Today, I am delighted to be chatting with author Tom Gillespie, about his writing life and latest release, The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce. Welcome to Thrilling Fiction Tom, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
Hello.
Okay so lets’ kick off with my first question. Who is Tom Gillespie?
Ha! That’s a good question and one I ask myself in many a wee small hour. Well, I’m a Scottish-born novelist and short story writer . My stories have been published worldwide in magazines and anthologies including, East of the Web, Linden Literary Review and The Federation of Writers, Scotland Anthology 2019. I’ve also published three novels, and my latest, The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce has just been released, which is always a very exciting.. and very busy!!
Well, having just finished it this morning, I have to say my head is still reeling.. It’s quite an amazing ride.
Well, thank you very much?
So for those who dare to venture in, what’s it about?
It’s tricky to say too much without landing a massive spoiler, but on the surface, my book is a dark psychological thriller about an Earth scientist called Jacob who becomes inexplicably obsessed with a rather strange Baroque painting that hangs in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery. He believes that somewhere in the composition there is a hidden mathematical formula that will help him devise a method of predicting earthquakes. So from the off we can see that already he’s a bit unhinged to say the least. And then his wife goes missing and he sets out on a hunt to Spain to find her – first to Barcelona and then to Madrid.
It’s a kind of road movie then?
Ha.. not exactly.. or maybe one directed by Guillermo del Toro. I would describe it as a deranged rollercoaster ride. The catch is he thinks that the painting and the original artist are somehow involved or responsible for his wife’s disappearance or abduction. But I suppose that’s what it’s about on a superficial level. I wanted to write a book with many layers to the let the reader come up with their own interpretations and conclusions about what’s going on in Jacob’s world and what’s happening to him. And I think his journey is like a dark odyssey or search for a terrifying secret or truth that he has buried deep inside his head for good reason.
Yes, that is definitely one of the brilliantly strange things about the book. As I read it I really felt like I was inside Jacob’s head as he delved deeper and deeper into this strange maze of weird events, characters and emotional extremes.
Thanks. I’m glad that happened to you, as that was my evil plan.. haha!
So what inspired you to write this brilliantly compelling story?
The novel began life as a very short piece of flash fiction, which was inspired by a very odd incident I observed in El Prado museum, Madrid a few years ago, involving a Magritte-like be-suited man, a reel of thread and two over assertive security guards. I scribbled down a one-page story and it lay in a drawer, dormant for a few years, but the strange man and his bizarre behaviour intrigued me, and so I started to expand and develop a back and forward story, and within a few days of working on scenes and outlines, I realised I had a novel on my hands, but one that would require a great deal of research.- in art history and mathematics.
Yes, I was about to mention research. It really feels like you delved deep into your subject matter. Did you find it challenging?
I was very lucky to recruit a couple of brilliant people to help me. The first was an art historian mate who steered me in the right direction, corrected my stupid mistakes and filled in quite a few blanks. I feel guilty because he got into it so much I let him do most of the research…but don’t tell him I said that. My second saviour was a Maths PhD student who jumped at the chance of working with me on this bogus and bonkers theory, V=mp3 that sits in the middle of the story.
I was a bit anxious about the maths before I started reading as I’m completely hopeless at it and worried I’d be out of my depth.
Ha.. I’m completely hopeless too, so what I didn’t want to do was turn everyone off with reams of boring, elaborate calculations.. so we worked together on creating this bat-shit bonkers maths theory, the law of empirical wisdom, and made it sound almost plausible.. but in fact the whole thing is just an illusion. You may not believe me but there’s virtually no maths in the book at all .. It’s all just slight of hand and smoke and mirrors.
Wow.. Now that I think about it again.. You’re right! And that’s cool because it fits with the overall feeling I got when reading the book .. illusions and smoke and mirrors..
Yup.
So aside from research, how do you plot out a book like this. What’s your process?
For The Strange Book, I had a beginning and an end.. which gives me parameters.. then I let my imagination and characters loose .. and see where it runs.. with a few timed interventions and redirections.
Does that mean you don’t know what Jacob will do until he does it?
Yes, it’s a funny thing and this happens to me a lot when developing characters. I start off directing their moves steering them the way I want..playing God.. but then they begin to steer me, surprise me ..take control somewhat.. and that’s when things get exciting.. and at times a bit scary..
Scary?
Well how would you like to live with this nut job inside your head for months on end.. haha.. though his unpredictability was pretty exhilarating and it’s his energy that drives the narrative like an out of control express train.
Jacob is indeed a very interesting character. Aside from his unhinged manic behaviour, how would you describe him?
Interesting is the understatement of the century. As my old man once said, he’s a right piece of work. And that’s just about bang on the button. I would say Jacob is a classic anti hero with many of the associated traits. He’s a curmudgeon, he’s bitter, stubborn and selfish, but also hopefully with real vulnerability bubbling away under the surface. I really wanted to go to town on him and create a real sense of complexity and contradiction so that the reader would hopefully swing from hatred to empathy- back and forth as his story unfurls.
Do you like writing anti-heroes then?
I’ve always been way more fascinated by the anti hero than the typical hero or heroine as they offer up these 3 dimensional labyrinthian possibilities for the writer.And I think ant-heroes are very much a part of the Scottish literary tradition- from Dr Jeckyll to Lanark and more recently Renton in Trainspotting. So anti-heroes are part of my creative DNA and I’m probably compelled write them.
So what would you say is the message of the book?
Wow that’s tricky.. as I have to tread very carefully around any reveals.. I suppose the heart of the book is about facing and accepting the failings and frailties of being a human being, and in many ways it’s also about atonement and the search for closure.. And there’s also a clue in the quote from Malcolm Lowry at the start of the book ‘No se puede vivir sin amar’ which roughly translates as You cannot live without love … but that’s all you’re going to get.
And who would like it?
I actually conducted a straw poll asking that very same question ( Yes, I know I’m a bit obsessive too). I asked readers and reviewers what books or writers The Strange Book reminded them of. And the top three answers were..The Goldfinch by Donna Tart, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.. So if you’re into those types of books, I think you’ll like my novel.
Your novel has been out a couple of weeks now. How’s it doing?
I’ve been absolutely blown away by how it’s been received so far with some big hitter reviews from the likes of Alastair Mabbott in The Herald Scotland who described it as ‘ an emotionally powerful journey, and Alistair Braidwood who said it was the best novel he’s read in years. It also landed a feature spot in Publishing Scotland’s showcase magazine, Books from Scotland.. So to say I’m over the moon would be a serious understatement!
That’s great to hear and so well deserved.
Ah thank you, kindly.
Sadly we’ve just about reached the end of the interview. Just one final question. What’s next for Tom Gillespie?
I have a collection of short stories coming out in October called Glass Work Humans. I’m very proud of this book as it’s a collaborative project I’ve been working on for a couple of years with two fellow Scottish writers, Paul Cowan and John McKenzie. And I’m also working on two novels.. I know I’m nuts.. The first is the second in my Glasgow trilogy of dark psychological thrillers called, The House of Here, and the other is a police procedural crime thriller involving a disgraced D.C.I. and a deranged digger.
Ha ha.. Well it sounds like your late summer and autumn are going to be jam packed. Thank you so much for dropping in for a chat and allowing us to delve a little into your creative mind.
Now I’m going to switch the recorder off so that you can tell me what The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce is really about.
The Strange Book of Jacob Boyce is out now, and available to buy here.