irritated when people say you are the Chocolate woman?
:13:42. > :13:47.Does it sometimes hang around your neck? Inevitably a little. I am very
:13:48. > :13:52.grateful for the response to it and the fact that people loved it and I
:13:53. > :13:59.love it too and I am still writing about those characters. What I find
:14:00. > :14:02.irssome, if anything, is that assumption I will do the same thing.
:14:03. > :14:08.I could go in almost any direction and have done, I am lucky in that
:14:09. > :14:10.sense. You are and you take what I might call the authorial
:14:11. > :14:16.responsibility seriously. You are speaking up for authors and recently
:14:17. > :14:20.you talked about not going to one nameless literary Festival because
:14:21. > :14:23.they were expecting all kind of things and exclusive contracts and
:14:24. > :14:27.saying, hang on, authors deserve to be treated in a better way. It's not
:14:28. > :14:30.just about me, about me wanting money or special treatment,
:14:31. > :14:36.completely the opposite. I would like is for people to see writing as
:14:37. > :14:39.a job, it's a profession. And to treat authors professionally and
:14:40. > :14:41.this is particularly important for young authors who have a real
:14:42. > :14:46.difficulty sometimes in getting to Festivals because of what it's going
:14:47. > :14:49.to cost them. They don't make much money writing, contrary to public
:14:50. > :14:53.opinion. Absolutely. The average salary for professional author is
:14:54. > :14:56.?11 thousand a year, according to the Society of Authors, this isn't
:14:57. > :15:00.much, not many of us get to write for a living and make a reasonable
:15:01. > :15:04.living out of it. You are an author who conforms I think to one of the
:15:05. > :15:11.wonderful stereotypes, you work in a shed at the bottom of the garden. I
:15:12. > :15:17.do, yes. You enter a different world when you are there? Shed world is a
:15:18. > :15:21.specific space. It's psychologically important for an author to have a
:15:22. > :15:24.work space, particularly somebody like me who was on a timetable for a
:15:25. > :15:28.long time, it's difficult to manage time and difficult to get into the
:15:29. > :15:33.psychological head space of writing. So I think it's important to create
:15:34. > :15:37.a place where you work and nothing else happens, whether it's a shed,
:15:38. > :15:41.whether it's a desk, when I was just starting off I didn't have a desk,
:15:42. > :15:45.so I had two objects that I would put in front of my laptop when I
:15:46. > :15:50.wanted to write and that created the work space, wherever it was.
:15:51. > :15:53.Sometimes I am working on two at once, in fact nearly always because
:15:54. > :15:58.I have books I write on sunny days and book I write on dark days. This
:15:59. > :16:03.was a dark day book? Definitely a dark day book. Although it has some
:16:04. > :16:04.glimpses of sunshine in there. I should say it's fun, as well. Joanne
:16:05. > :16:15.Harris, thank you very much. Well, this is about as much snow as
:16:16. > :16:20.I can offer in this weather forecast. It's going to be an
:16:21. > :16:23.incredibly mild Christmas, pretty windy too, especially across
:16:24. > :16:28.Scotland, particularly Boxing Day. It will be stormy there. This is the
:16:29. > :16:29.next storm,