Mauro Martone

Authors who have the ability to create a book series always cease to amaze me. How much planning and organizing goes into crafting a series that easily transitions from one book to the next is, to me, a difficult task. Got too far extreme and the storyline makes zero sense. Be too cautious and the series gets dull.

I discovered a new crime detective series written by Mauro Martone. In his most recent book, the reader picks up where the first book, Kertamen, leaves off and picks right back up following lawyer Stephen “Monty” Montgomery. The Orcadian File, is part Dan Brown’s Angel and Demons, mixed with Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Keep reading to see the mind behind these two well-written books and advice Mauro has for authors.

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What inspired you to write a book?
I had published some short stories prior to writing my first book and a few people suggested that I write a novel. I think additionally, I was intrigued at the time by all the various suggestions that the Scottish Referendum had been rigged and so I wrote my first book Kertamen.

Was there a book or author that you admired that played a role when developing your book?
Of course. I have always been influenced by other writers, ever since I was young. I think that Kertamen is influenced by other fantasy writers such as Anne Rice, Kipling, Dickens, and Richard Grahame. Grahame was a favourite of mine as a child, and I would watch his Wind in the Willow series on TV and find escape within it. He probably convinced me that fantasy, combined with one’s imagination, can be merged to produce stories. Whereas Anne Rice showed me in later years that it is feasible to turn these ideas into serious adult thrillers. So, at least where Kertamen and The Orcadian File are concerned, I was motivated by these writers. I have also always been influenced by writers such as George MacDonald Fraser, Valerio Massimo Manfredi and Conn Iggulden and their approach to historical fiction.

It is often said that to write something, you must believe in what you are writing. Do you agree with that?
That would depend upon what one is writing. Had you asked Tolkien that question for example, and I suspect he may have said that what he had written was purely the product of a vivid imagination but based upon his own theological beliefs. I believe that it is possible to fuse the two, but in answer to your question, no…….not always.

Do you have a set schedule for writing, or are you one of those who writes only when they feel inspired?
Yes, it really is a case of when my muse is with me.

Tell us about your writing style, how is it different from other writers?
Well, other writers have said my dialogue comes across as colloquial but that the pace is swift and intense. Personally, I don’t see that, but then I tend to write the narrative and then sit back and leave the reader to decide.

What, according to you, is the hardest thing about writing? What would you say is the most natural aspect of writing?
Every story has a beginning. I think that must be the hardest part – the first word or paragraph. Finding the idea is easy enough yet formatting it and starting that initial sentence is the hard part. It is natural for a bard or storyteller to have ideas, and some of us keep notes with various ideas scribbled down etc, but starting that first page is always the tricky part.

Have you ever experienced “Writer’s Block”? How long do they usually last? Any tips you would like to share to overcome it?
No, not yet thankfully. Sure there are periods wherein I cant go near a story and instead enjoy watching films, but then I tend to find motivation in that and so return to my writing more often than not.

Are you working on something new at the moment?
Yes, I am working on a fictional novel based around the infamous 1960’s Bible John murders in Glasgow.

What is the first book that made you cry?
Watership Down. Which I think may be the only book that made me cry until this Christmas when I read Manfredi’s Odysseus: The Return. Toward the end when Odysseus finally steps foot on Ithacan soil after all those years and is meet by his goddess, I found a tear appear in my eye.

Any advice you would like to give to aspiring writers?
I am regularly asked this. Sure, write about something you enjoy, are interested in or care about. Otherwise the process can become a chore and then you may encounter Writer’s Block.

 

 

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