Tim Weaver | INTERVIEW | AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT | Q&A

I'm absolutely over the moon to announce the one and the only Tim Weaver (pictured) is the focus of my Author Spotlight. I've been a huge fan since I picked up Vanished ten years ago, I still remember exactly where I was when I purchased it, the just-one-more chapter addiction, the incredible plot & its main man David Raker. So the fact I got to read Missing Pieces early & steal an interview with the mastermind who created it was a real pinch-myself-moment!

Tim is the Sunday Times bestselling author of the David Raker Missing Persons series. He has been nominated for a National Book Award, selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, and shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library award, which considers an author's entire body of work.

He is also the host and producer of the chart-topping Missing podcast, which features experts in the field discussing missing persons investigations from every angle. A former journalist and magazine editor, he lives near Bath with his wife and daughter.

His latest book Missing Pieces is released on April 15th! I'm lucky enough to have read it already, it is his first standalone, so no Raker this time but I promise you it is incredible, it had me up far too late because I simply couldn't put it down & the plot absolutely blew my mind.

Without further ado, here is my Q&A with the fabulous man himself...

 Can you tell me something about Missing Pieces that isn't in the blurb? 

The main character, Rebekah, is British, but has lived in New York since she was 18.

How did you come up with the inspiration for this novel?

I'd just had a story kicking around my head for a while about a mother being separated from her children but being unable to get back to them. I tried to make it work in a couple of my Raker novels but it never quite came off so, after I finished No One Home, I felt like ten Raker novels on the spin was a good place to pause for a year and write something entirely different.

What comes first for you, the plot or the characters?

It's not an either/or for me. Sometimes you can see the plot more clearly up front than you can some of the characters; other times the characters – in particular, the main characters – are much more fully formed than anything you've thought about plot-wise. I don't plot, really, I just write and see where the story takes me, so I never have a huge, detailed idea of where the plot is going, anyway. And, for me, characters don't come alive until you get them on the page, so it really is all in the writing for me, whether you're thinking about the plot, or the characters, or both.

What is the most surprising thing you have discovered when writing your novels?

That they don't get easier, they get harder. I'm writing Raker 11 at the moment and it's been such an unspeakable grind, full of crushing self-doubt and ultra-panic about whether it's any good. This is pretty standard for me, but you definitely feel it more, the more you write.

Where is your favourite place to write?

My study. I don't write anywhere else. I hate writing on trains and in coffee shops!

What’s your favourite writing snack or drink?

I don't snack while I write. It's way too dangerous! I do love a cuppa, though.

How do you celebrate when you finish your book?

With a profound sense of relief. I always wished I'd invented some awesome routine every time I finish a book, like smoking an expensive cigar, or opening a classy bottle of wine... but I forgot to do it with book one, and then continued to forget to do it, and now it would seem weird. In normal times, the closest I get to a celebration is booking a holiday somewhere and then crashing on a sun lounger for a week (or two, if I'm lucky) and not thinking about writing at all.

How do you pick your book titles? Which is your favourite?

It's a mix. Sometimes I'll come up with one as I'm writing, and I'll submit the manuscript and my editor and everyone at Penguin will say, "What an awesome title!" Other times, in fact most of the time, they say, "Er, about that title..." The Dead Tracks, Never Coming Back, Broken Heart, You Were Gone, The Shadow at the Door (aka Raker 10.5 😉 –– more below) and The Blackbird (aka Raker 11) have all been my original titles. The others have been ones that we've arrived at during discussions with my editor and the Penguin team. 

What is the best thing about being an author?

Writing full-time and being paid for it! I still have to pinch myself every day that I get to do this for a living, let alone that people actually want to read what I write. I think it's utterly amazing, and completely humbling, and I feel so blessed that I get to do what I do.

What do you enjoy doing when you aren't writing?

I love sport, especially football and cricket, so I watch a lot of that. I love to hike –– mountains are my happy place –– and explore new places. I'm a huge movie fan –– not just watching them, although I love that too, but the actual technical aspects of filmmaking. I actually wanted to be a film director when I was at school, and had a place at a great film school, but then spectacularly flunked my A-Levels! Oh, and in non-Covid times, I absolutely love to travel.

Which book is currently on your bedside table?

Right now, I'm reading Sarah Pearse's The Sanatorium.

What is coming next for you?

The next 12 months or so are pretty busy for me. I have Missing Pieces, my first standalone, coming out on 15th April; then I have The Shadow at the Door –– which is a very special and unique Raker project that I can't wait to talk more about in the next few months –– coming out in November; and then, finally, next Spring, will be The Blackbird, which is David Raker 11.

Thanks for taking the time, Tim it was an absolute pleasure! 😊

Check back on April 15th to read my review of Missing Pieces.

Have you guys read any Tim Weaver? Which is your favourite?