We’re talking about
your book Hollywood Shakedown today. Can you tell us what
inspired this story?
I’m a huge fan of Charles Bukowski, and the main character in
Hollywood Shakedown is the mythical son of Bukowski’s alter-ego, Henry
Chinaski. He’s called Buddy and he’s just like his dad! Two friends of mine
inspired the novel. First, my friend in Houston, Paul Vani, challenged me to
write a short story, and at exactly the same time, my much more local friend,
Clive la Court, inspired me to write a fiction novel. I combined the two
challenges and wrote about some of my favourite things. Comics, horse racing,
football, LA, London , women, crime,
food and weirdly named worldwide pubs.
There is a scene that
takes place at Hollywood Park , which is sadly, about to close after
75years. Can you tell us about that and the roll the racetrack plays as a
setting?
I’m really annoyed and feel completely impotent about the
closure of Hollywood Park .
Over here, a place with Hollywood Park ’s
kind of history would have a Listed notice slapped on its gates and the
developers clapped in irons. Did you know they’re replacing it with a retail
and residential development??? Like, LA doesn’t have any malls. I have four
months to make enough money to visit – it has been one of my ambitions. In the
first chapter of the book, Buddy is tracked down by two goons who discover him
in the stands of the Park. I try to put across the sounds and smells of the
racetrack (see below) and also the baffling decline of horse racing as a
spectator sport in the US .
The book is full of racing – Bukowski raced there, too.
Was there a chapter,
or scene, or part of the novel that was difficult to write, and if so why?
Most of it was quite tough. I once wrote a novel in eighteen
days. This one took nine months, labouring over
every line for this because it
was my first work of fiction. The last
chapter, which most people like, was very tough. I didn’t want to ruin the
payoff – nothing worse than that, as a reader.
If you had one day to
live inside of this book, how would you spend it?
I actually did! The gang watch an FA Cup match between
Fulham and Notts County
on the banks of the River Thames. I support the latter and the chapter is
exactly as it sounds.
Do you have a
favorite part or moment in the book you would like to share?
“The men walked up the stairs and into the
main betting hall. Five bucks a piece found its way into the hands of a stony
faced black woman in a red neckerchief. Like the track, she'd seen better days.
Ramirez said something under his breath but the woman scarcely noticed, de-sensitised to everything but the thought of getting out of
there.
It
was livelier inside than they expected: Bettors milled around the cacophonous
hall, hundreds queuing at the windows, sitting in the carrels, some perusing
the Form, others smoking, scanning the cheat sheets and Indian Charlie. The air
was blue with cigarette smoke and smelled of tobacco, tacos, cheese food, hot dogs and warm beer - all mixed up with the usual gambler's cocktail of sweat, fear, excitement
and anticipation. Yet even a pair of racing agnostics
like Bishop and Ramirez could palpably sense the tradition and the
heritage. The smoky trails of Walter Matthau's Marlboro, or Bing Crosby's briar
pipe; Hollywood was seeped in movie culture. Every
banister, every railing, every corkboard tile was dripping in it.
Despite
the best efforts of the hunched janitors in orange coveralls and their
five-foot brushes
wielded like pikes, dead tickets found the floor with
unerring accuracy. The joint was a firetrap waiting to happen. One reckless
cigarette butt in the bin could see them all go to hell. The crowd's optimistic
chatter and the frenetic pulse of the simulcasted commentaries from tracks
around the country, from Aqueduct and Sunland and Oaklawn, accompanied the two
men as they passed through the betting hall.
“Bet
the ponies, Bishop?” Ramirez asked as they made their way outside into the
sunlight, their brogue heels tapping sharply and noisily on the floor.
The
older man shook his head. His craggy features never moved.
“Stocks.” He replied.” That's the smart boy's
gamble.” (Chapter
One)
What are three things
you must have when you write?
The Inuit hunting cap my friend and reader, Kelly Sherwood,
gave me for Christmas 2010. Music. My writing voice nagging at me.
