I’ve finally sent my seventh novel, Grievous Harm, to my publisher. Finding the time to go through the completed manuscript and tweak anything that might need it wasn’t easy. Not only am I trying to organise WriteFest, the Bundaberg writers festival, but I’m also trying to tidy my office. I’d love to be able to say that I live and work in a pristine environment, but … Clean it is, tidy is something else. But with the festival organising kicking into gear, I figure a neat desk will help me keep on top of things. And that might just give me enough time to start writing book eight.
So what has this to do with the ARRA, I hear you ask? Well, the Australian Romance Readers Association has an email loop, and they are a very generous and enthusiastic bunch, so when I couldn’t find the right name for a minor character in Grievous Harm, I sent out a “please help” email for suggestions. The responses were wonderful, names and reasons why those names suited my character came rolling in. I was most grateful for their help, but none of the names sparked that “Oh, yeah” sensation I was hoping for. Then it came. The perfect name for this character. He’s only a minor character in this book, but will become the main character in book eight. And now I can write his story. The plot has been percolating in my mind for some time, but without the right name, this character was too elusive to pin down. So thanks, ladies, I’m most indebted to you, and particularly to Debbie for sending me the name.
So it makes me wonder, how do other readers feel about characters’ names? Do you feel jerked out of the story if the character doesn’t fit his or her name? Does a soldier hero called Cecil make you shake your head and wonder what the writer was thinking? How does it affect you when a character has a name you can’t stand?
I watched A Current Affair tonight and was appalled by the comments made by Yumi Stynes and George Negus on the tv show The Circle about Victoria Cross winner Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith. Cprl Roberts-Smith had been interviewed on another channel about his actions that won him the armed services highest medal and about his life as a soldier and a husband and father.
He risked his life to save the lives of his mates and displayed the kind of courage we are grateful our soldiers have. In his interview he also shared the personal story of his and his wife’s struggle to have children. He was articulate, honest, and showed the emotional courage that complemented the physical and mental courage that won him the VC.
I won’t mention Yumi’s and George’s disgraceful comments. They should hang their heads in shame for what they said.
I watched SAS Cprl Roberts-Smith’s interview, and thought at the time that the heroes that we writers create are reflections of true heroes like this man. Soldiers like him give me faith that our country is being protected by the best, and I thank them for their dedication and their devotion to duty.
It was one day after Valentine’s Day, but my friend Louise Cusack‘s life was full of rose-tinged thoughts when her fantasy romance trilogy was epublished by Momentum Books on 15 February. Although the books had been previously print published in Australia, epublishing meant they were now available internationally.
Epublishing is a wonderful avenue for Australian authors to get their books out into the world. My books have Australian settings, which can make them difficult to sell overseas, and particularly into the USA, but with the growing trend towards readers purchasing ebooks it means my stories can now reach a greater audience and show readers from other countries aspects of Australia, and particularly Queensland, they won’t find in most travel brochures. For example, the amazing Amphitheatre at Carnarvon Gorge in Central Queensland is a wonderful example of nature’s force and I knew I had to use it when writing Dangerous Deception. The opening to the Amphitheatre is high up on a cliff face and can only be reached by climbing a series of ladders.
When you get to the entrance of the tunnel (which is formed by an enormous slab of rock splitting apart and creating an opening), you then have to traverse about 40 metres of uneven rock as well as concrete steps made by the Park Rangers. This photo was taken from almost inside the Amphitheatre looking back to the entrance in the cliff face.
When you step inside the Amphitheatre, it’s like walking into a massive cathedral. You gaze up the vaulting slabs of rock to the tiny opening at the top where sunlight enters. The floor is grey dirt, and amazingly ferns grow in abundance, perhaps watered by rain seeping through fissures in the rock. They certainly wouldn’t get much rain through the small top opening.
