Q&A with Barney

Q) Hi Barney, and thank you for taking the time to talk to me. I’m interested to find out how Jenks came about? Did you always plan to write a book?

A) Not really, although I’ve always enjoyed writing, going right back to those distant days when I was in the press, and I love losing track of time in a good book. I’m a huge fan of Lee Child and always devour the new Jack Reacher on the day of publication, usually reading it in about three sittings at most. Victor the assassin is another favourite along with a whole host of spy/assassin type books, so I suppose it was only natural that if I wrote a book, it would be in that genre.

Q) Jenks is, I believe, your first novel – how did the character come about?

A) That’s really difficult to answer! Er, I think I just sat down at my computer when we first locked down and started to type any ideas that came into my head. It all got a bit consuming and I remember keeping a pad and pen next to the sofa and my side of the bed to jot down any ideas that suddenly came to me – if you don’t they’re forgotten the next day. We’d be watching something on TV and I would have to turn to my wife and say, ‘can I pause this for a second, I must write something down.’ She was very understanding, even when it was the sixth pause of the evening.

Q) So did you have a picture of him in your mind from the start?

A) Pretty much so. I wanted him to be tall, but not that tall, so he’s 6’3” in his socks. Likewise I didn’t want him to be hugely muscle bound. I pictured him with a rock climber’s physique. Those men and women are so strong. They can look perfectly normal in clothes, but if you see them in just a vest and shorts on a climb, the muscle definition and core strength is phenomenal. Also, Jenks is of course blessed or cursed, depending which way you look at it, with vivid turquoise eyes. I imagined him right from the start as someone who stays in the shadows and doesn’t like to be remembered, hence he wears brown contacts most of the time. I remember now that he originally had a scar on his forehead, but I ditched that idea.

Q) What about the story? I have to say I thought I’d worked out who was who part way through but it turned out I was completely wrong! It leads you to think one thing then you start to realise it’s the complete opposite. Did you have a clear picture in your head of what was going to happen?

A) I remember having so many post-it notes stuck around my monitor and all over the walls with ideas, phrases, timelines and plenty of stuff that I ended up cutting out. The first 50,000 words just came tumbling out, and some days I’d write for nine hours or more as I just couldn’t stop. I was so in the zone sometimes I’d be writing for hours busting for the loo, but didn’t want to break my concentration or the moment in my head.

Q) It sounds like it was a bit obsessive at times – did you always know how it would end? I have to tell you I could feel the adrenalin in my body when I read the last section, and definitely didn’t see what happens coming in any way shape or form.

A) Well thanks, that’s a real compliment if you felt like that. I did as well when I was writing it, and couldn’t type fast enough sometimes to get it down! I suppose you could call it obsessive at times, but that really was because I was enjoying the story, and when I was in ‘the zone’ for want of a better phrase, I just couldn’t stop.

Q) So did you know how it would end?

A) No, and it was a little worrying for a time. It wasn’t all hundred mile an hour typing and there were times of self doubt and panic that I had no idea how it was all going to pan out.

Q) How did you get over that feeling?

A) A real turning point was an interview I read with Lee Child. The reporter asked him what advice he would give to any new writers, and his advice was, ‘never listen to advice,’ which I thought was brilliant. I think I was 50,000 words in and having a bit of a wobble thinking I might just dry up and had exhausted all my ideas. It was that interview with him that changed the way I approached the rest of the book. I think he said that a writer shouldn’t think about word count, writing too much or too little, just tell the story – let your mind go where it wants, and that was exactly what I did. It was a bit of an epiphany I suppose, and from that point I just let it flow.  

Q) Any examples?

A) There’s a section which actually made me cry as I was writing it. I knew exactly how it was going to happen and..

Q) I think I know which bit! (Whispers)

A) That’s the one. Even reading it back countless times during the editing process often made me fill up a bit.

Q) It is really sad – I remember thinking oh no and stopping for a moment to take it in.

A) Thanks, I’m glad it wasn’t just me being wet!

