A: They aren't all set exclusively in the West. In fact, The Smoke Jumper is, for a large part, set in Africa. However, it is true to say that the emotional heart of all the books is the West. This is simply because it's a place that has enthralled me, even before I ever went there. Growing up in a small and crowded country, I used to fantasize about the vast open spaces of the West. Cowboys and Indians were my constant obsession. Later, I traveled and worked in the States and got to know the West a little. But it wasn't until I was researching The Horse Whisperer that I went to Montana. It moved me in a way that I don't even really understand. It was like coming home. There is something elemental that connects with me. Human dramas set against such a vast and daunting landscape seem to take on an extra dimension. It was never the intention that the stories would all, in part, take place there. It just happened. I go there a lot and new ideas pop up every time. But grand descriptions of scenery can be immensely tedious unless they are somehow relevant to the story and state of mind of the characters standing in them.

Q: Your novels seem to deal with tragedies or tough issues that characters have to work through, do you know the end of the story before you write it or does the story work itself out through the characters?

A: I know the map before I start. But, like hiking in a place you've never been to, with people you have never met before, things change once you have arrived and set off. The characters, at the outset, are little more than silhouettes. Maybe you know one or two salient things about them – you know their shoes and socks, as it were. Then, as you hike and spend time with them, the silhouettes begin to fill up and once you are about half-way, having asked a thousand questions about them, you at last know who they are. From that point onward, they are in charge and you can't get them to do something they don't want to do. In other words, you can always bend the story to suit the characters, but never the characters to suit the story.

Q: Could you ever see yourself writing anything other than fiction?

A: Well, a long time ago, I used to be a journalist. It was a great education and privilege to have that kind of entry into people's lives and into all kinds of areas of life that otherwise I would never have experienced. I have no desire to return to journalism, but I read a lot of non-fiction and might one day try my hand at writing something myself.

Q: Your novel The Horse Whisperer was made into a movie, did you like the end result? Any plans for your other novels to be made into movies?

A: I liked the first half of the film and I thought the acting and horse work were wonderful. But they never got the script straight before they started shooting and so the second half of the movie, to my mind, gets hopelessly lost. And the ending entirely misses the point. It is simply depressing, whereas the ending of the book has a certain mythical significance and is full of hope. I just sold an option on The Smoke Jumper. Whether it will end up with a movie being made is another matter. Best not to hold one's breath on these things.

Q: What is something your readers would be surprised to know about you?

A: A lot of people assume I'm an American and when they meet me are surprised to hear my funny British accent.

Q: Do you have a favorite book or author? What kinds of books do you read for enjoyment?

A: I like Cormac McCarthy very much, especially All the Pretty Horses; I like Pat Conroy, Jane Smiley, Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway, Dickens, Tolstoy and Chekhov. Too many others to mention. When I am writing, I tend to read non-fiction around the subject; as an incentive, the novels pile up until I have finished.

Q: If you were to give a fledgling writer some advice, what would that be?

A: Read, read, then read some more. And if you are young, don't be in too much of a hurry; live a little first, get some experience about the way things are. And don't imagine there is a formula. There isn't. And don't try to second-guess what some imaginary reader might want. Find a story that moves and excites you and write it from the heart. If it moves you, there's a chance it might do the same to those who read it. move others. Finally, don't be in a rush to send it out to agents or (heaven forbid!) publishers. Get the manuscript as good as you possibly can before putting it out there. You only get one shot, so make it your best.

Q: Besides reading and writing, what are some of the other passions in your life?

A: My family. I believe that children are the greatest of all life's blessings. I can also get pretty passionate about politics, about our seeming inability to learn the lessons of history; and about the continuing belief, despite all the evidence, that force is better than friendship. We think we are so damn clever and yet our intellect seems only to be leading to the destruction of what sustains us. Here endeth the lesson.

Interview Date: October 2007
Profile and questions compiled by Jessica B., Morrison Regional Library