The first in an occasional series of brief yet intense quizzing sessions with our writers.
Today, we interrogate the master of epic kitchen sink fantasy, Lee Harrison.
Can you cook? What do you consider to be your signature dish?
A nice curry – but its not signature because it changes every time – an ongoing flux curry.
Which book would you recommend to someone who needs cheering up right now?
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Things can always get worse.
What was your favourite game as a child, and why?
I used to love playing block in the dark, back in the days when kids still did that sort of thing. I was good at hiding in plain sight, and enjoyed the mix of applause and unease this provoked.
If you weren’t a writer, what else would you have liked to be?
A jellyfish
Which part of the world has made the biggest impression on you?
THE SEA. THE NORTH.
When was the last time you were utterly terrified?
Utter terror is never far away. It sits on my shoulder like a fucking parrot.
What is your favourite book cover of all time?
There are loads, but I was particularly fond of an old paperback edition of The Hobbit I had, that featured the dragon Smaug posing on a mountain top. He made smoking look cool.
Tell us a writing tip
Don’t give up your day job, and don’t listen to writing tips.
Favourite TV moment of the last fifty years and why?
It’d have to be an old, formative one because these days i don’t watch it. I’ll say Rik Mayall on Jackanory, reading out George’s Marvelous Medicine, and showing off how naughty and cool and hilarious and slightly sinister books are and should be.
What was the last song to stop you in your tracks?
Just the other day I heard Still Life by The Horrors, and it sent me into a lovely, and most welcome daze.