Interview with Gabriel Tait, Author of Meeks

Gabriel Tait is a Toronto novelist and the author of Meeks and The Ranleigh Tapes. He began writing fiction at fifty, after carrying the original idea for Meeks since his early twenties. He started the first draft in October 2019 and completed it in May 2020, followed by six more drafts. His work explores addiction and identity, continuing Ranleigh Meeks’s story while changing genre and narrative form from one book to the next. Sober since October 27, 2001, he brings that perspective to his fiction. He is working on Echo, the final installment of the Meeks trilogy, planned for late 2027.

Website: https://gabrieltait.com
Meeks on Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CH465Y5P
Meeks on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CH465Y5P
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gabrieltaitauthor

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Toronto, Canada, and I still live here.

When did you begin writing?

I started writing Meeks in October 2019, when I was fifty. I finished the first draft on May 4, 2020, about seven months after I started. There were six more drafts after that.

What is this book about?

Meeks follows one man’s increasingly desperate pursuit of the person he believes he was meant to become. It’s a psychological thriller about addiction and identity. Ranleigh Meeks believes a better life is waiting for him. He is right, and that is where the trouble begins.

What inspired you to write it?

The original idea for Meeks came to me in my early twenties. It wasn’t very well developed, but I thought it was solid. Since I wasn’t a writer, I used to offer it to friends who were writing or starting out in filmmaking. None of them took me up on it. That’s where the whole Ranleigh Meeks story began, although I had no idea then who Ranleigh Meeks was. I’ve basically been expanding on that idea ever since.

What is up next for you?

I’m working on the final installment of the Meeks trilogy. The third book is titled Echo and is slated for release in late 2027.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I’ve been sober since October 27, 2001. That perspective informs my writing about addiction, although my characters are entirely fictitious. I hope readers come away from Meeks entertained, but also with a deeper understanding of addiction.

Book blurb

Ranleigh Meeks believes a better life is waiting for him. He is right. That is where the trouble begins.

Meeks follows one man’s increasingly desperate pursuit of the person he believes he was meant to become. Darkly funny, emotionally raw and deeply unsettling, it asks how much of ourselves we can abandon before there is no one left to come home.