| Sydney, AUSTRALIA - Peter Verinder's new
book Ambition came to my attention quite by accident.
I was looking for something to read off-line. A review copy
fell into my hands and after only a couple of chapters, I
could not put it down. I was immediately taken aback by two
things: the profession of the protagonist and the fact that
the setting was Sydney, Australia. Verinder describes Sydney
with nothing short of infatuation.
It struck me that this was good grist for The World's Magazine
so I contacted his publisher. Herewith our conversation.
G21: I can't remember the last time I
picked up a novel with a structural engineer as the protagonist
or main character, let alone read one about the building
industry. So that leads one to ask, why take a chance on
such a different hero and industry with a first novel?
PETER VERINDER: I really wanted to write
a story about something I knew fairly well because I believe
that all good fiction is founded in fact—I would like
people to read my books and always feel that the plot and
the various scenes are plausible. I can't stand stories
were one is expected to make quantum jumps in credibility
and feel this depreciates readers. I also felt that those
writers who had tackled stories about the building and developments
industries had not done so from a standpoint of personal
knowledge and therefore had never been able to penetrate
its multi-faceted layers or reveal the sort of characters
that work within the industry and the type of things that
can happen. In short, I thought this industry and the subject
of ambition, with its many variations and application to
all of the secondary characters, were fertile ground upon
which to base a novel. The fact that this was my first novel
didn't seem to enter my thinking, it was just a story that
was inside me and needed to be told.
W hy a structural engineer for the main character? For
my point of view, the choice of the main character's profession
was fairly natural and was somewhat symbolic of his ambition
to succeed after circumstances forced him to start his working
life as a High School dropout. Once he got out into the
world, he realised that he needed an education to succeed
and, given that he found himself in the construction industry
where the pecking order goes tradesperson, technical person,
and then professional, it was a natural progression that
he climb through his own efforts from underling to what
he perceived as top of the pack before he could take on
the world. I feel that this choice of profession allowed
me to also illustrate that his initial success in educating
himself showed him just what a bit of ambition could do
for a person and only whet his appetite for new and wider
frontiers to conquer.
In addition, the profession is always complaining that
it is perceived by the general public as a group of grey-suited
boffins sitting in glass ivory towers designing skyscrapers—I
thought my choice of such a person would illustrate that
engineers are not all the same. Having said that, my main
character became an engineer as a result of an overwhelming
desire to get an education as a natural extension to the
field of work he was in; he was not your typical born-again
engineer!
It's also partly because I believe that there is room for
a suspense [genre] based around business with the seven
deadly sins wrapped around it, a bit like John Grisham has
done so well with lawyers and the law as his centrepiece.
I only pray I can be half as successful.
G21: There are a number of very powerful
women in the book, Maddie—Marc's sister, Loren Wilmont
and Elisa. Let's start with the one you probably get the
most questions about, Loren. Did you take her characterization
from women you've heard about?
PETER VERINDER: Loren's character has
its origin as the antithesis of Elisa's character. It was
important for me to develop a female character who could
come into the main character's (Marc['s]) life in a whirlwind
of attraction so that he could explore the personal side
of his life as a counterpoint to his unnatural ambition-related
pat[r]ician existence. Loren is a composite of women I had
either heard about, read about or had observed. She was
given an unhealthy ambition, but nevertheless, an ambition
to use everything at her disposal as a woman to get what
was important to her. I also developed her character based
upon what I perceived a person from a dysfunctional family
background would look and act like.
G21: Let's stay with Loren one moment
longer. She's obviously a very dangerous individual. We
learn this from more than one character and she plays a
powerful role in the story. Why don't we know more about
her direction at the conclusion of the saga?
PETER VERINDER: I like to leave my readers
latitude to determine some of their own endings, as I feel
that by the time they have reached the end of the book they
have earned some "ownership" of certain characters
and, to some extent, can decide for themselves what would
have happened next. In Loren's case, her influence is still
there towards the end of the book and is the reason behind
Marc's last major hurdle. She has burnt all of her bridges
and is now part of a different sort of dysfunctional family
and will have to find a way to survive in that environment.
G21: As opposed to a plethora of significant
and well-drawn female characters in the novel, Marc seems
to be the only male character the reader gets to know well.
Was this intentional?
PETER VERINDER: Yes. I wanted to keep
the emphasis on the main character since it is his relentless
ambition to first achieve and then find a life for himself
that is the main ingredient of the story. It seems to me
that many of the male characters he encounters are business
acquaintances and therefore fairly transitory in his life—this
is also how I see things from a male's perspective in the
dog-eat-dog world of business where, at best, superficial
friendships grow between men and women whose focus primarily
is on their own journey. The women in Marc's life, on the
other hand, are of much more interest to him because each
of them plays a part in his personal life directly and indirectly
helping to shape his destiny.
G21: The implication here is that you
consider business people a totally self-absorbed and manipulative
lot who only form relationships to achieve their own ends.
Is that part of the message you mean the book to convey
about business folk and their ambition?
PETER VERINDER: Well maybe not all business
people; I wouldn't want to be accused of generalising, but
I do think that many so called high-fliers in professional
positions and larger companies tend to fall into this category,
as do some small business owners with big ideas. I really
wanted to get across a simple message: that ambition is
often a good thing in that it can save you from self-destruction
or your own personal demons, but too much ambition is often
very harmful and can readily rob you of other aspects of
life.
G21: Most readers will be familiar with
a builder, a developer, a realtor or a subcontractor at
some point in their lives. As you note, some of these trades
have less than savory reputations, yet most of the characters
in Ambition come across as paragons. How do you
explain this?
