Photo by Ted Allen
Anna Maloney is the author of the new novel The 10:12. She also has worked in television, film, and radio, and she lives in London.
Q: You’ve said that a dream provided the initial inspiration for The 10:12--can you say more about that?
A: A few years ago, travelling by train between London and Manchester visiting family reminded me that trains can still be romantic and interesting even when they’re crowded. And they are great locations for people watching/listening.
So train travel must have been on my mind when I woke up from dream about a hijack. I’d just given up a paid job to concentrate on writing and discovered that a major crime writing competition for new authors was closing in a couple of weeks. The hijack was ready and waiting to go.
I needed to provide the first few chapters and a synopsis. The dream had given me the set up, but unfortunately neither a middle or an end. However, I managed to come up with what I needed to enter with a day to spare, and to my great surprise, I won the competition.
Q: How did you create your character Claire?
A: I used to have an elderly neighbour called Marian. One day she mentioned that her husband was annoyed with her and revealed it was because she’d tackled a young man waving a gun around on the top floor of a local bus. She had approached him with the words that he’d “get no cred for shooting a granny.” He put the gun down.
We’ve probably all met Marians. Claire was based around those who step up, not back, in a crisis. And don’t just film it on their phones.
Q: Do you have any other favorite novels set on a train?
A: Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith evolves from a conversation between two passengers on a train. It captures those strange moments we sometimes have with people in close proximity on a journey and turns into a great story full of menace and jeopardy.
Agatha Christie loved trains but rather than The Orient Express, I’d choose The Lady Vanishes, which became a famous Hitchcock film based on the novel written by Ethel Lina White in 1938.
A young woman befriends an older woman on a long intercontinental train journey, and then falls asleep. When she wakes up the older woman is gone and other passengers claim she was never there. The young woman won’t back down and eventually… No spoilers!
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins also features a great starting point with a commuter seeing something from the window that doesn’t look right.
Q: The Guardian’s review of the book says, “Gripping and immersive, this salutary tale of how we stereotype and underestimate others is a white-knuckle read that also gives food for thought.” What do you think of that description?
A: Simply delighted! I particularly like the conjunction of “white-knuckle read” and “food for thought.” My favourite books tend to engage me when I read them but also leave me with something to think about. In a broader sense, it is great when a reader understands what you are trying to do as a writer.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I can’t say too much yet about the next novel but it involves a past tragedy on the River Thames and a present-day threat, plus another older woman who finds herself caught up in the middle of it all. My dad worked in the docks and I live a walk away from the river, so it feels like I’m going with the flow!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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