When we were there a young couple joined us, and the woman took out a flute and began playing. Magic. It was the only word to describe it. Pure notes lingering then rising to the tiny patch of sky above. The acoustics are so good they have had choirs perform there for the fabulous resonance.
There’s something spiritual about Carnarvon Gorge, and even more so about the Amphitheatre. It was something I felt just driving from the highway to the Gorge and became stronger the moment I walked into the Amphitheatre.
Aboriginal rock paintings adorn the cliff walls further into the gorge, and it’s easy to visualise them living here and enjoying the abundant wildlife. With a creek traversing the length of the gorge, there is ample water and lush grasses to attract wallabies, goannas and birds.
Unfortunately, feral pigs have also made the gorge their home, and their habit of rooting up plants for food has led to some destruction of the creek banks. The Park Rangers try to keep their numbers under control, but eliminating them entirely would be almost impossible.
I couldn’t believe how long it’s been since I last blogged! I thought that once I returned from the McGregor Summer School I would have a few winding-down days, then jump back into writing and organising WriteFest, the Bundaberg writers festival. But no, that crazy Chaos Fairy (my friends call her the Curtis Chaos Fairy) swatted my darling daughter-in-law, Cheryse Durrant, and she ended up with a broken leg (Cheryse, not the Fairy, darn it). Luckily we have a car that Cheryse can manoeuvre herself into the passenger seat with her leg in the knee-to-ankle brace, because trips to the physio and doctor would have been impossible in her smaller car.
Now I’m getting back to editing Grievous Harm, the story that features one of the minor characters in Fatal Flaw. GH is darker than FF, and covers a topic that sends chills down the backs of parents. It’s a story that I found myself writing in spite of my natural aversion to the topic, but the characters demanded the story be told in a certain way and I went along because I agreed with them. Sometimes I wonder where some of these characters come from. I hope they’re not from a deeper side of my personality, because that would be too scary to live with. Ruth in Fatal Flaw is a character I was fascinated by. She had so many different facets to her, so much so that I wondered how each of us would have acted in her situation. I had a sneaking sympathy for her, and I wonder if any of my readers felt the same. I would love to hear readers’ thoughts on Ruth.
On 3 January I caught a plane to Brisbane, then waited three hours for a bus to take me to Toowoomba with over a dozen other tutors attending the University of Southern Queensland McGregor Summer School. We arrived at the Uni at 6pm, just in time to be issued with our room key, dump our bags and front up for dinner. Thus began my initiation into the clamour and creativity of the 10-day arts course that allows anyone with the money to pay for it access to the skills and knowledge of tutors who are recognised experts in their field, be it painting, jewellery making, furniture restoration, music, singing etc. My small contribution to this pool of talent was in creative writing, with the sub-title of “Crime and Passion” that I hoped would attract writers who saw their future writing in these areas.
Nine eager, and somewhat apprehensive, writers wandered into the room allocated to us. A room that turned out to be the coldest in the building, with air-conditioning that sometimes drove us to take refuge in the small downstairs courtyard where we could thaw out. With one exception, none of these writers would see their twenties again, but it wasn’t long before they formed a cohesive and supportive group.
It’s now Day Eight, and although everyone is still eager, full days of learning and nights attending students and tutors concerts and doing “homework” are taking their toll, and yawning is as much a part of the day as hearty laughter or gasps of awe as each writer reads out what they have written. And my yawns are there too. I’ve tutored four-day workshops before, but this is the first time I’ve done a 10-day one and I’m looking forward to going home and sleeping in and having a couple of lazy days to recover. But with mail and emails piling up in my absence I doubt that will happen.
The smallest of all the Australian native mouse species is the Delicate Mouse. They eat grain from native grasses and, unlike house mice, are not a problem you’ll find in your pantry. And when I say these mice are small, I mean it. The largest would be 7.5cm in total length. And they are seriously cute. Their back legs have a rabbit shape, and they hop instead of run.