Q) No, definitely not. You mentioned cutting bits out – was there a lot left on the floor, so to speak?

A) Oh god yes. The first draft was nearly 140,000 words and I ended up cutting it down by about 30,000. I found that really hard at first, and some of the best things I’ve ever written ended up being jettisoned. I think I did about 10 drafts before it was at the stage when I thought I’d finished, but I hadn’t.

Q) What do you mean?

A) My brother was a real help – he’s written for most of his working life, not novels but magazine articles and local history type things, but he knows about the editing process. He read an early draft and the advice he gave me about ‘killing you darlings’ really struck home.

Q) Killing your darlings?

A) Yes-sounds horrible doesn’t it. You have to look at what you’ve written and decide if it really takes the story further. As I mentioned, a lot of my best paragraphs ended up being cut out, as although they were hopefully well written, they didn’t actually enhance the story.

Q) Can you remember any examples?

A) Hmm...There’s one bit when Jenks goes out for a run and starts to have snippets of flashback memory. Originally it really detailed the actual early morning run – how he was feeling, the weather, what he was seeing as he ran along the beach, that sort of thing. Come to think of it, there was a part when he was running past the newsagents before the town had woken up. I remember describing in detail an ancient old dog tied up outside, and how it tried to jump up when his equally ancient owner came out with his paper. It was all very atmospheric and painted a real picture of what Jenks was seeing and experiencing, but did nothing for the overall story, so out it went!

Q) That’s interesting – he’s a complex character, do you think people will like him?

A) That’s a crippler! I think he could really develop as a character which I didn’t think I could do in just the one book - he is an assassin after all, and his job is to kill people and sometimes he does it in very unpleasant ways. There are hints of vulnerability which the reader gets the odd glimpse of, and that’s something I’d like to explore. It’s a horrible thing to admit out loud, but sometimes when you read of someone getting their comeuppance, you can’t help feeling they deserved it sometimes. Let’s not forget though, it is only a story, but I like the idea that he enjoys the gentlest of hobbies, being a birdwatcher one minute then ending someone’s life without batting an eyelid the next.

Q) Quite! At times I thought is this guy a complete psycho or someone you’re secretly glad is out there doing what he does. Also, lots of parts are actually quite believable. Without giving the game away, the section when you describe how Joshua Englefield is able to access the really secret files in the CIA database that no one is allowed to see made me think, hang on, that just might be possible.

A) Ha! My IT skills are barely above those of a new born baby, so I am by no means an expert in that field – quite the opposite, but when you think about how he does it, you wonder if maybe the might of the CIA overlooked the most simple of flaws in the system.

Q) If they read the book, I bet someone goes to check in the server rooms just to make sure.

A) That would be the ultimate compliment if they did.

Q) Will there be another Jenks book?

A) Yes, hopefully. I sat down recently when I had some spare time and accidently wrote the first 5,500 words of it! Again it just came pouring out of my brain and really excited me. I’m a bit worried about starting it properly as I know I won’t stop and it’s going to imprison me in my little office getting chronic backache for a few months. Also, there’s a bit of unfinished business left over from book one and I already know how it’s going to pan out – but, I don’t want to run before I can walk so I’ll probably be focussing on spreading the word about the first one for a little while.

Q) Will it still involve some of the same characters? I had a real picture in my mind of James Camburn and Sir John Leroux and would love to see more of them.

A) I’m sure they’ll feature. Camburn’s past is a bit of a mystery, as you’ll know having read the book, and I think he could be developed, or perhaps he’ll get killed on the first page..

Q) No! Don’t kill him, I’d want to know more about him.

A) OK, he lives for the moment! That’s the wonderful thing about writing a story – literally anything can happen, and in the world of espionage everything is possible. A truth you lived by one minute can turn out to be a complete lie and turn your world upside down.

Q) Is that going to be part of the next book?

A) Possibly, I’ve only just thought of that line while talking to you.

Q) Thank you so much for sparing the time to chat, perhaps we can do the same when Jenks II is out.

A) It would be a pleasure, thank you as well.