R.N. (Roger) Morris - interview with the author

A certain R. N. Morris may have felt he made a break through last year, but 2007 promises to be the biggest break yet on his horizon, thanks to a dip into history and his focus on a character from classical literary beginnings.

Writing as Roger Morris, his contemporary urban novel Taking Comfort was one of the successes of Macmillan’s “Macmillan New Writing” imprint in 2006. But now, Dostoevsky must be wriggling with excitement in another world as Morris has taken one of his characters from Crime and Punishment and turned him into the protagonist in a story that is compelling, complex and reaches all corners of society.

Although Porfiry Petrovich firmly remains in the 19th century in the novel, A Gentle Axe, (The Gentle Axe in the US), Morris’s treatment and development of this character brings something of Christie’s Poirot or Dexter’s Morse to the story. Porfiry Petrovich is a plodding thinker and analyst of facts; he’s also a keen strategist when it comes to the politics of survival in his job. Much like Poirot and Morse, he’s far more on the ball than you or I, in the arena of case detail and crime motivation.

But how on earth did the author arrive at this juncture?  About to be published in seventeen countries and with all the frenzied activities that involves, including completion of the second manuscript for the series, author Roger Morris generously took some time out to tell us more.

It's a bit daring to take a character from a classic novel and make him the lead in one of your own, so is Roger a daring person?

Roger’s quick to say no to that explaining that he’s not into dangerous sports or anything similar.  He was once into ice skating (luckily he did not loose a finger to curtail his writing) and he still eats raw chillies (occasionally).  But when it comes to writing he asserts “I do like taking risks in my writing, pushing myself, setting myself difficult challenges.  That's what makes it interesting for me.  People have used words like 'bold' and 'audacious' about A Gentle Axe, or at least the concept behind it.  I would probably go for something like 'rash' or 'foolhardy'.  But I try to avoid risks in real life."

An idea that he had – and one which would not let him go – was to take Porfiry Petrovich, the detective from Crime and Punishment and to put him centre stage, “making him the hero of his own sleuthing yarn(s)”.  

The down to earth Roger is keen to point out that "Basically I've nicked a character from a masterpiece of world literature and taken massive liberties with him.  If I ever do get to meet Dostoevsky in another place (though I don't think I'll be let into the bit he's no doubt residing in) I will obviously be very ashamed of myself.  I will have to get down on my knees and beg forgiveness.  I know he has a sense of humour, though - I mean I think he can be a very funny writer, which is sometimes overlooked because people tend to have this idea of his work being relentlessly grim.  He is an incredibly humane writer and humour is part of humanity.  Anyhow, it's meant to be a playful idea, you know.  And I would hope that he would appreciate that aspect of it."

Roger developed his passion for writing and storytelling at school.  "As soon as I could write I wanted to write stories.  We're all encouraged to write stories and draw pictures at school and it was so much fun.  Then, when we grow up, someone takes the crayons away.  And also, I suppose, most people just grow out of it.  I never did."  Roger remembers a time at secondary school when his class had a stand-in teacher for English and the teacher decided to read out some pupils’ stories.  When the teacher asked the class for recommendations on where to start, Roger’s fellow pupils shouted out his name.  "I was shocked.  But it gave me a lot of pleasure."

No doubt fuelled by that early positive feedback, Roger never stopped writing and creating stories.  So, what helped to shape the adult writer in Roger?  "This is a very difficult question and I don't know if I can answer it.  Everything, I would say.  Life, reading other writers, films, TV.  I'm influenced by everything I come into contact with, I think.  But there hasn't been a single event.  I feel that as a person I can be quite detached from things and somehow this is part of what being a writer is.  There's a kind of chilling detachment which can sometimes be quite frightening.  A flawed personality, basically, is the answer to that question."

Along the way, Roger has joined a few writers’ websites.  On one, he was able to workshop some short stories and critique others’ work, finding both activities very worthwhile.  On the other he found the valuable support of other budding and emerging writers.

Following the contemporary urban writing of Taking Comfort and moving on to A Gentle Axe (part of a two book deal), is Roger now firmly embedded in the historical crime fiction genre or can we anticipate a diversion in the future?

