Welcome Brian!
DAB: Was there a
point in your life that prompted your desire to write or have you always wanted
to be an author?
BCP: I
think I've always been something of a storyteller, so the drive to
write was there, even if I didn't always realize it. When I was a kid, I
loved drawing my own comic books to amuse myself; in my mind, there was
no reason why Batman and Spider-Man shouldn't have been in the same
story. As I got older, I probably had the same dream that every comic
book-loving kid did of drawing them professionally one day, but by the
time I was old enough to be objective about it, it was clear to me I
didn't have the talent for it, so I focused on other things. But I never
lost the love for storytelling. I made my first two attempts at writing
novels while still in law school, in my mid-20s. They both wound up
being fairly derivative and I didn't complete either one, but I learned a
few things. The first novel I completed began shortly thereafter; it
remains unpublished, but
there are parts of it I love. So the attempt at being a writer "for
real" is something I've been pursuing for most of my adult life, though
it's an ambition that's frequently gotten backburnered due to other
"life stuff."
DAB: What was the
catalyst for this novel’s premise?
BCP: The idea for Grievous Angels
first started percolating in my brain many, many years before I began
trying to tease it into an actual story. In my 20s I was a volunteer
Sunday school teacher, working with high school juniors. One week, the
head of the program showed the kids a video called Audrey,
which introduced me to the concept of the "victim soul." (I reference
the story from this video at one point in the book.) I found it
fascinating, but it's one of the more obscure parts of Catholic theology
and there wans't a lot of info to be found on it (at least at that
time, this was before Google and Wikipedia seemed to have some info on
just about everything). It took me several years to figure out how to
work the "victim soul" concept into a
plot; mixing it with my fascination with secret societies was one of
those strokes of inspiration that writers hope for but can't explain.
DAB: I think I hear 'Dan Brown fan' in your words. :-) Who is your
favorite character in your novel, and why?
BCP: My favorite Grievous Angels
character is definitely Lindsay. She was sort of the anchor of sanity
through a series of rather insane events. I tried not to be too obvious
about it, but to convey that she really understood how this situation
would play out well before it all clicked into place for her fiance,
Ben. The fact that I close the book having left a terrible emotional
burden on her in no way is an indication of a lack of affection; indeed,
I think it shows my respect for her because I know she's strong enough
to endure it.
DAB: Do you write
full-time or part-time? If full-time,
tell us about the journey to full-time.
If part-time, share with us about your “day” job.
BCP: I'd
say that "part-time" is more accurate. I worked as a lawyer in the
financial world for many, many years and would fit in writing when I
could. Honestly, a lot of the writing I've done over the years is more
"practice" than practical, stuff I'd never show anyone. But I've managed
to fit in some writing that developed into actual manuscripts (two of
which I've managed to get out to the reading world). Recently, I was
working for a great company in Atlanta, working with a team of fantastic
people that I liked and respected, but there was this buzzing in the
back of my head that told me now was the time to take a chance on doing
something different. So, I quit my job and moved back to Massachusetts
and have been focusing on writing projects and promoting Grievous
Angels, which I'd published a year earlier but for which I
hadn't had the bandwidth to do much in the way of promotion. I'm also
pursuing another interest of mine; I'm in the process of forming a real
estate company with a law school friend. So I'm enjoying this brief
period of being able to focus on writing, before the real estate
business heats up. And I'm going to have to go back to practicing law in
the near future, at least on a part-time basis, to pay the bills. But
some day I'd love for "writer" to be my primary occupation.
DAB: I'm with you there! When I write,
I have particular composers and music that gets me in the mood for certain
scenes and characters. Have you ever written to music?
BCP: I'm
a music junkie, so there's something playing in my apartment quite
often. I don't usually employ a particular artist or album to set the
mood or get me in the mindset of a character. Rather, I find that music
helps get my brain in the right creative place to let ideas flow.
Intermittently over the years I've worked on a series of short stories
inspired by various songs I've found especially evocative of an idea. At
this point, it's been eons since I've returned to that project, so I
have no idea if I'll ever finish it. My mother's sung professionally
since her teen years and my oldest brother is a professional musician,
so I think that kind of creative inspiration comes from the same source.
