James Phelan

FAQ

Ξ March 13th, 2007 | → | ∇ Uncategorized |

Following the release of FOX HUNT and PATRIOT ACT in 2006 and 2007 respectively, I have received an overwhelming amount of feedback from readers. Thank you to all those who have taken the time to share their appreciation for my writing; it makes the process much more bearable knowing that those long hours at the keyboard has resulted in a book that has been enjoyed by so many readers.

Here are some frequently asked questions from those emails and some talks that I have given. Enjoy, and keep the emails and questions coming.

27th August, 2007

In July 2007 you attended Thrillerfest in New York, what was that like?

It was great! I got to meet many writers whose work I admire, such as Jeffery Deaver, Clive Cussler, Vince Flynn, Steve Berry, James Rollins… the list goes on! The festival is run by the International Thriller Writer’s Organization, which is a collective of thriller writers around the world. This was their second annual festival and was a week full of valuable information and a great opportunity to build friendships. I probably learned more about writing good thrillers at the hotel bar that I did from the panels, but hey! Oh, and I chaired a panel titled “Passport to Panic: the hows and whys of international intrigue”. On the panel were the wonderful writers Laura Caldwell, James Macomber, Hakan Nesser, Javier Sierra, and Heather Terrell. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to be back there next year.

Is it true that you are going to live in New York city?

I think I recently mentioned this in a newspaper or magazine interview and it has certainly become a frequently asked question! The answer is YES… but that’s not to say that I’m leaving Australia for good! My plan is to spend a few months in New York each year, starting in 2008, and being home in Melbourne the rest of the year. As my novels are set there, I think it’s important that I live at least a part of Lachlan Fox’s life - to make my stories ring as true as possible for my readers.

14th March, 2007.

You hold a Master of Arts in Writing, are studying your PhD, have published academic non-fiction… why write a “commercial thriller”?
The freedom that the genre delivers to get across some interesting issues and themes in a thrilling framework. I love reading thrillers, I like that anticipation that I as a reader feel when the story is ripping along. The global political landscape is something that I am very interested in, hence setting my books predominantly in the US and locations that are often in the news. The themes that propel each story, such as WMD and the Star Wars Missile Shield in FOX HUNT, to the USA Patriot Act and the NSA’s eavesdropping programs in PATRIOT ACT, are areas that I have a great time researching and then figuring out how to get that information across to my readers in an entertaining way.

Where did the idea of FOX HUNT come from?
I knew I wanted to set up an ongoing protagonist as an investigative journalist. Yet I wanted to show this hero’s journey before he got to that point that would occupy his life (and entertain readers lives) for some time. So I went in search of a good origin story, one that could highlight his background in the Navy while showing he was human enough to be affected by consequences in and out of his control.
The Star Wars Missile Shield, sometimes referred to as the Strategic Defence Initiative but that name changes under each administration, became the main element of the story when I wanted something that was post Cold War yet still somehow tied to that time – a time that I grew up in, and a time that I read so many thrillers set in. So, as my little homage to those great thriller writers of the second half of the twentieth century, FOX HUNT inherited my one and only Cold War legacy.

Why have Lachlan Fox working with the Global Syndicate of Reporters (GSR)?
I figure being in that job, Fox can be in all the hot spots that a spy or soldier could be in, yet he is not bound to serve his country like those positions would call for. I don’t like the idea of being constrained like that, to have to have a character that is working for the government that is often complicit in the events that I am writing about. And let’s face it, people are very distrusting their governments more than ever. Not that all journalists and news services are infallible but I do like that idea that Fox is just after the truth.

Why two protagonists?
With Lachlan and Al, I knew I always wanted a partnership, to have a buddy series like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” or “Midnight Run” or “Lethal Weapon”. There are so many examples of the buddy film, but I hadn’t come across that many in novels that really work. When they do, like the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, it’s a great storytelling device for a reader to enjoy. And when I thought of some of my favourite moments in cinema, what stood out was the relationship between friends and family. They are the ones you can hurt the most, and they are the ones that are there for you. There’s so much scope for a writer in that relationship, that in a way I feel like I’m cheating because I get to show so many sides to my main protagonist, Lachlan Fox, through his interactions with his friend. Sure, I have to put up with some “Brokeback Mountain” jibes, but hey! That said, PATRIOT ACT puts those to rest…
So, Lachlan Fox and Alister Gammaldi were born before the story of Fox Hunt, and they came about mainly because they are opposites. Fox is determined to find out the truth at any cost, whereas Gammaldi is more interested in the preservation of his life at all costs.
I should point out that Gammaldi is based on my best mate from high school, not so coincidentally named Alister Gammaldi, and that in real life he’s just as dependable as in fiction.