"I like the idea of historical crime fiction.  It's a kind of hybrid genre.  There are certain things a reader wants from a historical novel, texture, atmosphere, for example.  And then there are the things you want from a crime novel: some dead bodies, please; a mystery.  I've always tended towards dark themes in my writing, so crime did have an allure for me.  But to be honest, I've shied away from it because I've always thought it would be horrendously difficult to do and there are so many great writers doing it and I couldn't compete with them. 

"I wanted to write something in a genre rather than just a 'literary novel'. The disciplines and expectations of genre-writing really appealed to me.  It was a real challenge.  I suppose I could have gone for horror, or fantasy, or sci-fi; those are all genres that appeal to the peculiarities of my imagination.  But I had this idea for a crime novel.  And when you have an idea and the idea won't leave you alone, you just have to give in to it.  I don't think I could write a modern police procedural.  My cousin is a police inspector and he has offered to help me with procedural detail, so maybe one day, but I don't know really.  It seems too hard." 

Writing a crime novel set in the past involves a significant element of research.  The period detail has to be right and the technical detail spot on.    Roger admits that he knew nothing about 19th century St Petersburg before he started writing and had to do a lot of research.  He also found the nature of research for a work of fiction to be quite different to other forms of research, e.g. for academic purposes.  He discovered that for fiction, it is the story that drives the research.

Roger says "You're constantly coming up against things that you need to know in order to tell the story.  In addition, as I was writing it, I felt that I needed to have as much of an understanding of the society and culture of the day as I could.  I read a lot of Russian novels of the period, or on either side of it.  And that was great.  I love that part of it.  Everything you read feeds into your imagination, so there's this background understanding you hope to build up, as well as the specific bits of information you need - like train routes, etc. - to tell the story."

Researching authors often come across facts for which they were previously unaware.  Some of these facts can surprise or shock an author.   Many however, remain in the research file as they are not key to the story to be told.  In researching for A Gentle Axe Roger identified "a lot of things that surprised me, I suppose.  I read a book about sexual attitudes, in particular attitudes towards homosexuality.  Nothing surprise me really, given the period; but it is salutary to be reminded of a time when such things were criminal.  The poverty, and the despair, and the brutality were all quite horrifying."

An author’s early work is often perceived to be of an autobiographical nature.  Roger says he would love to be as clever and psychologically astute as Porfiry Petrovich, adding  "But I'm usually the last one to work out what's going on".  So could the 21st century author meet the challenges of any of his characters?

"I don't know.  I think they all have a bit of a rough time, actually.  I like to put my characters through the mill.  I think it's a vaguely superstitious technique I have of trying to ward off evil from my own life.  If I put the worst possible things I can imagine in my stories, then maybe I will spared shit happening in real life.  Maybe there's something of me in the character of the student, Virginsky.  But they all come from me.  When you're creating characters, it's a bit like being a method actor, I think - you have to draw on aspects of yourself.  Every book ends up being autobiographical in some way."

Neither is Perfiry Petrovich the only character from Crime and Punishment to be purloined by Roger and developed in his 21st century storytelling and own style.  Also featuring in A Gentle Axe are Salytov, the fiery police officer; Nikodim Fomich, the police chief and a police clerk called Zamyotov.  However, Roger is at pains to point out that it was never part of his intention to faithfully reproduce characters from the book and insert them into his story.  “I really used Crime and Punishment as a springboard for creating my own story, which is a very different work.”

Where the study of history serves to teach us, we are often not quick to learn and society repeats its mistakes.  Roger did not aim to compare the activities and culture of Tsarist Russia and western society today.  He aimed to tell the story purely from the point of view of its own period and setting in 1866 Tsarist Russia, and that remains his aim for his future Porfiry Petrovich novels.

"I didn't want to come up with an abstract murder story that could have happened at any time, in any setting and was then just inserted into the setting.  I wanted it to be something that came out of the ideas and themes of the time.  However, it's true, I think, that every generation re-interprets the past according to its own priorities and preoccupations, in the same way that every generation re-imagines the future.  But it was not a conscious aim of mine to write something that had a contemporary relevance.  I'm sure though, being a person of my time, that what I have chosen to focus on in this story somehow reflects the society I'm a product of.  I just can't tell you how!"

Roger spent some time in the summer of 2006 visiting the modern St Petersburg.  His objective related to the fact that the next Porfiry Petrovich novel is set in the summer and the experience will feed into his future novels.  He says  "It was a wonderful experience, though a little intense.  I felt like I was walking around inside my own imagination."

