Katri Manninen

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Interview : Katri Manninen

Do you remember when you first decided to become a writer?
I suppose it was 1998 when I decided to apply for screenwriter studies in the Helsinki University of Art and Design... By then I had already written 5 novels (two of them together with other writers). Before that I just regarded writing as a hobby -- after that it has been my fulltime profession.

Was it an easy choice to make?
Yes and no. Of course the idea of living without regular income war really scary (it still is, sometimes), but I had came into the point in my life where I knew that there really wasn't anything else I could do for living. Writing is the only thing I do well.

What writers did have a major influence in your work / life?
Finnish writer Tuija Lehtinen had a great impact to my novel writing at the beginning of my career but nowadays I am more interested in Northern American writers like Janet Evanovich (I would like to write similar romantic detective stories), Melissa Bank (I love her "Girls Guide to Fishing and Hunting) and William Gibson and Chuck Palahniuk.

What are the positive and negative aspects of being a writer in Finland?
Positive? Well, people read a lot here and it is relatively easy to get your book to publicity.
Negative: there aren't that many people who can understand Finnish and people rather borrow their books from library than buy them -- a "good seller" means here only 3000-6000 sold copies. And that is not much!

What are the themes that you like to explore in your books?
Earlier it was just youth and love etc., but now I have other themes I would like to explore in my books -- feminity, female bodyimage, the decandence of this time (altough I think EVERY decade has been decadent in its own way :-D).

How could you define your style?
Light, easy-to-read, witty.

Have you ever considered the possibilty to totally change your style?
I am changing it right now -- it changes every time you change a genre you're writing.

How do you write? Do you try to follow some strict rules or do you only write "when it comes?
When I come with an idea, I write a synopsis -- a short description how the basic storyline goes. I improve the synopsis as long as possible. That can take up to 2-3 years. At the end, when I feel that my synopsis is "ready" (or deadline is too near :-) I write the actual text. I write it very fast, without breaks. So I get the "flow" to my text. At that point I seldom change the actual story, I just "print" it out of my head.

When you're working on a book, what is the stage / moment that you prefer?
The synopsis-stage is wonderful. I also enjoy the last actual writing days when I am over the page 100 and story just rolls out of my head. It is in a way similar to good sex or good drunkness.

What books or authors have you read recently?
During my hollyday I read William Gibson's newest book "Pattern recognition" (great!), and Janet Evanovich's To the Nines (always great! :-).

If there is one...what is your favorite book? For what reasons?
My favorite book is above mentioned Melissa Banks' Girls Guide to Fishing and Hunting -- I just love her style and the story. My favorite film (since I am also a screenwriter) is Fight Club (the book is good also) -- Great style, story and message.

How do you consider Internet as an author?
Just love it -- it makes researching for my books/televisionseries/films so much easier (google's picture search is especially good when writing about places you haven't been yet), it is full of real life stories, it makes it easier to get in contact with your readers etc. I don't see Internet as a real threat to the books and you can watch television while surfing the net, too.

Do you think that Internet could somehow change the traditional publication process?
It has done that already. First of all it is so much easier to communicate with my publisher nowadays -- we just send emails back and forth. On the other hand now everyone can publish their texts in the Net and get instant and honest feedback from their readers.

What are your actual and future projects?
Right now I have several projects under work: one filmscript co-written with another writer, couple of different kind of tv-series-projects and two own books.
Interview by Vincent Lefrançois - 2003