The journalist turned bestselling crime writer tells Lynne Hackles about preferring a structured day and how he’s hardwired as a planner
Pascal Engman, the son of a Swedish mother and Chilean father, lives in Stockholm. Since his first novel, The Patriots, was published in 2017 Pascal has become the best-selling Swedish crime novelist of his generation, with more than 600,000 copies of his books sold in Sweden.
Formerly a journalist at the Swedish evening newspaper Expressen, Pascal has been praised by Camilla Läckberg, David Lagercrantz and The Swedish Crime Writers’ Academy as a rising star of Swedish crime fiction. Does all this praise added more pressure on him?
‘It’s nothing compared to the pressure I put on myself. But all jokes aside – I am extremely humbled by that. I have looked up to so many Swedish authors – Henning Mankell, Fredrik Backman, Camilla Läckberg, David Lagercrantz, Jan Guillou, and Steig Larson among others, and to be named amongst them is really special.
‘I didn’t always know I wanted to be an author, but writing was something I was inspired to do from an early age. Being a journalist and writing articles made me realise I loved writing and in 2016, almost on a whim, I went to Chile for three months to write my first novel. That was probably one of the best decisions I ever made.
‘Now I’ve written ten books. The Patriots, my debut novel, and a non-fiction book, and then I have two series – the Vanessa Frank series where the sixth book, Bestseller, is the one I have just finished editing, and then my friend, Johannes Selåker and I have released two books in our Nightfall series.
‘I prefer a structured day now, especially since becoming a father. Being more dedicated with the time allows me to spend more time with my son. Mornings really are my best time to write and, when I’m in my writing and editing period, I usually spend about four hours working on the text.
‘I always plan my books and would say I spend the most time writing a detailed synopsis of what will happen in each chapter. Once the structure’s set the rest sort of falls into place. Having the foundation super clear before beginning to write the story helps me keep the pace and not get stuck too creatively ‘I do quite a lot of research because, for me, that is how it’s always been since I began working as a journalist. Researching the theme and the worlds I want to write about is such a necessary step to build a credible universe and to make the readers want to stay as well.’
Pascal’s latest novel, Femicide, is now translated into English and published by Legend Press.
‘Femi
