{"id":46982,"date":"2015-02-11T14:00:12","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T03:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.booktopia.com.au\/?p=46982"},"modified":"2016-03-01T09:27:49","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T23:27:49","slug":"darragh-mcmanus-author-of-shiver-the-whole-night-through-answers-ten-terrifying-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2015\/02\/11\/darragh-mcmanus-author-of-shiver-the-whole-night-through-answers-ten-terrifying-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Darragh McManus, author of Shiver the Whole Night Through, answers Ten Terrifying Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"shiver-the-whole-night-through\"<\/a>The Booktopia Book Guru asks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Darragh McManus
\nauthor of
\nShiver The Whole Night Through<\/a><\/i><\/h1>\n

Ten Terrifying Questions
\n____________<\/h2>\n

1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was born and reared in Ireland. A little village in County Tipperary, which is in the South-Midwest, if you can follow that. School, hmm\u2026loved primary, hated the first three years of secondary. It wasn\u2019t the school\u2019s fault, they were fine. I just hated pretty much all the kids! Including myself, probably. I grew up a bit and enjoyed the final two years though. Then I went to college in Cork for an Arts degree in English Lit and History. I\u2019ve also done a certificate in Art & Design, and of course have learned some lasting lessons in both the School of Hard Knocks and the University of Life.<\/p>\n

2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Twelve: either play soccer for Liverpool or be some kind of intergalactic bounty hunter with cool blue skin and bluer eyeballs, toting a crossbow that fired lasers. This was because I read a LOT of comics at the time, mostly Roy of the Rovers and Champ (hence the soccer) and Eagle (hence the daft sci-fi).<\/p>\n

Eighteen: probably to have my own grunge band. I\u2019d moved onto an obsession with grunge by that stage. I still love those bands, the image, the sarcasm, the plaid shirts, everything about them \u2013 good guys who rocked like all-get-out. Sadly, I was too lazy to bother learning guitar\u2026the dream withered and died.<\/p>\n

Thirty: a writer! I\u2019d decided in my late twenties that, yes, I definitively wanted to be an author; I finished my first novel at 29 and the future seemed \u2013 potentially? \u2013 bright. Didn\u2019t quite go according to plan. That book and my next one (collection of stories) failed to sell. Finally, I was published in non-fiction at 34. And in 2012, a lifetime ambition was realised when AT LAST I had a novel released. Shiver the Whole Night Through<\/em><\/a> is my third published work of fiction (though first Young Adult).<\/p>\n

3. What strongly held belief did you have at eighteen that you do not have now?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

That communism was both possible and desirable. I think most people, as they get older, move to a more meritocratic philosophy i.e. you should get out pretty much what you put in. (Obviously, this doesn\u2019t mean not looking after those who need it \u2013 that\u2019s just basic decency and kindness.) But my desire for a totally evened-out society is gone; I don\u2019t think it\u2019s remotely feasible anyway, even if it was a good idea. Maybe after another 10,000 years of human evolution. Funnily enough, not every youthful passion fades away; for instance, I\u2019m probably more and more of an ardent feminist with each passing year.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0What were three works of art \u2013 book or painting or piece of music, etc. \u2013 you can now say, had a great effect on you and influenced your own development as a writer?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a work of art, as such, more a movement \u2013 but the aforementioned grunge music has been a seminal influence on me personally and my writing. I did a crime novel, Even Flow<\/em><\/a>, which was basically the grunge ethos in vigilante form. Shiver the Whole Night Through<\/em><\/a> takes its title and much of its tone from Nirvana<\/a> (and Kurt is mentioned in the first paragraph). Another book, unpublished, called Pretend We\u2019re Dead<\/em>, is about a bunch of slackers whose lives and thoughts were profoundly shaped by grunge. As I said, I love everything about it: artistically, intellectually, emotionally, socially\u2026maybe even metaphysically, who knows.<\/p>\n

\"FEA_2014-01-29_LIF_044_30297410_I1\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong>Twin Peaks<\/a> was also huge. In fact Shiver<\/em> was, to some extent, my attempt at writing an Irish version of the great David Lynch drama. Murder mystery, small-town weirdness, supernatural elements, love story\u2026and of course, the forest. It\u2019s a character in its own right, in the show and book. Just that sustained mood of dread and reverie that Lynch evokes\u2026man, it\u2019s stayed with me for decades.<\/p>\n

Finally, I\u2019d like to pick a book but there are just so many\u2026 I\u2019ll go for Anthony Burgess\u2019 A Clockwork Orange<\/em><\/a>, one of my very-favourite novels. (Incidentally, I consider it a great work of YA literature too: the core story is about a lad of 14 and his fraught journey to some kind of emotional maturity and adult responsibility.) I was blown away the first time I read it, especially by the language Burgess invented for his narrator: English-Russian-Cockney-Gypsy and who knew what else. It really showed me the limitless possibilities of fiction. Great, great book. Real horrorshow, oh my droogies\u2026<\/p>\n

5. Considering the innumerable artistic avenues open to you, why did you choose to write a novel?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God \u2013 good question! I should have been a musician or painter or movie director or one of those lunatics who mutilates their own body and videos the whole thing and runs the video in a gallery and\u2026 Probably I write because A) I\u2019m reasonably good at it, B) I love reading anyway so why not read my own stuff, C) as I say, I was too lazy to learn an instrument, D) I\u2019m colour-blind so visual art is out and E) films cost billions to make and I\u2019m way too neurotic myself to be dealing with tantrums and egos of actors.<\/p>\n

