Questions for Tom Rob Smith

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evollbach wrote:

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Tom_Rob_Smith wrote:

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evollbach wrote:
Another question:

When you come to Canada in November, will you also be visiting the US (besides the Boston Symphony Orchestra)? I would think you'd want to avoid long plane trips.

Beth

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... are you asking if I'm combining the trips? Yes, I would never fly back and forth like that... I'm no fan of flying, I much prefer trains! I don't know if there is a train from Toronto to Boston, that would be my preference anyway.

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Actually, I mean, will you come to Michigan. We're just a hop over the Detroit River from Windsor, Ontario. That's about 4 hours from Toronto, I think, but I'll bet there's a train between those two cities.

You make me conscious of how much I don't get around. Gees, Tom, you're so young to have done as much as you have and to have been to so many places! When I was your age, I was proud of myself for moving alone to California for a job there. I think that's as adventurous as I got.

Beth

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Maybe it's because I'm half Swedish, half English - I've always had to travel because my family live in two countries.

In point of fact, I think I'm quite sedate... I spend a lot of time at home, writing and reading, shuffling around my apartment in shorts and a t-shirt.

[TRS_Old]

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tgem wrote:

Tom Rob Smith,

We've been so fortunate to have you on this board for close to a month now, and you've been so generous with your time and thoughts. Before you leave us, I'm really curious as to what fiction writers have influenced your writing. Is there any way you could explain how an author, like yourself, can be influenced, but find your own voice?

tgem

ps: with all this posting, have you been able to finish your book??

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This is a big question... I'm going to get back to this tomorrow...

[Rachel-K]

Tom,

I have another question for you. When did you know you were going to write this novel? Was it when you began to imagine one particular character, or the relationships, or the murders themselves?

I ask because the relationships between characters are very nuanced and intense for a "thriller." We have to keep reading not only because we need to find out the next gruesome detail, but more because we need to know what happens to these particular people that we care about, and what happens to their relationships.

[TRS_Old]

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Tom_Rob_Smith wrote:

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tgem wrote:

Tom Rob Smith,

We've been so fortunate to have you on this board for close to a month now, and you've been so generous with your time and thoughts. Before you leave us, I'm really curious as to what fiction writers have influenced your writing. Is there any way you could explain how an author, like yourself, can be influenced, but find your own voice?

tgem

ps: with all this posting, have you been able to finish your book??

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This is a big question... I'm going to get back to this tomorrow...

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I've just realized I give a list of ten books on the B & N "about the author" section - I talk about authors and books that I've really loved there.

In terms of guarding against being "overly influenced", or derivative... if you find a story you're passionate about I think it's hard to copy anyone else since your passion for that story will almost inevitably be unique and your own. I suppose you could copy another author's style. I just asked "what is best for this story" and every decision followed from there. I think one reviewer called my style plain. I'm more than happy with that description. In fact, when I've been reading extracts aloud, where my prose has jarred is when it hasn't been plain enough.

I'm sure other authors influenced the decisions I took, any writing is in a way a conversation with other kinds of writing... from that point of view I don't mind tracing back the roots.

[TRS_Old]

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rkubie wrote:

Tom,

I have another question for you. When did you know you were going to write this novel? Was it when you began to imagine one particular character, or the relationships, or the murders themselves?

I ask because the relationships between characters are very nuanced and intense for a "thriller." We have to keep reading not only because we need to find out the next gruesome detail, but more because we need to know what happens to these particular people that we care about, and what happens to their relationships.

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This might sound odd but it was the story, never the murders. The murders were always a huge problem because there were so many of them. The danger in setting up an orthodox investigation was that it would become repetitive. In CHILD 44 there is only one murder in the entire novel, at least by the serial killer, only one murder that is on the page, so to speak. Every other murder is in the margin.

In end, Leo and Raisa's journey was the reason I wanted to write the book, their relationship, their struggle through this world. Their investigation was the dynamic.

[Maria_H]

The feature Tom refers to is here!

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Tom_Rob_Smith wrote:
I've just realized I give a list of ten books on the B & N "about the author" section - I talk about authors and books that I've really loved there.

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[evollbach]

Somehow I missed it before, but I just checked out your 10-best list of books. I'm pleased to say I've read some of them. I added others to my to-read list.

Tom is there any other way I can contact you besides your My Space page? I might want to send you my address in case you decide to be generous with your signature but don't visit the Detroit area. And I don't want to sign up with My Space because, unlike you, I'm not anxious to have my name on the Internet, which My Space does. Although I'm no one important, I'm all over the Internet as it is, and I'm not happy about it.

Beth

[tgem]

Maria H,

Thank you!  It has been a wonderful month - I lost track of that page.  I'm within walking distance of a B&N while on vacation, and I've been telling Portland (OR) people about this book.  Tom Rob Smith has become my favorite new author!

tgem

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Maria_H wrote:
The feature Tom refers to is here!

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Tom_Rob_Smith wrote:
I've just realized I give a list of ten books on the B & N "about the author" section - I talk about authors and books that I've really loved.

[tgem]

Tom Rob Smith,

Thank you for your reply.  I keep losing my connection to the Internet at the guest house I'm staying at.  I left for a walk, frustrated, and then thought - I should have just asked:  if you had the opportunity to communicate with a living author in a forum like this, what would your choice be? 

Crime and Punishment, In Cold Blood, and The Gulag are also on my top ten list!  I also love Flannery O'Conner's writing and Carson McCuller's.  Two living authors: Peter Mathieson, At Play in the Fields of the Lord and Sherman Alexie, Reservation Blues.  I'm a Sherman Alexie fanatic - he's what I call an in-your- face, equal-opportunity-offender, with many important messages.  One of his books became the film, Smoke Signals, and then he produced/wrote/directed his own, The Business of Fancy Dancing.  A true artist.  He just won a National Book Award!  I just finished No Country for Old Men, and although I think I'll have to read him in short doses, I'm sure McCarthy will be on my top ten.  A book that was recently made into a film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.  Many by Iris Murdock. 

