An Interview with Mark Blackham

Our next edge-of-your-seat anthology, A Hint of Hitchcock, will be released in time for Halloween, and is available for Kindle pre-order today for just $1.99 instead of $3.99. While the suspense is building, we're interviewing the contributing authors so you know a little more about what makes them tick... 

Hi Mark, thanks for agreeing to be interviewed. Let’s get started! 

The first question is inevitable...which Hitchcock film is your personal favourite, and why? 

Rear Window. The story bangs together the emotional distance of close quarters apartment living, with our curiosity in the messy lives of others. These messy lives we watch are contrasted with the stable intimacy of James Stewart and Grace Kelly. The tension and frustration is almost unbearable in the final moments, when Kelly is discovered in the apartment of the murder suspect – and all we can do, along with Stewart, is watch.

Which actor or actress do you think was the best he worked with?

I’m not clever enough in my movie watching to always differentiate between actors I enjoy and those that are good. I like the on-screen presence of Cary Grant and James Stewart because they make a lot out of the small stuff of behaviour. Similarly, Doris Day portrayed the courage of everyday people in extraordinary circumstances.

What is it about Hitchcock's films that makes them so timeless, or is it just the opposite, that the appeal lies in that bygone era?

There’s a quirkiness to his presentation of twisty stories that lives well out of the time they were made in. In some cases it’s the extraordinarily small canvas that human relationships like Rope and Lifeboat, and even Vertigo at its most tense. In others, it’s the insightful portrayal of ordinary people and relationships when responding to extraordinary challenges, such as North by Northwest or The Man who Knew Too Much.

Do you have a favourite director, other than Hitchie himself, of course?

Ridley Scott for the physical dirt, sweat and grit he found in the real-life future of Alien and Blade Runner. Terry Gilliam for conceiving and presenting a future of inanity in Brazil. John Huston for his early flamboyant and rebellious film noir.

Without giving too much away, how did you come up with the idea for your story in A Hint of Hitchcock? 

I absolutely hate the thought of being watched; I would prefer to go moldy in my own home than live in a retirement village, and I give a joyous finger to security cameras. So I wrote a murder mystery about these things, inspired by Rear Window.

Time to get more personal. Tell us three interesting facts about yourself. 

1)      I raced my wife’s first car, a Nissan Sentra, in a demolition derby.

2)      I boxed competitively in midlife and now referee amateur boxing.

3)      I founded the world’s first natural burials organisation outside of the United Kingdom.

What do you aim to give your readers? 

Something rough, something sordid, something new.

What are you working on now? 

A novel about a jaded music journalist who finds love where it was all along, a short story about the person who writes the last words of humanity, and a novella about a teenager who saves the coddling of the Western world with the aid of an old computer.

Where can we find you online?

I’m at www.markblackham.com and my alter ego is at www.carlingtonblack.com