Listening to Monteverdi and Morricone helps me to focus
Please tell me about 1 yourself
My name is Philip Gwynne Jones and I first came to Italy in 1994, working for the European Space Agency in Frascati, a job that proved to be less exciting than I imagined.
I spent 20 years in the IT industry before realising I was congenitally unsuited to it and now work as a writer, teacher and translator. I
live in Venice with my wife
Caroline. I enjoy cooking, art, classical music and opera; and can occasionally be seen and heard singing bass with the Cantori Veneziani. My first novel The Venetian Game was a Waterstones Thriller of the Month and a Times Top Five bestseller. The Venetian Legacy, the fifth in the Nathan Sutherland series, is out now with further titles due out next year and in 2023. To Venice with Love, an account of moving to and living in La Serenissima, was a Reader’s Digest Book of the Month. He has written for the Sunday Times and the Big Issue, and is a frequent guest on BBC Radio Wales. I am a member of the Society of Authors, the Crime Writers’ Association and the Welsh crime writing collective Crime Cymru.
Do you write fact or fiction 2
and in what genre
I’ve written one travelogue – To Venice With Love – but my main job is writing crime fiction, set in contemporary Venice.
What’s your work schedule 3 like when you are writing?
Hah, I wish I had one! I teach part-time and also do some translation work, so writing time is whenever I can fit it in. But I do try to write every day, no matter what time of day that happens to be. I get a bit grumpy if I don’t!
What/who inspired you to 4 write fiction
I think it really was the city of Venice itself. Prior to moving here, I’d never attempted to write anything seriously. But there’s something about the city that just makes you want to write. The extraordinary beauty but, at the same time, the slightly creepy atmosphere of walking the streets late at night. Those of you who’ve seen Don’t Look Now will understand…
Please tell me about The Venetian Legacy
5
It is the fifth book in the series about Nathan Sutherland, Honorary British Consul – and occasional accidental crime fighter – in Venice. The book starts with his marriage to Federica Ravagnan and their honeymoon on the island of Pellestrina – the long, impossibly thin strip of land that divides the Venetian
lagoon from the Adriatic.
But, of course, nothing is as simple as that and they end up being dragged into the legacy of a deceased gangster – a member of the Mala del Brenta, better known as the Venetian Mafia. Yes, they really do exist! At some point, every novelist who writes about Italy has to deal with the Mafia.
How thin is the dividing line between you and the prog rock, classical music loving, horror film buff, cultured, spritz-drinking, kind, cheffie Nathan
6
Donna Leon once said that, if she was going to be spending a long time in Guido Brunetti’s head, he had to be someone she’d be happy spending time with. It’s safe to say that the things Nathan likes are the things I
like. He was never going to be a Justin Bieber fan. But there are differences – he’s much braver than me. If anyone reads my books and checks Hawkwind, Jethro Tull or Premiata Forneria Marconi, well, I’d be delighted!
Gramsci is one of the books’ 7 great characters. Do you have a cat?
We have an Italian cat called Mimi – unlike Gramsci, she’s a friendly, happy cat. Gramsci is based on a grumpy, antisocial cat that we had 20 ago. We did love him but he was a cat of few redeeming features.
What prompted your move 8 to Venice
We both lost our jobs, in middle age, during the middle of the economic crisis. We sold up everything and moved to Venice with ten suitcases and no job, and started over. It turned out to be the best thing we ever did. What I love is the fact that everything is beautiful. And no cars. Everyone has to walk or take the water bus – that’s a great leveller.
Who/what are your
9
favourite authors/books?
The American golden age of ‘hard boiled’ fiction, so Raymond Chandler is a favourite. I think Nick and Nora Charles of Dashiell Hammett’s The Thin Man were something of an influence on Nathan and Federica – his dialogue really is something to aspire to. More recently, Neil Gaiman is a wonderful writer and I do miss the wit, warmth and wisdom of Terry Pratchett. I also
like classic horror fiction.
MR James in particular, on a chilly December night – marvellous!
0 What helps you focus?
1 It depends. I wrote most of my third book, The Venetian Masquerade, in the Marciana library, listening to Monteverdi on headphones. It helped me get into the right mood. I quite often listen to music but it usually has to be instrumental, otherwise I find the words can get in the way. I’m listening to a lot of classic Italian soundtracks at the moment – Ennio Morricone, that sort of thing.
1 Where can we find your 1
books
Amazon has them all and Waterstones have been wonderfully supportive. But if you have a local bookshop, why not try asking there?