Interview with L K Jay - Author of The Policeman Who Was Afraid of the Dark
Indie writer, L K Jay, has a new book out today The Policeman Who Was Afraid of the Dark. I've interviewed her about secrets, ghosts and the dark.
You describe yourself as "An indie author and martial artist who has a secret job so has to stay a bit incognito ..." Is that even half as exciting as it sounds?
Well ... I would like to say that I'm a secret agent who has to use her martial arts skills to save the country and seduces handsome and adventurous men. A female 007, or in my case, 003 and a half! Unfortunately, it's not quite as exotic as that. My day job is in education, but in these days of the internet and social media I have to be really careful about my online identity. I have seen colleagues get into real hot water over Facebook and Twitter and so I write under a pseudonym and use a digitised image of myself rather than a real life photo to separate my day job from my writing endeavours.
I am, however, a martial artist. I have a 2nd Dan black belt in taekwondo and it won't be long until I go for my 3rd Dan. I've been training in martial arts for years, I started in karate when I was at university and then went onto taekwondo when I was in my early thirties. I have competed in some internationals but I've retired from competitions now. I was fascinated with martial arts right from when I was a girl; I loved Emma Peel in The Avengers. It keeps me fit and disciplined and I love the challenge of perfecting the movements, not that you ever can!
You're fairly new to fiction writing. What turned you?
I started writing in my early thirties after I started my first job in education. My job can be quite stressful and I gave myself the challenge of writing a novel as a valve for the frustrations the job offers. I wrote a crime novel, it was terrible but I managed to finish it. I spent some years doing martial arts journalism, it was excellent training for my confidence in writing but after a while I found that I had exhausted the medium and I was getting fed up of never getting paid.
I had the urge to write fiction again about three years ago. I need that creative channel, if I'm not writing something then I'm not happy. I had the idea for a story about a troubled youth who had the opportunity to turn his life around by the choices he made in life; I was also interested in the Holocaust and I decided to blend the two. So, just after I gave up the martial arts journalism, I took on this project and I found using my imagination and shaping my ideas into a solid project incredibly satisfying and the creative valve that I needed. It's fiction for me all the way now!
Tell us about The Policeman Who Was Afraid of the Dark? What's it about? Who's it aimed at?
The basic plot is about a police officer, Detective Constable Saul Watson. He has found himself working in the fictional 'Fenland Constabulary' after working as an undercover officer in the Met and it's a bit of a culture shock for him. He meets a woman, goes on a date with her and they spend the night together. Unfortunately, he wakes up to her dead body and he finds himself accused of her murder. He has to go on the run in order to prove his innocence and finds himself on the other side of the law.
I wanted to write a crime novel as I have always loved reading crime fiction but I wondered what would happen if a police officer found himself on the wrong side of the law; could he use his or her skills in order to stay under the radar? I wanted to find an original take on a popular genre and develop a set of characters that were engaging and that I could use again.
Where does the inspiration for your characters come from?
This very much depends on the type of story I am writing. For the novels I've written, the main characters are drawn from some people I know or who I've met, but they are not carbon copies of those people, I'll draw inspiration from them and then let them develop in their own way on the page. For my latest novel, 'The Policeman Who Was Afraid of the Dark', I got the idea of DC Saul Watson from a friend of mine from taekwondo who happens to be a policeman. However, Saul developed into his own character and now I think they are different people, they just might look similar if they were to meet.
I think the characters closest to real life appear in 'The Ghost Hunters Club'. I got the idea after I had been on the worst date ever. The disastrous date with Stewart actually happened and after that, I couldn't ignore it, the material was too good. I used him in the novel and the beauty of writing fiction is that I get to decide the end. Call it writer's revenge!
The character closest to me is probably Linda in 'The Ghost Hunter's Club.' She does the same job as me, we have the same sardonic manner as well as the same brand of sunglasses. Thank God I don't have her mother though, I'd disown her!
Do you socialise with other writers, such as writers' groups, or do you work alone?
I do socialise with other writers online. I don't actually know any other writers in real life, I used to live in Leeds and I knew some then but I have since moved back to the Fens near where my family live and so far, I haven't met any other writers near me. I have made connections with a lot of writers on Twitter and some of them have become good friends. I have received lots of encouragement from my online and real life friends and this is something that keeps me motivated.
I find that when I'm writing a first draft, I tend to work alone. I like to keep myself focused on the story, keeping to my daily word limit and completing the project. I will discuss the plot with my mother or my friends but I find too much navel gazing doesn't get the job done. I would like to join a writing group but with the day job and training a couple of times a week, my time is a bit limited.
Your last novel was called, 'The Ghost Hunters Club'. Do you believe in ghosts, and if so, have you ever seen one?
I have always been interested in the supernatural, when I was young I was always begging my parents to take me to castles, cathedrals and graveyards. I love reading ghost stories, I like the whole idea of history and the secret world the supernatural exists in. As to whether ghosts actually exist? Well I think the rationalist in me says that they don't, not deliberately anyway. I think a lot of phenomena can be explained away with science and a bit of common sense but I do wonder whether the stone tape theory has some merit. That is, the environment or surroundings can hold a 'recording' of an emotionally charged event and what we are seeing is a replay of that event. I think that one day, science will give us the answer and I wish I could be alive long enough to find out!
However, I have had one experience that I can't explain. When I was at university, I was staying in a house and one Sunday evening after working hard on an essay, I was standing in the kitchen wondering what I was going to make for my dinner. I looked at the hallway and I saw a white, misty shape move up the stairs. I looked away, looked back and it was still there. It only disappeared when it moved out of my field of vision. I wasn't scared but it was odd. I tried to explain it away; I'd been working hard, I'd been looking at my computer but in the end, it didn't add up. I had seen something I couldn't explain away easily, whether it was a ghost, a recording or an optical illusion, it makes for a good story. I also had great fun winding up my obnoxious house mate, that'll teach her for writing the most detailed cleaning rota I'd ever seen!
What are you planning to work on next?
My next projects are going to be sequels. I have already thought of an idea for the next DC Saul Watson novel and I'm hoping to start working on that soon. I have also planned another instalment of The Ghost Hunters Club, I think that one will come next year. I have also thought of a couple of short stories, one that involves witches in the Fens and another, more surreal DC Saul Watson story. Lots of ideas planned, now I need more time to see them though.
Should we be afraid of the dark?
I am a woman who is always prepared, I am never without my trusty Maglite! But in reality, no, I don't think we should be afraid of the dark. I once remember someone saying to me that, "we have much more to fear from the living than the dead" and I couldn't agree with him more. Human nature has its dark side and this is something I think we have to accept rather than hide away from. I'm not advocating bad behaviour though! However, I do believe that there are certain facts that as human beings we cannot hide away from and deny, and this is where political correctness doesn't help. We are all, at some time, going to die. Fact. So we might as well just get on with living our lives as fully as possible and make the most of the time that we have on this earth. Also, there is a violent and war-like nature to human existence; I'm not saying that that is right but it exists and we need to acknowledge that. That way we are more likely to act rationally rather than with impulse and violence.
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