Writers At Work
This is the sixteenth in Ravenshead's series of interviews with
writers.
Robert
Bidinotto is a widely published, award-winning investigative
journalist, magazine
editor, and nonfiction author. He recently started the 'Hunter' series
of novels and judging by the
Amazon
response (60+ reviews with a 5-star average) this is going to
be very successful.
He runs a blog which concentrates on writing thrilllers
here.
A
typical article is "
My
Moral Teachers Were Fictional Lawbreakers"
He is currently working on the sequel to the first Hunter book and this
is eagerly anticipted.
In December 2011 Robert's debut thriller
Hunter went
to #4 in the Kindle Store (above John Grisham and Stephen King) and
became the #1 selling thriller. Robert writes about this
here.
Ravenshead (RH) interviewed Robert Bidinotto (RB) in September 2011 and
the interview is reproduced here.
An Interview with Robert Bidinotto
RH: Please tell us a bit about your
background.
RB: I
was raised in a dying mill town in western Pennsylvania
during the
1950s. It was a blue-collar home. My parents worked like mules, with
little
time or money for much else. So, there was no “culture” to speak of in
our
house: no books, no stereo system, no trips to plays or concerts.
Our big old black-and-white Philco television was
my cultural salvation. As a toddler, I became a huge fan of the early
TV
Western and action heroes: the Lone Ranger, Superman, Robin
Hood, the
Range Rider, Wyatt Earp, Tarzan, among others. Later, I graduated to
comic-book
superheroes. Then to science fiction. Then, during college, to
thrillers - where
I found my psychological home. Later, authors like
Alistair
MacLean,
Desmond
Bagley,
Donald
Hamilton, and
Mickey Spillane left an indelible
imprint
upon me.
I’ve
blogged about this - about how those characters and adventure stories
opened for
me a window onto a world of wider, more exciting possibilities. And
about how
they also planted within me the seeds of the kind of character I’m now
writing
about: the vigilante hero.
RH: When did you start writing?
RB: As far back as I can recall. I learned to read very early
and did so voraciously. When I learned how to write, I scribbled
constantly. I used school essay assignments such as "How did you spend
your summer vacation?" as jumping off points to write science-fiction
stories. I definitely knew that I was going to be a writer when I was
still very young. Fortunately, I had a few wonderful teachers along the
way who encouraged me to pursue that dream.
Later, in my teens, I became passionately interested in current events
and politics. I started writing letters to newspapers and magazines,
then entered and won essay contests. That led to my long post-college
career writing nonfiction. For decades, I freelanced for magazines such
as
Reader's
Digest and also worked for nonprofit advocacy groups. I
wrote book and movie reviews, essays, op-eds, political and cultural
commentary, investigative journalism - even a couple of nonfiction books
on crime.
But only after hitting age 60, and seeing "Write a novel!" still at the
top of my Bucket List, did I set a deadline to achieve the dream of my
youth. By the way - and let me be clear to readers: this is an
unsolicited endorsement-achieving the dream of becoming a novelist
would have been much harder without your WriteItNow software. The
daunting complexity of organizing all the research and plotting for
HUNTER
had deterred me from starting it for several years.
RH: I'm glad you like the software and
that it has been useful to you. Where do you write?
RB: On a PC, in a cluttered, second-floor office at my home.
Surrounded by books, of course.
RH: What makes you write?
RB: I'd have to say: dissatisfactions about the world around me. I'm
not the first writer who likes to "play God" - to reshape, at least on
paper, the world and the people in it in accord with his fantasies.
I've always been an idealist and something of a crusader.
In the specific case of HUNTER, I was motivated by my past experiences
with crime victims. Not only have they been terribly hurt by horrible
criminals; they also have been terribly served by a legal system that
is supposed to be their route to securing justice. In fact, I dedicated
this novel to crime victims. It speaks to their concerns and, in
fiction, it gives them a heroic champion and a glimpse of the kind of
justice that is their due.
RH: What's the easiest thing about
writing? What's the hardest?
