I was a fan of “big” drama in those days – books written by authors such as James Michener, Leon Uris, Irving Wallace, and James Clavell. They wrote very long books, but of course, I had a lot more time to read back then! I enjoyed the sweeping character of their novels, often cutting across generations, with tremendous emotional depth in the stories and people. Some of my personal favorites were Uris’s Trinity and Michener’s The Source. They taught me how books could lift you out of the present day and transport you somewhere entirely different.
Would you say your childhood and teenage reading has had a distinct influence on how you write fiction now, and why?
That’s definitely true. I was attracted to writing suspense because of its breathtaking pace, but I found “pure” suspense to be somewhat sterile. If the book is only about action, then it feels hollow at its core. So I have tried to combine plot and pace with the character-driven drama I enjoyed reading in my early days. I want thrillers where the people and places come alive and have a human quality. That’s a debt I owe to those writers in the 1970s.
What did you do before you became a published novelist, and how did you come to write your first novel and get it published?
I’ve been writing all my life; in fact, I completed my first full-length novel when I was all of 13. However, I spent almost 20 years trying to break through in this difficult industry. Along the way, I did everything from mortgage banking and database systems to marketing and public relations – all very glamorous jobs, ha ha. I wrote a total of five novels before I even started the manuscript of IMMORAL, which was my breakthrough book. There were days when it would have been a lot easier to quit, but I still felt as if writing was my mission in life. I guess things happen for a reason. When I had IMMORAL almost ready to go, I stumbled into a contact with a leading London agent totally by accident. She read the book and fell in love with it. Six months later, we’d sold IMMORAL in 17 languages. At that point, people started calling me an overnight success – which is true, I suppose, as long as you forget those 20 years of abject failure!
How would you describe your style of fiction or your approach to writing fiction during your first few novels?
I write psychological suspense. It’s drama that arises out of the emotions, secrets, and sexuality of the characters. I try to create real, flawed, three-dimensional people. I don’t like writing about super-heroes or super-villains. I want all of my characters to operate in the gray world of morality that we inhabit every day, and to face moral conflicts that draw them across some terrible lines.
How would you describe your style of fiction or your approach to writing fiction now?
My style is the same; if anything, I think I carve out my niche of psychological suspense more cleanly with each new book, because I know exactly what I want to write. However, my process has evolved. I used to outline in considerable detail before I started every book. Maybe I needed that as a new writer to give me structure and guidance as I was getting started. Today, although I still do outlines and character studies, I leave it much looser, in order to give more spontaneity to the drafting process. It makes the books harder to write – because I start each day from scratch – but I think the result is even fresher.
Was your first published novel standalone or part of a series, and what advantages or disadvantages did this present for you?
I didn’t really intend IMMORAL to be part of a series, but my publishers and readers had other ideas! They wanted more Stride. I realized that the plot concept I had for my second book, STRIPPED, lent itself to another Jonathan Stride novel, and I adapted it accordingly. Since then, my first five books turned out to be part of the series. I love the depth of characterization you can carry across a series; it makes Stride and the people around him truly human as they evolve along with the plots.
If there’s a disadvantage to a series, it’s that many readers feel a need to go back and start with the first book. I write carefully so that you don’t have to do so – you can start anywhere in the series – but I can’t always convince readers of that fact! As a result, it can be easier to find new readers with stand-alones, because everything is contained within that book. I’ve now done two stand-alones for books six and seven: THE BONE HOUSE, which is available now, and SPILLED BLOOD, which is due out in the spring of 2012. Meanwhile, I’m working on the new Stride novel right now, and I expect I’ll do a mix of stand-alone and series books going forward.
Did you find writing your second novel easier or more challenging than writing your first novel and why?
They’re all hard! It really is an intense and emotionally demanding process, because the characters become so real to you. It’s also a craft that requires tremendous time and care. Writing the first book took a long time, because I was working full-time at another job throughout the process. I think IMMORAL took about two and a half years to get on paper. By the time I wrote STRIPPED, I had more time to concentrate on the book, and it went faster. However, every book is a labor of love, with equal emphasis on labor and love. If it feels easy to write a book, then it probably doesn’t have the depth I want.
Who is another novelist whose fiction writing you admire and why?
I’ve always been a fan of Peter Robinson. He’s a Canadian author who writes detective novels set in Yorkshire. He and I share a love for depth of characterization in the stories, and his books often involve the past rippling forward with unexplained mysteries into the present, which is also true of mine. There’s a real kinship in his books that I appreciate.
Pick a series of novels you have written. How would you describe what makes that a cohesive series with strong appeal for readers? If you have not written a series of novels, how would you describe what makes one of your favourite series by another novelist a cohesive series with strong appeal for readers?
Most series books are held together by their people and places. In my Stride novels, Stride, Serena, and Maggie are the “glue” that bind each story together. They become real to the readers, almost like friends. People ask if I know the fates of these characters far in advance, and of course, the answer is no. We are all products of our experiences, and the same is true for the series characters. They are shaped by the things that happen to them, and that changes the directions of their lives, sometimes for good, sometimes for bad.
The setting is an important part of the series, too. Most of my Stride novels are set in Duluth in northern Minnesota, which is a remote, bitter part of the world, on the shore of Lake Superior. Some readers have called it a variant on Swedish noir, because there are strong similarities between Sweden and the Minnesota climate and culture. There is a romance to that cold, forbidding landscape. Readers may not want to live there, but they enjoy experiencing it through the books.
How would you summarise one of your novels in one paragraph?
Most of my books revolve around big themes. For example, THE BONE HOUSE focuses on trust and doubt. Mark Bradley is a teacher who is accused of having an affair with a student, and even though both deny it, he loses his job. When the sister of that student is found dead, the hammer of suspicion falls on Mark, and everyone assumes he is guilty. Only his wife, Hilary, maintains her faith in him, and she embarks on a lonely quest to prove his evidence and to prove that something very different was going on in the life of that young girl. However, each day seems to bring new evidence that points to her husband. So she must struggle with that basic question: How well can you really know the person sleeping next to you? And how can you continue to believe in him when the rest of the world thinks he is a monster?
How would you describe the appeal of this novel to readers?
I remember one reader writing to me to say that she had been reduced to taking illicit bathroom breaks at work to get in another chapter. That’s what I like to hear! If a reader loses sleep, fails to feed the kids, forgets to walk the dog, and keeps the lights on until the wee hours, then I’ve done my job. I try to do a delicate balancing act with readers: write books that are so pacy you have to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next, but provide a depth of emotion that the characters linger in your head for days when you’re done.
How would you summarise a chapter from this novel in one paragraph?
I love scenes that leave the reader questioning themselves…do I really know what’s going on? Can I trust what these characters are telling me? What’s the hidden dynamic between these people? In one chapter, Tresa Fischer approaches Mark Bradley as he is painting on a wind-swept island. They really shouldn’t be seen together, not after the accusations of an affair, but Tresa is still in love with Mark, even as she wonders if he is the one who killed her sister. Or is she hiding her own guilt? She remembers the warmth of his lips, but he has sworn that there was never an affair. It’s an erotic, unsettling scene.
How would you describe the contribution this chapter makes to the novel?
Ah, I said this book is about trust and doubt! But those are never easy themes for any of us. We can’t really know what’s going on in another person’s soul. So this chapter helps the reader capture the doubt that Hilary Bradley feels: Do I really know this man who is my husband? Is he lying about an affair with this young girl? Meanwhile, maybe there are other vital clues to what’s really going on…and maybe the reader won’t realize this until the very end…
Author website: www.bfreemanbooks.com
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