We live across from large paddocks of native grasses, and currently they provide a home for six small kangaroos, quite a few varieties of snakes, and a lot of other creatures. After rain we see egrets, ibises, cranes and wild ducks feasting on the grubs, worms and whatever else they can find. The paddocks are also home to Delicate Mice. I know this because our older cat, Zara, occasionally decides to bring one home as a gift for me. Which she did tonight. The poor little thing was terrified. I would be too if I’d been carted around in a cat’s mouth. It was smaller than my thumb, and I was trying to hold it gently so as not to harm it when it jumped from my hand and ran between the glass sliding door and the security screen door and didn’t know how to get out. After much manoeuvring, Rob and I finally freed it, but I was so worried for this tiny little creature.
So when I sat at the computer later tonight it struck me that in my job as a writer I get to kill some characters and put others through terrible trauma (and don’t tell me falling in love isn’t traumatic for some people <vbg>) and yet I get overly concerned for the welfare of one tiny little mouse. I also cry when I see kids in pain on television and when I watch sad movies, and am a sucker for donating to worthy causes when I read those brochures saying how it’s possible to save a life or rescue a dog etc. So sometimes I’ve wonder why I write what I do. But I reckon it’s because, as a writer, I get to give my characters justice.
Justice can sometimes be an elusive thing, and sometimes there is a fine line between seeking justice and seeking revenge. It was a line that Ruth Bellamy crossed in Fatal Flaw. It was difficult though, not to feel sympathy for Ruth. She was one of the most complex characters I’ve written, and I wondered how I would react if I had suffered what she did. I’m looking forward to getting feedback from readers about her, as I feel there will be conflicting views on whether Ruth was justified in doing what she did.
Brisbane writer Ian Walkley is one of the new generation of self-published novelists, with his debut novel, No Remorse, recently launched on Amazon and Smashwords. The non-stop action thriller, set in Europe and the Middle East, follows a former Army Special Operations commander on a personal mission to rescue a friend’s kidnapped daughter, only to discover a much bigger threat than he could possibly imagine.
With author JJ Cooper, who penned The Interrogator and Deadly Trust, describing No Remorse as “An edgy thriller that gets straight into the action and doesn’t let up, a plausible plot with a strong and engaging protagonist—intelligent thriller writing”, Ian looks set to establish himself as a thriller writer to watch out for.
Ian, your main character, Lee McCloud, is described as “a loose cannon” by his superior in the secret organisation which he is forced to join. Why do they believe this?
McCloud is a Delta Force special ops guy, trained for the toughest missions, deniable, highly intelligent, used to making quick decisions under extreme pressure. You can bet the bosses worry about whether someone like that can be controlled. Especially after McCloud leads a personal mission, unsanctioned, to rescue two kidnapped girls, which goes terribly wrong.
You have obviously done a lot of research to make sure all your scenes read as truly authentic. How much research did you do, and how did you go about this?
Writers are incredibly varied in how much research they do. Lee Child claims to do no research at all, whereas Gayle Lynds does heaps. I enjoy the research side, so I tend to do lots. I want the guns to be the right type, and to understand how they feel, so I go out and shoot a sniper rifle. I travelled extensively in the Middle East to understand the environment and culture. It was a wonderful experience. I found it difficult to gain the cooperation of Australian military. The US is more open to dealing with authors than in Australia. Two CIA agents even came to Thrillerfest in New York last year so we could ask them questions. The US sees it as good public relations. Australia is a little behind in this regard. Although I could easily find out on the Internet what weapons our soldiers use, the Army’s PR department declined to provide assistance, even though I am a member of the Media Alliance. I know they treat traditional journalists better, so maybe it’s a “first time author” thing. I hope it will be easier to approach people now I’m published.
In No Remorse, you have created memorable characters, including some villains like Sheik Khalid Yubani. Did you have anyone in mind when you wrote this character?
