Interview: Mick Herron on “Clown Town” and His Favorite Books

One I’ll never unstick myself from is “The Wind in the Willows,” a classic often regarded as a heartwarming tale about talking animals, but which is actually rife with criminal behavior — speeding offenses, contempt of court, jailbreak, identity theft, horse rustling, hate speech (“onion sauce!”), coercive deprogramming, child abduction, grooming, home invasion, vigilantism, carol singing … Barely a page goes by without some new horror. And it’s also a heartwarming tale about talking animals.

How do you name your characters?

Either a name lands immediately (like “Jackson Lamb”), and I never question it, or it takes work — I’ve written passages in which a character is identified by an X while I wait for something better to arrive. .

How do you sign books for your fans?

I often thank them for being readers. Without that small detail, neither they, nor I, nor the book being signed, would be present.

“Clown Town” has a great first line. Did you start there, or come to it later?

It came later, but it’s the first big hurdle. I never start writing at Page 1 — I like to have a fair amount of material to hand first: descriptions, character introductions, passages of dialogue and so on. Much of that will be discarded, but it helps to know it’s there. Writing the opening is when the hard work starts, so having the right first line is crucial. Rhythm plays an important part. Rhythm bestows memorability. At the same time, you don’t want it to be rum-ti-tum-ti-tum.

You’ve said that poetry is a big influence on your writing. Are there poems or poets that have seeped into this book?