RB: Contrary to my initial expectations, I've found it easiest to write
dialog. Before I began, I worried that my characters would not speak
realistically, that they would converse in a stilted way. Yet readers
tell me they love the verbal banter in the book. My favourite scenes in
this regard are between hero Dylan Hunter and two of his associates - a
researcher nicknamed "Wonk", and his newspaper editor, Bronowski. I had
a ball writing those scenes.
Also contrary to my initial expectations, the hardest thing for me has
been plotting. You see, I have an extremely methodical mind, so I
thought this would be my strong suit. And I think the plot is very
good. But it took me a long time to work out. Though easy enough to
follow, it is deviously complicated. HUNTER weaves together several
seemingly unrelated threads, plus a rich backstory, into an integrated
whole, with mystery, romance, action, and plenty of surprises. Working
out an internally consistent timeline for all the events was a killer.
So was figuring out how to present it all in a way that was clear and
didn't lose the reader. That's where WriteItNow proved to be
indispensable.
 | RH: I particularly like the dialog in
Hunter. It moves the action along and never seems stilted or false. How
do you achieve this?
RB: Thank you. Three things about that.
First, I try hard to get into the heads and skin of my characters as
I
write about them. It's like method acting, I suppose. If you can do
that as a writer, then what your characters say just seems to flow
naturally and persuasively.
But, second, writing "realistic" dialog is deceptive, because if you
analyse it closely, it is actually not exactly the way people talk. If
you listen to conversations, you'll find a lot of stammering,
repetition, interruptions, and topical side tracks. On paper (or on a
Kindle), a transcript would be deadly dull, even unreadable. Good
dialog is
highly stylised to give the reader the illusion of realistic
conversation.
It's natural speech, but with all the boring stuff left
out.
| |
Third, I think having "a sense of drama" helps hugely. That's
one key aspect of stylisation. You want scenes with people talking to
be little mini-stories, with their own beginnings, middles, and ends.
The ends represent sub-climaxes within the wider drama of the story. As
a reader, I've probably internalised the stylistic conventions of the
fine writers whom I admire; and most of them choreograph conversations
to serve as mini-dramas.
RH: Have other people's comments
affected your writing?
RB: In one sense, no - because I never shared the manuscript
with a single soul, not even my wife, while I was writing it. But in
another important sense, yes - after I had finished it and showed it to
my early "beta" readers.
RH: Stephen king in "On Writing" says
something similar. He
never shows anything to anyone until he has at least finished
the first draft.
RB: The only chapter that I let anyone see before completing the
manuscript
was a flashback scene. Initially, I had meant it to open the book, as a
prologue. It was supposed to tantalize the reader with hints about the
backstory of the hero. But my gut told me something was wrong about its
placement there. Because one of a thriller reader's basic expectations
is to be propelled into an exciting action sequence right at the
opening of the story. And this prologue was quiet and mysterious, not
an action scene.
Well, I showed it to several people, and their subdued
reaction told me that this was the wrong place for that chapter. I
still thought it was good writing and that it could work, but somewhere
else. So I moved it to a point much later in the story - and it proved to
be perfect positioning. That scene now, as a flashback, has an
emotional power and poignancy that it could never have had as a
prologue.
Also, once I had finished and circulated the manuscript, comments from
my initial "beta readers" really saved my butt. For example, they
thought the opening chapters were a bit slow. So I trimmed several
pages of extraneous material, cutting things down to the bone and
greatly accelerating the pace. Readers now say they were seized at the
outset and never stopped turning pages. Also, as closely as I edited
and proofread my manuscript, they found a host of errors that my tired
eyes overlooked. The result is a much better novel than I presented to
them in manuscript. I'm grateful to them all.
RH: Which writers have influenced you?
RB: A facile answer would be: "All of them." Because you
learn from everything you read, even from bad writers, who teach you
what not to do. But let me answer your question as you intended it.
I love the works of thriller masters
Lee
Child,
Brad Thor,
Stephen
Hunter,
Vince Flynn, and
Daniel Silva - among many others. I
also
thoroughly enjoy detective mystery writers
Robert
Crais,
Robert B.
