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**Robert Craven’s The Road of a Thousand Tigers is the eighth in a never-ending series called INSIDE
THE EMOTION OF FICTION where the Chris Rice Cooper Blog (CRC)
focuses on one specific excerpt from a fiction genre and how that fiction
writer wrote that specific excerpt. All INSIDE
THE EMOTION OF FICTION links are at the end of this piece.
Name of fiction work? And were
there other names you considered that you would like to share with us? The Road of a Thousand Tigers is the title. It
started out as Ghost of a Chance, The Andaman Affair, and, The
Holt Memorandum, but they all sounded a bit dated and clunky. About
half-way through draft #3, this title seemed to fit the plot.
Fiction
genre? Ex science fiction, short story,
fantasy novella, romance, drama, crime, plays, flash fiction, historical,
comedy, movie script, screenplay, etc.
And how many pages long? Its hard-boiled, noir, spy, very much a short read
in the Elmore Leonard, Mickey Spillane mode
Has this been published? And it
is totally fine if the answer is no. If
yes, what publisher and what publication date? December 1, 2018 launch
on Amazon Digital Services LLC.
What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? This took about 4 months flat-out. I started first week of May 2018, final draft last week of September 2018.
What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you completely finished the piece of fiction? This took about 4 months flat-out. I started first week of May 2018, final draft last week of September 2018.
Where did
you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail. And can you please include a photo? I have a corner of a sofa in the living room of my house. (Below Right) From this I have
a view of our beautiful garden. I live by the sea, so there’s no built-up
areas. On a sunny day the sky goes on forever. I work on a lap-top that sits on
my knee.
What were your writing habits
while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music,
write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? The Road of a Thousand Tigers started while I’m
waiting for edits on another novel I plan to bring out in the middle of next
year. I had a few ‘Deleted scenes’ that I wanted to use (like a baker uses a
starter for a loaf) but couldn’t get them to fit and it became obvious that a
new story and character could make it work rather than force them back into the
book. I started then on
The Road of a Thousand Tigers.
I get up a 5am every day, weekends too; my mind is
much sharper at this time. On a new project I purchase a high-quality note book (Left)– this will be my laboratory, my gymnasium. I draft in long hand a 100-word,
500-word and finally a 1000-word synopsis. Once this ‘Tree’ is outlined, I
draft Chapter synopses; these will be the branches. Only then, do I then start
typing.
I drink heroic amounts of coffee. As The Road of a Thousand Tigers
is set in 1958, I found playlists from that year and play them in the
background on youtube – I love Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and Chuck Berry, so it
was a really wonderful soundtrack to write to.
I hit the library and read a few novels from that
era by Graham Greene, Ian Fleming and Alastair Maclean to try to get a ‘feel’
for the language of that time. I wear comfortable, loose clothing and generally
write for approximately two hours. I then edit and send the drafts out to two
trusted readers to review. On weekends I pull together their feedback and begin
the re-writes. Finally, I recently discovered padlet – which was a huge help.
It can be viewed here as its public:
What is
the summary of this specific fiction work?
Set in the era of Bond
and for fans of Lee Child, meet Sebastian Holt. Holt is a troubled man. Adrift
after a mission in Egypt that didn’t go according to plan he’s returned to
London. Enter Case Officer Petrie with an offer: travel to France and locate a
missing CIA asset named ‘Cochise’. Sounds easy?
Holt agrees and flies into Paris only to collide with a beautiful French journalist who isn’t all she seems to be and the KGB hunting ‘Cochise’ down. From London, Paris to Tel Aviv, Holt finds himself running out of options and out of time on the road of a thousand tigers.
Holt agrees and flies into Paris only to collide with a beautiful French journalist who isn’t all she seems to be and the KGB hunting ‘Cochise’ down. From London, Paris to Tel Aviv, Holt finds himself running out of options and out of time on the road of a thousand tigers.
Can you
give the reader just enough information for them to understand what is going on
in the excerpt? This scene introduces the reader to Sebastian Holt.
He’s a young intelligence operative in Egypt during The Suez Crisis in 1956.
He’s involved in a covert mission for British Intelligence.
Please include the excerpt and
include page numbers as reference. The
excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer. The
Road of a Thousand Tigers – Pages 7, 8 & 9
Holt
pulled up to an old style French colonial house. It was a broad belle epoch
mansion with ornate Rocco-style pillars fronted by a large smooth lawn. The sun
cast a long streak of sunlight cast a red beam across the doorway. Holt and
McGowan got out, went to the boot and took out two Thompson machine guns. They
walked up the gravel drive. The Thompsons hung from their sides. They looked up
and down the street.
“Turned
out nice again Chaiwallah,” said McGowan.
“Just
like New Delhi,”
McGowan stopped on the
pathway.
“Yes, just like New Delhi,” he said.
Holt wished he’d kept
the engine running. He checked his Rolex Tudor Gold, a gift from his mother; it
was 6.30am
The door opened.
The girl standing there
was breath-taking. A thick blonde plait
fell from under a broad brimmed summer hat. Her capri pants and ballet pumps
made her look like a blonde Audrey Hepburn, but taller.
“It’s
inside,” she said.
Holt and McGowan went
inside the house and found a huge metal-plated strongbox. They wrestled the box
into the boot of the car. The girl slipped into the back seat, tossed her hat
aside. Her legs were long and shapely.
