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Book Description:
Having got too far into the dangerous world of The Brethren MC for comfort, Iain was now out again, but out in bad standing.
He has been in hiding in Ireland when he discovers that not only do Wibble and Charlie both know where he lives, but that he is now wanted by both sides as a potentially bloody biker conflict heads towards its final showdown and worse, a trial in front of the media.
But as the case unfolds in Court, the questions become more and more urgent. Is everything what it seems, and who, if anyone, knows or is telling the truth?
The final explosive installment of The Brethren Trilogy.
TR: Goooood morning, Iain…how are ya?
IP: I’m doing well, Thomas. Thanks very much for having me.
TR: You’re quite welcome, my friend. So, how old were you when you wrote your first piece?
IP: I was just over thirty.
TR: What was it, and in what genre?
IP: A 180,000 word rant about the corruptions and frustrations of life as an ex-pat in East Africa that was going to give an insight into what life in such a strange closed world was like and expose the corruption of international institutions, that somehow morphed into a 110,000 word political crime thriller called The Liquidator.
TR: That’s quite a transition. What made you write something like that?
IP: I couldn’t not write it – 50% of the impetus for starting was probably straightforwardly personal therapy and something I just needed to get out of my system.
The actual inspiration for doing so however was a very drunken New Year’s Eve and Day spent at a friend’s cabin halfway up Kilimanjaro where over two days I read first John Le Carré’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and then Iain Banks’ Complicity. As I did so, I remember beginning to ask myself how had they actually done what they had done in terms of conveying the mood, making the characters real and arranging the plotting of their books, and crucially, whether I could do anything like it too?
TR: I see. So the lights just started coming on. Cool. What have you written since then?
IP: I just published Heavy Duty Trouble, the third in a trilogy of ‘biker noir’ crime thrillers set in the world of ‘one-percenter’ outlaw motorcycle clubs.
TR: Now there’s something that piques my interest. What was the inspiration for that?
IP: I have always been a biker with an interest in the scene and had very slight exposure to it over the years and I had always wanted to write something about it.
When it came to writing a crime novel one of the things that had always fascinated me was how and why someone might become involved in serious crime and what it would feel like from the inside, and when this began to combine with an interest in how you would achieve and then hold power in a world without the rule of law, then the story began to take off politically.
TR: So, crime plus a bit of a peek into the biker world. Nice! Tell us where it’s available.
IP: The series is Heavy Duty People, Heavy Duty Attitude and the final volume Heavy Duty Trouble launched in November. They are all available as paperbacks on Amazon and on Kindle.
TR: Great, thank you. Now, is there a particular place or setting where you get your writing ideas?
IP: I get ideas anywhere and everywhere, most of the locations in my books are based on real places as I’ll be sitting somewhere or see something and immediately begin to ‘what if’.
TR: I know that feelinge – always have to have pen and paper ready to jot something down, eh? So, what made you choose either traditional or independent publishing?
IP: I played get-an-agent bingo for years and once I’d collected what seemed to be the full set of rejection slips I thought sod it, I’ll just do it myself.
TR: Hah! Get-an-agent bingo…heh heh heh. Tell me - If you had to choose the most important element in an author’s platform, what would it be?
IP: The ability to successfully publicize and market your books. You might have written a better mousetrap, but unless people hear about it they are not going to beat a path to your author page at Amazon.
TR: Well said. Okay, here’s a good one. What mistakes have you made in regards to publishing and marketing your work, and what will you do differently in the future?
IP: How long have you got? Allowing my first book to be overpriced because of the publishing system I used to produce it. Not using Kindle quickly enough. Spending money on advertising / leafleting. Sending out free review copies to people who never bothered to do so…you live and learn.
TR: It’s always live and learn, right? Do you have an idea for your next book?
IP: Next book? Next five more like. I always seem to have two projects actively under development with a range of others at various stages of mulling, plotting, note making and general gestation.
TR: Sounds like you have your work cut out for you. Best of luck, Iain, and thanks again for stopping by.
That’s a wrap, folks. Now you know just a little about what makes Iain Parke tick. His biker/crime novel “Heavy Duty Trouble” is out there on Amazon, as well as the first two in the series, “Heavy Duty People” and “Heavy Duty Attitude” – and they all need a home. What are you waiting for?
Tune in Thursday, when I interview Andy Scorah and “Homecoming Blues” – be there!
Sounds like an interesting set of books, Iain. I’m going to add them to my reading list to take a look at.