Hi all! Today I have the pleasure of joining in with Martin Granger’s Drugs To Forget blog tour.

Many thank to Kelly @ Love Books Group Tours for the opportunity to take part.

Interview with Martin Granger…..

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

I’m a BAFTA nominated film-maker and author. I ran a production company for thirty years and made more than one hundred documentary films on subjects varying from modern piracy to the origins of the universe. My books are international thrillers based on a fictitious documentary film company and their intrepid investigative film director Nathalie Thompson.

I have written three books to date: Manila Harbour, Oceans on Fire and Drugs to Forget. I am currently writing Nathalie’s fourth adventure, Out of Sight.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

Many people make films from their books. I make books from my films as my thrillers are based upon my past documentaries. All I have to do is to tell the real stories but sprinkle in some added crime.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

Most of them. Nathalie is based on someone who used to work as a freelance for my production company. She wasn’t meant to be in the first book at all but just appeared in chapter 7. My editor told me to remove the first six chapters as he said the story began with her. After banging my head against the wall a few times I took his advice. Nathalie has been my protagonist ever since. I’ll leave it to you to guess which character is me.

How do you pick your characters’ names?

The key ones, I have no idea. The supporting cast, if they are from a foreign country, I find them on the Internet, using links such as ‘common Zimbabwean boys’ names’.

Can you share your writing process with us, in a nutshell?

I don’t write, I talk. I have a voice-activated program that I’ve been using for more than twenty years to write my documentaries. In the past, most of my scripts were spoken by actors and the speech rhythms have been useful. Now I imagine a film scene in my head and just speak it into the computer hoping that my reader will see the same pictures.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

Ah difficult. Ancient or modern?

In my genre – Robert Harris, Martin Cruz Smith, John Le Carre.

Classic – Jane Austen (love her dramatic style), E.M. Forster (only connect).

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Evelyn Waugh – What were you on when you wrote Scoop?

Were you a big reader as a child?

My parents installed a window above my door so that they could see my light on at night.

I thwarted this by reading with a torch under the covers.

When did you start to write?

Seriously, about the age of nine. I still have the handwritten book titled ‘Dick Dauntless’.

If you’ve read Manila Harbour, you won’t believe it but it’s about pirates.

If you could re-write the ending to any book what would it be and what would you change?

Would never have the nerve to rewrite another author’s book.

Is there a book you wish you had written?

Any bestseller I think.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

If I get knocked down…

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?

Godbole (from A Passage to India). Jaipur coffee house.

What are you working on right now?

My fourth Nathalie Thompson book ‘Out of Sight’. A thriller about satellites and space junk involving a blind Film Director.

Tell us about your last release?

Oceans on Fire was published two years ago. A film crew are making a film on ocean energy when things start going seriously wrong. A book that questions who owns the oceans and the efforts people will go to grab their resources.

Do you have a new release due?

Drugs to Forget will be published on 31st May 2018. The story involves a foreign chemical agent found on British soil. Nathalie Thompson is charged with a race against time and the terrible threat of bioterror. And if you’re wondering whether the theme is familiar, I outlined the plot two years ago, long before the Russian nerve agent event.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

No plans at the moment I’m open to invitations.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

Follow me on Twitter @mgrangerbooks or contact details on my website martingrangerbooks.com

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

An article on the background of the book can be found in CrimeTime magazine using the following link.

http://www.crimetime.co.uk/drugs-to-forget-martin-granger-talks-to-crime-time/

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Martin 🙂