I am pleased to welcome author Gavin Boyter to the blog today to discuss his novel Elena in Exile and his writing career, with hints and tips for other authors. Thank you for your time today, Gavin.
What inspired you to write your most recent book?
I'd been reading a lot of crime novels (or crime book jackets) and seeing a lot of series with variations on the same protagonist: middle-aged British or American men with drinking problems, broken marriages and estrangements from their children (usually daughters). I thought if I wrote a crime novel I'd avoid doing anything like that with my protagonist. There was (and still is) so much nonsense being written about illegal immigrants, so I decided to make my heroine a Romanian single mum on the run from a traumatic past, who has a perfectly good relationship with her teenage daughter and (initially) no interest in being a detective at all. She falls into her first unofficial case, discovering that she has a knack for detection. So Elena in Exile grew from the character of Elena Balan and then I had to put her in a range of incredibly challenging and unfamiliar situations.
Who is your favourite character in this book and why?
It has to be Elena, since I have already started writing another novel about her. If you're going to spend that much time with someone, you have to like them. But I also have a soft spot for my career criminal and police informant character, Malcolm Carver. He's a geezer with a savage sense of humour and a way with words and I can make him say outrageous things no "decent" character would get away with. He'll be in the sequel too.
What was the first piece you had published?
If I discount the letter I got published in The Dandy when I was 12, my student newspaper journalism, and my screenplays, it would be a poem about the composer Erik Satie that I got published about 30 years ago. Typically, I didn't follow up that brief success by writing any more poems, and after that I concentrated on movie making and music videos until I began writing short stories during the pandemic. The first to get published was a 100 word piece called "Antbots," a weird sci-fi piece about... antbots. I've hot about 35 short stories published since then.
Do you have another story planned or in progress? When can we expect to see that?
I've been writing a historical horror novel, "Legion" pitting Roman legionnaires against vampires, based on a screenplay I wrote many years ago. I'll be finished writing that soon. I've also started a sequel to "Elena.." which will feature my heroine as a community support officer learning the ropes while encountering some very unpleasant drug dealers pushing a lethal new street drug. I'd hope to have a first draft by early next year at the latest.
Who is your favourite author?
In general, I'd be tempted to say Iain Banks (or Iain M Banks) who was a master of many genres (including crime with "Complicity") If it's crime authors I'd say Henning Mankell, whose work was very empathetic and humane. If it's living authors, I love Haruki Murakami - he never ceases to surprise and delight. In crime I enjoy the fast pace and brutality of a Jo Nesbo thriller.
What do you like to do when you’re not planning or writing your next book?
Such lacunae rarely exist! I'm pretty much always writing something, even if it's only a short story. I do spend a lot of time long-distance running and have written three books on the topic. My craziest run was in 2018, when I ran from Paris to Istanbul following the route of the Orient Express (read "Running the Orient" for more on that).
When did you know you wanted to write novels?
I tried to write a chapter book when I was about 8 and made a stab at a novel when I was 20 but my word processor ate chapter 4 and I ran out of enthusiasm and ideas. I always knew I would get around to one eventually.
Do you write in other genres?
Yes I do. As well as the aforementioned horror book, I have recently completed a science fiction thriller and have written short stories in every genre from romance to fantasy (and a lot of literary fiction).
What do you like most about being an author?
I enjoy taking a ride inside the minds of people very different from myself, and imagining situations I'd love to witness so long as I wasn't required to participate! Fights are great fun to write but (I imagine) awful to engage in.
Do you have a specific routine for writing? Is there a special place or particular tool you use?
I wish I did. I try to write at least 1000 words every time I sit down at my desk but I don't have a specific time of day. Mornings are better than afternoons, but late evenings seem to be good too, despite the fact that writing at midnight makes it almost impossible to sleep thereafter. Does coffee count as a tool? I enjoy getting out to local cafes here in Margate, and occasionally I'll even write in a quiet pub, rather like Iain Rankin does. If I'm in London I love writing in the 5th floor cafe in Foyles, Charing Cross Road. I try to always credit the venues in my acknowledgements.
What advice do you have for other writers?
Don't agonise over your first draft - it will get better with every pass or revision. Just bang out the words and don't even stop to correct typos if it slows you down. You can cut it into a perfect diamond in due course, but if you never finish, it's not worth anything.
If your book were to be made into an Audiobook, who would you choose to read it?
Perhaps Dame Helen Mirren, or Dame Judy Dench. Basically it has to be a dame. Since my protagonist is female, I think it would read better with a female narrator with gravitas and a cheeky sense of humour.
If your book were to be made into a movie, who would you like to play the main character?
Maybe Jodie Comer - she can be a brilliant sharp-edged yet empathic hero and she has something slightly off-kilter about her that is really engaging. She'd also nail the Romanian accent.
The Blurb
It takes one woman on the edge to solve the murder of another.Elena Balan should be laying low. After all, she's on the run from an unspeakable horror.A Romanian single mum, Elena arrives in London to discover that her lover, Frances, has vanished. To find her, Elena's 14-year-old daughter Ana enlists the help of a police officer, the disgraced former DC Robin Yarmouth. Although Frances' whereabouts remain a mystery, things begin looking up. Elena and Ana find an apartment, a job, and a new school. Then Elena's sex worker neighbour and friend is found dead. The police are certain it's suicide. Elena suspects otherwise and her instincts are not to let it go. But will Elena's investigations with Yarmouth prove her own undoing
The Author
Gavin is a Scottish writer and filmmaker living in Margate, Kent. He has published two travel memoirs about running ludicrously long distances, Downhill from Here and Running the Orient. The latter book charts his 2300 mile run from Paris to Istanbul, following the 1883 route of the Orient Express. Gavin’s stories have been published in Constellations, Blueing the Blade, DIAGRAM, Riptide, The Closed Eye Open, Bright Flash, La Piccioletta Barca and Freshwater Review. He is also the writer-director of the 2015 independent film Sparks and Embers. He recently published his debut crime novel Elena in Exile.
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