Interview with Declan Burke
by Jon Jordan

Jon: How long did you work on your first novel, Eightball Boogie?

Declan: Hard to say, because the writing was very much an on-and-off process. I never believed that the story was worth publishing, and I wasn’t writing with that end in mind; it was more of a private hobby that I enjoyed diving into during the winter months. In the end I just got fed up looking at it, and then it was a matter of either dumping the story in the bin or sending it out to get some feedback. Luckily, the second person I sent it to liked what they read and asked to see more. After that, I started to spend more time with it. Roughly speaking, it took about five years from first scribblings to actual publication.

Jon: What else do you do besides write novels?

Declan: I read a lot. I seem to spend a lot of time on trains, too, because my girlfriend lives on the other side of the country. I write some articles as a part-time free-lance journalist. I watch some TV; sport and documentaries for the most part. The town where I live (Sligo) has a picturesque hinterland, so I like to get out and about and walk the woods or the beach.

Jon: Do you know seedy people like those in your book?

Declan: I don’t know many ex-paramilitary gangsters, corrupt cops or psychotic killers. I know quite a few femme fatales, though.

Jon: Are you working on another book?

Declan: I’ve just recently finished a ‘final’ draft of the sequel to Eightball Boogie. Right now, I’m working on a story set in the Greek islands. There are other projects at various levels of development, from first draft right through to the migraine-inducing stage. I get bored very easily and it’s nice to be able to swap ‘voices’ from time to time.

Jon: Who do you enjoy reading?

Declan: Too many to mention fully here, but a list of the writers I’ve read in the last month or so includes John Fowles, William Golding, Nikos Kazantstakis, John Gardner, Stanislaw Lem, Ernest Hemingway, Charles Bukowski, CS Forester, Elmore Leonard, Peter Rabe, Chester Himes and Italo Calvino.

Jon: Why did you decide to write in the crime fiction genre?

Declan: The short answer is, I didn’t decide to write in any particular genre. At the time, I was just messing about with different styles, and the hard-boiled style was particularly easy to parody (probably because it is itself a parody). As the story and the project progressed, I came to see the benefits of writing crime fiction; the genre provides a sturdy and almost foolproof template for the first-time writer, and while the notion of private investigator-as-social-conscience is hackneyed beyond cliché (or almost), it provides a relatively painless method of accessing the story-telling process. In saying all that, I don’t like the idea of a certain style being pigeon-holed as ‘crime fiction’ for the sake of convenience. Maybe the problem is my lack of discernment, but for me the ‘crime fiction’ canon includes works by, among others, Dickens, Shakespeare, Conrad, Dostoevsky, Graham Greene, Henry James and Robert L. Stevenson.

Jon: Can you say anything about the sequel to Eightball Boogie?

Declan: It seems a bit presumptuous to saying anything at all until it is published, if it is published, but the general storyline finds Harry Rigby uncovering a plot in which the police are colluding with ex-paramilitary gangsters to illegally import arms. I think that ex-paramilitaries will play a significant role in Ireland’s immediate future, in terms of law and order, and there are currently question marks hanging over the ability and/or willingness of the Irish police (An Garda Siochana) to regulate itself in a transparent manner.

Jon: For those who don’t know, where is Sligo? And what’s it like?

Declan: The town of Sligo is a bustling port town on the northwest coast of Ireland (the meaning of its Gaelic name, Sligeach, is derived from ‘the place of the shells’). The town has a population of approximately 30,000, which means it is a medium-sized town by Irish standards. It is bisected by the Garavogue River, which rises in Lough Gill, a lake about five miles from the coast. Its hinterland contains mountains, lakes, bogs, beaches, valleys, woods and the Atlantic Ocean. Historical points of interest include a (partially-excavated) Neolithic settlement dating from 2,700 BC, the last resting place of the poet WB Yeats, and a 12th century abbey.

Jon: Do you have a favorite Himes novel?

Declan: I’ve only read one of Chester Himes’ novels, If He Hollers Let Him Go, although I am familiar with the themes and development of his work. It was interesting to read in that sense; I thought it was a powerfully angry and muscular book.

Jon: Do you write short stories also, or do you stick more to the novel format?

Declan: I try to write short stories. The brevity of the format makes for a refreshing change, and usually the emphasis is on mood rather than character or story. Most of the short stories I’ve written, however, are poor imitations of Raymond Carver.

Jon: Doing a search on the internet of your name brought some interesting hits back. Do you surf? Have you needed a lawyer recently? Anything we should know?

Declan: The Internet is a hugely useful tool but I use it to locate specific material and then log off again. I haven’t needed any lawyers recently, no.

Jon: After your book was first released, were you nervous about reviews?

Declan: Of course. Good reviews are useful when it comes to convincing publishers that it might be worth their while to publish your next book. Apart from that, though, reviews are simply a matter of opinion.

Jon: What exactly is the migraine inducing part of writing?

Declan: I find it all difficult, to be honest. I’m not a ‘natural’ writer. Every line is a process of grinding some legible meaning from a bundle of words. It’s a case of editing and re-editing until I’ve made it as good as I can make it. I suppose the migraines come with the realization that it’ll never be as good as I want it to be.

Jon: It seems most books that are made into movies are not as good as the source material. Why do you think that is?

Declan: There have been a lot of good films made from good novels, but I take your point: Billy Bob Thornton's take on Cormac McCarthy's All The Pretty Horses is a case in point (although I understand Thornton's original version was butchered; I'd like to see the director's cut of that one). I think most novels require the imagination to be in top gear, whereas many films (or 'movies') need the imagination to be idling in neutral.

Jon: Would you sell the rights to your work to be used in film or on television?

Declan: Absolutely. Far, far more people watch TV and movies than read books, and if you are in the business of telling stories, then you should - in theory at least - want as many people as possible to hear them.

Jon: How do you shut out distractions while you write?

Declan: Unless someone is actually kicking the door in, I find it quite easy to lose myself in the story. Without sounding too precious about it, it's a bit like method acting: you have to lose yourself in the character of your narrator. If you don't believe in the character, no one else will. As well as that, I usually have some music playing, an album that I think is somehow relevant to that particular story, and I'll play that album on a loop for months on end until I've finished a particular story (or draft).

Jon: What kind of music do you like, and what were the last five cd's you played?

Declan: The kinds of music I don't like are soulless soul / r'n'b, bland chart pap, and heavy metal. I also have a blind spot for opera. Bands I have loved include (early) REM, Mercury Rev, The Pixies, The Go-Betweens, The Smiths... skinny white guys with bad skin and neat melodies, really. The last five CDs I played, in no particular order, were Tallulah by The Go-Betweens, Scott Walker sings Jacques Brel, Forever Changes by Love, the soundtrack to the movie Out of Sight, and I'm Your Man by Leonard Cohen.

Jon: What's the worst book you ever read?

Declan: Life's too short for bad books. If it doesn't hit the spot by the third paragraph, it goes back on the shelf.

Jon: Who do you think is really really funny?

Declan: My younger brother, Gavin, is a comic genius. I also like Spike Milligan, John Cleese and Billy Connolly. For a writer, Carl Hiassen is consistently funny about serious issues. I also think Leonard Cohen is pretty funny, too.

Jon: What's the one thing always in your refrigerator?

Declan: Milk. A morning without (milky) coffee is hell with the lights on.