A Horror World Conversation with Tim Lebbon
By Steven E. Wedel

 

It seems some people were just born to write. Tim Lebbon is one of those people. Over the past nine years the man has written 19 books. Most of that time he held down a full-time job, and managed not to forget that he’s also a husband and father.

Tim was born in London some 37 years ago. Today he lives in a little village called Goytre in South Wales. Of course, the British Isles are renowned for producing a few literary masters, already. Tim is a fine addition to that legacy, bringing a unique voice that still evokes that familiar mood we’ve come to know from folks like Charles Dickens, Bram Stoker, James Herbert and Ramsey Campbell.

He also proved to be an entertaining and inspirational interview subject. I think everyone who still has to hold down a day job while working toward their literary dreams will agree.

HW: Are you a full-time writer?

TL: I’ve been writing part-time for a couple of years now, before that I held down a full-time job as well as the writing. How? Don’t ask, I don’t know. It works pretty well at the moment, but I would like to write full time at some point in the future. All depends on a lot of factors, but hopefully it’ll happen. Right now, for a couple of days per week I work in my local council’s Property Services department. Lots of inspiration there … some strange characters. I once worked with a Highways guy who tested the consistency of soil by eating it.

HW: How do you manage to be so prolific?

TL: I work hard. When I’m on a roll I write quite quickly, sometimes 5,000 words per day. Of course, these words need tidying up and revising, and I spend almost as long revising and editing as I do on the initial draft.

HW: You wrote your first story when you were just a boy of nine. What made you want to be a writer?

TL: It’s in my blood, and it’s not a decision I consciously took. I’ve always loved telling stories.

HW: Tell me about Mesmer and your first publisher. Was Mesmer the first novel you completed? How many times did you submit it before selling it?

TL: Yep, first novel I completed – although there were many started and abandoned halfway through. And Tanjen were the first publisher I submitted it to. I was just lucky that, at the time they were looking for new short novels, I’d just happened to have completed one. And I was lucky too that they were such a good outfit for a young publisher. Mesmer sold quite well, considering, and it got some quite nice attention.

HW: Mesmer received rave reviews from Bentley Little and others, and was short-listed for a British Fantasy Award for Best Novel. Did you consider the book a success in 1997? How do you feel about it today?

TL: It was critically successful, and for an indie press it sold very well. And it was the book that started a snowball effect that’s still rolling today. When I sent THE NATURE OF BALANCE to Leisure for consideration, Don D’Auria already knew my name because he’d read MESMER. It still has a special place in my heart because it was my first published book. It’s not the best book I’ve ever written, but I still think it holds up well.

HW: It was republished in 2003 by Prime Books. Is this edition different than the original by Tanjen Books?

TL: It’s the same book, just tidied up here and there. I resisted the urge to rewrite because then it would have been a different novel. So you may find a couple of sentences or paragraphs restructured, but there are no major changes at all.

HW: Do you consider your stories to be plot driven or character driven? Why?

TL: That’s difficult for me to say. I hate analyzing my own writing. Plot and character are important, of course, but so are tone and voice and style. I guess with plot and character, one drives the other (and that works both ways).

HW: Tell me how you set out to write a novel. How much research do you do before beginning? How do you research? Do you outline your story?

TL: A brief outline, as much research as is needed, and that’s usually it. I’ve never done a thirty-page outline for a novel, because then it’s written and all the fun of creation has passed. I need the impulsiveness of telling a story to keep it fresh in my mind, so usually I only have a rough idea of where I’m going. That initial outline will often change drastically over the course of writing a novel, as characters or events take on a life of their own and do something I’d never expected. That’s always a good feeling.

I usually plan a chapter or two ahead as I’m working, leaving notes to myself here and there through the text.

As for researching, I use the Internet a lot – though you have to be cautious about the authenticity of some websites. I also still buy a lot of research books, because they look good on my shelves and they’re tax deductible. Sometimes I read them.

HW: British writers in general – and this includes you – seem to write denser, richer novels than many of their American counterparts. By this I mean that the atmosphere often seems heavy, almost like a character. Do you agree? If so, why do you think that is?

TL: We’re a miserable bunch of bastards.

HW: Do you see any advantages or disadvantages of working in the UK?

TL: A disadvantage is that all my work is published in the USA because UK publishers still seem to be somewhat blinded to the potential of genre fiction. That also affects me financially when the pound is strong (as it is now). The big advantage is that I then get to fly to the ‘States two or three times each year to conventions, and that’s great because I have so many friends over there that sometimes it feels like going home. I’ve even briefly thought about moving to the ‘States … but I haven’t given up on the UK yet. My books are still doing the rounds, and I’m hoping for some news soon.

HW: Who were your influences?

