On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club – The Sterling Directive by Tim Standish #HistoricalThriller #AlternateHistory #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @timstandishuk @maryanneyarde

 

I am on tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club and I have the pleasure of interviewing Tim Standish. Before you read the interview, have a look at Tim's book.

It is 1896. In an alternative history where Babbage’s difference engines have become commonplace, Captain Charles Maddox, wrongly convicted of a murder and newly arrested for treason, is rescued from execution by a covert agency called the Map Room. 

Maddox is given the choice of taking his chances with the authorities or joining the Map Room as an agent and helping them uncover a possible conspiracy surrounding the 1888 Ripper murders. Seeing little choice, Maddox accepts the offer and joins the team of fellow agents Church and Green. With help from the Map Room team, Maddox (now Agent Sterling) and Church investigate the Ripper murders and uncover a closely guarded conspiracy deep within the British Government. Success depends on the two of them quickly forging a successful partnership as agents and following the trail wherever, and to whomever, it leads. 

An espionage thriller set in an alternative late 19th-century London.

What inspired you to start writing?

Pretty much from childhood onwards I’d always found myself jotting down ideas for stories, half-considering being a writer, but never really going anywhere with it. I even had an opening scene written, of two men duelling on a station platform, but didn’t really know where to go with it. Then I saw Neil Gaiman at a book signing of Anansi Boys and in the Q&A a member of the audience talked about an idea they had for a book and asked for advice on getting published and Neil Gaiman responded along the lines of “That sounds great. You should write the book.” And he was being polite and encouraging but at the same time it felt like a challenge – “don’t just talk about it, put it down on paper” - and it sort of went in and stayed there. And eventually I went back to that duel and started writing The Sterling Directive.

What was the hardest part about writing this book?

Creating an alternative timeline and deciding what had changed, what had stayed the same not just for technology but society, the economy and politics, and not just in Britain but around the world. For example, I knew that I wanted Maddox (the main character) spending time as a soldier in exile on the Canadian border with a belligerent Confederate States of America. That meant I had to work out how the South could have won the American Civil War. What would have needed to have been different for that to happen? The other half of that challenge is then how to let the reader into the world in a way that doesn’t rely on deluging them with alt-historic exposition.

Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

That’s a really tricky one. Partly it’s because the characters I most enjoyed writing are the ones that appear briefly – a family of German tourists in Whitechapel, a group of excited trainspotters, an inquisitive neighbour, the regulars in a country pub. Also, though, it’s because the main characters all feel special in different ways. 

If there is one that brings a smile to my face though it’s Patience the young in-house tapper (hacker) for The Map Room (the secret agency that Sterling joins). She’s basically a genius, sees herself quite rightly as the smartest person in any room and doesn’t feel the need to disguise that fact. She has a good line in withering asides and disrespect, especially when it comes to the machismo of the (mostly) male agents around her. Don’t tell her I said so though, or I’ll be treated to an exasperated roll of the eyes and told I’m a loser. Again.

If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

There are some easy ones here – Paul Bettany has always been my ideal Sterling. Patience would be Romona Marquez who played Karen in the BBC TV series Outnumbered. Church is tricky, possibly Tom Hardy or Hugh Jackman (I’m not sure what his east end accent is like though, sorry Hugh!). Jason Statham could be a good Church as well. I think Priyanka Chopra for Milady. 

What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

I hope that the story is exciting and takes them readers away somewhere away from their everyday. There are some underlying themes in the book about identity and perception, but they are very much not an obligatory part of enjoying the book which is much more about good storytelling, cool action scenes and wry one liners. 

Buy this Book

Amazon UK • Amazon US • Amazon CA • Amazon AU • Barnes and Noble • Waterstones • Audio

Tim Standish

Tim Standish grew up in England, Scotland and Egypt. Following a degree in Psychology, his career has included teaching English in Spain, working as a researcher on an early computer games project, and working with groups and individuals on business planning, teamworking and personal development.

He has travelled extensively throughout his life and has always valued the importance of a good book to get through long flights and long waits in airports. With a personal preference for historical and science fiction as well as the occasional thriller, he had an idea for a book that would blend all three and The Sterling Directive was created.

When not working or writing, Tim enjoys long walks under big skies and is never one to pass up a jaunt across a field in search of an obscure historic site. He has recently discovered the more-exciting-than-you-would-think world of overly-complicated board games.

Social Media Links:

Twitter • Goodreads

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