Pekka Hiltunen
Cold Courage is about two smart Finnish women kicking some bad-guy-ass in London! Well, actually it's much deeper than that. The women lead a team of people at place called the Studio, where they plan covert operations against racist politics and the abuse of some immigrant women. It´s the start of my series of psychological thrillers, which mix these two women's friendship with some serious themes and crimes.
Your books have been praised for starting a whole new phase in Finnish crime lit, so how does this make you feel?
I'm really proud of it, that idea was my intention from the start. Some people have dubbed me the "Stieg Larsson of Finland", because of my female heroines and thrillers with an international setting, and I think the Studio-novels may bring something new even to Scandinavian crime lit. They combine the darkness of Scandi crime with some new twists and the global village atmosphere of London and Britain.
You have won three prizes for your book so how much does this affect your confidence as a writer?
That has been a real boost. We Finns tend to be a bit introverted and quiet, and even though I think those qualities can be quite charming in a person, confidence makes things easier. It helps me to try new things as a writer. And as I have noticed how much good feedback inspires me, I pay it forward. When I see something good, I don't just keep my thoughts to myself, I send people little messages saying yeah, that's great, go on.
You write in many genres, so which is your favourite?
It's impossible to pick just one. For a man like me, a culture-loving bookish softie who would be scared to handle a gun, it's great fun to be a thriller writer. But my innermost me is even more in the "serious" prose that I write. I have all kinds of books forming in my head, it´s exciting to see what will come of all this.
Please tell us a bit about your latest work, Big.
It´s a novel of being fat, of all the things obesity brings to people. It's the story of a woman in her thirties, who is very smart, very fat and in very good health. She has only one problem: the rest of the world. Big became the subject of enormous media attention and discussion in Finland, mainly because the book also deals with a lot of misunderstandings and prejudices people have of obesity. And the readers have loved it, which recently lead into something really sweet at the Helsinki Book Fair. Unknown to each other, at separate times, two readers came to me and asked if they could hug me. They both felt the book was so special to them, and so we hugged each other and talked and laughed. Another reader wrote to me to say she feels it will be “the book of her life”. Let's hope it also gets translated to other languages.
How much has your career as a journalist helped you to write novels?
For a long time I imagined these books I was going to write, but in practice I channelled my writing ambitions to journalism. So it was only a few years ago that I finally decided it was time to get the books out of me. The experience in journalism is very helpful, I love the process of writing and background researching. In a way I am happiest when writing.
When did your interest in politics begin?
Around the time I realised I am gay. I was just a kid then, and way too shy to come out until much later, but the world became political right away. But I am interested in politics as an observer. I don’t have the nerve to become a real activist, but I can take part in things by researching and writing. At the moment the political climate in Finland is taking a quite unpleasant, populist turn, and for the first time in my life I have actually started having dreams of living somewhere else.
Who are your favourite reads in the thriller genre?
I enjoy this really smart lady from France, Fred Vargas, there is an interesting sense of history in her novels. I have heard she's popular and respected in Britain too. And just recently I found this guy from Sweden, Mons Kallentoft, he writes police stories but with an intelligent, sensitive dimension in them. My favourite thriller of all time is Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, by the Danish Peter HØeg. I love his other prose too, too, and I could read the first part of Smilla again and again.
What is next for you?
The second novel in my Studio series, Black Noise, will come out in English in the Autumn, that will be great. And I am writing, naturally, the third book in the thriller series. So I am spending a lot of time in my head on the streets of London, with my two strong Finnish heroines. Right now they are going through something very sinister in a central location in London, but they won't let me say what it is. You will have to wait for the book.