Not really. I was very conscious that there are many wealthy people who own luxury megayachts, so I was very careful checking to ensure the surname I used was not one I could find on the internet. Khalid is a very common Saudi name. There have been billionaire arms dealers with luxury yachts, whose names I’d prefer not to mention. And a dead British publisher with a yacht was reputed to be an Israeli agent. There is also a figure (now dead) associated with a defunct international bank who was alleged to have laundered funds for the CIA. So there are lots of real life personalities we writers can borrow from, but it is important that we generate fictional characters with their own unique personalities, having no resemblance to anyone living or dead (hopefully that will pass legal scrutiny).
Without giving any plot away, can you give us some background on Tally, the woman Lee McCloud has to work with?
Tally is a genius computer specialist with an eidetic memory. McCloud has a past problem with women, and feels that Tally belongs in an office, not out in the field where it’s dangerous. Tally also has a haunted past, which sets up for some good conflict, and some fun in the relationship. Remember the Moonlighting TV series, the movies Mr & Mrs Smith, and Romancing the Stone? They were my inspiration for this relationship. In the end there’s so much action happening I’m not sure I got as much into this as I could have. But I wanted to keep the plot real, and not manipulate the characters just for the fun of it. I also wanted Tally to be a strong woman, not necessarily a straightforward, stereotype. So she has her own unique traits and point of view that make her as much a protagonist as McCloud.
Ian, why did you choose to write a thriller, and especially one that has a main character with a military background? Have you served in the military?
Sadly, I haven’t served. Age 18, I applied and was recommended for the Air Force Academy but unfortunately the medical checks picked up a slight hearing loss I didn’t even know I had. I had my heart set on being a pilot, and no plan B. In some ways, writing novels is my plan B.
As a kid, I was quite an advanced reader for my age, and I loved Wilbur Smith, Alistair MacLean and Robert Ludlum. In my business career, I travelled a great deal, and frequently would buy a novel at the airport bookstore while waiting for the flight. I always dreamed about writing a “Wild Justice” or “Bourne Identity” type novel. These are global thrillers with exotic locations, international conspiracies, big stakes, larger than life characters, weapons and sex. James Bond/Jason Bourne loners against the powerful bad guys. These days it’s a Jack Reacher. My character Lee McCloud is one of these guys, with his own peculiar quirks and weaknesses. I hope the readers like him.
What made you decide to go the self-publishing route with No Remorse?
I had interest from UK and German publishers, but I submitted my manuscript too early in Australia and the US and was rejected by agents and publishers. Once I had worked with a professional editor I was ready to publish, but with the turbulence in the publishing industry I felt that resubmitting the manuscript would take another year and wasn’t prepared to wait. These days self-publishing is a realistic option. Many existing authors are self-pubbing their backlists as ebooks. Barry Eisler just did a deal to self-publish his latest novel, The Detachment, through Amazon Kindle, rejecting a $500,000 advance from St Martins Press to take the higher royalties offered by Amazon.
The other favourable factor is the ebook phenomenon. There are more than seventy million readers in the US alone who own iPads and Kindles or the next generation of tablets that can hold hundreds of books. E-books are cheaper for book lovers, and better for the environment. The maths stacks up. Like it or not, the future is e-books. Traditional bookstores are examining ways of selling e-books now—for them it is about survival.
What is your next challenge?
Testing the willingness by book reviewers in the traditional media to review self-published books. I think if a self-published author surrounds him or herself with professionals to edit, design the cover and promote the book, then these days it should be possible to gain the attention of book reviewers. I’m looking at ways to help other writers self-publish. And having the book available for sale is great motivation for me to complete my second novel, Bait, a crime thriller set in Brisbane, which will be released in April 2012.
Thank you for sharing with us, Ian, and best wishesfor a very successful career as a thriller writer.
No Remorse is available as an ebook from Amazon, and Smashwords and will be available in print in early 2012. Check out the promotional trailer to catch a taste of No Remorse.
