Trevor Mark Thomas lives in Manchester and previously lived in the Peak District, which inspired the isolated setting of ‘The Bothy.’ He graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Manchester Metropolitan University.
In The Bothy, Tom is grieving for his girlfriend. Her powerful family, convinced he is responsible for her death, place a bounty on his head. On the run, Tom seeks refuge in The Bothy, a dilapidated moorland pub run by ageing gangster Frank. Tom tries to keep the bounty a secret, but news travels fast, even in the middle of nowhere
Mark shares that when he wrote the book he had no idea what would happen at the end.
He says "It's quite a scary way to do it but it's quite exciting and it allows you to really explore characters."
The Bothy pub featured in the novel was based on a real-life pub Mark saw in Northern Ireland. He moved the pub to the Peak District, which he knew quite well and this meant he was able to take control of the narrative.
He describes the Peak District as both beautiful and a bit lonely, asking "why isn't it written about all the time?".
Mark speaks about how his time at the Manchester Writing School influenced his writing and made him a better writer. He says: "I tried to write other books but they went wrong because my approach was wrong. The Manchester Writing School helped with that, they showed me that actually if you go this way, just try it and see how you get on. They gave me more courage to choose the right approach."
He describes the moment he was accepted for the Manchester Writing School describing it as "a real boost".
He talks about both Nick Royle and Joe Stretch of the Manchester Writing School who helped shape his work and develop his skills while he was at the Manchester Writing School.
Mark will be launching The Bothy at Waterstones, Deansgate on Thursday 28th February from 6pm - 7.30pm. You can find out more and book a ticket here. The event will be chaired by Joe Stretch, who is the author of the prize-winning The Adult, as well as two previous works of fiction, and who is currently Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University.
You can listen to the full interview with Trevor Mark Thomas on BBC iPlayer at around 2 hours 47 minutes and 20 seconds in. Listen here.
Friday, 22nd February 2019