I was excited – and a little nervous – to be interviewed live on Caffeine & Aspirin, Radioactive FM, about Perfect World and completing the Voyage of Domina Penelope trilogy. What if I ran out of things to say or worse said something I shouldn’t? And with all the dials, microphones and turntables on the bench, what if I knocked something vital over? There was also the chemistry lab style stool – my feet a few inches off the ground – what if I swung around too quickly and fell off?
But Neil Johnstone, who interviewed me, put me at my ease. The mics were all writer-proof and the stools counterweighed with the best tunes. He kept the atmosphere calm as he asked me what had inspired the series, how I went about my research and what other writers had inspired me. Meanwhile I burbled away like the coffee machine in the corner, ignoring the notes I’d taken in. Hopefully my answers – feeling very unstructured afterwards – made some sense.
I learned from Neil a few things about growing up in Glasgow. There are three main activities for youngsters there – fighting, drinking and going to gigs. Fortunately for me Neil was in the latter category, and off-mic we talked about some of the awesome concerts we’d been to.
Tanya Ashcroft joined us at the end, and her daughter kindly took the photo. Thanks Neil and Tanya; this was a great way to spend a Saturday morning.