Welcome to a new series on Meeting the Authors …. Friday with Friends. On select Fridays we will feature a unique guest post/interview with an author that has previously been interviewed on MTA. Welcome to Derek Thompson to help kick off this new series.
Craig Wild’s Desert Island Disc challenge
The radio programme Desert Island Discs first aired on BBC Radio in 1942 and since then it’s become an institution. It’s a deceptively simple format where guests talk about their journey and pick eight songs that have accompanied them, often at key points in their lives. Choices range from classical music to R&B, jazz, 70s prog rock, etc., and aren’t always what you’d expect. At the end of the programme the guest chooses that one special song to take to their desert island (not sure how they’d play it!), as well as one luxury item. Here’s a link for the archive. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr/episodes/player)
And here’s a link in case you feel like putting together your own list: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5q0Ls856XYZ5VzlMQ1Lgjxf/desert-island-discs-challenge-and-how-to-choose-your-list
As Derek Thompson was previously interviewed for one of his spy thrillers we thought it would be fun this time to have his new protagonist, Detective Sergeant Craig Wild, choose a few tracks and explain how they relate to Long Shadows. (He managed four!)
LONG SHADOWS – A SECRET THAT WON’T STAY BURIED. A KILLER WHO CAN’T FORGET.
Detective Craig Wild couldn’t cut it in London – that’s a long story for another time. Now he must swap the Met for Mayberry, a sleepy Wiltshire backwater where ambition goes to die. It was supposed to be a second chance. Then Wild is faced with the most baffling case of his career.
Eccentric farmer Alexander Porter is found shot dead in his own field. It could be suicide but Wild knows better than that. Determined to uncover the truth, he teams up with PC Marnie Olsen, whose abilities outshine his own, and they set off to navigate a twisting trail of lies and omissions.
Over to you, Craig…in his own inimitable voice…
“My first track has to be Country House by Blur. Why? Because I never wanted to transfer out of London in the first place. I like pubs and darts and nicking people who deserve it. I don’t like cows because you don’t see many of them in the city. I can tolerate sheep as they generally keep to themselves.”
“My second track is The last day of our acquaintance by Sinead O’Connor and I dedicate it to my ex-wife, Steph. I’m not bitter that she remains a favourite at New Scotland Yard while I exist in a rural backwater. No, I’m bitter about other things!”
“Track three is Cool for Cats by Squeeze. I get on with one or two colleagues at Mayberry police station, and I’m not saying the others are savages out of The Wicca Man, but I miss the old team at Kentish Town nick (and West Hampstead for a time). This song reminds me of the banter and the way that the job pulls a team together.”
“My fourth track is Lies by The Black Keys. I’ve been getting the runaround in Mayberry ever since I started on this case. Lies and omissions at every turn. I almost wish I was tracking down stolen tractors or finding vandals instead, like some of the other muppets. Nah, who am I kidding? I like a case I can get my teeth into. Give me a juicy murder any day of the week.
My luxury item on my desert island? That’s easy. A set of permanently sharp darts.
Thanks, Derek, for this fun, imaginative, and unique post. Love it! Wishing you all the best. – Camilla
Where can you buy Long Shadows?
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089GXTB47
US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089GXTB47
AUS https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B089GXTB47
CAN https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B089GXTB47
Or the Amazon page for the country where you reside.
Derek’s other books can be found here:
UK Author Central: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Derek-Thompson/e/B0034ORY08
US Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Derek-Thompson/e/B0034ORY08
About Derek:
Derek Thompson is a British writer of novels and short fiction. He believes that all good stories contain a grain of truth, and that sometimes it’s better that way. Long Shadows is his first foray into crime mystery, having written five Thomas Bladen spy thrillers. His first ambition was to be an astronaut, which is a giant step indeed when you’re five years old!
Go here to read Derek’s interview …
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Thanks for letting Craig let off some steam!
Of course!! It was a fun post and introduced me to something I’d not know about! Desert Island Challenge. Definitely a challenge!