Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
The W is important because of a name clash. There is a famous journalist of the same name. I have now written ten books. I started in 2017. I had always wanted to write but I knew I had to find a market. I chose Thriller novels. I thought a series would drive more sales so I created a hero, Richard West. He had to be an ordinary honest guy with high moral values who comes across situations that need his help. I made him a high school deputy principal (YouTalk You Die) and then a university lecturer (Passport to Power). He ended up as a contracted advisor to the New Zealand Education Department (Fern Valley Conspiracy, Farm Kill, Entrenched Beliefs and Pregnant Virgin). As I became established as an independent author I left Richard for a while. My Richard West Series had some serious social themes but one I wanted to write about (sexual predation in schools) did not fit into his genre so I wrote The Stalking of Louise Copperfield, which is also published as a paperback by Pegasus Press. Then I wanted to write a trilogy. Boy, that was harder than I thought. It took me a whole year to produce the three books that link a family history from 1801 with a present crime.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
The trilogy is the latest, about the Simpson Family. An old lady is not sure if she owns nothing, twenty million or two hundred million. Her husband used the black market during and after the Second World War but he disappeared. She is also a descendant of two families, the Blydes and the Pajaris, who made fortunes. She sends her great grandaughter Kalle (like alley) to find out the truth about why her bank account has been sequesterd. This uncovers a White Supremacist plot, murders, kidnapping… and a final surprise. Sorry to be wordy but a trilogy is three books long and the modern plot runs from beginning to end.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My wife would say yes but I don’t believe so. I get an idea, probably go broody for a while, start sketching out plot(s), characters and add in a theme. I usually wake at five and in the broody phase I think. And think. Then in the writing phase I go to my study at five, emerge at seven for breakfast, go back and write till ten.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
An old-time writer, Neville Shute. I read extensively. I think my ‘uncovering’ style is reminesacent of Bryce Courtney, but Ken Follett with books like Code to Zero and Whiteout springs to mind. Thinking about this question, Robert Ryan has definitely influenced my style.
What are you working on now?
Another non Richard West (I’ll return to him at some stage).
The Simpson Trilogy struck a raw nerve when I was researching rest home care. What I found did not fit the flow of the trilogy so I am brooding about an old lady who befriends a young solicitor and (possibly accidentally) sets him up for a charge of murder.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am constantly disappointed with websites and methods that are meant to promote sales. I am currently using Goodreads but have used several other avenues, including talks and visits, Facebook and website pages.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Keep writing and sales will come. There are people out there for every book.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
“Write for yourself.”
Tell the world each time you publish.
What are you reading now?
Felix Francis ‘Gamble -a Dick Francis novel’
What’s next for you as a writer?
Keep writing. I want to write some non-fiction – perhaps a record of my adventures in Brunei and then the Gulf States.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Dirk Bogarde ‘Snakes and Ladders’; Bryce Courtney, ‘The Power of One’; Apsley Cherry-Garrard, ‘The Worst Journey in the World’
Author Websites and Profiles
Robert W Fisk Website