James McKenna Considers The Future of Books and His New Title ‘The Unwanted’. What Would William Caxton Have Made Of Reading A Crime Thriller On A Kindle?

I have been thinking ‘Kindle’ over the past few days. There are plenty of reasons for this as things are really ‘hotting’ up as I move towards the denouement of my new crime novel, ‘The Unwanted’. It’s an exciting time and my mind keeps drifting towards how I am going to put my publicity campaign together when the book is published around Easter time.

Certainly the advent of e-books and self-publishing in this medium has been a really exciting development , not just for crime writers but for anyone who has something to say and wants to share their ideas with everyone who cares to take the time to listen. I wonder if people felt the same when the first printing presses started spreading the word. It is difficult to guess what the populace thought when they saw this exciting technology develop. After all, it brought a form of mass communication into people’s lives which they had never experienced before.

I recently came across a great book on Amazon which I couldn’t put down; it traces the history of books and how printing has changed our lives. It’s called Books as History by David Pearson. Being a ‘book person’ through and through I found it fascinating from the very first sentence where Pearson states that books have been ‘emblems in our culture and regarded as one of the defining characteristics of developed civilisations.’ That sentence set me pondering.

Yes, in my opinion it’s true and internet publishing is allowing anyone with a voice to put their ideas out across the globe. We can see from successes such as 50 Shades of Grey how powerful this medium has become, whether or not these books show ‘learning’ and ‘sound moral virtues’ these days is up for debate perhaps but they are still very important. In fact, for me, what it does say is that reading is probably more central to them than it has ever been and let’s face it books bring so much to our existence however you choose to read them.

I like to think about how books entertain, educate, inspire political change, promote intellectual and spiritual development and generally contribute so much to so many different aspects of our lives. As a writer, I cannot imagine my time without books in their many varied forms and I am really happy to think I am contributing to the tradition that now stretches back for almost seven hundred years. The first book printed by William Caxton in English was printed in the 1470s. For the sake of the completest amongst you it was a collection of stories based on the Trojan Wars. Caxton had a new typeface designed closely based on handwriting. When you consider it would have taken a couple of weeks to have anything you wanted to read copied out by hand this was an incredible step forward and I would love to have been there. I wonder how Caxton felt on the eve of publication.

I don’t know if I feel quite the same when I saw my first crime thriller downloaded on my Kindle but it was exciting. As Pearson says in his own volume, if other books are solely textual ‘their obsolescence seems guaranteed’. He suggests we now need to separate books from texts. This is an interesting differentiation as we are so used to looking at them as being one and the same thing and of course, they aren’t any longer.

Books have physical characteristics after all; think about that for a moment; these are lost in ‘download’ form. Does it matter? Yes, in one sense it probably does. I think we will use the Kindle for convenience but there will always be space on shelves for books that are very special in their own right, after all the material form in which texts are transmitted has a profound impact on their meaning.

I wonder what Caxton would have made of Facebook and Twitter. Certainly, I personally have much to ponder as I return to my latest creation, ’The Unwanted’. I hope that doesn’t end up being a prophetic title with respect to the future of books as real objects. I don’t think so, but those growing up with e-books might feel very different but then there are youngsters who are rediscovering vinyl, so who knows?

The Unwanted by James McKenna will be available in April 2013 on Amazon.

James McKenna Has Voices In His Head. What Goes Through A Crime Writer’s Mind As He Writes The Next Novel?

Tags

crime fiction, crime novel, fast paced crime fiction, James McKenna, use of dialogue, writing a narrative

The evening sky from my window

I find myself inhabiting the characters in my new crime novel for most of the day. Even when I am doing something mundane like cleaning out the wine tanks after this year’s amazing wine harvest, I am pondering about my characters’ reactions as the plot unravels; it really is one of the things I enjoy so much about writing.

I do actually find it quite tiring as thoughts strike me at any time which means I have to scuttle off to the study and jot down ideas before they evaporate from whence they came. First thing in the morning when I become conscious is a particularly busy time for characterisation.

Characterisation after all, is such an integral part of writing a narrative, whatever genre you might be involved with. So many decisions have to be made so that a character appears to live and breathe on the page. Do I use description, action, speech, thought or an amalgam?

In fast-paced crime fiction there is little place for acres of description. I know Dickens made a career from it but I’m afraid that doesn’t suit me and I quite like the technique of implicit characterisation where my reader can work out what my character is all about through their thoughts and speech. Careful use of dialogue can indicate so much about character; after all, we all make judgments about people in reality by their choice of words and how they express themselves and I like to capture that in my work.

