Interview with author Will Dean
Photo: Will Dean
Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. After studying Law at LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. He built a wooden house in a forest clearing and it’s from here that he compulsively reads and writes - accompanied mostly by his dog, BernieHe’s the author of 5 Tuva Moodyson thrillers and 4 stand-alone thrillers.
Interview
Jillian
Welcome Will – and thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions for our readers here in LibrariesNI. I know you are a great supporter of libraries generally - can you tell me what free access to libraries has meant to you over the years?
Will
Without libraries I wouldn’t be a writer today. I owe librarians my career. Growing up in the East Midlands, my family didn’t read and there were no books in the house. I was shy and awkward and I found great comfort in reading (and nature). Nothing much has changed in that regard. My mum, bless her, would take me to the local library and let me borrow as many books as I could. I was the first person in my family to do A-Levels and go to university. Libraries shaped my life and I still use and value them to this day.
Jillian
The big question is – why did you decide to move to the middle of a Swedish forest? Does it help with your writing?
Will
After leaving the Midlands for university, I settled in London and my wife and I lived for many years in a tiny one-bedroom flat. We loved that little place but dreamed of somewhere quiet and wild where we could grow potatoes and adopt a huge dog. A Swedish forest seemed like a good option (and very inexpensive). We built a wooden house and started a family. Does it help with writing? I think so. I travel a lot to attend events around the world and I always look forward to coming back home to hide in the woods and think up a new story.
Jillian
Your character of Tuva Moodyson has been a big hit, with the series you have written based deep in a Swedish forest. We are introduced to her as a deaf reporter – can I ask why you decided that she would be deaf? And how does her hearing impairment add to the stories?
Will
I have a strange process (I don’t recommend it). I wait for an image to pop into my head (usually before I fall asleep). Generally, these are uninteresting, but occasionally I’ll ‘see’ a scenario that I find intriguing. With Tuva, I ‘saw’, from an aerial perspective, a huge pine forest. I zoomed in (in my mind’s eye) and saw a large pick-up truck driving through the trees. I ‘looked’ through the window and saw a young woman in the driving seat. She was wearing hearing aids. I was curious what she was driving away from and what she was driving towards. I wanted to know more about her. Tuva came to me fully-formed.
Jillian
You have written four stand-alone novels in recent years, all equally thrilling (and traumatic if I may say so!) Do you enjoy writing these more than the Tuva series?
Will
I enjoy them both equally, but they’re quite different. When I write a Tuva story it’s such a pleasure to be immersed back into her world, in the Twin Peaks-y town of Garvik, Sweden. I look forward to writing those first drafts, and reconnecting with all the wonderful (and sometimes eccentric) characters in Tuva’s life. Then, when that’s finished, I start to get really excited about a standalone idea. Not because it’s comforting, but because it is without limits. Literally anything can happen. Over the years I’ve gained a little more confidence to test myself and stretch/break genre conventions. Any book is a huge challenge, and I often doubt myself, but on the whole I enjoy writing very much.
Jillian
Your next novel Ice Town (to be published Nov 24) - the sixth in the series - features Tuva again but this time in a daring rescue of a deaf teenager in an isolated mountain town. I understand that you had a ‘sensitivity reader’ for this – can you explain what that is?
Will
I’m so lucky. Before Dark Pines was published in 2018 I approached a Twitter friend (DG) who is deaf and asked her if she’d be interested in taking a look at the manuscript. She agreed a fee with my publisher and her feedback was absolutely invaluable. She’ll pick up on little errors, often related to hearing aids or how a deaf person might react in the darkness (for example), and her input makes the books all the more authentic. I’ve worked with DG on every Tuva book since and we’ve spoken about the collaborative process on BBC Radio 4. I am so fortunate to work with her.
Jillian
You seem to have a thing about confined spaces – from decompression chambers to tunnels and of course deserted cruise ships – would you care to explain?
Will
I’m not particularly claustrophobic. My books are all about family relationships and control, I think. I don’t mind small spaces but I do mind being out of control, or, even worse, being controlled. I also enjoy the dynamic of writing a small cast in an isolated place. It helps me to go really deep on character, and that is what fascinates me as a reader and as a writer. I am still that shy, awkward kid, and I am trying to understand people better.
Jillian
Are any of your novels in line for screen productions yet? Tuva would make a great on screen character!
Will
Thank you. Again, I’ve been very lucky. Several standalones are currently in development for TV and film adaptations. With my series I can’t say too much just yet but I can say that the incredible Rose Ayling-Ellis will be playing Tuva Moodyson. I’m so thrilled – she will be brilliant.
Jillian
What does the future look like for you?
Will
Hiding away deep in the forest reading and writing and spending time with my family. I am inspired by Cormac McCarthy. He withdrew to the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico to quietly work on his craft. I like that. The future, I think, looks like me reading interesting books and then working on my own storytelling and prose. And, when travelling, doing as many events in libraries as I can.
Jillian
Thank you, Will Dean – it’s been a pleasure to talk to you today and I hope you will come to visit some of our Libraries here in NI very soon.