How do you create characters?
In many different ways. When it comes to naming them, I quite often cheat by using names of friends. Sometimes even their descriptions play a part but usually I let the reader make their own picture of each character rather than really spell out how each person looks.

When and where do you write?
When I used to work office hours and write on the side, I used to write at night and into the early hours of the morning. Since I’ve become published and do all my work from home, I find that the early morning to early afternoon is my most creative time. I use my afternoons and evenings to do all the other little writing things that come along, to go to the gym and to catch up with family and friends if I have any time left over. In what downtime I have left I read or watch DVDs.
I write from home, a converted warehouse in Melbourne. I’m seconds away from heaps of great cafes, restaurants, bars and pubs which can be a bit of a distraction at times! Sometimes, if my study is boring me or I start to get cabin fever, I take my MacBook and walk to the State Library to work. There’s a great café there too!

Where do you get your ideas from?
I try to carry a notebook around at all times, in case inspiration strikes or an idea comes to me. It’s a great tool for a writer, as I can jot down overheard conversations or record something that I have seen. Every now and then I’ll flick through my notebooks and take and find something really useful that I’d completely forgotten about.
The central ideas of my books generally come from world news and current affairs. The so called Star Wars Missile Shield appealed when I heard that the Australia are joining the US in the system. The ramifications of the Patriot Act are extraordinary, and some similar laws were past here in Australia that, for a writer particularly, have worrying Big Brother like hallmarks. Fox book three will be on oil and book four is on water again both hot issues that I am wrapping up in a thrilling story.

What research do you do for your novels?
I love the research component that goes into writing thrillers, and each new book means another world that I get to inhabit for a while. I read heaps of non-fiction, which I generally buy (I am a bibliophile) but sometimes find at a library. I go over interviews with people who have been in the situations that I am depicting in the pages of my books, and I talk to them if I can. With the military pieces I am lucky enough to know some people who have served, and since publication I have some military fans and I’ve even visited some bases. I’m forever asking questions of people to fuel my stories.
The internet is an amazing tool if you can find your way around. There are heaps of honest and often very sad blogs of soldiers and civilians that are directly affected by the circumstances that I write about, and they are something that keeps me grounded. I try harder and harder in each book to get an accurate portrayal of the lives that I am writing about. Suspending the reader’s disbelief, keeping the facts within the realm of entertaining fiction, is the fun part.

How much planning do you do for your novels?
Heaps. When I’m working with three parts and up to seven storylines in each book, I makes sure I know who’s who, where they’ll be going, what they are after etc etc. I need to know my characters motivation, the stakes involved, the hurdles ahead of them, and above all, I need to know where my story is going. I need to be sure that before I type anything, that I’ve written down what the end of the story is going to be. Once I know that destination, I may deviate from the hundred or so pages of notes but I will eventually get there. And there’s no feeling like writing that final scene and seeing everything come together.

Where can I get a signed copy of your book?
I frequently travel the country attending writer’s festivals and visit bookstores for signings. If you have no luck on that front, Hachette Livre, my publisher, has bookplates on file. They’re basically official publisher’s stickers that I have signed and they can send them to you to insert into the book. And no you can’t use them to purchase a house or the like - my autograph is different to my signature!

-JP

An Interview with James Phelan: Frequently Asked Questions of March 2006.

When did you realise you wanted to be a writer?

As a teenager (around 15) when I read my first few current adventures and thrillers. I played around with some ideas through high school, ‘95 and ‘96, but it was not until 2001 that I decided to dedicate the time and effort to see if I could do it. Prior to this I had started two novels which were at various stages.

What were those books that inspired you?

I can’t remember the titles but the first couple were by Alistair MacLean, where he had a UN team (anticrime/terror etc.) as his protagonists. Around the same time I read Patriot Games - it got a huge amount of publicity thanks to the movie and I bought the first of the prints with Harrison Ford on the cover - proof of how much a movie deal can boost sales! Subsequently I read and enjoy all Tom’s stuff.

The real spurring of interest came when a friend introduced me to Clive Cussler’s books. I was 14 or 15 and was hooked. From there it was Grisham/Follet/Archer/Crichton - anything similar.

So Clancy and Cussler would be your big influences?

Yeah, I think that’s fair to say. Clancy redefined the genre, although straying perhaps a bit too far away from some of the tried and true elements that work; ie, from when Jack Ryan becomes president. I still love his books, but these days find it more informative (in a neo-con kinda way) than entertaining - he’s lucky he has such a following hooked on his earlier stuff.

Cussler was a huge influence and probably who I’ve closest modelled my writing of this series on. I believe he was emulating MacLean and Flemming when he started - obviously using his own evolutionary style - as I’ve attempted to follow big Clive. This guy writes purely and simply to entertain, and I believe I can write in the happy medium between he and Clancy.

And that’s why you write - to entertain?

