setting and, I think it’s fair to say, experimental in style. Whether it qualifies as a literary novel, I don’t know. The UK-based site It’s a Crime! (or a Mystery ...) has described it as a thriller in disguise, claiming that it does indeed sit within the modern crime genre, the boundaries of which are being constantly tested. There’s certainly a dead body in it and some criminal behavior. Gentle Axe, written under the name R.N. Morris, is a historical crime novel--an unashamed genre piece. It has a detective and a number of dead bodies. It’s a Crime! characterized it as “a classic whodunnit.”My work on these two books overlapped. Both were a long time in the planning--and were projects that I would put down, then return to. They were written in quick succession and in submission simultaneously. Taking Comfort went to one British publisher who was initially very enthusiastic, so much so that it seemed an offer was a mere formality. But then an editorial meeting killed it. In the meantime, Gentle Axe was finished and doing the rounds. Taking Comfort languished. Then I found out about the launch of the Macmillan New Writing imprint and submitted the book directly to the people there, leaving my agent free to concentrate on selling Axe.
I was hoping that I might get lucky with one book or the other. I never imagined that they would both find homes (at least in the UK; Taking Comfort isn’t yet available in the States). However, that is indeed what happened, and within a few months of each other. It was a complicated and slightly embarrassing situation. But having two names was not an attempt to pull a fast one on either publisher--both of whom were very understanding. I was advised that having two books issued so close together might be confusing, not so much for readers as for bookshops, which would have a hard time figuring out where to place me. I don’t know whether there is any truth in that. But I did like the idea of having a second identity, not just to reflect a different style, but to facilitate it. When writing as R.N. Morris I can become R.N. There’s something liberating about writing under those mysterious, and gender non-specific, initials. So maybe it’s ultimately for my benefit.
I’ve talked on this page already about my debt to Dostoevsky with respect to Gentle Axe. But Taking Comfort also was written under the influence of Crime and Punishment. The central character is taken over by an obsessive idea that propels him into a transgressive spiral. In trying to take the reader into Rob Saunders’ head, I was influenced and inspired by Dostoevsky’s treatment of Raskolnikov.
I’ve also talked about Gentle Axe being a last throw of the dice, as far as getting published was concerned. Well, actually, there were two dice in my hand--Taking Comfort and Axe. I played for high stakes both times, I think. I took risks in the writing of Taking Comfort which have made it a book that not everyone will get on with, but I’ve been gratified to discover that there have been readers who have understood perfectly what I was trying to do.
Recently, I’ve been concentrating on being R.N. I’ve spent the last year writing my second Porfiry Petrovich novel. And as I said in a previous post, I have a total of four storylines planned, one for each season in St. Petersburg. I’ve never written a crime series before. That’s what makes it interesting, of course.
I’d like to go back to being Roger at some point. To be true to the distinction that has been put upon me, I suppose I ought to make all Roger Morris books edgy, contemporary, urban novels. Though to be honest, I think I would rather reserve the right to write what I damn well like under my own name!
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