PETER VERINDER: The book is written from
Marc Braddon's perspective and the various characters he
deals with are seen through his eyes. He is a man uncorrupted
by greed and is on his own personal mission and, as such,
his positive attitude tends to attract similar-minded people.
In my experience, most of the people in this sort of industry
are "good" people, in that there are not too many
gangster-types around, just ordinary working people trying
to get paid for an honest day's work.
What makes some of the characters Marc encounters worse
than others is their desire to beat him to the punch or
take from him what he has achieved under the guise of giving
him a helping hand. In the book, I wanted to highlight that
people are rarely evil, just driven by different forms of
ambition.
G21: Your descriptions of Sydney are quite
loving. You almost made this reader want to move there!
Yet, rather than go with an Australian publisher, you released
the novel through American Books. Reasons?
PETER VERINDER: Firstly, I confirm that
I love living in Sydney. The place is a feast for your eyes
and has the most spectacular harbour and water views at
almost every turn, and all of our waterways are accessable
to anybody.
That said, I was discouraged about what I read about getting
published in Australia while writing the manuscript. For
a first time author, the suggested print runs were small
and it seemed to me that few publishers were prepared to
get out there and promote new local writers. There is also
an element in the media in my country of if you're good
enough you should succeed overseas before you will be recognised
in Australia. Coupled with this was the fact that I found
a freelance editor in the USA who worked with me on polishing
up the initial manuscript.
When it came time to look for a publisher, I trawled the
internet and came across American Book Publishing who were
prepared to take unsolicited manuscripts. They accepted
my manuscript but warned that they accept only a fraction
of submissions and that their assessment process would take
several weeks. They came back to me within ten days with
an offer to publish, making my decision to publish first
in the USA very easy.
G21: So how has the first-time publishing
experience been, thus far? Is American Books out there promoting
your book? Have you had any second thoughts about not going
with an Australian press?
PETER VERINDER: This is an interestin
g question ... I have been more frustrated with the overall
publishing process than I would have imagined [because]
it is so difficult to get a book noticed these days. When
you put so much effort into your writing, you naively expect
to get a similar return, but I suppose you have to accept
that there are a lot of other books out there competing
for attention.
Ambition has only just been released in the past
month, but American Book Publishing (ABP) are helping me
to promote the book with a website and marketing support.
However, one gets to quickly realise that in today's world
so much of the promotion falls back on the author. That's
why it is so important to give interviews to magazines such
as yours who can make readers aware of my book.
I fully intend publishing in Australia with a local publisher,
as my publishing contract with ABP relates only to [the]
mainland USA—as well [as] any sales generated via
the internet made by them or Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
and the like.
While I would like to eventually release the book in Australia
through an Aussie publisher, I would only do so after it
has had time to gain exposure in the USA because I see the
USA as such an important market for my book and books in
general.
G21: There are a number of elements to
this book that one would usually associate with a "Romance"
novel, if you'll forgive the pigeon-holing: the emphasis
on finding "The One," the emphasis on domestic
bliss, the focus on a man and woman getting complete fulfillment
within their union. Yet, the jacket suggests that it be
considered a "Suspense-Thriller." Do you agree
with either of these characterizations of your book?
PETER VERINDER: It is always difficult
to put a book into one of the pre-ordained categories offered
by publishers. Maybe something between Suspense/Romance/Thriller
would be more accurate, as I believe that there is an element
of each in the book. Maybe there is more suspense and tension
than thrilling car chases and a little more emphasis on
romance than one might expect, but that is just how the
story came out. Most stories have an element of romance
for the leading characters somewhere in the plot. I suppose
this reflects the way we are all built. No matter what,
we all seek fulfilment at the personal level so, in my view,
it is reasonable that stories pick up on this powerful human
desire, which also allows so many interesting plot twists.
G21: What can we expect next from the
pen of Peter Verinder?
PETER VERINDER: I am currently writing
another book based around loyalty in the corporate world.
I want to explore that concept at all of its levels and
believe that I have the makings of a great story, which
is set in the boardroom and on the frontiers of a multi-national
mining conglomerate. You can expect single word titles like
Ambition, Loyalty, and Avarice from me as I explore these
subjects from my particular knowledge base.
G21: Interesting choice of titles and/or
traits. It's said every writer puts a lot of himself in
his work. How much of yourself and your world view would
you say Marc Braddon reflects? And how much does this progression
of titles reflect your own experience in the business world?
PETER VERINDER: Marc probably reflects
a lot more of my thinking and experience than I care to
admit and this book is probably closer to my own views of
the world than any of my subsequent books will be, as I
now hold the view that man does not live by bread alone.
I guess I do put a lot of my own views into my characters
because I want their actions and dialogue to ring true.
I suppose you could say that I like to hear my characters
say things I know are credible or that could have been expected
in the situations in which they find themselves.
Yeah, I think to some extent my proposed titles will reflect
my experiences of the business world, but I will resist
[the] urge to payout on anyone who has done the wrong thing
by me and hopefully focus only on fashioning a fictional
story around a caricature or version of these experiences
to protect the innocent. [Mischievous laugh]
G21: If you were advising a new Australian
writer, just starting out in his career, what would be your
three top pieces of advice?
PETER VERINDER: Find a good idea for a
book based upon your own particular knowledge and experiences
and exploit these to weave a worthwhile general interest
story.
Keep polishing your ideas and the manuscript and don't
easily discard your writings or your original ideas. Persist
with it until you get it right because by polishing your
manuscript you are essentially re-writing sections of the
story, which is often better than throwing all that work
away and starting over again.
Find an freelance editor who will work with you to polish
your manuscript before you try to find a publisher.
G21: Thanks for being with us, Peter.
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