Parker, and
Sean
Chercover. Each has particular strengths; a few have
almost no perceptible weaknesses. But I have learned from them all and
admire them greatly. It's been one of the biggest thrills of my life to
see HUNTER occasionally appear on some Amazon category bestseller list
amid famous works by these, my fiction - writing heroes.
But though it's a thriller, HUNTER also takes a controversial view of
the nature of justice. So I also owe a lot to great classic writers who
dramatized big themes and philosophical ideas, such as
Shakespeare,
Hugo,
Dostoyevsky,
Ayn
Rand,
Edmond Rostand, and
George Orwell. It is
terribly difficult to write about abstract ideas entertainingly and
without being preachy. If HUNTER is any good in this regard, well, I
stood on the shoulders of giants.
RH: Did you find it easy to get a
publisher ?
RB: Yes, because I never tried to: I self-published.
I'm not a young man. At 62, and with agents and publishers
taking
on fewer and fewer new authors, and with advances shrinking, I wasn't
about to gamble for years going through what has been derisively called
"the query-go-round," just in order to get a book contract-then wait an
additional two years before seeing it in print. The ebook
self-publishing revolution, pioneered especially by
Amazon, has allowed
authors to reach their readers much faster, while cutting out almost
all middle-men and intermediaries.
Take my case. I completed my manuscript on June 4, 2011. After rounds
of beta-reading feedback, corrections, and formatting, I published the
ebook editions on June 21.
RH: Less than 3 weeks! That's impressively fast.
The print edition, produced by Amazon's
CreateSpace division, was released on July 11. That is a speed that no
traditional publisher can possibly match. Also, by cutting out all the
middle-men, I get to keep all the subsidiary rights and the lion's
share of the royalties. Self-publishing, for me, was simply a
no-brainer.
RH: Again, I can see that
traditional publishing would be much slower. How long did it take to
write Hunter?
RB: That's difficult to be precise about. I began toying with
the idea for the Dylan Hunter character way back in 2004. But over the
next several years, while I had other jobs, a completely different
story was emerging in my mind, a political tale rooted in the topic of
terrorism. However, around 2008, I decided that this wouldn't introduce
my hero in a way that would set him apart as unique.
So, I turned to my roots in journalism and "true crime" writing. And
Dylan Hunter re-emerged in my mind as someone unique: as a
philosophical avenger, an intellectual vigilante. One reviewer
described the resulting book as "a thinking man's 'Death Wish.'"
I wasn't able to begin actually writing the novel until early 2010, in
fits and starts. That fall, I set myself an iron-clad deadline to
complete it by my next birthday - June 5, 2011. Well, I printed out the
final manuscript pages on June 4…at 11:00 p.m.
RH: I guess your background in journalism makes you good at meeting deadlines.
You've coined the term 'Vigilante
Author'. Can you explain this?
RB: I mean it in several senses. Most obviously, it's a kind
of "brand" for me, as an author writing about a vigilante hero. The
"lone-wolf hero," who takes on a corrupt Establishment and operates
outside the law in order to right injustices, is an archetype in
fiction that goes back hundreds of years. Dylan Hunter is just the
latest incarnation of this maverick, iconic character.
More broadly, though, I intend the term to represent the rising trend
in the world of books: of "indie" or self-publishing. With the
emergence of online book selling and of ebooks, the big, traditional
publishing houses and chain bookstores are being challenged by a host
of upstart indie authors, who operate like the defiant "vigilantes" of
the publishing world. Indies are out there breaking all "the rules,"
and many are succeeding. So, when I coined the term "vigilante author"
not long ago, a number of self-publishing writers wrote to express
their delight.
RH: The reviews for
Hunter are extraordinary. Last time I checked
on Amazon there were over fifty 5-star reviews and the overall average
was very close to a perfect 5 stars. That's an incredibly high
rating.