For me, writing seems to be a more effective outlet for that, but I
think it's all connected.
DAB: There's the
eternal debate whether to outline or not. What is your preference?
BCP: I
have to have an outline of some sort. Even though my novels don't tend
to be epic-length, I need a map of where I'm going and what points I
need to hit along the way. Of course, that doesn't mean I work
everything out in the outline; for some key scenes, I might craft a more
detailed section of an outline, to make sure I'm hitting the beats I
need to, but it's also just as likely an outline entry could be "Person A
and Person B have a discussion about The Thing." The outline is an aid
for me, but it's not set in stone. I find that once I start writing,
ideas occur to me that didn't pop up during my preliminary thinking on
the plot, so it's crucial to be flexible, but I do need some structure
when writing, to keep myself on track.
DAB: Do you belong
to a critique group? If so, tell us a
bit about it.
BCP: I
don't belong to a group, but I'm lucky to have a good friend who reads
even more than I do and whose command of English and grammar is
impeccable. She served as my editor for Grievous Angels and having her perspective and comments was really valuable.
DAB: Usually
authors are also avid readers - what are you currently reading?
BCP: I
have a shelf full of books at all times; I can't stop myself, I go into
a bookstore or wander around Amazon online and there are more books.
But I do read constantly. I just finished Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country;
I'm a late convert to Wharton and have found over the past few years
that I very much enjoy her work and that it's very relevant still. That
makes me sound hopelessly pretentious, so I'll note that I'm currently
reading Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl;
I've read Gillian's other books, too, and I love that her characters
are as twisted as her plots. And I never quite grew out of comic books,
but now I read the collected editions instead. Those pop up frequently; I
just read the second volume of
The Superior Foes of Spider-Man,
which is an extremely entertaining series about several second-rate
villains trying to make a dishonest buck in a tough economy.
BCP: It's
something of a cliche, but I think if you want to be a writer, you need
to write regularly, even if no one else is going to see it. I have
folders full of stuff that no one but me will ever see, but it's
valuable. It's helped me learn pacing, how to develop characters, how to
structure plots... writing really is something that you need to do a
lot of to become good at (he says, ending a sentence with a
preposition). I mentioned my first two attempts to write novels that I
abandoned because they weren't coming out well. I don't regret trying to
write either one; they didn't work out, but they taught me a lot of
lessons that have helped with what I've written since.
DAB: I imagine all authors can relate to those throw-away manuscripts. So much work that will never see the light of day. Care to tell
us what is next on your writing horizon?
BCP: I've
been using my brief break from the law to finish the first draft of
what I hope will be the first in a new series (I'm almost there). The
impulse came from me thinking about what a cool lawyer job would be,
total lawyer fantasy stuff, and I thought it would be a lot of fun to be
a lawyer who worked for a museum like The Met who basically went around
troubleshooting the big crises for the museum. That might be an
indication of how hopelessly uncool I am, that such would occur to me as
a fantasy job, but it seemed like good terrain for a series. And it
lets me indulge another of my junkiedoms, for museums. It's got a ways
to go yet, but I'm hopeful about its future.
DAB: Sounds like something I'd take a gander at (to use your preposition ending). Now’s your
chance – give us the final plug for your novel.
BCP: Grievous Angels is
a great thrill ride, with lots of action and suspense. It has a bit of a
supernatural edge, but really is a family story that gets into how a
family copes with an unreal crisis. It has some chills, some laughs and a
few scenes that should give you a good scare. It's a great ride and I
really hope people will come along and enjoy it.
Thanks again, Brian, for taking time away from your incredibly busy schedule to sit down with us and share your work and what being an author means to you. One of my favorite things is hearing how authors got their start and all of the myriad "day jobs" we all carry but yet how we all cling to our dream of writing. I'm with you there! I look forward to having a chance to read your work.Author Bio:
Brian C. Poole is a writer from the Boston area who’s trying really, really hard not to be a lawyer anymore. Well, at least not a full-time one. Brian’s novels include Grievous Angels , now available wherever e-books Echoes of a Distant Thunder (harder to find, but out there in the world of used books if you really, really look).
are sold, and
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Grievous Angels is available at Amazon, B&N, iTunes and other e-book sellers.
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