Malcolm Rose Author Site FAQs
(Click on Question)
Do you have an ambition?Who are your favourite groups of the moment?
Which is your all-time favourite group?
Which of your own books is your favourite?
What is your favourite book?
Where do you get your ideas from?
Are you and your thrillers anti-science?
Do you have a family?
Have you always lived in Sheffield?
Where do you live?
Did you have a career before being an author?
Which university did you go to?
Which was your best subject at school?
Which school did you attend?
Which football team do you support?
Where were you born?
Why do you write fiction?
What are the best things about being an author?
What are the worst things about being an author?
If I have trouble buying any of your books, can I buy them via this website?
Do you have any hobbies?
How many novels have you written?
Have you won any awards?
Is Malc named after you?
What is your song of the week?
Who is your all-time favourite athlete?
About Malcolm
What is your favourite food?
Pomegranates (yes, pomegranates)
Do you have an ambition?
To produce pomegranates genetically modified to grow all year round in Britain
Who are your favourite groups of the moment?
The Workhouse, Jakob, Sigur Ros (their Heima DVD is absolutely magical), This Will Destroy You, Editors, and Mono.
Which is your all-time favourite group?
Kitchens of Distinction
Which of your own books is your favourite?
Um. Tricky. Forbidden Island, Final Lap, The Death Gene, or ... Oh, I don't know. It depends on my mood.
What is your favourite book?
The Owl Service by Alan Garner
Where do you get your ideas from?
The news, science, my own interests, and music. Frequently, I am motivated by outrage.
Are you and your thrillers anti-science?
No. I'm a big supporter of science. Books like HURRICANE FORCE and THE DEATH GENE are actually about the misuse of good science and the corrupting effect of politics, religion and money on scientists’ best intentions. The conflict does not come from iffy science but its corruption by iffy people!
Do you have a family?
My wife is Barbara (a teacher) and my son is Colin (an architect)
Have you always lived in Sheffield?
No, I've moved around a lot. I have also lived in Coventry, York, Liverpool and Milton Keynes
Where do you live?
Just to the north of Sheffield, at the edge of the Peaks
Did you have a career before being an author?
I was a lecturer in chemistry and research scientist
Which university did you go to?
York
Which was your best subject at school?
Maths
Which school did you attend?
Bablake School, Coventry
Which football team do you support?
Coventry City
Where were you born?
Coventry, 1953
Why do you write fiction?
As a professional day-dreamer, I can become anyone, go anywhere, do anything in my head. If I want to commit a crime or communicate with an alien, I can and I will! This freedom of imagination allows me to write about any topic that I think is interesting, and hopefully to entertain at the same time.
What are the best things about being an author?
The freedom to tackle any topic and the assembling of an interesting cast of characters to populate a new story. At some point in the writing, the sudden realization that a story is really taking shape, and probably not the shape I had planned at the outset.
What are the worst things about being an author?
Having to redraft a story again and again when it is much more exciting to get stuck into the next one. Leaving behind my imaginary friends at the end of the process. Still, there's always another fictional family to invent and another story ...
If I have trouble buying any of your books, can I buy them via this website?
Yes. I have copies of most of them for sale anyway. Send me an email via ‘Contact Me’ and I'll see what I can do.
Do you have any hobbies?
Listening to music, growing cacti, walking up hills and collecting stamps. But not all at the same time.
How many novels have you written?
36 and counting...
Have you won any awards?
Yes. I have won the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award with a thriller called PLAGUE. The same book won the Angus Book Award as well. I have also won the Angus Book Award with TUNNEL VISION, a thriller with the themes of athletics and racism.
Is Malc named after you?
Sort-of. It’s a joke between my wife and me. She is almost the only person in the world who calls me Malc so when it came to naming my robot in TRACES, I worked out a way to call him Malc (Mobile Aid to Law and Crime). I gave him a proper name because I wanted him to come over as a real character. Grammatically, he should be MALC in capitals but that would remind readers all the time that he’s a machine.
What is your song of the week?
Dominion by Jakob. A classic from the New Zealand boys. At 29 minutes, is it the world’s longest ever single? Awesome.
Who is your all-time favourite athlete?
Daley Thompson - by a mile. Two Olympic gold medals in the toughest event - the decathlon, and the the first athlete to hold Olympic, Commonwealth, European and world titles simultaneously in a single event. All that and a mischievous sense of humour.