At this moment (late September 2011), I'm delighted to tell you that
it's now up to
fifty-nine 5-star reviews on the
U.S. Kindle Store. In the States,
HUNTER is customer ranked #1 in the Kindle categories of "Romantic
Suspense" and "Spy Stories/Intrigue." Readers rate it #2 among
"Thrillers" and #3 in the broader category of "Mysteries and
Thrillers." As much as I am gratified by the early sales, this amazing
response from readers is every writer's dream.
RH: Where do you get your
ideas? Do your own experiences appear in Hunter?
RB: The novel is a synthesis of ideas drawn from many
sources.
E pluribus unum, as the slogan on our U.S. coins says.
Some
characters are composites or highly stylised adaptations of people I
have encountered; others are based on the physical appearances of
certain movie stars, but infused with personalities that I invented. I
knew first-hand about the field of journalism; I had investigated the
criminal justice system; and I researched a great deal about spycraft.
All three of those separate worlds intersect in HUNTER. My background
in journalism and in "true crime" writing contributed a few personal
experiences, even snippets of dialog. And I live near Washington, D.C.,
so many of the locales are familiar to me.
I would love to
tell you that the exotic action and romantic scenes are drawn from my
personal experiences. In truth, they're the product of an
overly
active fantasy life. Alas.
RH: How do you promote Hunter?
RB: So far, by the usual means open to an indie author:
writing
my blog; doing online interviews (such as this one); soliciting book
reviews; social networking via Facebook, Twitter, Kindle Boards, and
other sites; arranging newspaper features; in local retail stores; and
face-to-face as I meet new people. I aim to do more targeted marketing,
focusing more on thriller fans and other special interest groups which
are likely to enjoy it.
RH: E-books are relatively
new. Most
writers are pitching their books at 99c. The E-book
version
of Hunter is $3.99 What made you decide to buck the
trend?
RB: There's still a widespread bias against self-published
work,
a perception that it's invariably of poor quality. That's not true, but
it's a strike against any indie work. So, I did everything I could to
make HUNTER escape that stigma by trying to appear equal in quality and
design to any work by a major publisher. Price also plays a part of
that, because today, cheap 99-cent ebook pricing virtually screams
"self-published book."
So, I priced at $3.99 U.S., to avoid the
stigma and to stand out a bit. Also, Amazon let's authors keep 70% of
royalties at that price level, so I earn much more per sale than at 99
cents, where I'd keep only 35%. I'd have to sell about seven times as
many books at 99 cents to equal what I'd make selling a single book at
$3.99.
RH: The pricing strategy is obviously working well.
What are you currently
working on? Is it a sequel? Can you give us any details?
RB: Yes, it's a Dylan Hunter sequel. But no, I can't, make
that
"won't", say anything about it, other than that it will bring back the
characters that readers enjoyed in the first one. I realize that they
have high expectations for another tale just as good, and I aim not to
disappoint them.
RH: Well there'll be a long queue of readers lokoing forward to it. Any idea when it'll be published?
RB: As fast as I can write it. Having done this once, I
think - I hope - that the next instalment can be written much faster.
RH: Besides writing, what do you enjoy doing?
RB: My wife and I love to travel, especially by taking an
annual
cruise in January, to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We also enjoy
restaurants, wine, music, and books - all good reasons to try to make my
writing as remunerative as possible!
RH: Finally, do you have any advice
for anyone who has just started writing or is thinking of becoming a
writer?
RB: My chief words of advice are:
Honor your craft.
With
their sudden ease of publication, too many self-published ebooks are
slapdash affairs. Their authors show little interest in the basic
principles of good storytelling - or, for that matter, even the basic
rules of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting. Then they
wonder why their books don't sell, no matter what marketing gimmicks
they employ.
You can't successfully market a product that
acquires a lousy reputation.
Craftsmanship matters. It's a matter of
practical necessity, if you wish to succeed as a writer. But it's also
a matter of simple self-respect. Honor your craft.
RH: Excellent. Thanks for taking the time to
answer our questions, and good luck with all future Hunter books.
RB: Thank you.