Predominately, yes, that is the objective.

If a reader gets involved and engrossed in my story, or attached to a character, then I have done my job. Like watching a movie, I want the reader to finish up thinking it was twenty or thirty bucks well spent in the entertainment department.

I say predominately, as there are other elements that drive me - writing a novel is like a drug, so amazing and addictive when you get in the creative zone - and perhaps with the some other, future works, it (entertaining) may not be priority number one. (For instance, see my short story “Soliloquy for One Dead”).

In my mind to entertain is paramount in what is perceived popular fiction and the most blatant key to success in this area - I’ll get off my horse now!

So there are plans to write outside the Fox series - even outside the genre? How about another Literati?

Yes, yes, and yes!

First up though I’m ploughing ahead on getting the first three Fox novels out there. My fourth novel - under development - is outside the series, and I have planned a few other stand alones as well, within and outside the genre.

I had a great time putting Literati together, despite the horrendous deadline. To me it’s something I will do the rounds with at literary festivals here in Australia for a while, and look at a gap of 2-3 years before doing another one.

Aside from this, I’m developing a couple of young adult adventures and some screen plays. Oh, and I have a Nick Hornby About a Boy type manuscript that I add to when the inspiration strikes. It may well be ready before Fox 3 ‚Äì I’ll have to run that one by my agent.

Any hints on that thriller outside the Fox series?

Well, my mind is still crammed with the logistics of the next Fox instalment at the moment, squeezing together about a year of research for the storyline - all that backstory that will never see the light of day or ink on page!

Anyway, my fourth novel is fast – much faster than the Fox series - as it begins and ends almost as quickly, and with huge amounts of action, thrills and spills! Oh, and it involves money - lots of money - and geopolitics.

How do you see your writing in comparison to other Australian thriller writers, such as Birmingham, Rollins, and Reilly. Can you explain how your styles differ?

I’m sure our readers can work that one out themselves!

Birmingham has a bit more of a spec-fiction element to his Axis of Time trilogy, while Rollins’ thriller world is usually set closer to home. So, Reilly is probably the closest, and he’s consistently good at what he does.

I must admit, when I first started writing a novel - way back in ‘95 - my plan of attack was probably closer to Reilly’s work than what the final outcome attests. While I originally had the ambition to write good old-fashioned adventure like Cussler, I found the no-holes-barred action that people would expect today from the genre left me wanting. While I didn’t want to go too far and get bogged down in politics (where Clancy has learnt to excel) I certainly wanted my books to have a little more substance than a current Action/Adventure would accommodate. I wanted characters to be important, for plot development to be broad and far reaching in scenic scope, and ultimately in the pace of the read as well. Whether in movies or novels, I like watching a scene build and evolve, rather than explosions from go to woe.

In my mind, action movies these days have gone too far. There’s only so much CGI explosions the audience can handle, and they become pass?© after a while (certainly on a second viewing!). To me, some of the best films in this genre have been the smaller, tighter ones, such as the recent Bourne movies, the latest Batman film by Chris Nolan (Nolan deliberately used no CGI in the production). To me, novels in this genre follow a much similar pattern and the readers, much like the movie audience, are savvy enough to be bored with meaningless action. What I aimed to do with Fox Hunt was have the action always developing the characters or story in some way. By having a focus on the actions of the characters, it is much more real, less clich?©d. The action is integral, rather than for action’s sake. It becomes an extraordinary story of ordinary people, with the story driving things along.

How do you think up an action or fight scene?

With the expectation that readers as an audience have of action scenes, these have to be compelling. While I want my readers to follow Lachlan Fox as much as possible, there was far more going on then just the action immediately around him. The design was deliberate in the switch from different point of views: this speeds up the scenes, and makes it into a format that closer follows what a television and film audience have come to expect: think of 24, or CSI, or Black Hawk Down. These switch from scene to scene with often hard cuts, letting you see the action as it unfolds for other characters, seeing the story from their POV.

Look at “Die Another Day”, the latest Bond movie. Storyline takes a far back seat (not unusual for Bond films) to the constant action, so much so that the story struggled to link many scenes - it was just one long action packed ad! How many explosions and close ups of popular actors saying hackneyed lines do we need! Hopefully the remake of remake “Casino Royale” will address come of this.

Let me form an opinion on the characters, then blow stuff - them! - up and let the story play out. I enjoy seeing/reading how a character reacts to a situation, not just a situation that chugs along and happens to have a couple people in it.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years time James?

Published everywhere!

In 10 years, I’m sure I’ll be writing better than ever - you get better every day, which is the curse for any writer reading over past work - have had a movie or two made of my novels and screenplays, perhaps some computer games Clancy-style, all whilst keeping up my job teaching writing at university.

I’m putting in the work to make it happen, so time will tell.