WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:09.359
This is Later with Lee Matthews The
Lee Matthews Podcast. More what You Hear

2
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:14.480
weekday afternoons on the Drive. New
York Times number one best selling author Joe

3
00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.519
Nesbo has his latest release, which
is as timely as the season. It's

4
00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:24.960
called The Nighthouse and it's his first
ever horror novel. Joe, good to

5
00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.760
have you along today. What Hitchcock
did for taking a shower, you do

6
00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:39.079
for answering the phone, Yeah,
thank you, thank you. It was

7
00:00:39.119 --> 00:00:45.479
actually the starting out idea of the
whole novel was that prime call that two

8
00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:52.679
boys do a little in the novel, and it's the wrong time call because

9
00:00:54.280 --> 00:01:00.679
what happens is that the boy starts
getting sucked into the receiving end of the

10
00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:07.760
of the telephone and soon is gone. So it was it was actually the

11
00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:14.239
working title of the novel was the
Meat Eating Telephone. It ended up being

12
00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.359
instead. Yeah, that that had
that title. That gave away a little

13
00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:26.879
too much probably, well not really, it was. I think the publishers

14
00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.640
thought it was too funny. I
I actually thought for that it for a

15
00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:36.000
long time, but they insisted that
it should be called The Nighthouse. So

16
00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:41.760
in the end I gave him,
uh, celebrating and showcasing his gifts for

17
00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:47.120
immersive settings and memorable characters. Joe
Nesbo has a new first horror novel.

18
00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:49.760
It's called The Nighthouse. We're talking
to him about it now, what what

19
00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:55.840
inspired you to write something in this
genre as opposed to your previous genres?

20
00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:02.760
Well, up until now, I'm
probably best known for writing mystery stories.

21
00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:12.120
Who's done crime novels. It's sort
of a hard boiled detective style with my

22
00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:19.360
protagonist Harry hole this. But then
again, I've written I'm in short stories,

23
00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:24.280
children's books, and uh, for
me, it's the story. The

24
00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:30.759
I D four story is is my
only boss, And it just happened that

25
00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:38.039
I. I had this idea one
morning about like you open with the prank

26
00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:43.879
call and this meat eating telephone,
and I realized that, Okay, so

27
00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:49.520
my boss has given me in order
to write this novel, I will have

28
00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:55.960
to obey. So I I sat
down and I started writing about this Richard

29
00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:04.599
Loved who is set to his uncle
and aunt after his parents died in a

30
00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:10.879
house fire. Early on, we're
not told exactly the circumstances of that fire.

31
00:03:10.919 --> 00:03:15.039
Well learn that later, but he
is is this guy who is not

32
00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:23.240
is not very a very likable boy
and definitely his his classmates they hate him.

33
00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:30.560
Uh. And when they make this
Frank call him and and his friend

34
00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:37.800
Tom, he's accused of being responsible
for Tom's disappearance, and later on also

35
00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:46.560
and other classmates Mat disappears and so
he's he's hunted by the police and uh.

36
00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:55.560
He's also hunted by the owner of
the Nighthouse, which is kind of

37
00:03:55.599 --> 00:04:00.840
the monster in this story. The
Nighthouse is the name of the story.

38
00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:04.039
It's a novel. When the voices
called don't answer, Joan Nesbo is with

39
00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:11.360
us uh and he as as with
many of the of the horror novels and

40
00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:15.919
your colleagues like Grady Hendrix and Stephen
King, there's a bit of coming of

41
00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:23.319
age in the story as well.
Mhm. Yeah, it seems like that

42
00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:27.639
is the tradition of the horror story. And this is the story that I

43
00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:34.120
wanted, you know, well,
within the tradition of the horror story.

44
00:04:34.759 --> 00:04:41.720
And it seems like teenagers goes well
together with the horror stories. Maybe it's

45
00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:48.279
something about the innocence of being a
teenager. I mean, the American tradition

46
00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:53.720
is that if you're not a virgin, you are going to die early on

47
00:04:53.800 --> 00:05:01.040
in the horror story, and I
just love those those rules of the the

48
00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:09.079
horror story to have that very defined
genre. For some people that that limit

49
00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:14.639
their creativity. For me, it's
the opposite that. I mean, I

50
00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:19.560
before I became a writer, I
was was a songwriter, and I just

51
00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:24.360
loved writing, you know, three
and a half many pop songs, three

52
00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:30.680
verses and refraining also very you know, strict rules and uh and and genres

53
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:36.560
and and in the case of the
Nighthouse, I also give myself the liberty

54
00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:45.639
of playing with those rules and and
at times breaking those rules. So maybe

55
00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:48.879
not a spoil A little bit of
warning to the warning to the readers is

56
00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:57.000
that not be too sure that what
you're reading is really what's going on,

57
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:03.399
because this may be a book about
a book about the book. The book

58
00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:06.839
is the night House. When the
voice is called, don't answer. Joe

59
00:06:06.879 --> 00:06:11.319
nesbo is with us. He's the
author. You mentioned the creative process.

60
00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:15.160
Let's talk about that for a moment
with you. Are you the type that

61
00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:18.959
keeps a notebook where you write down
ideas as they come to you or is

62
00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:28.360
it more organic than that. I
mean, I'll write down the ideas in

63
00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.720
a notebook, but I'm more like
when I come up with an idea,

64
00:06:32.759 --> 00:06:39.639
if I'm not working on something else, I will get to work straight away

65
00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:45.560
and just you know, start a
synopsis. And it's not like a couple

66
00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:50.000
of pages. The synopsis will,
if you know, often be fifty pages

67
00:06:50.040 --> 00:06:58.000
long, and I will normally I'll
do that in you know, a few

68
00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:03.639
days, and so I will first
have a first draft of a story,

69
00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:10.439
and then I will really work that
draft. So before I write chapter one

70
00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:15.600
of the story, I will have
maybe a synopsis that is one hundred pages

71
00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:19.439
long with bits of dialogue in it. For me, I mean, writers

72
00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:25.480
are are different. Some are work
more like they get morning and they sit

73
00:07:25.519 --> 00:07:30.600
down by the blacktop or pipewriter and
they you know, so let's see what

74
00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:35.319
is going to happen today. And
some writers that works fine, and they

75
00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:41.560
you know, they have they write
great stories. But for me, I

76
00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:45.519
like the feeling that I can tell
my readers, you know, come sit

77
00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:51.319
closer because I have this great story
to tell you. It's not something I'm

78
00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:56.600
making up as we go along.
I have everything prepared. I know exactly

79
00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:01.399
whoever we going. Trust me.
I like that there's a writer. Actually,

80
00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:05.199
I guess I like that as a
reader, also to the feeling that

81
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:11.800
you know, this is a story
that that is being retold, It's already

82
00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:16.720
there, the kind of stories that
you know Mark Twain will tell you,

83
00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:24.199
or those great American you know,
storytellers will The Night House, a novel

84
00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.839
by Joe Nesbo, become the next
great American story. You'll have to decide

85
00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:33.000
by reading it for yourself and Joe
Nesbo, thank you for joining us today.

86
00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:39.039
Thanks for listening to Later with Lee
Matthews, the Lee Matthews Podcast,

87
00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:45.759
and remember to listen to The Drive
Live weekday afternoons from five to seven and iHeartMedia Presentation