N. J. Cooper Revealed
About N. J. Cooper
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What is your birthdate?:4/1
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Previous occupations:I worked in publishing.
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Favorite job:Finding a fantastic novel by a brilliant new writer.
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High school and/or college:St Mary's School, Wantage/The Inchbald School of Design.
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Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:Mozart
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Favorite movie:I'm torn between Zulu and The Dirty Dozen
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Favorite television show:I can't drag myself away from The Wire
Revealing Questions
- Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
- A. Building relationships and exploring the possibilities of enlightenment
- Q. What is your motto or maxim?
- A. Always look behind the mask
- Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
- A. Perfect happiness is being at work, with writing going well, on a beautiful day, knowing that beloved friends are on their way to lunch in the garden, with lovely food ready and delectable white wine chilling in the fridge.
- Q. What’s your greatest fear?
- A. Being thrown into prison, somewhere abroad, for something I have not done.
- Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
- A. In our ramshackle farmhhouse in the Somerset Levels.
- Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
- A. I don't really identify with anyone in history because my circumstances and theirs are so entirely different. There are many, many historical figures I admire passionately, but that's a different question. If I had to pick only one, it would be Vera Britten for the way she lived through the First World War, fought to be taken seriously, and then described it all in Testament of Youth.
- Q. Which living person do you most admire?
- A. Too many to choose only one.
- Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
- A. Long thin thighs.
- Q. What do you regret most?
- A. Allowing fear to make me take so much crap for so long when I was younger.
- Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
- A. Singing magnificently.
- Q. What is your greatest achievement?
- A. I think that's for others to say. I am most pleased with myself for overcoming fear - well, many of the fears.
- Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
- A. Talking too much.
- Q. What’s your best quality?
- A. Talking well.
- Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
- A. I wouldn't want to be anyone or anything else - just a better version of me.
- Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
- A. I think that's for other people to say.
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
- A. John le Carre's George Smiley.
- Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
- A. Barbary in Rose Macaulay's The World My Wilderness.
- Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
- A. I'd love to meet Richard III and say: 'Did you do it? Did you kill your nephews, the Princes in the Tower?'
- Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
- A. I hate people who try to blame others for their own mistakes, and I am continually driven insane with rage by those who fasten on to other people's shoulders burdens they themselves are not prepared to carry.
- Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
- A. So many occupations are so alluring it's almost impossible to choose: picking vegetables from our vegetable plot in the pearly light of early morning? Lying in a hot bath on a winter's evening, with a wonderful novel and a glass of delicious red wine? Browsing through the Sunday papers with coffee, fresh eggs and sunlight blazing on the river that runs through the garden? Chatting to friends over an amazing meal? Any or all of those.
- Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
- A. I can't think of a better profession than writing
- Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
- A. The three most important human qualities are kindness, intelligence and honesty.
- Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
- A. I've no idea but I would be dead if I ate only one thing.
- Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
- A. The songs I love most are those that remind me of particular moments in my life. If I had to pick only five, they'd probably be: Bob Dylan's 'Lay, Lady, Lady', Edith Piaff's 'Je ne regrette rien', Fascinating Aida's 'Lieder', the old English folk song 'Randal, my son', and Flanders' and Swan's version of Mozart's horn concerto in E.
On Books and Writing
- Q. Who are your favorite authors?
- A. From the Golden Age of crime writing: Margery Allingham, Dorothy L Sayers, and Josephine Tey. More recent writers I love include: John le Carre, Martin Cruz Smith, Val McDermid, Leslie Forbes, and too many others to list here!
- Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
- A. John le Carre's Quest for Karla trilogy (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People); Virginia M. Axline's Dibs; Rose Macaulay's The World My Wilderness, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (OK, I know it's a play); Georgette Heyer's Frederica.
- Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
- A. Any or all of the above.
- Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
- A. Relax, don't take yourself too seriously, and enjoy your writing.
- Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
- A. 'Your books are so emotionally intelligent.'
