Reading as an agent helped hone an instinct for what works

Biographer ANDREW LOWNIE has been a journalist contributing to The Times and The Spectator and has worked in publishing. He has published biographies of writer John Buchan, spy Guy Burgess and soldier Lord Mountbatten and a literary guide to Edinburgh. The Mountbattens: Their Lives and Loves is his latest book.

What inspired you to write?

I come from a family of writers. My father, his mother and her father were all authors. My great grandfather, Edward Hamilton Aitken, was born and lived in India most of his life. He was a naturalist, educated at Bombay University, had a column in the Times of India and helped found the Bombay Natural History Society. In his time he was as well-known as [Rudyard] Kipling and his writings are being discovered by a new generation of Indians.

I have always wanted to write and began my career as a freelance journalist. I published my first book in my twenties but career and family responsibilities have meant I have only been able to devote more time to it recently. Reading lots of books as an agent has helped have an instinct for what works and doesn’t.

Do you have a writing schedule?

I have a demanding full-time job running on my own a literary agency with over 200 authors. I have to fit in research and writing when I can, often late at night. I started researching The Mountbattens in 2016 and wrote it between November 2018 and April 2019.

Coffee/tea/cigarettes – numbers please – while you are writing…

Two coffees in the morning but I rarely write then. Many more glasses of wine at the end of the day but not when I’m writing.

Ever struggled with writer’s block?

Yes, but the trick is just to write even if it is rubbish and it can then be edited. Biography is easier than most genres because the chronology dictates much of the narrative. What is difficult is to maintain pace, balance the characters and give just the right amount of context.

Best piece of advice you’ve ever got?

Never give up but learn to hone your craft.

Do you keep a diary? I did for twenty years but stopped when I got married.

Describe your favourite writing space.

I write in my literary agency office which is filled with piles of books and papers. Ideally I’d like to have two screens — one for research notes and one to write on — but it’s all done with onefingered typing with notes spread around me.

Who are your favourite authors?

In 1995 I wrote a biography of John Buchan, best-known for his boys own adventures, a writer now being recognised as more profound than people realised. I still enjoy his work but try and keep up with recent fiction and non-fiction, especially biography and to review for various UK and US papers including The Times and Wall Street Journal. I’m rereading Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene at the moment.

Which book/author should be banned on grounds of bad taste?

Clearly, free speech needs to be balanced with giving gratuitous or unthinking offence but I personally believe everyone should have their say and then it can be challenged. Bad taste can be very subjective.

Which is the most underrated book?

So many books don’t receive the attention they deserve, however well-published. Often it’s just a matter of timing.

Which are your favourite children’s books?

I was brought up on Enid Blyton, Babar, Dr Zeus, Richard Scarry and read them to my own children. It was then fun to discover new classics such as The Gruffalo.

Which classics do you want to read?

I love 19th century fiction with strong plotting , such as Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and RL Stevenson, and who doesn’t enjoy Jane Austen and Mrs Gaskell. I’m not a great fan of the Brontes.

Your favourite literary character.

I have a partiality for Hercule Poirot. My daughter has read every single Agatha Christie book with and without him.

Which is the funniest book you have read?

Evelyn Waugh’s Decline and Fall.

Which is the most erotic book you have read?

Stephen Vizinczey’s In Praise of Older Woman as a teenager.

Your favourite word? Onwards.