PAC Interview: Richard Salsbury, Take 2

Richard Salsbury is a novelist and award-winning short story writer based in the south of England. His work has appeared in Artificium, Flash Fiction Magazine, World Wide Writers, Portsmouth News, the FairlightBooks website and on BBC Radio. He is an editor and website designer for environmental writing project Pens of the Earth. He also plays the guitar and brews his own beer.

Loree: Richard, welcome back to my blog, and congratulations on the publication of your second novel.

Richard: Thank you. It’s good to be back.

Loree: Both of your books deal with some pretty weighty subjects – Mute was all about threats posed by Big Tech and toxic masculinity. And Gifts of Anger is about … what exactly? Extrajudicial justice? Or possibly a comment on the criminal justice system?

Richard: I would say it’s about the difference between legality and morality. The desire to do something significant in a world where power is vested in the few.

Loree: Mental health is also a big theme. And I must say that you deal with the subjects of depression and self-harm with a great deal of sensitivity. But despite the weighty themes, you include a hefty dose of humour. I’ve always found humour difficult to write. What are your thoughts about the humorous elements of your writing?

Richard: Humour seems to come naturally to my writing, so I embrace it whenever I can. Hopefully it never seems forced and arises from the characters and their situations, rather than the desire to fit in a gag. It also provides a great balance to the heavier, more emotional side of the story.

Loree: You also write about bullying in Duncan’s story. How did you feel when you were writing those scenes?

Richard: Like I was back at school! It was a pretty rough place, with a lot of horrible behaviour – not all of it from the kids. Some of the episodes are based on fact, but the beauty of it is that no-one can accuse me of telling on them without incriminating themselves. Never upset a writer!

Loree: You’re great at creating flawed characters. Olly and Trib, your two male lead characters in this book—and Wes from Mute—they aren’t your typical heroes. What do you think their flaws and vulnerabilities add to the story?

Richard: I suppose I don’t really believe in heroes. And anyway, aren’t they a bit boring? Flaws add potential for conflict, but they also cause the more admirable sides of the characters to shine by comparison.

Loree: There’s an interesting dynamic between Olly and Trib. Olly seems to be searching for something, but isn’t sure what it is. He’s thoughtful, intelligent and articulate. And Trib is something of an action man—though there’s a great deal of depth to his character. How did they develop? And what can you say about their relationship?

Richard: They are opposites in many ways—Trib is all about action, while Olly is full of angst; Trib is from the North, with Northern sensibilities, while Olly is a Southerner. But they have things in common too. They make a good partnership.

Loree: The book takes a few pops at reality TV and game shows. Tell us a little about Obedience, the game show you created for Olly’s brother, Zach.

Richard: I was having fun with the clichés that drive the basest forms of TV. The irony is that Zach sees himself as a rebel, but ends up on a show where he has to do exactly what he’s told. Olly, on the other hand, appears to be a law-abiding guy but …

Loree: Have you pitched it to ITV, yet?

Richard: Ha! I’m not sure it’s original enough, being an amalgam of the sort of things they already produce. “What’s the hook? Where’s the USP?”

Loree: I love the way the pressure escalates throughout the novel. You’re very good at that. With each new mission that Olly and Trib set off to complete, the tension mounts and the stakes become higher. What was your thought process in creating these vigilante-style missions?

Richard: Exactly that—an escalation, which is really just ‘plotting 101’. But also, Olly’s desire for ever bigger schemes drives Trib out of his comfort zone. Finding things for them to do was harder than I anticipated. The law might be flawed, but it does do a reasonable job of protecting people from most harms.

Loree: I’m always interested in an author’s writing process. Can you tell us something about that? How did the story develop? And do you plot everything out before you start writing?

Richard: Everything was plotted before I began, though my later novels are beginning to move away from such tight planning. And even with the whole plot established beforehand there are inevitably changes. Some things have to bend to the will of the characters.

Loree: You mention that you’ve taken part in courses put on by the Arvon Foundation. How have those experiences influenced your writing? ​

Richard: Arvon courses are wonderful. I’d recommend them to any writer. They’re as much about being around other writers and away from the world as they are about the tuition.

Loree: Olly and Trib live in the town of Strathurst­—the same town where Wes, your protagonist from Mute lives. What can you tell us about this town—apart from its well-known brewery and exceptionally fine beer?

Richard: It’s pronounced Strat-hurst (no ‘th’ in the middle) and is located just off the A3 in North Hampshire, smack bang over the Army camp, golf course and sewage works. I scanned the OS map into the computer and drew over it, slowly adding bits and pieces as I needed them—railway station, playing fields, shops. Strathurst seems like a real place to me now.

Loree: Wonderful. I love the process of world building. So what’s next for Strathurst?

Richard: The third and final Strathurst novel, A Danger of Books. This is set in an alternative timeline in which the law has decided that artistic devices like plots and melodies can be owned. This has a crushing effect on the arts, and means that some people attend illegal speakeasies to get their fix.

Loree: What fun! I can’t wait. 

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Richard's novels can be purchased from the usual online sources, or by contacting him via his website: RichardSalsbury.com 

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The Portsmouth Authors Collective seeks to put the spotlight on local talent who live in and/or take inspiration from the city and its surrounding areas. I was thrilled, therefore, to be asked to interview Richard Salsbury at the recent launch of Gifts of Anger, his second published novel. Here, we reprise that interview for this blog. 

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Loree Westron is the author of Missing Words. She has an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing, and is the founder of the Portsmouth Authors Collective.