Scala Radio Book Club: Tick Tock by Simon Mayo
It starts quietly enough. A tick-tick-ticking you can hear in your ear. Tinnitus, you think. It will pass. But it doesn't. It gets worse - and then you pass it on
Last updated 17th Aug 2022
In the Scala Radio Book Club, Richard Allinson chatted to Scala presenter and author Simon Mayo, on his brand-new novel Tick Tock.
It starts quietly enough. A tick-tick-ticking you can hear in your ear. Tinnitus, you think. It will pass. But it doesn't. It gets worse - and then you pass it on.
Before you know it, it spreads. Elsewhere across the globe, it emerges: small outbreaks at first, but then suddenly it's a plague - and only days later it is already killing people.
In an increasingly affected north London school, teacher Kit Chaplin is struggling to understand what he is witnessing. Even Lilly Slater, his partner and an eminent vaccinologist, can't work out what's happening. As it spreads, little by little, they are inexorably drawn into the mystery behind the illness. And what they discover will change the world as they know it...
Exciting and urgently contemporary, this piercingly insightful thriller tells the story of a global catastrophe through the eyes of the three people at the heart of the storm.
Richard began the interview by asking, ‘You wrote the opening idea for this novel about five years ago. Do you have twists and turns planned out in your head before you start, or do they come to you as you're writing?’
‘This was all planned out beforehand,’ said Simon. ‘Actually, in the last meeting I had with my editor before lockdown, I told him exactly what was going to happen, and what the tinnitus turns into because that's the heart of the book. It’s a mystery as to what is this thing which people are catching, and why is it here.
But then there's the whole thing of who is responsible for this thing which has arrived, and what can we do about it. The novel revolves around three people, Kit, who's the Head of English at a local school, Lily, who's the vaccinologist, and Kit's daughter Rose.’
Richard said, ‘As a broadcaster, you've interviewed hundreds of writers over the years. Have you learned anything from them? Have they dropped little tips that you've just picked up?’
‘No, but I think more broadly, yes,’ said Simon. ‘Reading other people's books is the best advice to give to anybody who wants to learn to write. You might interview a writer who says, “I always plan meticulously every single chapter”. You might interview another author, like in Ian Rankin or Lee Child who just start, and they just see where it takes them. And I'm not like either of those particularly.
The only advice that I've ever taken any notice of is once you've started it, make sure you finish it, because everyone can write the first chapter, then go back and rewrite it, and polish it until it's absolutely fantastic. But get to the end! Then you can go back and make all the changes that you need to.’
Richard finished the interview by asking, ‘There's 24 hours in the day. You're writing books, you're on radio shows. How do you find the time?’
‘I guess I am a workaholic, but also I can be quite structured and I get up quite early. I think it's possible on a good day to start work at about 6am and then have completed the writing tasks before anyone else is aware.
So genuinely In the Park on Scala has accompanied more of my writing than any other radio programme. It is absolutely fantastic! It is the best way to start every single day, and it sounds encouraging, it sounds warm, and you can get on and do your stuff. And I do!’
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Tick Tock by Simon Mayo
It starts quietly enough. A tick-tick-ticking you can hear in your ear. Tinnitus, you think. It will pass. But it doesn't. It gets worse - and then you pass it on.
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