I am so excited to chat with Neil Sharpson about his new novel. Adapted from a play, When the Sparrow Falls, is a thrilling genre mashup. Part spy-thriller, part utopian nightmare, it’s a timely examination of authoritarianism and the perils of technology, while deftly exploring the themes of identity and trauma. It’s both futuristic and firmly embedded in the past. This world and the characters struggling to survive within it will stay with you for a long time. Today, we’re going to talk to Neil about finding the right medium for a story, his writing process, and what’s next.
Hi Neil! Tell us a little about yourself. When did you start writing?
And hello to you! I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in creating stories either for my brothers at bedtime or just for myself but I do remember the first story I ever wrote when I was eight years old: an alternate version of the Princess and the Frog where, instead of trying to get a kiss, the Frog goes on a quest to defeat the wizard who transformed him and picks up a party of animals on the way who’ve also been done dirty by the wizard. It ended with a battle in a volcano. It was, if I do say so myself, dope as hell and I’ve yet to top it.
What does your writing process or writing day look like?
In the morning I walk my son into creche and my daughter into school. I come back to the house and have breakfast and by half nine I’m usually ready to start writing. Writing can either be the current book, or edits, or a screenplay or radio script or blogging or articles like this one. At around two o’clock I pick up my daughter and help her with her homework and then at five I pick up my son from creche. After the kids are put to bed I might do a bit of night writing if I’m up against a deadline but usually my wife and I will hang out on the couch and watch a movie or play video games. As for the process, I usually don’t have to worry about writer’s block. There’s always multiple things to write so I’ll just write one thing as a way to procrastinate from writing the other thing.
If you had to summarize When The Sparrow Falls in five words, what would they be?
Tinker Tailor in Airstrip One.
I read that this novel originally began as a play. What was that process like turning a play into a novel?
It was a dream. The play, which was called The Caspian Sea, was something I was working at on and off for almost a decade. By contrast, the first draft of When the Sparrow Falls took three months and it was substantially the book that is now being published. I’ve always struggled with structure as a writer but that was something I was able to crack with the play (eventually) which meant that starting the novel I had the structure, the characters, the themes, the beginning middle and end. Everything that was added was mostly world building or fleshing out stuff that was already there and it was a really enjoyable, easy process.
Do you feel that any parts worked better in the play, or vice versa?
No, I think the novel is a much better version of the story. For one thing, you get a much richer, fuller tale. Stage just isn’t the right medium for elaborate, complex worldbuilding. The character of Nikolai South also works much better on the page. In the play he’s a bit more of an ordinary bloke, bumbling around way over his head. In the novel, because you’re seeing things from his viewpoint, he comes across as much cannier and with a dry wit. The book also gives him the scope to be more conventionally heroic. He’s also much more of a detective in the book, and much more active in his own story.
Who was your favourite character to write and why? Who was the most difficult and why?
Favorite, hands down, Sally Coe. She’s one of the few characters in the story powerful and dangerous enough that she can just say and do what she wants without fear of repercussion which makes her very fun to write. Plus, she’s a badass.
Hardest to write I’d say was Lily Xirau. Lily is the AI character and by intention the most “human”. She’s the most morally good of any of the main characters. If writing Sally was like writing Tony Stark, writing Lily was like writing Steve Rogers. And I love Steve Rogers! But he’s a character who demands a lot more from you as a writer to make him compelling.
What do you hope readers will take away from reading this book?
Always try and see the humanity in other people and remember that power is a poison.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Kid, you’ll go through some really rough patches but trust me it gets SO GOOD.
You’re invited to dinner and can bring any three authors, living or dead, with you. Who do you choose and why?
PG Wodehouse because he’d be charm and wit personified. CS Lewis, because I love him and Ayn Rand because she hated Lewis with a passion and watching her seethe at him across the breadsticks would be good for my soul.
What are you reading? Listening to? Watching?
This last year, with the pandemic, the book deal and full time parenting has turned me into Garth Marenghi: I have written more books than I’ve read. But, I’m currently reading White City by Kevin Power, which is the story of the son of an Irish banker who goes broke in the 2008 crash and gets caught up in a dodgy Serbian land deal. Loving it so far, very witty, very well written. I’m listening to the audiobook of The Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone which is a fun, far-future space opera romp. And I’ve just finished watching Felix the Cat The Movie for a review for my blog and it may actually be the single worst film I have ever seen, live action or animated.
What book would you recommend to readers? To aspiring writers?
For readers I’d recommend Strumpet City by James Connolly. It’s an epic historical novel set in Dublin in the early 20th century taking in characters from every segment and section of society, wealthy industrialists, laborers, priests, tramps, prostitutes. It’s a jaw-droppingly good book, beautifully written, wonderfully humane, scabrously funny and often deeply, touchingly tragic.
For writers? Everything. Read everything in your chosen genre you can get your hands on. Remember that bad books are every bit as informative and educational to a writer as good books, maybe more so, as they inflict harsh lessons as to what not to do and why those things don’t work. It’s all very well for me to tell you not to spend half a chapter on your main character’s trip to Tesco but if you actually have to sit through it? That lesson will stick. Also, be sure to venture outside your chosen genre. That romance novel that your aunt left in the guest room might have exactly the right character beat or plot resolution to tie up your spy thriller. Some really interesting things can happen when genres cross-pollinate.
I was curious what the rest of this world looked like, and what the future of the new country could be. Are there any sequels planned, or books set in different parts of this world, or from the perspective of an AI? If not, what’s next?
I would probably avoid setting a whole novel in Triumvirate-Era Earth for the same reason Star Trek isn’t typically set inside the Federation itself. Utopias, or even quasi-utopias, are pretty boring. I do have an idea for a side-story set roughly parallel to When the Sparrow Falls called Yozhik. If you’ve read the book you can probably guess what that’s about. And I do have an idea for a novel set in the far, far future from Sparrow’s setting.
Currently I’m working on my second novel for Tor. It’s a cosmic horror set over several decades centered on one Irish family, combining elements of Irish mythology, fairy lore and a hefty influence from Twin Peaks.
