I have the pleasure of welcoming Simon Maltman back to Chat About Books today!

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

I’m a crime writer from Northern Ireland. This is my fifth full length thriller. This book is about post-Troubles Belfast and the shadow it still casts over the city today. It’s about a pastor who tries to escape the pull of the past. He really wants to do the right thing, but makes one bad decision after another.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

Literally it could be from anything, or just a random idea during a shower.

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

Yes but I won’t say who haha! You can definitely take little parts from here and there though. I have had the reverse issue when people think a character is based on someone and it’s not!

How do you pick your characters’ names?

It’s usually just pretty random or it can be something obscure just for my own amusement.

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

I try and write every day and usually do. I’m quite a planner and like to have a rough idea of how the story will go, but not too much. It’s got to still be fun.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

That’s very hard. Today I’ll go for: Richard Stark, Raymond Chandler, Lawrence Block, Iain Banks and Colin Bateman.

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

Ooooh another hard one. I’d ask Raymond Chandler who killed the chauffer.

Were you a big reader as a child?

I wasn’t a massive one actually, but I am now. I probably got properly into books and crime in particular in my twenties.

When did you start to write?

I started properly about seven years ago.

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

Oh, goodness. I might well change some of mine! I can’t even read at events without editing the text in my head and trying to change it as I read!

Is there a book you wish you had written?

Loads of them!

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

Haha. ‘How I wrote ten bestsellers!’ (I wish)

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

It would be nice to have a chat with Mick Ballou from the Scudder books. It would have to be somewhere pretty rough.

Tell us a random fact about yourself

I once was on ‘Police Camera Action’- cycling up a carriageway the wrong way (I was a teenager!).

What are you working on right now?

I’m just finishing off the first draft of an 80’s and New York set thriller.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

Probably a cup of coffee and a bun!

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I’m on FB and Twitter and Instagram.

Is there anything else you would like us to know?

No, I don’t think so. But thanks very much for having me, take care.

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

God created the world in one week. In six days Pastor Tom destroyed his own. On the seventh day he rested. Post-Troubles Belfast. One flawed pastor believes he can still make a difference. Hardened, ageing paramilitaries make a last grab for power. Murder, kidnapping, corruption. Pastor Tom strives to make a positive difference in his community, but secrets from his past still haunt him. One bad decision follows another as he tries to do “the right thing.” Will he soon be shackled to a path leading him far from redemption?