TL: King, Machen, Lovecraft, Herbert, Campbell, Priest, Banks, Simmons, Straub, and the list goes on and on.

HW: How much Tim Lebbon history and philosophy on life goes into a Tim Lebbon story?

TL: A lot more than I usually intend. Sometimes it’s frightening. I was having this conversation the other night with a screenwriting friend of mine. The older you get, the more the old axiom ‘write about what you know’ seems to make more and more sense. When I was starting out I didn’t know how that could ring true – I’d never seen a vampire, dug up a corpse or lived through an apocalypse. But I grew to realize that a novel is about much more than the action within its pages, and as that sinks in more and more, so I believe my writing improves. So yes, there’s a lot of ‘me’ in my books. As to where … that would be telling.

HW: Your bibliography is like a who’s who of publishers, with mass market and small press companies represented. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of working with large and small publishers?

TL: I love working with both, and I always will. With mass market publishers, generally the money is better and the book is out on time. And with indie publishers, there’s a greater opportunity to be personally involved with the production of your book. But of all the publishers I’m currently working with – Bantam Spectra, Cemetery Dance, Necessary Evil, Leisure, Simon & Schuster, Night Shade, and others – I could never pick a favourite.

HW: Tell me about your most recent project.

TL: My most recent book is the novel HELLBOY: UNNATURAL SELECTION. I wrote this for Simon & Schuster and it seems to be doing very well. It was the first ‘work for hire’ novel I’d ever written, and I really enjoyed the whole process. Hopefully I’ll do some more like this in the future.

A couple of months before that saw the simultaneous publication of DUSK (a dark fantasy in trade paperback from Bantam), and BERSERK (a horror novel from Leisure). Both books are doing very well … BERSERK is in its second printing, and DUSK is in its third. DUSK is due as a mass market paperback next April, a couple of months following the release of the sequel DAWN in trade paperback.

HW: What are your long-term career goals?

TL: I’d love to make a full-time living from writing, and I don’t ever see myself retiring. I’m currently working on a collaborative screen adaptation of one of my novellas for an Irish production company, and I’d love to see a movie produced (I have high hopes, and things are looking good). I’d also like to think that I can write whatever I want to write and still make it work – I have ideas for crime novels, a TV series, and other ideas that don’t necessarily fit into the horror genre. I admire Dan Simmons and the honesty of his writing: science fiction, horror, mainstream, crime, historical, he can pretty much do it all, and I’d guess that his publishers sometimes give him grief because of it.

HW: You mention in your summary of Face that your writing changed with the birth of your first child. Please elaborate on that. How did your writing change, and why does having a child make a difference?

TL: A lot of what scared me changed. I guess before Ellie was born I wrote about stuff that I perceived as threats to me, and after her birth I wrote about dangers threatening my family. It broadened my horizons and softened me up to the dangers there are out there waiting for all of us. It was fucking scary, and I hope that translated through to the novel.

HW: Who do you turn to for that first critique of a new project?

TL: Sometimes a close reader, but usually the editor I’m writing it for.

What does your wife and family think about your subject matter? Are they fans, or do they keep sharp objects away from you and have the asylum on speed dial?

TL: Tracey (my wife) is a fan of horror in the movies, but she doesn’t read so much of it. She’s very supportive, though, in many ways. And when my mother was still alive she was extremely supportive and proud of my career, although she has been known to call my writing ‘odd’ (once after reading my novella Mannequin Man and the Plastic Bitch). Come to think of it, after writing that even I thought of myself as odd.

HW: What changes have you seen in the genre since your first book was published in 1997?

TL: There’s a much stronger community feel to the horror genre, brought together by the Internet. That’s good. Publishing wise, horror is deader than a dead thing in the UK right now … that ain’t so good.

HW: Will you be doing conventions or signings this year? If so, where and when?

TL: I’ve had a difficult year, so unfortunately I had to cancel visits to World Horror and Necon. I also won’t be making it World Fantasy – Tracey and I need a break, and that takes priority. But I will be at the British Fantasy Convention (guests this year are Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Ramsey Campbell, Juliet E McKenna and Raymond Feist), and I’m really looking forward to that. Next year I’ll be back on the convention scene with a vengeance: Necon and World Horror are definites, and I may do one or two others as well.

HW: Anything you’d like to add?

TL: I’ve just signed contracts for some more exciting projects. Firstly, I’ll be writing two more fantasy novels for Bantam Spectra set in the same world as DUSK and DAWN. I’m also collaborating with Christopher Golden on two contemporary fantasy novels (also for Bantam), the first of which, MIND THE GAP, will be out in 2008. There’ll be more limited editions, movie news, indie press stuff and more mass market books too, and you can keep up to date by visiting my websites at www.timlebbon.net and www.noreela.com.