Episode 59: Interview with author Sean Watkin

In this episode of In My Good Books, I’m joined by crime writer Sean Watkin to talk about his dark, character-driven police procedural Better Off Dead, the second novel in his DCI de Silva series.Sean chats about his writing journey, including the surprising fact that Better Off Dead originally began life as a horror novel before a tutor encouraged him to try crime fiction – a change that completely transformed his career. We discuss how that shift helped him find his voice and why crime was the perfect space for the kind of stories he wanted to tell.We also dig into character development, particularly the complex dynamic between De Silva and Barclay, and how Sean draws on personal experiences to explore themes of trauma, grief and mental health. Representation is a huge part of the conversation too, with Sean sharing why it was important to him to write a gay character whose identity goes far beyond their sexuality, and how he approaches LGBTQ representation with care and authenticity.Sean also talks about the realities of writing a police procedural, from the importance of research and realism to the challenges of writing a trilogy, as well as the personal significance behind character names. We finish by chatting about podcasting, his own show The Incident Room, and what’s coming next.If you love crime fiction with emotional depth, flawed characters and a strong sense of place, this episode is for you.Follow Sean here: https://www.instagram.com/seanwatkinauthor/Listen to The Incident Room here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-incident-room/id1836965354Buy Better Off Dead here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/better-off-dead-an-unmissable-liverpool-set-police-procedural-novel-from-a-rising-star-in-crime-thriller-fiction-sean-watkin/7015347539842697?ean=9781835981320&next=tBooks recommended in this series:The Matilda Darke series by Michael WoodThe Sheridan Holler series by T.M. PayneThe Death Bed by Chris Bridges