Geraint Anderson Q&A
Cityboy is back! Mike Stafford of Bookdagger interviews the bestselling author of Cityboy, which sold over 200,000 copies, returns with an explosive, edge-of-the-seat, no-holds-barred thriller of City corruption, scams and monstrously bad behaviour.
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Steve Jones, our Cityboy hero, wants out. He’s looking to cash-in before the soul-stripping toil of coining it in London’s financial heartland turns into a life sentence. All it will take is a handsome seven figure wedge in the bank and it’s the good life for him and goodbye to the horrors of the Square Mile. Like the expert chancer he is, he sees an opportunity. Hacking into his boss’s computer, he finds something that chills him to the bone. This is big time; there are bad men involved; there are millions at stake. So no change there then. But when he stumbles upon a murder and becomes the prime suspect, he has to go on the run. Together with his partner Gemma, he improvises ingenious ways of outwitting the authorities, a vicious drug cartel and even M15 in a chase that will send him half way round the world if he’s going to stay alive…
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Before sacrificing his soul to dark forces in the Square Mile, Cityboy was a genuine left-wing hippy and political activist, complete with ponytail and hoop earrings. His dream of becoming a global traveller was cruelly dashed when his brother got him an interview at a French bank in the City, which would set him on the rocky road to destruction and despair.
Bookdagger: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given (and do you follow it)?
Geraint Anderson: JUST START WRITING! People find so many excuses not to write. Get it down, puke it out and then edit it.
BD: Which authors do you find most inspiring as a writer?
GA: I love William Golding, Irving Welsh and, of course, Sven Hassel (only joking)
BD: Do you have an audience in mind when writing, or do you just write for yourself?
GA: I suspect the people most likely to enjoy my books are those like myself. They are men 16-45 who like humorous books involving sex, drugs and rock and roll (oh, and high finance).
BD: Where do you write, and why?
GA: I write best by a tropical beach, in my wife’s caravan overlooking the sea in Kerry or in my cottage in South Wales. I rarely, if ever, write in London … too many distractions.
BD: Tell us the book you most wish you had written.
GA: The Bible – then I’d actually be God, rather than just think I am.
BD: The similarities between yourself and Steve Jones are abundantly clear, but in what ways do you differ?
GA: He’s even more ridiculous and takes even bigger risks – which, believe me, is saying something.
BD: Steve’s love for Gemma humanises him but would be decried as weakness by his colleagues. Is this just an image issue on their part, or are his colleagues genuinely unable to feel love?
GA: Bankers are most definitely capable of feeling love … provided its related to themselves or money, of course.
BD: You draw several parallels between the big players in the Square Mile and cocaine cartels. With that in mind, was the final scene with Juan intended as a nod to a final judgement on Cityboys?
GA: Yes. The book explores how the line between gangsters and bankers blurred over the last ten or so years. Both Juan and Steve’s punishment is contrasted to the lack of punishment meted out to the bankers who knowingly threw this world into financial turmoil.
BD: Have you any plans to write another Steve Jones book?
GA: Yes, interrupting work on it right now to do this! I could tell you what it’s about … but I’d have to kill you.
BD: If you could see just one change in the City as a direct result of your books, what would it be?
GA: I’d love to see a change in City mentality – a move from a greedy, selfish, arrogant approach to a more kind-hearted, altruistic one… though I suspect Mein Kampf will be a best-seller in Tel Aviv before that happens.
June 9th, 2011 at 9:02 am
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