The boot clunked shut
and Holt jumped in and started the engine. Holt handed his machine gun to
McGowan who sat beside the girl. McGowan slid the Thompsons across the floor.
A gloved hand appeared
at Holt’s shoulder. He shook the hand but stared ahead.
“They call me Sam,” said Samantha,
“They
call me, Chaiwallah,” said Holt.
“I recognise you,” she
said.
Why is this excerpt so
emotional for you? And can you describe
your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? This piece isn’t emotional, but it was a good way
to ‘mine’ into my memories. When I wanted Samantha Barnes to appear at the
door, I thought about calling for a girl in my teens who I had a crush on and
wanted to ask out for a date. When you’re a 16 or 17-year-old, any girl
opening a door is a memorable event! I remember this girl and her impact on me;
her name was Martina.
I wanted Holt to be
taken aback by her. Samantha Barnes is the catalyst in Holt’s life that sets
him on the path he is to take.
Holt navigated the early morning city streets
smoothly and pulled up to an old style French colonial house. It was an early
Edwardian pile with ornate Rocco-style pillars framing a linear façade fronted
by a large, well-manicured lawn. The sun was beginning its burning orbit above
the city and a long streak of sunlight cast a red beam across the doorway.
McGowan and Rooke alighted, went to the boot and took out two Thompson machine
guns. They walked up the gravel drive. The Thompsons hung from their sides.
Holt angled the rear-view mirror to take in the street. No doubt, the Egyptian
secret police, the Ismalia, wouldn’t be far behind.
He
checked his Rolex Tudor Gold, a gift from his mother before she died; it was
6.30am
He
glanced back at the house.
The
girl who stepped out was breath-taking. A thick blonde plait fell over
her shoulder from under a broad brimmed summer hat. Her capri pants and ballet
pumps coupled with large sunglasses made her look like a blonde Audrey Hepburn,
but taller. Her legs were long and shapely. As McGowan and Rooke wrestled the
huge metal-plated strong box into the boot, the girl slipped into the back
seat, tossing the hat aside.
“Samantha
Barnes,”
Get Lenin
Zinnman
A Finger of Night
Hollow Point
Steampunk
The Mandarin Cipher
Anything you would like to add? The Road of a Thousand Tigers is my best novel to
date; it’s a distillation of 12 years writing and publishing both as a
small-press author and indie. Though a short read, it’s the one I feel that has
all the elements coming together. It was a very happy and fulfilling process
and Serendipity is often thrown about as cliché, this project was utterly
fulfilling.
It doesn’t get better than that!
I was born in 1966 in Swinton, Manchester, England.
In 1977, we emigrated to Sydney, Australia and then returned to live in Dublin,
Ireland in 1979. I have lived there since. I now live in Rush, Co. Dublin. I’m
married and have a family.
I have a full-time job.
My first taste of writing was in 1992, when I
submitted a short horror story to a speculative fiction magazine, FTL. Titled
‘The Chase’, it was accepted and published.
I had spent nearly a decade playing bass in bands
around Dublin and kept tour diaries. From this I made my first attempt at a
novel titled ‘Vocals preferred / own transport essential.’ I finished it in
2003 & sent it out. I received many positive suggestions, but nothing else.
In 2006 I started writing Get Lenin, after finding
a few notes in a diary from 1997. It took 5 years to finish and was published
first by Night Publishing, in Hull with Tim Roux, who then relocated to San
Francisco becoming Taylor Street Publsihing. Get Lenin received very positive reviews and the sequel
‘Zinnman’ was subsequently published by them. I was released from Taylor Street
and was signed to MasterKoda and Blue Hour Publishing.
In January 2017, I took control of all my titles – Get
Lenin; Zinnman; A Finger of Night; and Hollow
Point – releasing them on Amazon & Kobo.
I have had
short stories published in three anthologies:
·
‘A communion of blood’ a vampire short published in ‘Broken Mirrors
Fractured minds’ – Vamptasy Press.
·
‘Vodou’ in Red Rattle Book’s ‘Zombie Bites’.
·
& ‘The Properties of Mercury’ in ‘Cogs in Time’ a Steampunk Anthology,
by Crushing Hearts Black Butterfly Publishing.
I have had two articles published in The Oslo times
last year:
I also regularly review CDs for Irish Independent
Review Ireland.
Twitter @cravenrobert. PM there
This is my author page on Amazon
INSIDE THE EMOTION OF
FICTION links
001 11 15 2018 Nathaniel Kaine’s
Thriller Novel
John
Hunter – The Veteran
002 11 18 2018 Ed Protzzel’s
Futuristic/Mystery/Thriller
The
Antiquities Dealer
003 11 23 2018 Janice Seagraves’s
Science Fiction
Romance
Exodus
Arcon
004 11 29 2018 Christian Fennell’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
The
Fiddler in the Night
005 12 02 2018 Jessica Mathews’s
Adult
Paranormal Romance
Death
Adjacent
006 12 04 2018 Robin Jansen’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
Ruby the
Indomitable
007 12 12 2018
Adair Valerez’s
Literary
Fiction Novel
Scrim
008 12 17 218 Kit Frazier’s
Mystery Novel
Dead Copy
009 12 21 2018 Robert
Craven’s
Noir/Spy Novel
The Road
of a Thousand Tigers