It’s Harlan Coben’s first book tour in 4 years.
“I live my life by asking, ‘What if?’” he tells us. Author of Netflix hits The Stranger and Stay Close, Coben is now adding to the 80 million books he’s already sold, releasing I will Find You, his 35th novel. He’s launching this tonight, Weds 22nd March, in Manchester Central Library.
Unfortunately, there’s a certain amount of construction work being done nearby. “I wanted to start the story in the worst place possible. The book is a -” The drilling recommences outside. “Shut up!” he yells over his shoulder.
As it happens, the drilling stops. This gets the first laugh of the night.
Tickets to the event, organised via Waterstones, sold out fast, but I managed to grab one. The book, he tells us, is a thriller featuring a man wrongly imprisoned for the murder of his son, Matthew. 5 years into his jail term, his sister turns up with evidence to suggest Matthew is still alive.
Coben discusses the origins of the novel. “I hate hiking. ‘Oh, look, there’s a tree!’” (As a child of 2 outdoor enthusiasts, I grew up sharing his irritation.) “I saw a kid walking out of the woods, miserable, and came up with the idea.”
Coben, like many writers (James Cameron, for example) notes down his dreams for inspiration. “I come back later and they make no sense. Elmore Leonard said, ‘I cut out the parts that people skip.’”
Tonight’s compare, BBC’s Phil Williams, wields the mic. He asks Coben about his creative process.
“I was in a writers group with others including Lee Child," Coben explains. "We were talking about creating the scariest moment possible. One of us came up with: you’re in the cabin in the woods, alone, and you hear the toilet flush.”
PW: How do you decide if it’s stand-alone novel or series?
“It’s like a sausage,” Coben describes. “It might taste good, but you don’t wanna know how it’s made.”
PW: Ever had a dry day?
HC: I treat it like a job but yeah! I write 10-15 pages by hand. I can cross stuff out and it’s still there. Good readers love Easter eggs. I was inspired by Count of Monte Cristo and The Fugitive. I had fun with the ‘I don’t care’ line. If he’s like me, the character recognises the reference too.
PW: You have a Netflix deal for 14 books.
HC: The next book to be adapted will be ‘Shelter,’ out in the Summer on Prime. Amazon own the rights to one character, Netflix the rights to another. Netflix are currently filming Fool Me Once, starring Michelle Keegan. Danny Brocklehurst (creator of Sky’s Brassic starring Keegan, and Coben’s TV series adaptation Safe) is in the audience.
PW: You were told not to go near TV. What changed?
HC: Age! My publisher told me to stay away, but TV let us open it out to 8-10 episodes. The worst adaptations are the ones that are slavishly the same as the book. I’m not particularly precious. We want to make it as entertaining as possible.
PW: You spent some time in The Costa del Sol. What were you doing?
HC: I was writing about travel agonies. Americans would ask me random questions. I would just make shit up. I wrote a novel of this. It was terrible. Of course it was! I wrote three books before a good one.
The mic is passed out to the audience for their questions, when Coben reveals that his next book focuses on his long-time character Myron Bolitar, in which somebody’s parents discover edibles.
AQ: Do you ever worry you go too far with content?
HC: I hope I do. I try and push it. I ask, ‘can I find redemption for the characters in the novel?’
AQ: Once your books are being adapted, Do you think ‘this character would be good for this actor?’
HC: Never. In an adaptation, the character is no longer mine alone: it belongs to the director and actor. Thinking ‘this would be good for TV’ is a kiss of death. It won’t be like I saw it.
AQ: What do you do to relax?
HC: Nothing. I tried fishing. Hated it. There’s always a voice in my head saying, ‘you should be writing.’ I have no marketable skills. If I wasn’t writing, I’d be a duvet cover.
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