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Inspirations

BOTTOM DRAWER

the book SHEILA QUIGLEY never published

‘It’s a horror fantasy called Ragnorak, based on the Norse myths. I wrote it about 10 years ago, but never finished it. I was writing all sorts at the time – short stories, another novel – and alternating between them. Then I had a go at a screenplay that ended up as Run For Home, which stopped me working on everything else for a few years.

‘Ragnorak is the great battle between the Norse gods. In my novel the chief baddie, Loki, who is the Devil in their mythology, flees from the battle and appears in the here and now in human form. He teams up with a gang of bikers and starts to terrorise a big area of the countryside. The story is really about him capturing a young girl, and about how she manages to escape. And about the good Norse gods, who pursue Loki into the here and now to try and stop his rampages.

‘I’ve always loved Norse myths. They’re fantastic, really fascinating. And they’re more a part of us than the Greek myths, because we’ve all got a bit of Viking blood in us, haven’t we? So their gods are really our gods.

‘The book’s canny good, you know. I think I might tackle it again – if I can find it in all the boxes I packed when I moved house.'

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