The Bundaberg Regional Library started a new initiative on Monday – morning tea with an author – and I was the guinea pig 🙂
At first I thought I was going to be chatting with an audience of two, but people soon trickled in, and when I started talking about the journey of a book, from manuscript to bookshelf, library patrons who’d come in just to borrow a book wandered over and sat down and joined in. It was a great morning, and lovely to meet such interesting readers and writers. One lady bought Fatal Flaw for her daughter and when she said to write “To Gaynor” on it, I had to tell her that there is a character in the book called Gaynor and she’s not the kind of woman you’d want your son to bring home for dinner. She laughed and said it will create some discussion on Christmas morning.
Which makes me curious – have you ever read a character that had the same name as you and you didn’t like him/her? How did you feel about it?
Sandy with Jacqui Read, Linda Collins, Val Lewis and Alina Bonaventura at Library Author ChatSandy and Lyn Dwyer
Bundaberg made the national headlines recently, but for all the wrong reasons. Police seized 300kg of cocaine from a boat that had arrived at the Bundaberg Port as a finisher in the annual Port 2 Port rally and arrested four Spanish nationals.
Customs Officers check every boat that comes into the Port, but in this case they probably would have only given a cursory inspection as the Australian Federal Police had been tracking the drug syndicate for some time and were waiting to catch the Australian-based members with their hands on the drugs.
But don’t think that that means that the drugs would have been easy to find. When I was writing Deadly Tide, I spoke with a lot of the women involved in the trawling industry and they were aware that rumours abounded about trawlers that were involved in drug smuggling, and one even said how she and her husband bought a second trawler and discovered many secret compartments when they began refurbishing. This was wonderful background information for me, even though my villains weren’t smuggling drugs.
Truth can often be stranger than fiction, but it’s how a writer presents it to the reader that gives it authenticity. The scene where Chayse falls overboard when trying to free a rock caught in the nets during rough weather actually happened, but to a local trawler operator. His wife told me how terrified she was, watching his yellow raincoated-figure disappear under the water as she tried frantically to turn the boat to go back to get him. Fishers trawl at night, so the chances of finding him again were slim, but luckily he was able to discard his raincoat and boots and float to the surface.
I love talking to people when researching for my books. Sometimes they reveal fantastic stories that are like manna from heaven for a writer, and I’m very very grateful to them for sharing. So if a writer asks if they can interview you for research purposes, don’t worry that they will find your life boring – everyone’s life has something in it that will be interesting to someone else.
Would you believe I picked up a Swedish backpacker the other day? Okay, all you romance and crime lovers, stop the drooling and getting suspicious. She (yes, she) was a lovely young woman who hadn’t seen anything of Bundaberg and was going to be working at least 6 days a week for the next four months so I gave her a tour of all the wonderful beaches here. From Mon Repos where the turtles come to lay their eggs (it’s the season now) to Bargara and Innes Park. Didn’t get as far as Elliott Heads but made it to our only hill, The Sloping Hummock, for an all-over view of the countryside. At 20 she has come alone to Oz on a working holiday. And if you’re thinking of her as a tall, striking blonde with blue eyes, reverse that. She was even as short as I am! And we took the same shoe size. I found that out when she asked me where she could buy some sneakers. People with tiny feet aren’t always catered for well in the footwear area.
It got me thinking about our preconceptions of what we expect people of other nationalities look like and how they behave. When I wrote Fatal Flaw, I created a character who is part Asian, part English, with diverse nationalities grandparents. I had never encountered anyone with that background so picked the brains of a friend who had lived in Malaysia for some years. What she told me offered a whole new twist to the plot that I hadn’t anticipated but worked exceptionally well. Readers have to believe that characters’ actions ring true, and getting that kind of insight from my friend allowed me to give him plausible motivations. I love creating complex characters, and Fatal Flaw has its fair share of them.
I often wonder how readers feel about characters in the books they read. Anyone willing to share their thoughts?
