You can read the full interview here.

Litro: You’ve mentioned that having an emotional connection with something is a good place to start writing from. What was your starting place with The Good Son?

Paul: When I was a working class boy growing up in Belfast, in the biggest slum in Europe, and with The Troubles going on, I remember thinking “Why is no-one telling my story? Why is no-one speaking for me?”
People outside of Northern Ireland knew very little about what was going on inside. No-one was really talking about it and I remember as a boy thinking it was really important that someone speaks for people like me.
So when I started writing the book I thought “I’m going to tell people just how it was.” I mean it was brutal and The Good Son barely touches the surface.