Secret Dead Blog Interview: Ken Bruen

To mark the start of Ken Bruen U.S. Tour 2005: The Boyo Is Back (black concert t-shirts available in S, M and XXL only; tour co-sponsored by Jameson and Average White Band), the Pope of Galway Bay agreed to sit down with me and gab about the art of writing.

Okay, okay. He didn't exactly "sit down" with me. It was an e-mail exchange. And we did this back in... geez, October?

And since we're on this "being perfectly honest" kick, these are outtakes from a Bruen interview I did for Mystery Scene ("Through the Looking Glass"), which is just out, and available at fine mystery bookshops everywhere.

But these nuggets of Bruen wisdom were too good to waste.



Secret Dead Blog: I notice you don't do chapter numbers—just blank space. Is this because those seem artificial? Have editors tried to force 'em on you?

Ken Bruen: Yes, editors have tried to get me to do chapter numbers and all sorts of other shit, too, but no deal. It’s the way it looks to me. The actual layout of a book is vital. I never let them fuck with that. Or the whole set up of the book.

SDB: What else have editors tried to force on you? And early on in your career, when you were just starting out, what gave you the courage to stick to your guns?

KB: Editors tried to get me to fill out descriptive passages, like scenery. I said I don’t do scenery. And to tone down the violence and language. I said… no. I felt the day would come and the books would be of their time so I wouldn’t compromise.

The other directive was: write a best seller. Yeah right, as if I was deliberately thinking, must be sure not to write a book that sells.

SDB: What, do they think writers sit and around and say, “Hmm, how can I be artsy and piss off readers?”

KB: A pharmacist friend of mine was here last night, drinking Jameson. He stares at me, says, Ken, the deal with you and Metaphysics is, you’ve been through the looking glass and came back to look at us, we’re not entirely comfortable with “the look.” Deep or Irish bullshit?

SDB: Do you ever censor yourself? I mean, have you ever written a scene that's so horrified you that you threw it right into the fireplace? Is there such a thing as being "too" noir?

KB: No, I never toned down a scene. I’ve dumped them cos they were badly written, though. When I submitted London Boulevard, I was concerned that the violence was very raw. And the publisher said: the book is not violent enough!

No, noir can never be noir enough, but I hate the gore in many mystery novels—full on scenes of minute descriptions of skinning or cannibalism. I don’t think that’s noir. It’s pure sensationalism… and wasted space. Less is more and suggestion is almost more horrific. Set the scene and let the reader draw the horrible implication—works so much better. So the reader goes, what the hell, did he just?…to almost slide it past. Almost.

SDB: Do you ever teach writing?

KB: Yes, once a year I give a lecture at the University… love that gig. I strut the stage for two hours and then hit the student bar for pints and banter. I have a ball, even though I don’t believe you can teach writing. You can teach technique, give encouragement, but they have to want it like air.

SDB: That said, what are three essential things aspiring writers should know?

KB: 3 rules that I lay down…

1. Write every day. I wrote on the day of my Dad’s funeral.

2. One page a day and in a year, you have 365 pages. The editing we can do after and see about quality.

3. Don’t talk about the plot, don’t talk about the story—that’s for after you’re done. Pubs in Ireland are full of would-be writers who talk a book away every night.

SDB: Do all of your titles come first? And once you have one, is that it? Ever change them?

KB: I think the titles come first. No, I never, never change titles. And God knows, they’ve tried. But nope, won’t do it.

SDB: It’s been said that hardboiled fiction has a limited audience, while suspense thrillers seem to do monster business. Is it smart to try to think of what we do as “suspense thrillers” more than crime novels? Do labels ultimately matter?

KB: If you can write your books to your own satisfaction and have them cross over to thriller market, all the better. I’m not precious about being noir, or whatever. I just want to sell books. I’ve had all sorts of labels—from the very limiting “caper” tag to procedural to that strange beast… “literary crime.”

The best solution seems to be to include, humour, tension, noir and suspense, and thus get the whole shebang—just as long as I don’t get tagged soft boiled or cozy, I’m easy.