I am delighted to welcome Casey King to my blog.
Phew Casey, this is one rollercoaster ride and a VERY intricate plot. How did you manage to plot this tangled web so meticulously?
Thank you very much. For me, creating a novel is not just about sitting down and typing or writing, I walk and think very specifically about the scene before I sit to write it out. I begin each novel with the dialogue. This, for me, is like the lift shaft at the construction phase of a building. It gives me a feel for the characters and how they react or respond to the person they are speaking with. I then develop what else is happening in the particular scene, or micro-scene. I usually focus on the three most prominent ideas for my characters and write a chapter for each but they never end up being my opening chapter but do end up being pivotal points in the plot as the novel develops. Because Deceit centres around two warring families it took time to list which side each character was affiliated to. Then came the storylines. As I went through each draft, I listed each storyline thread to ensure that they were all tied up at the end. It was one very minor thread that gave me the inspiration for a major crime to focus on in the sequel, Exposed.
Fascinating! I don’t think I’ve read anything like this set in Ireland, and I liked that a lot. How important was it to you to have a unique sense of place?
Placing this story in Ireland’s capital gave me a range of locations to choose as settings. I wanted to give the feeling that Dublin and Ireland are also characters in Deceit. There is Dublin with the busy hardworking people going about their daily business. Then there is the criminal underworld, which acts as almost a subworld, a sub-city, hovering beneath the one you or I may see. In the criminal world there are no boundaries and so while there are offices and residents, there are also containment areas where criminality happens.
I like that, Danielle is a fantastic character. The relationship with the baby was intriguing too. At first, I was a tad apprehensive of a baby being placed in the centre of all the action but as it progressed, I totally got it. Did it feel like a brave decision to include a baby amid the plot?
Given Danielle’s history and loss, I wanted to show the reader that her grief but also that her protective, mothering instinct is still there but not by substituting her own loss but by having a sensible and logical approach to the situation she ended up becoming involved in. In fact this topic, as in substituting for her own loss, is discussed in a number of scenes in a sensible and logical way, not like the trope of a bereaved mother losing her logic. This is a truer version of event. As we know, grief does not discriminate, therefore it is the shared and unique loss that both Detective Kelly and Danielle share that create their unusual bond. Danielle wanted to return, keep her head down and get answers but of course that is thrown in disarray by her reactions and responses to situations, particularly where she feels the urge to step up and help.
Interesting.
This isn’t for the faint hearted but makes for more believable reading. Was it a conscious decision to make this gritty and graphic, or did you dial it up (or down!) in further drafts?
When I decided to write gangland there was no other way than to make it gritty and graphic. In truth fact is stranger or indeed grittier and more graphic than fiction. When I moved onto the second in the series, Exposed, I needed to do a body count to see who I had left to include in the next phase of Danielle Lewis’ story.
Dialogue really drives this plot and proves to be very powerful; would you consider developing this into a screenplay?
I would absolutely love to do that. For now, I am working on the third book in the series so I would leave developing Deceit into a screenplay to someone more versed in that skill. I can’t say too much at the moment but watch this space in that regard.
Ooh exciting! Is there anything you can share with us about book two, which I believe comes out in December?
Book 2 is called Exposed and is set a few weeks after the ending to Deceit. The reader will quickly see what has been happening in Danielle’s world. There are elements that I took from Deceit that continue to create waves in the criminal world, revealing just how dangerous that world is. A new appearance in this novel is one of the most ruthless Flynn brothers, Dwayne, whose presence endangers Danielle’s life more and more. His actions force her to make decisions that could cost her dearly and to lose those she has grown to love and trust.
Sounds brilliant, thanks for sharing. Deceit is out now and Exposed will be on bookshelves very soon. Amazon.co.uk: CASEY KING: Books, Biography, Blogs, Audiobooks, Kindle