6. Please tell us about your novel, <\/span>Shiver The Whole Night Through.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a YA mystery \u2013 sort of a noir-style detective story, with paranormal\/horror elements, set in a small Irish town. The basic plot is: after months of bullying and romantic heartbreak, seventeen-year-old Aidan Flood feels just about ready to end it all. But when he wakes up one morning to find that town sweetheart Sl\u00e1ine McAuley actually has, he discovers a new sense of purpose, and becomes determined to find out what happened. One night Aidan gets a message, scratched in ice on his bedroom window: \u2018I didn\u2019t kill myself.\u2019 Who is contacting him? And if Sl\u00e1ine didn\u2019t end her own life\u2026who did? Now Aidan must hunt down Sl\u00e1ine\u2019s killers, and unravel the darker secrets surrounding the town. And he\u2019s about to find out that in matters of life and death, salvation often comes in the unlikeliest of forms\u2026<\/p>\n

\"shiver-the-whole-night-through\"<\/a><\/strong>Needless to say, it\u2019s great! Seriously, the reviews so far are very positive, and Shiver<\/em> is on the (UK) Daily Telegraph\u2019s Best YA 2014 list. Think Twin Peaks<\/em><\/a> meets Twilight<\/em><\/a> meets Let the Right One In<\/em><\/a> meets the teen-detective movie Brick<\/em> meets old Gothic horror stories. Or don\u2019t think that at all, and just go into it blind.<\/p>\n

7. What do you hope people take away with them after reading your work?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This one specifically, a feeling that they\u2019ve been thrilled, chilled, moved and entertained. For all the things we may say about our books, first and foremost you want to entertain the reader. Beneath that, I hope they get a sense of empathy and sympathy for bullying victims; it\u2019s the scourge of society and always has been. Nothing worse than a bully. I hope they debate some of the themes with their friends e.g. is revenge ever justified? And I hope they\u2019d have become as fond of Aidan, Sl\u00e1ine and Podsy as I am.<\/p>\n

In general, I\u2019d like to think people will put down one of my books and \u2013 whether they loved it or liked it or were indifferent or worse \u2013 at least they\u2019d think it was authentic, distinctive, made with care and sincerity. I hope they\u2019d think, \u201cThis guy\u2019s writing isn\u2019t like anyone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n

8. Whom do you most admire in the realm of writing and why?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh wow, so many. Anthony Burgess<\/a>, again: the man was just the most incredible virtuoso. Could write anything, any style and any genre, better than virtually anyone else. Jorge Luis Borges<\/a>, because his ideas and technique were so unusual that he was almost an art-form unto himself. Margaret Atwood for being so witty and clever and making it look so easy. George Orwell for writing 1984<\/em><\/a>, probably the greatest book I\u2019ve ever read. Don DeLillo<\/a>, for having the most unique literary voice I\u2019ve ever read, and for somehow expressing the inexpressible in our existence, and illuminating the deep mysteries of it all\u2026 I\u2019d better stop now or I really will keep going and going, possibly forever.<\/p>\n

\u00a09.\u00a0Many artists set themselves very ambitious goals. What are yours?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

To write and publish a sequel to Shiver the Whole Night Through<\/em><\/a>. To write and publish the several other ideas for YA novels that I\u2019ve begun sketching out, plotting, pottering about with. To have my first novel and short-story collection published. To have that slacker novel published (dude). To write lots of screenplays and get filthy rich in Hollywood. To win an Oscar for one of them\u2026and then refuse the Oscar. Ha!<\/p>\n

10. What advice do you give aspiring writers?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone says this, but\u2026read. Read, read, read. Not the internet or magazines; read books. All sorts of books, with a good smattering of classics. That can mean anything from Homer to Dickens to Graham Greene \u2013 whatever. Just something outside your comfort zone, outside your normal realm of thinking\/reading (and they are, in a sense, two sides of the same coin). Something that stretches your mind. Read. Keep reading. Then start writing, but keep reading. Don\u2019t ever stop reading! I cannot stress this enough!<\/p>\n

Darragh, Thank you for playing.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Darragh McManus author of Shiver The Whole Night Through Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don\u2019t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born and reared in Ireland. A little village in County Tipperary, which is in the South-Midwest, if you can follow that. School, hmm\u2026loved primary, hated the first three years of secondary. It wasn\u2019t the school\u2019s fault, they were fine. I just hated pretty much all the kids! Including myself, probably. I grew up a bit and enjoyed the final two years though. Then I went to college in Cork for an Arts degree in English Lit and History. I\u2019ve also done a certificate in Art & Design, and of course have learned some lasting lessons in both the School of Hard Knocks and the University of Life. 2. What did you want to be when you were twelve, eighteen and thirty? And why? Twelve: either play soccer for Liverpool or be some kind of intergalactic bounty hunter with cool blue skin and bluer eyeballs, toting a crossbow that fired lasers. This was because I read a LOT of comics…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[1520,4842,5184],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56011,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46982\/revisions\/56011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}