Yesterday, The Examiner ran part one of an interview with Adrian McKinty, whose latest book, FIFTY GRAND, has been earning well-deserved rave reviews from critics and readers, and has been pegged as an early favorite for crime fiction awards. Today McKinty answers questions about fictional themes he's interested in, his philosophy about "show not tell" writing, and what we can expect from him in the future.
Ruttan: What issues or ideas about fiction have been foremost in your mind of late?
McKinty: I'm become more intrigued by the concept of the large polyphonic novel of late. I've been reading a lot of English and Russian Victorian fiction and I admire greatly that ambition of capturing a whole society in a book. I wouldn't mind having a go at something like that, though it'll give my agent kittens to hear that, because that's going to take years and years.
Ruttan: You're Irish, and have lived in America and now live in Australia. Do you feel that your experiences living and interacting with people of various cultures give you a different perspective as a writer than, say, a person who's lived in the same country or region all their life? Is this why many of your books seem to utilize international settings?
McKinty: I think it’s been to my advantage to have lived on four continents and 10 or 11 major cities. You get to see what's unique about a culture and what makes it stand out from other places. New cities and countries challenge your expectations and the struggle of even just going to the shops adds a little frisson to your daily life. However I don’t want to overrate geography, some of the finest novelists and writers never left home, Shakespeare is the paradigm example.
Ruttan: There are some writers who believe plot is paramount and will cut anything that slows down the story. You write thrillers, but take the time to paint intricate portraits with your descriptions. What would you say to those who think you should trim the scene-setting and move on with the action?
McKinty: Why bother even writing a book in the first place? If all you want to do is tell the bare narrative, you could do all that quite well in a short story. A novel can be so much more than just the skeletal recounting of events and so why not take a little trouble with your prose and your characters. Tom Clancy is something of a bete noir for me, he's so focused on the plot that he forgets that characters have to live and breathe and be able to exist independent of the book. A good novel for me is a balance of plot, character, dialogue and description. Of course Clancy's technique hasn’t hurt his sales in the slightest.
Ruttan: You've written trilogies and YA novels in the past. Do you find it hard to shift gears? How hard is it to put a character you've spent three books with behind you and start something new? What is it that appeals to you about writing for different audiences?
McKinty: I haven't felt much pressure to continue the Dead trilogy. I know that some readers want further books about those characters (occasionally they'll ask me on my blog) but I like the way the trilogy ended and I don't really want to return to Michael Forsythe again. If I did I'd have to kill him, he shouldn't be alive now, he's been very lucky and his luck has to run out some time.
The YA books came about because of the material. I knew that the story I wanted to tell would not fit into the conventions of a thriller or mystery and that in fact it was actually a young adult novel. I hadn't attempted to write a book like that before but fortunately I had read hundreds of them, so after a few chapters to find the correct tone I didn't really struggle much with it.
Ruttan: What's next for Adrian McKinty?
McKinty: Funnily enough I'm actually finishing my fourth YA now. This one is not related to the Lighthouse Trilogy. It’s a standalone about a serial killer in Colorado Springs. I know that doesn’t sound like a YA but it really is, perhaps aimed at a slightly older audience than the other books but definitely still within the genre.
For more information about Adrian McKinty visit his blog, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life. His books are available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon.
Sandra Ruttan can be contacted at sandra@sandraruttan.com
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