Tim Lebbon On The Silence, writing, running, and inspirations.

Release Date: 2019
Genre: Book2Screen, Fantasy, Horror, Interviews, Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction
Author: Tim Lebbon
Publisher: Titan Books

Tim Lebbon is the New York Times bestselling author of Coldbrook, The Silence and The Relics series and of the movie novelizations of 30 Days of Night and The Cabin in the Woods. He has also written many successful movie novelizations and tie-ins to such properties as Alien and Firefly. He has also written many critically acclaimed horror and dark fantasy novels. Tim has won three British Fantasy Awards, a Bram Stoker Award, a Shocker, a Tombstone and been a finalist for the International Horror Guild and World Fantasy Awards. The Silence is now a Netflix Original Movie, starring Stanley Tucci.

The Interview with Tim Lebbon

Lou Pendergrast

Welcome and thanks for this chat today.
Congratulations on you new adaption to film of your 2015 novel The Silence.

Tim Lebbon
Thanks!

Lou Pendergrast

What is it like to give birth to this novel and tell me of your thoughts and feelings on watching it grow and being adapted to screen with a great acting cast, with the buzz of the trailer, and the new wider world opening up to your stories and taking to the book and maybe hearing your voice in the written word too.

Tim Lebbon

That’s a lot of questions in one question! Well, the adaptation process has been a pleasure from start to finish. I know not every writer gets to say that when their book is adapted, so I guess I’m blessed, because from the first moment when the book was optioned, to now when the movie is out there on Netflix, it’s been a fantastic experience. Everyone involved –– producers, writers, film company, the great director John Leonetti, and the actors and crew when I visited set –– has been fantastic to work with. The film is different from the book in many ways, and that’s inevitable and I’m more than okay with that. But seeing my work adapted has been a lot of fun, and from the moment the trailer landed and the movie was released it’s been pretty chaotic, but always in a good way. More people are reading the novel, loads of people are watching and loving the film. How could it not be fun?

How tight to the story have they kept the screenplay, and what was your involvement in it like?

Tim Lebbon

It differs from the novel in some ways, as it should. But the core is still there ––the family in peril, the cost of survival, the lengths you’ll go to to protect the ones you love. That’s what the novel was about, and what the film is about too. I wasn’t involved in the writing process, but I did get to see drafts and give comments, especially towards the end of the writing process.

This Silence and the Vesps what was the seed and inspiration behind them?

Tim Lebbon

I can remember the moment I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be cool having monsters that hunt by sound and I’ll call it The Silence’. That was the seed. The rest of the novel built itself as most of my novels do, coming together as I write.

On a different work now, tell me more please, about this series Relics what is it about and what was the seed and inspiration behind creating this?

Tim Lebbon

The Relics trilogy is set in our world, where hunters search for priceless relics left over from old, dead mythological creatures. Then one of the hunters starts finding relics that are fresh. He discovers a black market in these parts, and he and his partner become involved in the world of the Kin. Many of these creatures understand that their time is over and they are content to live and die in the shadows … but some want to rise again, take on humanity, and reassert themselves as the dominant force on our planet.

What could we expect to see next from the mind of Tim Lebbon?

Tim Lebbon

I’m always working on new things, and have quite a few projects at various stages right now, including a TV series proposal, a new novel with Christopher Golden, a completed novel due out next year, a Firefly novel out this October, and the third and final book in the Relics trilogy, The Edge, is out this June.

You are a keen endurance man, what is your average time for a marathon?

Tim Lebbon

Not fast. My fastest is about 4:30, but most marathons I’ve done have either been really hilly trail marathons, or the runs at the end of an Ironman!

Weekly mileage on training for an event what’s it like?

Tim Lebbon

Triathlon training means mixing up disciplines, and I train by time not distance. Around about now I should be hitting 15 hours per week for an ironman I’m doing in 3 months’ time. As usual I’m not quite where I should be…

Any marathons out there you would love to run?

Tim Lebbon

Marathon des Sables, but I’m not sure I’d ever be fit enough.

http://www.marathondessables.com

I am sure you will be and can do it.

If you could pick any place in the world to train and run where would it be?

Tim Lebbon

The Rockies. Great training place, lots of top athletes are based in Boulder.

Ray Bradbury wrote: ”You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads.” Did you lurk in libraries and what have they done for you?

Tim Lebbon

When I was young, yes. I used to read a book per day back then, and I’d quickly get through my local library’s supply of kids’ books. Fond memories.

In the novel The Silence, Ally mentions this: “I loved horror films. Dad had started showing me some of his favourites—The Thing, Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Shining.” Are these your favourites?

Tim Lebbon

Yep, these are some of mine. There’s a lot of me in that book, and my family. Even the poor dog.

Writing, when, where, and with what do you it?

Tim Lebbon

I’m a 9 to 5 writer, and that’s dictated by having a busy family life. I’ve just started writing longhand again, and when I’m back into a new novel –– hopefully soon –– I’ll be taking off to local cafes with a notebook, pen, and nothing else. Leaving the damn phone at home!

Story mechanics, do you outline?

Tim Lebbon

A little, usually only to sell a proposal to a publisher. I plan more on the go, so a chapter or two ahead of where I am.

What key advice would you give to the aspiring author?

Tim Lebbon

Keep reading, keep writing, take positives from rejections and don’t be disheartened.

Which authors have been you greatest influences, and their books which ones you reread and recommend?

Tim Lebbon

Stephen King, The Stand.

All the best and success with the adaptation and with your works.

Thanks for this insightful chat into your writing life.

Tim Lebbon

Thanks!

Reviewed by Lou Pendergrast on 26 April 2019