Behind the story

This is Shark on a train, the culmination of five years worth of hard work, countless rewrites and the constant need to tinker with every aspect of its existence, from the wording of a single sentence to the story’s very heart and soul. How else can you describe the process of writing a novel from scratch?

Originally coming to me in a dream, clichéd I know, but it’s the truth, it was too ridiculous an idea to ignore, least of all during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was fortunate enough (more fortunate than some) to have a job waiting for me at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth. But therein lay the months of lockdown in the interim. I had plenty with which to entertain myself, books, TV, films, video games and a fair few drinks if I’m being honest. But I also needed something to do, something productive to keep me from going crazy with boredom. It was the perfect opportunity. 

Shark on a train had to be set on board an underwater train. The premise was bizarre enough without taking the titular shark out of the water completely. And so, the ‘Oceanic Express’ was born, bringing with it a whole series of underwater scenes that gave me the chance to flex my marine biology muscles to great effect. Before I knew it, the story setpieces became an exercise in seeing how many different underwater habitats I could squeeze into one journey. Without going too overboard. 

I’m not going to give much more away, only that this is not your typical ‘killer shark’ story. The titular shark is instead portrayed as a genuine character, whose feelings and fears challenge the demonisation of his kind in fiction and around the world. Given that we’ve recently passed the 50th anniversary of Jaws’ original publication, and with the same milestone for its famous film adaptation fast approaching, this is more important than ever. 

In any case, I hope you have enjoyed this sneak preview of a novel which I aim to make available online or at your local bookshop in the near future. To that end, if anyone happens to know a literary agent, publisher, book club, or avid reader who might be interested then please let them know, or drop me a message at matthew.norton@ourworldunderthewaves.com. It would be greatly appreciated, because for an unknown author, word of mouth is worth its weight in gold.