Venturing out into crime fiction, historical at that, I wondered if Roger was an avid reader of the genre.  And if so, I was also curious as to whose novels he reads.  He says he tries to read as much as he can, but when working on a novel he has less time and his reading slows down.  He also has a lot of non-fiction books to read for the purposes of research.

Like other crime fiction writers, he has difficulty reading and enjoying the genre when he is writing.  Whilst writing his latest novel, he was reading The Lighthouse from P D James and had to stop reading.  Declares Roger, "Not because there was anything wrong with it - I was enjoying it - but I just couldn't bear to read a crime novel while I was trying to write one.  I know other writers who are the same.  It's very easy to get influenced by another writer's voice."   Amongst his crime fiction reads he includes: Simenon, Dickson Carr, Agatha Christie, Val McDermid, Minette Walters, Ruth Rendell, Michael Connelly, Charlie Williams and adds, "There are far more I ought to read."

A quirk of marketing has the novel published in the UK as A Gentle Axe but in the US as The Gentle Axe. Apparently, US readers relate more to the definite article than their British counterparts.

It's a challenging début to pursue in the crime genre and quite daring.  But A Gentle Axe has met with considerable interest around the globe and, at the time of writing will be published in 17 countries in total.

In the UK specifically, the novel comes out as a trade paperback, but there will also be a limited edition: 500 signed hardback copies thanks to David Headley of Goldsboro Books and available through Goldsboro Books only. Those not lucky enough to be able to “drop into the shop” in London can order online.

In this case the author cut his teeth on raw chillies, but just look at what he has achieved now.

In summary: police detective Porfiry Petrovich has a troubling case on his hands. Two bodies are found in a park; neither has suffered a death of normal circumstances.  Porfiry Petrovich has to follow the puzzle to determine who has been murdered and why.  Alas, those two bodies are just the start of the trail that is the puzzle in A Gentle Axe…

A Gentle Axe is published in the UK by Faber on 1 Feb 2007.  US publication follows with The Penguin Press (in hard cover) on 22 March 2007.

In addition, A Gentle Axe is to be published in the following countries: Australia and New Zealand (Faber through Allen and Unwin); Israel (Keter Publishing); Holland (de Bezige Bij); Germany (Droemer); Italy (Rizzoli); Finland (Otava); Greece (Psychogios); Brazil (Planeta); Romania (Editura Polirom); Poland (Literackie); Hungary (Partvonal); Czech Republic (Albatros); Russian (U-factory); Estonia (Eesti Paevaleht).

Comments

[roger]

Yes, thank you Anne, and Clare and indeed cfr! It does mean everything to get reader comments like this. Axe is my first attempt at writing a crime novel, so it's wonderful to get this encouragement. When I was writing the book, I always had a strong awareness of the reader's presence. But it felt like one half of a conversation, so it's great now to start to hear some responses.

Roger

PS love the new look!

[crimeficreader]

Anne, thanks so much for your comment; I'm sure Roger will be ever so pleased when he reads it.

Reader comments matter so much. A media critic can make or break a novel with their thoughts, but a reader comment can enlighten, sometimes providing far more.

Roger has had essentially excellent reviews of "A Gentle Axe" in the media - the ones that are not so supremely positive are tending to the ambiguous, and they are few.

Roger recently drew attention to this review on his blog:
http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/books/display.var.1233879.0.a_gentle_axe_by_rn_morris_faber_12_99.php

That's a really good one and one he had not anticipated. The reviewer (Stephen Lewis) has also been comprehensive in his thoughts, referring back to the origins of the main character, with back story.

Thanks again Anne, for adding your thoughts. Reader comments really do matter. A novel is not written for a critic or reviewer - it's written for its readers. "A Gentle Axe" is a source of reading enjoyment and deserves all the great reviews it gets.

[Anne Hall]

Loved this unusual detective story. I felt transported to nineteeth century St Petersburg and the characterisation was smashin!!

[crimeficreader]

I think this is the start of something big, Clare, it's so good and individual.

But 17 countries and not all speak other than English - I think it's translated for about 13 countries. Still a staggering 13!

[Clare]

Very interesting interview. The book itself sounds great too - it sounds like a unique concept to me. 17 countries is amazing. How wonderful to be translated into so many languages.