| Admin History | Patrick Gale began his career as a novelist at the relatively early age of 25 when his first two novels, Ease and the Aerodynamics of Pork, were published simultaneously in 1986. He has continued to work as a professional writer since then, having written 13 novels to date.
Gale writes the first draft of his novels in longhand in lined notebooks, which he find to be the most prodcutive and satisfying method of writing. As such, every ammendment, deletion and 'note to self' is preserved intact in the notebooks contained here. Gale also used a technique for developing the stucture of a novel using a table with columns for each character, which allows him to easily spilt a narrative rather than being limited to a strict chronological tale. The second draft of Gale's novels is then produced as the manuscript is typed up in the correct order, printed out and annotated by hand.
Gale is well known for his evocative portrayals of Cornwall which features in many of his novels. Until his twelfth novel, Notes from an Exhibiton, he disguised place names and descriptions although those familiar with the County may have been able to identify the real locations. The fictitious city of Barrowchester is also featured in many of his novels, and is based on an amalgam of several Engilsh cathedral cities, geographically being most like Durham and also heavily based on his childhood experiences of Winchester.
While Gale's early novels earned him a cult following, he is not comfortable with the label of 'gay novelist'. Gale simply writes what he views to be a realistic picture of life, and for that reason would never write a book without a gay character.
Music is a recurring theme throughout Gale's novels, which he uses as a valuable shorthand for his characters' emotions. He was tempted to become a professional musician, sings regularly and is closely involved in the St Endellion music festival which features in his novels and short stories as the Trenellion festival.
Gale likes to become totally absorbed by his characters, trying thier personalities on for size until he understands them inside and out. He has compared being a novelist with being a Psychologist and may have pursued the field as a career had his work as a writer not been so successful. |