Phoenix Book Reviews would like to thank Richard Armour for taking a short break in the writing of his second novel to talk to us about his work.
Richard, I first heard about you when you contacted me offering to donate some copies of your first novel The Habit to Phoenix as competition prizes.As someone who normally dislikes crime fiction, I genuinely enjoyed reading The Habit . How much of a gamble was it for you to send your book to a reviewer who doesn't like the genre?
I didn't think of it as a gamble, more of a test to see what somebody who doesn't normally enjoy crime fiction thought of my work. It was because you say on your website that you don't like crime fiction that I sent it!! Call it the ultimate test if you like.
I'm delighted you did. You state in the "Author's Note" at the beginning of The Habit that you have wanted to write since you were a small boy. However, until 1999, you worked in the city as a stockbroker. Did you write at all during this time or did you suddenly make a 'now or never' decision to focus exclusively on writing and try to achieve your lifetime ambition ?
I used to love essays at school, particularly the ones where you were given the first line. eg "It was a cold, winter's night and all was quiet except for......" and you had to finish the story. I wrote a story about a gang of children when I was about 11 years old. I wish I'd kept it, it would be funny to read now. Then I began writing a book called "The Day I Died". It was going to be about my idea of what happens to us when we die, but it became too Sci-Fi for my liking so I never finished it. I still have the manuscript so I may return to it one day.
I think that working in the City actually gave me the time to begin writing in earnest. We were never as busy as most people imagine and after the early morning burst of business the afternoons could really drag, and I just decided to use that time proactively. Rather that just reading the paper or chatting to colleagues, I began writing "The Habit".
So, have you ever published anything else such as short stories or articles, or was The Habit your first venture?
I've never been a fan of short stories, so that never appealed. I wanted to write a novel, I chose Crime fiction as I'm a huge fan and so I spent some time thinking of an idea. As soon as the basic idea behind "The Habit" came to me, I was really excited and I just began writing.
Has the reality of being an author lived up to your expectations?
Yes! It's wonderful. To get emails from complete strangers about my work is amazing. It's also very frustrating as I have the basic outline for 4 other books and I find it frustrating not being able to write more than one book at a time. I am really excited about my 3rd book, I think the story will be quite unique and will be of national appeal.
How easy or difficult was it for you to become a published writer? Do you have any tips for other aspiring writers who may be reading this interview?
Very difficult. My advice would be to make sure you keep going over your manuscript and certainly re-write your first attempt at least once. For a book to stand out it has to really have something. The agents are so busy and get approx 50-60 new manuscripts every single day, so your book has to really shine. Many publishers are not even reading through their "Slush pile" (manuscripts) so it can be very demoralising for a new author.
But keep sending off your sample chapters and synopsis. It's all about timing. Also, to be published, most companies are looking for authors who can write more than one book. So begin writing your 2nd book whilst trying to land that elusive deal.
How driven are you as a writer now that writing is a career rather than an aim? Do you ever find yourself making excuses not to write ?
More driven than ever. I have so many new ideas that I can't write fast enough! My wife and I had our first child, a little girl last November and she is wonderful, but bringing up children is very time consuming and there is no doubt that she can take my focus off my writing from time to time! Also, I am still working full time. Having my first book published is not enough to finance my life, not yet anyway. I think that most author's don't become fulltime until they have had 2 or 3 books published. I look forward to that day!!
But at a single sitting I can normally get a thousand words done in a couple of hours so my weekends are usually very productive.
How far do you involve yourself in the marketing of your book now that it has been published?
An awful lot. My website gets more and more hits by the month and so I sell quite a lot of books from that. I also seem to be selling lots online at Amazon and WHSmiths, so the public are definitely getting better at using the Internet. My book is available from all the big bookshops and so I spend as much time promoting it as I can. I am planning a couple of days of handing out postcards in the City in London next month, to promote "The Habit" to the thousands of commuters. There will also be an advert in The Waterstone's Quarterly magazine next week, Issue 8, so we are hoping for good things from that.
Roger Hamilton, the main character of The Habit is also a stockbroker and the setting of the book is obviously one with which you are very familiar. How much of Richard Armour is there in Roger Hamilton?
I think there is a bit of me in him. He is far more successful than I ever was! His life is fairly typical of a lot of guys that work in the City; you work hard, you play hard. I really wanted to write a book about the City, telling it as it really is. There are lots of hours of boredom intermingled with lots of frantic bursts of trading. There are also lots of long lunches, even now. Gordon Gecko from the movie "Wall Street" is renowned for his comment: "Lunch is for wimps." Well the reality is very different and I wanted to try to portray that in my book.
How did you go about researching the behaviour of the serial rapist in The Habit?
I don't know anyone personally who has been raped, but if I did I would find it very hard not to take the law into my own hands. I chose rape as the subject for two reasons:
1. All the crime thrillers seem to be about murder, so I wanted to avoid that.
2. I think it is the most awful crime and yet the punishment never seems harsh enough in reality. One hears so many stories of Judges giving light sentences of 5 or 6 years and yet a women has been violated and she has to live with that for the rest of her life.
I read lots of books on Rape and Rapists and I have a vivid imagination and so tried to make the rapist in my book as evil and nasty as possible.
You certainly succeeded there! Have you had any reaction - positive or negative - to your book from members of the police force?
I have had mainly good feedback. I know two officers who helped me in the procedures and I also spoke to a friend who was a probationer and he believes in rehabilitation and I don't on the whole!! I think we are too soft on criminals today. So I did use my poetic licence in parts.
You cite James Patterson as one of your favourite authors. Have any other writers, living or dead, inspired you and, if so, who and how?
I read everyday. I love books and as I said, I love crime thrillers. I enjoy Harlan Coben and Jeffrey Deaver, but it is James Patterson who made me realise you could write short, sharp chapters and cut straight to the action without too much pretty scene setting and sympathetic background. I think today's readers are too busy with their hectic lives and so want a book to get straight to the action and not drone on and on. That's my target audience anyway.
Which book (s) are you reading at the moment?
Fade Away by Harlan Coben, The Jester by James Patterson and The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt & Jeff Cox
If you could choose just one book as an all-time favourite, which would it be and why?
I couldn't pick just one. It would probably have to be one of James Patterson's or Harlan Coben's.
Visitors to Phoenix Book Reviews will be interested to learn that your second book The Vigilante is scheduled for publication soon. Can you give us any idea when it will be available to buy?
My aim was end of autumn, but it's looking more like end of this year.
Do any of the characters from The Habit feature in your second book ?
Both Roger and Frank are in it and another character from "The Habit" plays a much bigger role. I think it will be quite a controversial book. The idea of a secret force of crime fighters wiping out the scum is how I see life going one day. Crime is getting worse, there were more gun crimes last year than ever and we don't seem to have a suitable deterrent. So "The Vigilante" whilst a work of fiction, is my idea of how we can sort out crime once and for all.
That sounds fascinating...I look forward to reading it. Finally would you like to tell us a bit about yourself (age, hobbies etc) - as much or as little as you like.
I'm 37, married with a daughter. I relax by writing and I enjoy reading. I love Formula 1, I'm a huge Michael Schumacher fan. I love go-karting and in fact if anyone buys a Hardback from me via my website, they will get a FREE go-karting voucher worth up to £65!! The details are on my website. I also keep fit by competing in Triathlons for Cancer Research UK in memory of my Dad who died in 2000.
Readers can use the link below to visit Richard's website to take advantage of that offer.
Richard, before everyone goes off to claim their go-karting voucher, I'd just like to say thank you for sparing the time to talk to Phoenix Book Reviews and wish you every luck with your future writing career.
