The Writers Write Interview – Darrel Bristow-Bovey

In this post, we share our interview with Darrel Bristow-Bovey. The author was our guest at an event in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Darrel Bristow-Bovey is an author, podcaster, travel travel writer, screenwriter and a columnist. He wrote the bestselling I Moved Your Cheese, The Naked Bachelor, and a collection of columns, But I Digress.

The Writers Write Interview With Darrel Bristow-Bovey

The Author: Darrel Bristow-Bovey
Date: 29 October 2007
Place: Hodges, Caighall Park
Date of birth: 6 April
The Book: But I Digress

1.   Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Hercule Poirot – he makes me happy.
Jesus of Nazareth had some good dialogue but ultimately he wasn’t that convincing as a character.

2.   What is your most treasured possession?

My unreceding hairline.

3.   Which living person do you most dislike?

My next-door neighbour with his new girlfriend. Dude – some of us are trying to sleep.

4.   What is your greatest fear?

Finally one day encountering a deadline that you really can’t go over.

5.   Who or what has been the greatest love of your life?

Joanna Lumley as Purdey in The New Avengers.

6.   What is your greatest regret?

That I wasn’t born fifty years earlier.

7.   If you could choose to be a character in a book, who would it be?

Harry Flashman in the books by George MacDonald Fraser.

Moby Dick

9.   What is your favourite journey?

Down the corridor of a luxury train carriage, dressed for the occasion, to the saloon car for a cocktail before dinner.

10. Cats or Dogs? Which do you prefer?

Cats.

11.  What quality do you most admire in a woman?

Forgiveness.

12.  Which book that  you’ve written is your favourite?

SuperZero. (I know everyone should say “the next one”, but that just sounds creepy and smug.)

13.  What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Marry well.

14.  What are your favourite names?

Titus Carnby, Massimo Avrogardo; Chester Poorboy; Richie Flow.

15.  What do you do as a hobby?

Invent new ways to sabotage my life and general happiness.

16.  What are your top three books? 

The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies; The Collected Short Stories of Anton Chekhov (or Somerset Maugham); anything by PG Wodehouse; American Tabloid by James Ellroy. That’s more than 3 – editor’s note to interviewer

17.  Where do you get your greatest ideas for writing?

From a small store off Krom Thep Road in the old quarter of Bangkok.

If you want to read more of our interviews, click here