The Boy Who Could See Demons (37 page)
Read The Boy Who Could See Demons Online
Authors: Carolyn Jess-Cooke
What prompted you to choose schizophrenia as your central theme?
It became an almost natural curve of the story once Alex comes clean about his ability to see demons. Instinctively I felt that this was the conclusion Anya might draw about his condition – when I researched the (vast) areas of mental health issues I found that the highly delusional aspect of Alex’s claims (amongst other issues, portrayed in the book) made him a likely candidate for early onset schizophrenia.
This is a dark story, but Alex’s voice is full of fun and life. Is this juxtaposition deliberate?
Alex’s character was vibrant and buoyant from the outset, and this counterpointed the darker layers of his situation. Also, I wanted to be careful not to let the story sag into bleakness. It would have been too easy to let the subject matter darken the tone – I thought it would be clichéd and dull to write about demons in a typically gloomy way. Much more interesting when they’re keen on bread and butter pudding.
Did anything in particular inspire you to write this story?
As my ‘Letter from the Author’ details, this story is grounded in a fascination I had with C S Lewis’s
The Screwtape Letters
. In 2002 I wanted to make a film based on the book and started getting ideas for the music and plot, but ultimately I couldn’t obtain the rights. I was pretty devastated as I loved the story and characters I had devised, but the idea lingered and ultimately inspired the creation of Ruen.
You’re a mother of three young children. How do you find time to write and what advice would you give to aspiring authors in the same position as you?
The saying ‘cut your cloth accordingly’ rings true – you have to do what suits you and your circumstances. I fit my writing around my children and try to ensure nobody feels neglected, and luckily I’ve been writing for so long that I can write anywhere, anytime. I still don’t even own a desk. The most important thing is not actually time to write – it’s confidence to write. It’s astonishing how much writing time can be gobbled up by doubt. Don’t worry whether you’re writing on a napkin or a Mac, whether you’re writing poetry or prose, whether it’s any good – just write. And remember that a vast majority of ‘writing’ happens in the head – don’t be fooled if you ever catch me ironing. I’m actually plotting.
You’re a celebrated poet and novelist; two very different disciplines. Which do you prefer?
I love both equally – honest! I think form is hugely important and worth taking time to explore; even if you are a committed short story writer you should dabble with poetry or novels or screenplays or radio dramas. Exploring the different genres of writing challenges you as an artist and profits your understanding of how a form can be used effectively. There are things a poem can do that a novel cannot – but it works the other way round. I find it very difficult to write both simultaneously; they seem to require different parts of my brain, which is a challenge that I enjoy.
What are you working on now?
Aside from my poetry, I am working on my third novel, which is about a grieving widow who takes her daughter and mother-in-law on a journey around Europe to scatter her husband’s ashes and heal their fractured family unit.
Read on for the opening of Carolyn Jess-Cooke’s
internationally bestselling novel
When I died I became a guardian angel.
Nandita broke the news to me in the afterlife without any ice-breaking small talk or comfort-inducing chit-chat. You know the way dentists ask what your Christmas plans are right before they yank out a tooth? Well, I can tell you there was none of that. There was simply this:
Margot is dead, child. Margot is dead
.
No way
, I said.
I’m not dead
.
She said it again.
Margot is dead
. She kept saying it. She took both my hands in hers and said:
I know how hard this is. I left five kids behind in Pakistan with no papa. Everything will be all right
.
I had to get out of there. I looked around and saw that we were in a valley surrounded by cypress trees with a small lake a couple of metres away from where we stood. Bulrushes fenced the edge of the water, their velvet heads like microphones waiting to broadcast my reply. Well, there wouldn’t be one. I spotted a scribble of grey road in the distance amongst the fields. I started walking.
Wait
, Nandita said.
There’s someone I want you to meet
.
Who
? I said.
God
? This is the summit of Absurdity and we’re hammering in the flag.
I’d like you to meet Ruth
, Nandita said, taking my hand and leading me towards the lake.
Where
? I leaned forward, looking amongst the trees in the distance.
There
, she said, pointing at my reflection.
And then she pushed me in.
Some guardian angels are sent back to watch over siblings, children, people they cared about. I returned to Margot. I returned to
myself
. I am my own guardian angel, a monastic scribe of the biography of regret, stumbling over my memories, carried away in the tornado of a history that I cannot change.
I shouldn’t say ‘cannot change’. Guardian angels, as we all know, prevent our deaths a thousand times over. It is the duty of every guardian angel to protect against every word, deed and consequence that does not correspond to free will. We’re the ones who make sure no accidents happen. But change – that’s our business. We change things every second of every minute of every day.
Every day I see behind the scenes, the experiences I was meant to have, the people I was meant to have loved, and I want to take some celestial pen and change the whole thing. I want to write a script for myself. I want to write to this woman, the woman I was, and tell her everything I know. And I want to say to her:
Margot.
Tell me how you died.
Carolyn Jess-Cooke
is the author of
The Guardian Angel’s Journal
, which was an international bestseller. Also the author of the award-winning poetry collection
Inroads
(Seren, 2010) and four academic titles, Carolyn is published in over twenty languages. She was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1978 and now lives in Gateshead with her husband and three children.
Carolyn’s website is
www.carolynjesscooke.com
.
FICTION
The Guardian Angel’s Journal
POETRY
Inroads
NON-FICTION
Second Takes: Critical Approaches to the Film Sequel, co-edited with C. Verevis
Apocalyptic Shakespeares: Essays on Visions of Destruction and Revelation in Recent Film Adaptations, co-edited with M. Croteau
Film Sequels
Shakespeare on Film:
Such Things as Dreams are Made of
