RICHARD LEWIS
Interviewed by Brenda Birch
Surfer first, author second? It may seem that Richard Lewis has his priorities backwards, but for many, Richard certainly has a lot going for him. Living the life that many dream about, his novel THE DEMON QUEEN has received rave reviews from the industry.
Here’s what people are saying:
School Library Journal - A live mask, a time- and space-traveling Balinese priest, and a mynah bird that transforms into a spirit monster will appeal to fans of Darren Shan and those wanting to move on from R. L. Stine's "Fear Street" series (S & S). Readers will soak up the over-the-top, gloomy atmosphere and blood-smattered, monster-filled action. The open ending will leave them eager for imminent sequels.—Amy J. Chow, The BrearleySchool, New York
We lured Richard away from the waves briefly to talk with us about his book, THE DEMON QUEEN and his writing life...
In your bio, you stated that you didn’t have a television and you read whatever books you could get your hands on. What types of books were your favorites and which one or ones were your favorites?
A: The book I'd read last was always my favorite, until I finished the next one. I didn't care what I read. Zane Gray Westerns, Georgette Heyer's Regency romances, Lord of the Flies and Catcher in the Rye, Fox's Book of Martyrs – this last, by the way, is non-fiction, and a wonderfully gruesome book for any young boy.
What led you to make your home in Indonesia, instead of the United States?
A: Home is where the heart is. I grew up in Bali, it got into my blood, and there wasn't any doubt when I attended college and university in the States that I would return to live. Plus, Bali's got some of the world's best surf. The waves are super-crowded now, but in those early days, you could wander down the coast and find a spot to surf by yourself.
When did you know that you wanted to become an author? How many books did you complete before you wrote "the one"?
A: I always knew I was a writer from a very early age – wrote my first story when I was six, about a yawn that traveled the world -- and had stories published here and there, but after a college degree in the hard sciences, I was mostly interested in exploring the Indonesian archipelago and finding new spots to surf. There was something about that which stirred my adventurous heart, harkening back to the days of the explorers setting forth into the Great Unknown. Now there's Google Earth—you can trace every single coastline in the world and see if it will pick up swells to ride.
I'm getting sidetracked… I didn't get serious about becoming an author (which I define as a published writer) until I was 40. Then I started surfing less and writing more, with pretty much daily discipline. I reckon I wrote the standard million words (in the form of three or four finished novels and aborted novels) that one has to write in order to learn how to write.
You have one of the most successful literary agents in the business. Tell us a little bit about how you signed with him and your subsequent publication with Simon and Schuster.
A: In 2001, I entered a short story in the Writer's Digest competition, which placed third and was published. Scott read the story, loved it, and got in touch with the WD editors to get in touch with me. Yes, that's right—lucky me, I never had to go through the tortuous query route. Scott asked if I had anything else to read, and lo and behold, I did, a story of an American boy, son of Christian medical missionaries to Java, and his friendship with a Muslim village boy.
THE FLAME TREE was in this draft very much an adult story, using the well-established structure of a young protagonist to explore some pretty serious themes. Scott loved it, but alas the major publishing houses didn't. The manuscript was finished when 9/11 happened, and because that tragedy fit the story, I could not *not* ignore it—I revised the novel to include 9/11 as a backdrop. The editors who passed praised the writing (except for one who chided me for daring to exploit 9/11 for personal gain), but everything was still too raw for them.
Then, when the novel seemed dead, Scott just happened to mention it to the editorial director of S&S YA at a lunch – yes, this was the stereotypical lunch deal thing. The editor read it, loved it, asked me to cut out a bunch of adult scenes and stick to the boys. I thought it interesting that a children's house would take a chance where the others didn't.
Alas, despite warm reviews, the novel tanked in the bookstores. However, it was mentioned in the New York Times in a list of 9/11 novels – I believe the only YA on there. So there you go – I've been in the NYT!
In my opinion, you’ve mastered the “child’s voice”. How do you think you were able to accomplish something that many authors struggle with?
Considering how I wasn't trying to write YA, it's interesting how I stumbled into the genre. I'm not sure how I mastered such a "voice" – to be honest, I just write, trying to get inside my character's head no matter what the age and empathize. Of course, having four kids, presently aged 10 to 19, helps.
I love how you took Indonesian mythology and created such an intriguing tale. How did your idea for the THE DEMON QUEEN develop? How long did it take you to write the book?
My S&S editor asked me to read an out-of-print book called THE SPIRIT HOUSE, about a Thai exchange student -- the young boy of the American family the student lives with decides to build a traditional Thai spirit house to make the student feel more at home -- and see if I couldn't do something similar. (Many YA houses are still looking for good horror, hint hint). The idea for DQ plopped into my head like a mango from a tree. It was written under contract, meaning it was done to polished final draft within a year.
In your earlier book, THE KILLING SEA, how much of what you saw as a relief worker during the devastating 2004 tsunami found its way into the pages?
Pretty much every detail about the tsunami and its consequences was based on what survivors told me and my own observations. The original draft also had a lot more of the Acehnese rebels, a jungle hideout, etc – this part of my experience as a relief worker was editorially axed.
A few reviewers remarked unfavorably to the “grittiness” of Sarah and Raslan’s predicament in THE KILLING SEA. What do you say to those who feel some of the details could have been omitted?
They should have been there.
Who are your favorite authors today?
Just like when I was a boy, the writer of the present book I am reading is among my new (or renewed) favorite authors. Lately, this would be David Leavitt (THE INDIAN CLERK), Chang-Rae Lee (NATIVE SPEAKER), and Michael Connelly (his Harry Bosch police procedural series). I like lit-fic, I like genre – except I simply cannot get into Don DeLillo, and I have decided life is too short for me to read another Clive Cussler novel.
As for YA: er, I don't read widely. Not because I don't want to, but because the books that get stranded upon Bali's shores as tourist left behinds (which is how I find most of my reads) don't include much YA.
The cover art for THE DEMON QUEEN is a bit unusual. How did this develop?
It developed despite my protests. I really really didn't like it, but everyone else involved in publishing that novel did. It's in the contract—the two things thing I have no final say in (although I am listened to) are the cover art and the title.
Which of your books is your favorite and why?
It would be FLAME TREE, which is more my natural style, dealing with adult themes. Although I really like my next YA coming out next year, MONSTER'S PROOF, in which a young mathematical genius proves a mathematical creature into being – this conscious being loves truth and beauty and elegance and is aghast at the state of our world. I've always liked math, and have over the years read much of the popular and a bit of the semi-technical non-fiction books on math.
You’ve been commended by many reviewers for “confronting difficult decisions head on” and “not providing easy answers” for your characters. What’s your technique for creating such layered and unpredictable suspense?
A lot of writers spend an awful lot of energy and time and thought in deliberate construction of these elements. I'm one of them. The technique is boiled down to "hard work."
What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
The usual. Read, read, read and read some more (and read a lot of non-fiction, too). Write, write, write, and revise, revise, revise.
What’s next for Richard?
Adult fiction. It's a funny thing about the publishing world, that I get to start all over again from scratch.
