BEGINNER’S PLUCK: SJ Watson
“But the further I got into my National Health Service Career, working with children with hearing problems, the more I realised that writing was what I wanted to do.”
So in his 30s he went part-time and took a six month writing course with Faber. Whilst there he worked on his debut and secured an agent. The novel has sold to 37 countries, and a film of the book is in production with Ridley Scott.
Date/Place of birth: 1971, Stourbridge, near Birmingham.
Education: School in the Midlands, then Birmingham University for a degree in Physics followed by an MSc in Audiology, the science of hearing and balance, at Southampton University.
Home: London.
Family: In a civil partnership; ceremony a few weeks ago.
The Day Job: On a two-year career-break from his part-time job in the National Health Service
Hobbies: None. No time!
Favourite Writers: Margaret Atwood, “Her writing is so wonderful. I really enjoy JM Coetzee and Paul Auster too.”
Second Novel: “It’s the same kind of genre, but it will have a different feel to it and will be in a different world. I like to push myself into new territory.”
Top Writing Tip: “Going to classes and reading tips from other writers is useful. But the only way to learn to write better is to write.”
Web: www.sjwatson-books.com
Twitter: @sj_watson
Doubleday: €12.99. Kindle: €8.24
A woman wakes one day, a strange man beside her, and doesn’t know where she is. Looking in the mirror she sees a middle-aged woman. Christine suffered brain damage decades ago, in her twenties, and can’t retain new memories. She forgets her identity, her past, and the people she loves overnight. Has she a future?
This astonishing thriller will be a literary phenomenon. Read it and be amazed.