What element or
elements do you believe make a story great?
Writing and vocabulary to start with. I like writers who
take risks, who break the rules and try to push the envelope. Martin Amis is my
all time favourite. What he can do with a sentence is sublime. Sadly, Indie is
full of Novel Writing 101. Every great story breaks rules. I love the adverb. I would start every
sentence with And, if I could. The latest diktat from the Creative Writing
gurus, “Show, Not Tell”, has caused a sturm-and-drang conformity, which has
hamstrung the development of writing (and writers) because it has become a meaningless
cliché. Well timed exposition and stories within stories can turn a novel from
a good story to a classic: Indie authors have forgotten that.
Do you write as the
muse hits or do you have a set ‘work day’?
For a year, I wrote full time. Now, I’m working again, so I
have to write when I can. As Paul Auster said,
really early mornings and late
weekend nights. I wrote the bulk of Carla in a weekend, so I am best under
pressure. I suffer from insane bursts of creativity.
How do you avoid or
deal with distractions when in the writing zone?
I’m lucky that I live on my own so I can do my own thing.
The Internet, and particularly Facebook, was once a huge distraction I
struggled to beat, but my addiction to social networks seems to have abated.
Who are some of your
favorite authors to read?
Of name authors, I worship Martin Amis, with the exception
of his latest, which is bemusingly bad. I have also read everything by Paul
Auster, Charles Bukowski, Henry Miller, Liz Jensen and John King. Of Indies ,
Suzanne van Rooyen, who writes YA and science fiction, Emma Edwards, who is making
a stir with a quirky vampire novel set in Wales .
Mary Ann Bernal writes innovative historical fiction and Ngaire Elder is a
much-underrated children’s writer who should be much better known than she is.
What can we expect
next from Mark Barry? Is there another tale being spun and/or event coming up
that you can share with us?
I’ve just finished the sequel to my top selling football
book, Ultra Violence. It’s called Violent Disorder and it should be out on
August 1st. I’m also writing
a contemporary fiction novel about the lost generation in Nottingham ,
called Keith The Philosopher; a crime
fiction novel called Painful Death
and an anthology about sex, death and food; so, I’m busy.
What would you like
to say to fans or fellow authors?
Try to push the boundaries in anything you do. Don’t listen
to gurus, especially writing gurus, because, invariably, they know much less
than you do. Listen to the voice within you and act on it.
Okay? Thanks Elise.
About Mark Barry:
Mark Barry, author of “Hollywood Shakedown”, “Ultra
Violence” and “Carla”, is a Psychologist and writer whose main interest focuses
on relationships between people. He has
been writing since he was twenty one, having his first piece published in
1986. He has written extensively on a
variety of topics including, horseracing, football, personality disorders and
human relationships. Influenced by the
great playwrights and screenwriters, much of Mark’s work transpires in
dialogue. He deplores exposition and in
his fiction, leaves the reader in a state of nervousness more than he probably
should.
Mark has had an extensive career as a professional project
designer and bid writer, having accrued over £20m for groups and organisations
working with disadvantaged people. An
ex-lecturer, Mark designed and delivered the UK’s first ever course in Criminal
Psychology in 1997. Much of this work
infils his fiction: Psychopathy and
Borderline Personality Disorders are featured heavily in “Carla”, for
example.
Currently, Mark is a full time fiction writer and freelance
blogger. He has been interviewed on
several Radio talk shows where he has given readings of his work. His work has been featured in The Sun and
Daily Mail and he has also been interviewed on Television.
Mark resides in Southwell, Nottinghamshire with
his teenage son.
Where to find Mark:
Great interview; love the behind the scenes stuff
ReplyDeleteThanks Elise, absolutely brilliant! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat interview! Love interviews where we learn not just about the author, but writing itself. Awesome blog, too!
ReplyDeleteLis Ann @ The Indigo Quill (http://theindigoquill.blogspot.com)