Interview with Peter Cocks - Part 1

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE LONG REACH?

Long Reach as a book idea was inspired by the kind of books I wanted to read when I was growing up.

I was looking to fill the kind of gap that existed between Stig of the Dump which I was reading at ten, and Lord of the Rings which was my major obsession a few years later.

In the seventies there was no young adult market as such, so I would read my mum's books: Harold Robbins, Alastair MacLean, Jacqueline Suzanne's Valley of the Dolls ... books that appeared to me to be a bit sexy, with drug references and some violence.
 
I never really got into James Bond, but I liked Len Deighton's thrillers and the films where Michael Caine plays Deighton's hero, Harry Palmer. The books were a lot grittier and Palmer was cool without being smooth, and he sometimes slipped up and got himself into trouble. He also cooked for all his girlfriends which I always thought was a good touch. He'd tell you how to cook perfect scrambled eggs in the middle of the chapter, and get the girl.
 
I have put cooking and an interest in food in Eddie Savage's skill set. It's important to eat well and be able to feed yourself, and others.

I also thought Eddie, and his relationship with Sophie Kelly would appeal to female readers as much as male.

So ... I wanted to write a book that approached the reader, unpatronisingly, as an adult, but with a teenage protagonist.

As a background, I felt that East London and Essex had been so overworked as a background for criminal activity. I wanted to make my background more suburban. Anyone who knows anything will tell you that there are far more villains inside the south quarter of the M25 that any other area.

The escape routes out of the country are quicker.

I came from that area, and so I knew the geography well. I love the contrast between the harsh marshland, yards away from a glossy shopping centre like Bluewater. I like the look of the Dartford Bridge ... to me its as glamorous as an American setting, such as San Francisco.  I wanted to bring some of that dirty American feel to the book, inspired by shows like The Wire.

Long Reach is actually a stretch of the river under the Dartford Bridge. My grandad, a merchant seaman, ran boats up and down that stretch of river most of his life and I used to go with him. Recently, whenever I've driven over the Dartford Bridge and looked up the river, I've thought Long Reach would make a great book title.

IF YOU COULD CHOOSE ACTORS/ACTRESSES TO PLAY THE PART OF CHARACTERS IN A FILM OR TV, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

Difficult.
 
When I started writing the characters, I had a younger Daniel Craig in  kind for Eddie.  Then it changed a bit towards Dominic Cooper.

I didn't want to be too specific about the way Eddie looks, so that the reader can invent their own picture of him. Also Eddie has to change himself slightly in order to disappear.

Sophie, in my mind, was always based on Holly Willoughby who I worked with on TV when she was younger.  Holly is very female and curvy, but has a very earthy sense of humour and can be quite a lad.
She's nearly a mum twice over now so a bit old for Sophie, but that would be the model.

When we DO cast it, I think we will be looking for unknowns. Two TV companies are reading Long Reach at present, so we live in hope...

In the meantime, if any one has any casting ideas, either existing actors, or friends who might fit the bill, then send in photos to marketing@walker.co.uk and we will publish them on the blog.

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