Author profile: Alan Franks (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Author profile: Alan Franks

2:24pm Friday 3rd December 2010 in Leisure By Will Gore

Richmond resident Alan Franks recently left The Times after more than 30 years on the paper but there is still plenty keeping him busy. As well as being a distinguished journalist, he writes plays, volumes of poetry, and records albums of folk music. He has also written several novels with his latest, Sins of the Sons, in the shops now. Will Gore caught up with Franks to discuss his new book and his multi-faceted career.

Will Gore: Tell us what Sins of the Sons is about.

Alan Franks: It is the story of two friends, Danny, the narrator, and Oliver. There is an incident of bullying with tragic consequences that haunts Danny through the years of his early adulthood. The second half of the book explores how he copes with his bereavement and his desire for revenge.

WG: The period in which the book is set is an important element of the novel, isn’t it?

AF: Yes – the book is set in that small window at the start of the 1960s just before The Beatles came along that was already very Americanised thanks to the post-war influences. The Twist broke with Chubby Checker’s hit Let’s Twist Again and there was the first inklings of teenage rebellion. Parents were apprehensive about their children’s increased independence and it was in this context that I imagined the story.

WG: The book sounds like a dark affair – is that a fair assessment?

AF: It would be characterised as a dark comedy – I am trying to treat the material respectfully but I couldn’t help but be drawn to the comic side of the main characters.

WG: You write journalism, plays, poetry and music as well as novels but do you have a favourite form to work in?

AF: I always prefer the form I am doing at any one time. Although, at the same, I will also consider it to be the most difficult, because at that moment it will be the form that is causing me a problem.

WG: What is your writing routine?

AF: I live opposite Kew Gardens but work from a flat in Church Road – I will often take a break from writing to go cycling in the park. I am currently working on a new play and have been putting in some long days at the flat but I have also picked up the habit from my journalism of working on trains. I take my notebook with me everywhere and feel naked if I haven’t got three or four biros on me.

Sins of the Sons is out now, published by Muswell Press. Visit alanfranks.com for further information.