Based on your top ten I'm going to walk to B&N and buy Norwegian Wood.  Ilana, moderator from the Literature & Life forum, wrote of her fascination for him.

Okay - I'll hold off on the questions now, and let you finish your book. 

tgem

[TRS_Old]

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evollbach wrote:
Somehow I missed it before, but I just checked out your 10-best list of books. I'm pleased to say I've read some of them. I added others to my to-read list.

Tom is there any other way I can contact you besides your My Space page? I might want to send you my address in case you decide to be generous with your signature but don't visit the Detroit area. And I don't want to sign up with My Space because, unlike you, I'm not anxious to have my name on the Internet, which My Space does. Although I'm no one important, I'm all over the Internet as it is, and I'm not happy about it.

Beth

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I'll have my website up and running by the end of the year... it should be tomrobsmith.co.uk or .com I've bought the domain names.

You can always create a fake identity on facebook if you want to get in touch that way!

[TRS_Old]

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tgem wrote:

Tom Rob Smith,

Thank you for your reply. I keep losing my connection to the Internet at the guest house I'm staying at. I left for a walk, frustrated, and then thought - I should have just asked: if you had the opportunity to communicate with a living author in a forum like this, what would your choice be?

Crime and Punishment, In Cold Blood, and The Gulag are also on my top ten list! I also love Flannery O'Conner's writing and Carson McCuller's. Two living authors: Peter Mathieson, At Play in the Fields of the Lord and Sherman Alexie, Reservation Blues. I'm a Sherman Alexie fanatic - he's what I call an in-your- face, equal-opportunity-offender, with many important messages. One of his books became the film, Smoke Signals, and then he produced/wrote/directed his own, The Business of Fancy Dancing. A true artist. He just won a National Book Award! I just finished No Country for Old Men, and although I think I'll have to read him in short doses, I'm sure McCarthy will be on my top ten. A book that was recently made into a film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Many by Iris Murdock.

Based on your top ten I'm going to walk to B&N and buy Norwegian Wood. Ilana, moderator from the Literature & Life forum, wrote of her fascination for him.

Okay - I'll hold off on the questions now, and let you finish your book.

tgem

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I'll have to check out Peter Mathieson and the other authors you recommend...

I've just delivered the second book! I sent it off to my publishers today!

I'm now free to do... I'm not sure what people do when they're not writing... whatever it is, I'm now free to do it.

[tgem]

Tom Rob Smith,

Congratulations!  Whatever you do - enjoy....  How exciting for us to be able to discuss your present publication while you completed another.

tgem

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Tom_Rob_Smith wrote:

I'll have to check out Peter Mathieson and the other authors you recommend...

I've just delivered the second book! I sent it off to my publishers today!

I'm now free to do... I'm not sure what people do when they're not writing... whatever it is, I'm now free to do it.

[evollbach]

Tom, thanks for letting us know about the completion of your second book. I didn't realize you were almost finished. I hope to see that you've named one of the characters "Beth" or "Elizabeth." :-) Does Russia have Elizabeths? Anyhow, I'll be watching for it and am anxious to read it.

Beth

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Tom_Rob_Smith wrote:

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tgem wrote:

Tom Rob Smith,

Thank you for your reply. I keep losing my connection to the Internet at the guest house I'm staying at. I left for a walk, frustrated, and then thought - I should have just asked: if you had the opportunity to communicate with a living author in a forum like this, what would your choice be?

Crime and Punishment, In Cold Blood, and The Gulag are also on my top ten list! I also love Flannery O'Conner's writing and Carson McCuller's. Two living authors: Peter Mathieson, At Play in the Fields of the Lord and Sherman Alexie, Reservation Blues. I'm a Sherman Alexie fanatic - he's what I call an in-your- face, equal-opportunity-offender, with many important messages. One of his books became the film, Smoke Signals, and then he produced/wrote/directed his own, The Business of Fancy Dancing. A true artist. He just won a National Book Award! I just finished No Country for Old Men, and although I think I'll have to read him in short doses, I'm sure McCarthy will be on my top ten. A book that was recently made into a film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Many by Iris Murdock.

Based on your top ten I'm going to walk to B&N and buy Norwegian Wood. Ilana, moderator from the Literature & Life forum, wrote of her fascination for him.

Okay - I'll hold off on the questions now, and let you finish your book.

tgem

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I'll have to check out Peter Mathieson and the other authors you recommend...

I've just delivered the second book! I sent it off to my publishers today!

I'm now free to do... I'm not sure what people do when they're not writing... whatever it is, I'm now free to do it.

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[jeannemarie1]

Tom, I'm nearing the end of Child 44 and love the complexity of Leo & Raisa's characters. How did you decide on placing a character in this setting? What came first the setting or the character? I love the moral ambiguities.

[zlatko]

TOM

WELL FIRST OF ALL I READ YOUR BOOK CHILD 44. I READ IT IN IRAQ DURING MY FIRST TOUR AS A US MARINE. AMAZING BOOK I READ IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN WHEN FINALLY I FOUND OUT THAT THERE WAS A SECOND BOOK OUT I COULD NOT WAIT TO GET BACK TO THE STATES AND BUY IT. ( I AM NOT A BIG READER BUT THESE TWO BOOKS WERE AWESOME ) BUT MY QUESTION FOR YOU IS ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE MORE OF LEO AND RAISA DEMIDOV AND THEIR LIFE IN THE COMMUNIST RUSSIA .