Hollywood silly money? I’d only have stuffed it in a tin under the bed
Gerald Seymour has written 40 pacy thrillers – but big screen success has yet to materialise
GERALD SEYMOUR shot to fame with Harry’s Game, his gripping 1970s book set against a backdrop of the Northern Ireland Troubles, which became a hit TV drama, writes YORK MEMBERY. Several of the 82-year-old’s other thrillers – including The Glory Boys and Red Fox – have also been adapted for the small screen. The father-of-two, who lives in Oxfordshire with wife Gillian, has sold three million books. He’s just published his 40th novel.
What did your parents teach Q you about money?
A
THAT it’s hard to get your hands on and is easy to lose. My father, William, who fought in World War I, was in his 50s when I was born. He was a retired bank manager for most of my childhood. But even if cash had been freely available, he would never have blown it in a betting shop or on fine wines.
My mother Rosalind was a novelist, not always the best paid profession.
Yes, I was sent to boarding school aged 13, but my father bargained and got a special deal, £60 a term. My pocket money was a weekly 3 shillings and 6 pence postal order.
There were no family extravagances, and during the holidays I had gardening jobs in Ewhurst, the Surrey village where my brother and I grew up and did Royal Mail parcel delivery work at Christmas.
Have you ever struggled Q to make ends meet?
A
I BECAME a trainee reporter at ITN at 21, on £875 a year, and when I married Gill a year later in 1964 my salary was £1,000. We were often on the edge financially. I took on Sunday night stints as a newscaster to earn some extra money. The last story one night was about a dad who tried to get a court order to stop his daughter marrying as her intended had just £10 in the bank. As a sign-off, I quipped ‘That’s more than I have!’ which was true.
Have you ever been Q paid silly money?
A
NEVER. I’ve had six books made for British and US television. And Hollywood bought options on stories and talked about a part being ‘just right’ for Tom Cruise or Michael Caine – but this was never translated into the magic moment when the camera rolls. I’d never have known what to do with ‘silly money’ anyway – I’d only have stuffed it in a biscuit tin under the bed.
What was the best year Q of your life, financially?
A
PROBABLY 1995 or 1996. After Harry’s Game came out I was fashionable for a while, and a 1990s novel netted me a six-figure advance. That funded trips to places including South Africa and the north-west frontier of Pakistan to research my books. I even visited communist East Germany where the border goons stamped my visa ‘007’, which was a bit of a bonus.
The most expensive thing Q you have done for fun?
A
FOUR debenture seats at Twickenham rugby stadium. I reckon I must have paid around £100,000 over the years to see England home games. But I now prefer to watch village soccer.
What has been your biggest Q money mistake?
A
BUYING a Range Rover for my wife to replace her Discovery. Both had plenty of ‘teething problems’, and were a disaster. The biggest cheque I’ve ever written out for a car, a second-hand Fiat 127, was for just over
£1,000 in the 1980s but it was reliable.
The best Q money decision you have made?
A WHEN I came home from reporting on the Yom Kippur war in the Middle East in 1973, ITN suggested I take a three-week break, so I decided to write a thriller. The book became Harry’s Game, later adapted for TV.
Do you have Q a pension?
A
YES, but I’m fortunate enough to still be paid for my writing.
Do you own Q any property?
A
A three-bedroom 1860s cottage in the Thames Valley, which my wife and I bought for a six-figure sum in the Noughties.
If you were Chancellor Q what would you do?
A
I’D FIND a way to cut VAT, because that tax always seems to throw my cost estimates.
What is your No. 1 Q financial priority?
A
TO BE able to pay my own way, and not be a burden – while remembering the old adage that ‘shrouds have no pockets’. Meanwhile I have another chapter to write...
The Best Revenge, by Gerald Seymour, (Hodder & Stoughton) is out now.