Paul Tomkins
The Girl on the Pier is the story of Patrick Clement, a forensic sculptor, who, in 1993, spends a night stranded on Brighton’s derelict West Pier with a beautiful young photographer. Fate conspires to cause to two to immediately lose touch. It’s about his desire, decades on, to find her again. At the same time he’s trying to help discover the identity of a young woman whose body was found on the pier when he was a child.
You are a well-known sportswriter; have you always aspired to write fiction?
I had no aspirations to be any kind of writer until I was 18, at which pointed I’d just started reading novels – my interests until then had always been football, art and music. I started to write fiction in my spare time, with the dream of one day becoming a successful novelist. I obviously wasn’t especially good when I started out, but over time I could see improvements, which kept me motivated.
I really enjoy the sportswriting but, perhaps due to my interest in art as a child, I need to be doing something creative or I feel unfulfilled.
Why did you turn to writing when you fell ill with ME?
I got very depressed after being diagnosed in 1999. I had to give up my career as a graphic designer at The Guardian, as well as losing a lot of my social life and having to stop playing sport. I began to write for a few small independent football websites, purely as a hobby that didn’t take much physical energy. After four years someone suggested I write a book on the subject, which I did. It sold much better than expected, and from then on it was the natural path to follow.
Back then, whenever I had a spare day I’d work on my fiction, but was never able to set aside enough time to do it justice. However, even though my style of football writing is very different to how I approach fiction, the act of writing every day enabled me to improve in both disciplines.
I recently wrote an article about my life with M.E., which probably provided the most satisfying response to anything I’ve ever written, with both people with M.E. and those who know or care for patients contacting me to show their appreciation. (www.paultomkins.com/living-with-m-e/we-are-death-warmed-up/ )
What sparked your fascination with Brighton when you visited in 1986?
It was a family holiday with my mum and my sister, with my dad staying at home. It felt different from places like Bournemouth and the Isle of Wight, where we’d gone before as a family – usually to Butlins. I particularly liked the Victorian West Pier, which was closed to the public. Later on, one of my best friends went to university in Brighton, so it’s a place I used to visit a lot.
As for the pier itself, I went on a hardhat tour in 1997, in the hope of one day writing something about it. The pier collapsed in a storm a few years later, and then, within a few months, what was left was burnt down in an act of arson. It seemed a fitting metaphor for someone who dreams of how things used to be.
Please tell us a bit more about the character of Patrick Clement.
He’s a complex character, as I think becomes apparent as the novel unfolds. He’s orphaned at a young age, and fears people abandoning him. He works as a forensic sculptor, reconstructing faces of unidentified bodies, and he has something of an obsessive personality. He’s not very good at letting go of the past, which is what drives his need to find the mysterious woman he spent that one remarkable night with.
It’s in no way an autobiographical novel, but there are some aspects of my character in Patrick, particularly in the drive to be creative, and the fear of falling short. But he also has plenty of traits that I don’t possess.
Can you let us know about the inspiration behind the story?
The novel evolved over many years, going through several different stages of inspiration, some of which I’m not sure I can even remember! The stop-start nature of life with an illness made it hard to fully immerse myself in the story. Every time I came back to it I’d find parts that really resonated with me, and others which didn’t ring true, so I’d keep the good stuff and ditch the rest. That process, which sometimes meant losing half of what I’d previously written, took the narrative in new directions. It was good to get some distance from what I’d written, but could be frustrating when I was unable to get into a flow.
Then, when my dad died at Christmas 2011, I decided that I had to find the time to finish it, as I didn’t want to live with the regret of never seeing it through to the end. I worked to the point of exhaustion, particularly in 2013 which was a very tough year for me, but by the start of 2014 it was more-or-less there. I’m incredibly proud of the end result.
What are your highlights from writing for the Liverpool FC website?
I really enjoyed being the weekly columnist for five years. I got to meet a lot of the people who run the club, and saw behind the scenes. However, you can become a lightning rod for people who are unhappy with the team’s fortunes, and football can evoke a lot of negative emotions online, so I don’t miss that side of it – although I still get plenty of trolling on Twitter!
But overall I’m glad that they asked me to do it. It helped me to build a larger following, which in turn allowed me to start a subscription-based website showcasing my writing, as well as that of people I’ve come to know and support.
What is next for you?
I’ll continue as a sportswriter, but I hope to be able to find the time and energy to finish another novel. I have one already part-written, plus several ideas for other stories, but as my health is quite changeable I can’t plan too far ahead. As life has shown me in the past, you can think you’re headed in one direction and then be set on a totally new path. I’ve had to learn to make the most of what I can do, rather than worry about what I can’t.