F. G. Cottam

Cattam wrote: Reading is a cheap and totally effective way of being transported to another world. The same is true of writing. Mundane concerns only afflict your characters if you decide you want them to. University was where I first thought seriously about fiction; hearing about Hemingway's iceberg theory and Eliot's objective correlative and having the luxury of time to ponder on the mechanics of the novel. My first writing was journalism and pieces for I-D, Arena and The Face brought me to the attention of mainstream magazine publishers. In the '90's I edited FHM when it still majored on sport and fashion rather than Hollyoaks starlets and weather girls. Then I launch-edited the UK edition of Men's Health magazine and then came to the conclusion that if I didn't try to write some fiction it was never going to happen. I read all kinds of fiction, but write stories with a paranormal element I think really because history fascinates me and ghosts allow the past to resonate shockingly, scarily and I hope convincingly, into the present. I got off to an encouraging start but have suffered a few disappointments since then. I wouldn't in honesty want to do anything else, though. If I write a terrible novel it's my fault entirely. If I write a good novel, it's entirely my achievement.