#WriterWednesday Interview with Charles Palliser

I’d like to welcome Charles Palliser to the blog for #WriterWednesday.

The thing you like most about being a writer:

I have complete freedom to spend my time doing what I choose without having to be at a certain place at a certain time.

The thing you like least about being a writer:

I enjoy talking to my readers but sometimes I have to spend a lot of time getting to where they are and back again which I’d rather use for writing.

The thing that you will most remember about your writing life:

It’s taken me to new countries and cities to meet interesting people. Working with people in other countries is much more interesting than just being a tourist there.

Something in your writing life that you wish you could do over:

I can never experience again what I felt when my first publisher put into my hands the finished copy of my first book.

Things you will run to the store for in the middle of the night:

Dark chocolate.

Things you never put on your shopping list:

Dark chocolate again. I’m strong enough not to put it on my lists, but somehow it appears when I get home.

The nicest thing a reader said to you:

Someone in a bookshop told me he took my first novel, THE QUINCUNX, on his honeymoon and spent much of the night reading it.

The craziest thing a reader said to you:

“Is this the story of your life?” Since the hero of tht same novel is born in 1812, I answered truthfully: “No.”

The best summer job you ever had:

Selling ice-creams on a beach in Cornwall where I mostly grew up.

The worst summer job you ever had:

Working on the pumps at a gas-station. The boredom and the repetition nearly killed me.

Favorite thing to do on a summer evening:

There’s a lovely old pub not far from our home that we like to stroll to when it’s warm and not raining (which is not always the case in London!) and they serve wonderful food in the beer-garden.

Least favorite thing about summer:

When it does get hot London isn’t expecting it and there isn’t much air-conditioning around.

Something crazy you did on vacation:

At seventeen I hitchhiked mostly alone from London through France and Italy down to Rome and then back up through Austria, Germany and then Belgium. I was robbed and propositioned in various ways but how was I not murdered?

Something you’d never do again on vacation:

Apart from hitch-hiking, I’ll never lie on a beach again. I’ve learned the hard way how dangerous the sun is.

Most daring thing you’ve ever done:

Jumping into the sea from a clifftop in Cornwall.

Something you chickened out from doing:

I was offered a flight in a tiny plane that held just four people and I had already found one twice that size to be unnerving.

Best vacation memory:

The two weeks I spent in Avignon in the south of France with its charming old streets and delicious food and endless festivals of cinema and theatre and art.

A vacation disaster that you’d rather forget:

A flight to Spain that was delayed for nine hours so that we arrived in the middle of the night with no way of getting to our hotel.

Favorite beverage:

I have the bad taste to love piña colada.

A drink that gives you a pickle face:

I’ve never liked blended scotch whiskey. (But single malt is another matter!)

About Charles:

Charles Palliser is an American-born and British-based novelist. He is the author of five previous novels. His most well-known novel, The Quincunx, has sold over a million copies internationally. He is the elder brother of the late author and freelance journalist Marcus Palliser. He was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and lives in London, UK.