Occasionally I find it necessary to be a little more explicit and I have made use of a narrator at times. Information can be given of course through another character who offers an opinion; I quite like that idea and it can be achieved quite subtly. I also find it interesting seeing how my characters react to others in the book. This is especially satisfying when you are writing about the same character from one book to another. We all change, things happen in our lives that skew our approach, feelings and even health and I like pondering over such things as I go about my own day to day life.

I find I live and breathe every aspect of the characters I am penning and I do hope much of this thought process is finally evident when you read the book. I am keen to balance the predictable with the unpredictable. I want my readers to ask questions especially as I deal with hard-hitting themes which scrape the underbelly of the society in which we live.

My books are mainly driven by plot and character so I spend much time removing any flaws I see in both, which after all is what makes some of our greatest literary novels and heroes so timeless. Shakespeare of course has given us so many complex characters that even when their behaviour is totally unacceptable, like Macbeth or Lear, we are still drawn to them and even find excuses for their actions. As we are all flawed we understand how our own fears, ambitions or sense of inadequacy can make us do and say things we should not. A weakness is a key aspect of character and is what makes any reader identify with a creation and makes them feel a character’s humanity, or lack of, perhaps.

As I look out of my study window I am watching the mountain turn from red to copper as the sun sets. It is approaching the shortest day; the vineyard is bare and silent; the optimism and growth which happened through spring and summer has gone. The wine is safely made and is doing its thing. I have to admit to enjoying a glass or two of last year’s vintage in front of the roaring log fire of an evening and very nice it is too. However, I may well appear to be in the room but there is no saying where my head is and with which character I am conversing.

I’ll keep you posted regarding how the novel is progressing next time.

How Agatha Christie Can Teach All Of Us A Thing Or Two. Crime Fiction Owes Much To This Doyenne Of Murder Mystery.

The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie has reached its 60th anniversary and is celebrating by going off on tour for 60 weeks around Britain. In fact its 25,000th performance took place on the 18th November 2012 and it beats every other type of show for longevity and has become an institution of London’s theatre land.
It seems amazing that it has lasted so long and sometimes it is described as being theatre as a sedative by turning murder into a parlour game. Whatever its flaws it seems to attract an audience year in year out and perhaps the concept that world order is actually restored and all is well, leaves theatre goers placated and soothed rather than stirred up and troubled. To their credit the ending, which is a twist, has been a well-kept secret and the audience are requested not to give anything away when they have seen the play. This has become a ritual after every performance.
Perhaps The Mousetrap’s lack of pretence is what appeals most to people and certainly it is ripe for pastiche which Tom Stoppard achieved brilliantly in the Real Inspector Hound. Stoppard managed to capture the essence of the play and its period with comic aplomb: guests trapped in a house, stock characters used, radios that mysteriously have exactly the news you are looking for just as you turn it on and so on; it must rank as one of the funniest pieces of theatre I have seen.
However, as crime fiction writers we try so hard to make plots and characterisation watertight but in this play Christie seems to glance over information which leaves the audience pondering such important questions as: ‘why are the guests there in the first place and whatever happened to the body? Characters emit clichés such as, ‘Ooh all this murder is so horrid.’ Yet at the same time Christie gives us all the hallmarks of the crime genre: closed community, locked doors, a storm and a static setting. There are actually instances of real suspense at the moment of revelation and even after all these years the play still exercises a grip. Let’s face it, that’s what every good crime writer wants to achieve.
I suspect what is really interesting to those who go to see The Mousetrap now, are the social details of the early 1950s; the play opened in 1952. But for me, my interest is how the twist plays around with the concept of the whodunit, like unravelling a cryptic crossword. Talking of which I am at a critical point in my new novel The Unwanted. In this, a highly secret organisation called Ultimo Iurisdictio, Final Justice, remove habitual criminals from society, mainly by feeding them to pigs. Sean Fagan of the Serious Organised Crime Agency goes undercover to infiltrate their ranks but as membership of Ultimo Iurisdictio reaches into police and Government, who does he trust? Who is friend and who is foe?
So, congratulations to Agatha Christie and if I manage to sell a fraction of the books she has sold over the years I would be a very happy man.
To order go to http://tinyurl.com/c9ultl3