Acclaimed Irish journalist and novelist Megan Nolan writes in bed and is addicted to her phone. We love her.
Hi Megan, congratulations on your brilliant novel, Ordinary Human Failings, that’s just come out in paperback. I honestly couldn’t put it down. I’d love to know how the seeds of the idea were planted?
Thank you so much, I'm very glad you enjoyed it. The idea came from an anecdote I read in a non-fiction book by Gordon Burn named Somebody's Husband, Somebody's Son which is about Peter Sutcliffe AKA the Yorkshire Ripper; a serial killer who terrorised the north of England. The anecdote related a tabloid journalist approaching members of Sutcliffe's family, working class people some of whom had addiction issues, and offering them unlimited booze and some money to be put up in a hotel, sequestered essentially, to be an exclusive source. I don't know if they ever took him up on it, but the image was so striking: a family at the worst crisis point of their lives being cooped up together forcibly in a single building. It seemed like a brilliant way into a family novel, which I'd always wanted to write and best love to read. From there, I conceived of the Greens and also of what the crime would be to incite this action, which opened up other important doors for me to incorporate longstanding areas of interest such as juvenile detention and classism in the media.
How did you find the process of writing this one? It feels like so soon after the first, I’m sure for you too! An impressive turnaround.
It was a fairly tight turnaround but I was lucky in a way because the idea was already quite fully formed from me ambiently thinking about it a few years in advance. I didn't know exactly what would take place but I had a strong sense of the atmosphere and family going in. I was also lucky in that it was contracted as part of a two book deal and so not only did I have a deadline to meet, I also had the money to put aside my other journalism work for a year to write it full time which was very luxurious. It's not very romantic but a lot of what defines how long these things take are simply logistic and financial concerns in my case, as I make all my money from writing and don't have another job.
Did you do lots of research into the period? You were a child in the 90s, so I imagine there was an element of nostalgia. Do you look back on that time fondly?
I think there's definitely an element of nostalgia because of how sort of accelerated (and not in a good way) life has felt for the last twenty or so years- it has felt for most of my adulthood that life consists of one disastrous global development after another in increasingly quick succession, and the 90s feel comparatively calm. It's hard to know how much of that is simply that I was a child, or whether things really were as different as I perceive them to have been. I didn't do a huge amount of research about the 90s as I had a basic grasp on the ins and outs from being there, but I did call my parents to check some things about the scenes set in the 1970s and 1950s; we are from Waterford so I would ask if a certain pub was there back then, or what the factory work was like, or if the cinema was called the same thing.
As an author in the digital age, how connected are you with readers, and do you have to employ mechanisms to switch off? (What I really want to know is, can you focus on your work or does your phone distract you, like mine is distracting me now).
For sure it does, it's probably the single most detrimental thing to my work and my general consciousness- I hate how much my brain has changed since, say, about 2012 when I started using a smartphone. It's mostly upsetting because of how much of writing can only come from your mind being at play with itself, coming from a place of stillness and restlessness, which can't happen if you're constantly negotiating interruptions or seeking distraction from the discomfort of your own thoughts. I use the Freedom App when I really need to concentrate, but mostly just rely on the tried and true method of hurling my phone across the room in self-disgust at a certain point. I do truly love talking to readers on Instagram, I find it very touching when anyone cares enough to reach out and tell you what they connected with, and in a certain sense I'm lucky that I am so fluent in social media because I already had a presence, I didn't have to construct one to please the publishers.
I read that you’re leaving London for New York. What prompted the move? And can I come?
It's been in the works a while! I started spending more and more time over there for months long stints, making more friends, finding favourite neighbourhoods, becoming involved with the literary scene there- eventually I just felt the pull strongly enough I made the decision. It's not that deep in a way, it's just the best place on earth and I thought I should try to spend time there while I am without dependents and have the freedom. I don't have any huge pressing reason to be there, and I strongly doubt I'll be able to afford it for more than a few years, but it's very fun and inspiring and culturally nourishing while it lasts.
What does the life of a modern day novelist look like? Working 9-5, or digital nomad? Or somewhere in between.
I am the worst person to ask this because I am horribly lazy and disorganised. Definitely not 9-5 (even when I had a 9-5 I wasn't 9-5). I'm not a morning person so my days begin very slowly, reading and making coffee and porridge and loafing about, and then if I have a journalism deadline I'll go to a library or working space or cafe and work for four or five hours and break for dinner and continue in the evening. With fiction it's different, more intimate, I can't do it in public except for very special quiet libraries like The London Library which I love. Mostly I write my novels in bed, or if I have the ability to then I'll take a trip for a month or two to some place I don't know anyone and have no distractions and try to be very productive and do little else but read and write. I'm quite all or nothing. It would be good to have a more regular balanced routine but literally nothing in my life has suggested that that will take place.
And what’s next on the agenda? In terms of work, and also most importantly, weekend plans.
I'm currently working on a third novel and also a proposal for a non-fiction book, but I haven't been very productive lately because I've been busy moving and settling in and finishing some journalism assignments. I'm trying to not give myself too hard a time about it but I'm hoping to get going properly in May. This weekend I'll be heading back to New York from Washington DC where I am to do some events, and seeing my boyfriend Grey for dinner on Friday, on Saturday I'll go to SoulCycle which I have recently become addicted to in a VERY uncharacteristic move as I have always been a hatefully unfit person, walk around Prospect Park and go to the "dog beach" where people let their dogs go nuts in the lake, and on Sunday my mother is arriving from Ireland to visit which I'm really excited for as it gives me an excuse to do all the touristy things I haven't bothered to yet.
April, 2024
