Richard Montanari - Interview with Tangled Web
 |
 Kiss Of Evil
 April 2001
|
Richard Montanari is a rising star in the Dark Suspense genre. His first novel,
Deviant Ways
was published to great acclaim in 1995 and won the OLMA (Online Mystery Award) for Best First Mystery. His second,
The Violet Hour
confirmed his place among the elite of the genre. With Richard's third novel,
Kiss Of Evil,
due to be published early 2001, Tangled Web talks to him about his writing and plans for the future. |
|
The Violet Hour
|
|
Deviant Ways
|
|
What aspect of writing gives you the most pleasure? Putting a storyline
together, development of characters, the writing itself?
I would have to say that I most enjoy creating the story. I believe that
five years after someone reads your work, if they think about you at all,
they don’t remember your style or your fabulous vocabulary. If you
entertained them well, I think they remember your story, the world you
created, as well as the interesting people to whom they were introduced.
Do you have the whole plot in your head before you start writing, or does it
develop as you write?
All three of my novels are whodunits, with a (more or less) last page
revelation, so plot must be paramount to the story. But you can’t just have
everyone show up in the drawing room at the end, they must also be properly
motivated for being there. So, plot must always be secondary to
credibility. A great plot that cheats the reader to get to a surprise
ending is not, simply put, a great plot. As to the outcome of the story, I
usually have an ending in mind when I start, but anything can happen when
characters begin to interact. And often does.
Where do you get your ideas for storyline/characters from? How involved do
you get with the characters?
I’m always looking for a great story in newspapers and magazines, always
searching for that spine of a tale I can then infuse with my vision. And
yet I’ve never used one. If you look at television crime drama (I’m talking
standard US fare, not deliciously dark UK stuff like Touching Evil or
Prime Suspect) even their taglines say: “Ripped from today’s headlines!” To me
this says: “We’re completely out of ideas! Here’s a leftover!” While my
first three books have a number of classic mystery elements to them, most
critics have allowed that the stories themselves are pretty original. I’ve
been quite gratified to hear this. As to involvement with characters,
during the proofing process of
Kiss Of Evil, I found myself getting
teary-eyed and profoundly angry over the plight of a minor, but crucial
character. That’s how I knew I was done editing. Hopefully, readers will
get equally involved.
You write convincingly on the one hand about characters involved in the
Catholic church, and on the other, drug dealers who frequent modern day
opium dens. Your research certainly needs to be wide-ranging. How do you do
your research?
I was raised a Roman Catholic so a good deal of the litany of Catholicism
was ingrained early. As to the opium den, I plead the UK equivalent of
America’s Fifth Amendment (that’s the one about self-incrimination).
You write non-fiction & short stories as well as novels, which do you enjoy
most? What are the differences?
I was a full time free-lancer for five years (read: lots of Ramen noodles),
and in that time I took on assignments that put me in way over my head. I
wrote articles for more than 200 publications, on topics ranging from
pediatric epilepsy to amateur boxing to falconry to the history of
recycling. For our local Sunday magazine I even took part in a Girl Scout
double dutch rope jumping final once (and have the welts to prove it). I
never turned down an assignment, so I learned to be a good and quick
researcher, a fairly good interviewer. The researching skills have helped
me somewhat in my fiction, but the interviewing has helped me enormously.
It helped me listen to the way people actually talk. I would turn in
magazine assignments with quotes that included the pauses, contractions and
broken syntax we all use everyday. Drove editors nuts.
One of the things I found intriguing about The Violet Hour was that although
most characters seemed ‘normal,’ everyday people, as the story progressed, I
was drawn into imagining that any one of them might be the killer. Is this
an important theme for you: that apparently ‘normal’ people often hide a
darker side?
Absolutely. It is emerging as a common motif in my books and screenplays.
I’m fascinated by the underside of people, of places, of things; those
second and third faces we present to the world, but only when we want to.
One of my favorite film openings is David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” where the
camera shows us this bucolic little town then, literally, sinks beneath the
surface of the earth. Vampires, werewolves and aliens don’t scare me. The
charming stranger does.
Do you have any thoughts/unease about crime fiction as entertainment?
I’ve given it some thought, yes. I don’t know where most of my colleagues
land on the issue of labeling, but I’ve never had a problem with it –
stickers on music, the movie ratings board, the V-chip. If it gives a
parent a leg-up, and doesn’t trample on my right to say it, it’s okay with
me. On the other hand, the US cover of Deviant Ways
features a bloody
straight razor. I don’t think you’re going to pick it up and mistake it for
Harry Potter. A little truth in advertising goes a long way toward
understanding.
What makes, for you, a good suspense novel?
I have this crazy notion that all fiction is suspense fiction. After all,
if you know how it all turns out, why finish? Now, to answer your question,
a good suspense novel has to either present an intriguing puzzle to me (in a
closed mystery), or to the detective (in an open mystery); or give me such a
high octane chase that I can’t breathe. My favorite crime novel of all time
is Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, closely followed by Shane Stevens’s
Dead City. Oddly enough, neither are whodunits.
Do you read crime/suspense novels, and if so, do you have any favourite
authors?
I don’t read as much crime fiction as I used to. An unfortunate by-product
of writing fiction for a living is that, the moment you open a novel you
begin to deconstruct your colleagues’ work. I read the people in my genre
who top the charts, mainly because they happen to be good writers.
What do you read for pleasure?
These days I’m reading quite a bit of non-fiction, mostly memoirs and
my-life-in-showbiz stuff. I just finished William Goldman’s Which Lie
Did I Tell? A good deal of the long form drama I’m encountering these days is not
in novels but rather in screenwriting. Especially American independent
film, as well this stunning, burgeoning world of Eastern and Asian film.
Some of the movies coming out of China, India and Iran are absolutely
breathtaking. Zhang Yimou’s “To Live” is one of the greatest films ever
made, and I only discovered it last year.
Have any authors influenced your style of writing?
All of them. For some reason, when I was twelve or so and read Jack London
and Robert Louis Stevenson, the magic of it all stuck with me. As did the
artistry of every book in between Treasure Island and whatever happens to be
on my nightstand now. If you transport me in some way, you influence my
craft. I’d like to write like Tom Harris, Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford,
Shirley Jackson. For better or worse, I always end up writing like Richard
Montanari.
Can you say something about your new novel? And your plans for the future?
Kiss Of Evil
is the second book in the John Paris series, which began with Deviant Ways. I had initially hoped to write a sequel to
Deviant Ways but,
as it is a whodunit, I would have destroyed any chance of maintaining
suspense for any reader who read Kiss of Evil first. So, the novel
continues the character of Paris, with an all new, thoroughly disturbing,
adventure. A preview is at the book’s website www.kissofevil.com.
As to future plans, I’d like to write a Paris book every other outing, with
stand-alones in between. I also plan to concentrate on my screenwriting. I
’ve recently finished a first draft of the screenplay to Deviant Ways, along
with a pair of original thrillers. And, just to keep my critics cross-eyed,
I am currently polishing a screenplay entitled “Always You,” a romantic
comedy with fantasy elements. What a crazy life, eh? I wouldn’t have it
any other way.
Interview by Liz Lees
