Eoin Colfer Q&A
Mike Stafford interviews Eoin Colfer, author of Plugged, out now via Headline.
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Dan, an Irishman who’s ended up in New Jersey, finds himself embroiled in a world of murder, kidnapping and corrupt cops.
Dan works as a bouncer in a seedy club, half in love with hostess Connie. When Connie is murdered on the premises, a vengeful Dan finds himself embroiled in an increasingly deadly sequence of events in which his doctor friend Zeb goes mysteriously missing, a cop-killing female cop becomes his only ally, and he makes an enemy of ruthless drug-dealer Mike Madden. Written with the warmth and wit that make the Artemis Fowl novels so irresistible, though with additional torture and violence, Plugged is a brilliant crime debut from a naturally gifted writer with a huge fanbase.
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Bookdagger: Are you a bookgeek?
Eoin Colfer: I am a total bookgeek. I read whatever I can get, especially in the sci-fi fantasy genres and as if that was not qualification enough, I also collect comics, wear glasses, use a Mac and worry about Green Lantern’s costume in the movie.
BD: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given (and do you follow it)?
EC: My good friend, the playwright Billy Roche once said that a writer needs to find their own voice and not try to write like somebody else. I have found these words to be wise and the principal has always worked for me. Even when I did the Hitchhiker sequel I tried to write it in my voice.
BD: Which authors do you find most inspiring as a writer?
EC: I am always inspired by Terry Pratchett who has written so many books in a series and they just get better and better. I am also a huge fan of writers who have created pure, simple classics like RL Stevenson with Treasure Island and JM Barrie with Peter Pan.
BD: Do you have an audience in mind when writing, or do you just write for yourself?
EC: I start each project with an audience in the back of my head and then as soon as I get into the book I forget all about the audience and just write the story. Sometimes I have to go back and adjust things if the story gets too complicated for teens. Though there is not much too complicated for teens.
BD: Where do you write, and why?
EC: I write in my office in the garden. It is close to the house but even crossing the garden is enough for me to feel I am going to work.
BD: Tell us the book you most wish you had written.
EC: I would love to have written Peter Pan or Huckleberry Finn. I would have written them then retired.
BD: We had to ask; why hair loss, of all things?
EC: I saw a programme on TV featuring three guys who’d had the procedure. One of them used the outmoded term ‘plugged’ but it got me thinking of a play on words where plugged could mean shot, in the old noir sense, or plugged as in gotten a
transplant I am a sucker for wordplay.
BD: It seemed there was more than enough mileage in Dan and Zeb’s characters to sustain a sequel. Have you any plans in that respect?
EC: I would love to do a trilogy on Daniel. If anyone at all buys the first book then I am going for it full steam ahead.
BD: There’s a lot of Celtic spirit in Plugged, but the events take place in New Jersey. Could the book have worked as well if it had been set in Ireland?
EC: One of the themes is alienation. I wanted to take this man out of his environment and see how he survived. I don’t know enough about any specific New Jersey town to set the book there so I had to invent one.
BD: You’ve often spoken of your fondness for Ken Bruen’s work. Do you think the two of you could ever collaborate on a project?
EC: I would love to do that. We have spoken about it. It is a terrifying prospect for me as he is the MAN in crime fiction. I need to practice a bit more first.
BD: It’s a decade since the first Artemis Fowl book, and a lot of your young adult fanbase are now plain old adults. Did you make the jump out of loyalty to them, or were you just looking for a change?
EC: A bit of both. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this but I am hoping to bring some of the adult Artemis fans with me. Some of these guys started reading a decade ago and are married now, so they are ready for Plugged.
