10 Questions with Barry Eisler (July 2005)
Author of Killing Rain (2005)
July 12, 2005
Written by David J. Montgomery
Barry Eisler is the author of the Gumshoe Award-winning John Rain series, which has been translated into over a dozen languages and optioned for film. The latest book in the series, Killing Rain, was recently published to rave reviews.
1. What made you decide to start writing thrillers?
It wasn't really a decision. I've always enjoyed writing, and it seems that whenever I do, things head in a "thriller" direction. The genesis of Rain Fall was an image of two men following another man down a Tokyo street. If you think about it, an image like that is subject to many interpretations; for me, it could only mean that the first two were assassins, the lone man their target...
2. You recently revealed that you worked for the CIA as a covert operative for 3 years back in the late-80s. Is there anything about that you'd like to tell us?
I'll tell you a funny story about how legends get started. During the 20-week FTC (Field Trade Craft) spy school course, I was sparring with Carl, one of the paramilitary guys I knew from the SOTC (Special Operations Trade Craft) paramilitary course I had been through earlier. Carl was in many ways the inspiration for Dox: 5'10", 210 pounds of solid muscle, former Marine Recon, black belts in judo and hapkido... a tough and tough-looking dude but also funny as hell. Well, on this particular evening, Carl accidentally broke my nose with his elbow, moving my schnoz about halfway towards my right ear. He drove me to the emergency room in Williamsburg and insisted on joining me while the doctor was suturing me up. While the doctor was putting in the stitches, he asked us, "So what were you guys doing there?" (referring to nearby Camp Peary, "The Farm," which much CIA training is conducted). Carl responds, with his gravelly, Texan accent, "That's classified," even though the truth is that we were just screwing around on our own time. Then the doctor says to him, "Well, what are you doing here, anyway?" To which Carl gestures to me and responds:" If you anesthetize him and he starts spilling state secrets, I have to kill him."
Afterward, I realized the doctor probably went home and told his family and friends, "I don't know what they do up there at the Farm, but it's serious! Some guy came in tonight and his nose was pulverized. And there was a scary looking guy escorting him who said if the hurt guy talked he'd have to kill him!"
And thus are legends born...
3. Is it hard writing about a character like John Rain, a man who kills people for money, and not have him be unlikable?
Not for me. I like people like Rain.
Kidding (mostly).The main trick is to get inside the character's head and to try to present him as fully human. No one looks in the mirror and sees a bad guy; we all have our justifications and rationalizations. By presenting some of Rain's, I hope to bring about a degree of empathy on the part of the reader. It also helps that Rain inhabits a bleak moral universe: he's surrounded by corruption, duplicity, and betrayal. By comparison, he looks good.
And there's an element of wish fulfillment at work, too. Last time you were in a restaurant and the guy at the next table was bellowing into his cell phone, didn't you want to kill him? Come on, even just a little? If so, congratulations! You're going to like John Rain.
4. Have you considered writing anything other than a Rain book?
I had started a standalone when we sold the rights to Rain Fall and a sequel, but I had only written about 50 pages at that point. It was a thriller set in Silicon Valley and involving Asia, and I really liked the characters. It was hard to set aside. I hope to get back to it one day, but I just signed for two more Rain books. The way I conceive the Rain story arc at this point, six is going to be the right place to stop.
Remind me of what I just said if Putnam offers to pay me a ton of money for #7 and #8...
5. Your books always give the appearance of being authentic in their details. How do you do your research?
Reading, interviewing, and going. If there's a place or topic that's going to appear in one of the books, I read a lot about it. Then I find experts, interview them, and have them give me feedback on the relevant portion of the finished manuscript. While creating Dox, for example, I read books and watched videos on sniping, then interviewed Alain Burrese, a friend who was a sniper with the army's 82nd Airborne division, then asked Alain to look over the relevant parts of the manuscript.
And I visit all the places that appear in the books to capture the mood, the essence of the place, and to ensure the details are accurate.
6. What advice would you give aspiring writers?
- Keep writing. Can't emphasize this one enough. Every day is ideal, but the goal is to just be as regular as you can. Same as learning a language, or a martial art, etc.
- Reread passages from books you love and ask yourself, what is the author doing here that's working so well? And if you see something that you think is bad, ask yourself, why is this bad? What could the author have done differently to make it work?
- Read books on writing. Stephen King's On Writing helped me a lot. David Morrell's Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing is also terrific. There are many others. But don't read the how-to books at the expense of your own writing. Whenever you have to choose, practice your writing instead.
- If you've got time and you're serious, a writer's workshop can be a huge help with motivation, feedback, and discipline. Google "Writer's workshops" and the name of your city and you'll probably be able to find a bunch.
- When you think your book is as good as you can possibly get it, it's time to try to find an agent. The way to do this is to go a library or bookstore and get a book like The Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents. Identify the ones that handle your kind of book and contact them in exactly the manner they request.
- One of your best friends as a writer is what I think of as the "what if" question. "What if someone cloned dinosaurs and planned to open a dinosaur theme park on a remote island?" (Jurassic Park) "What if a semi-yuppie drug dealer were about to do a seven year prison stretch?" (The 25th Hour) Etc. If the what-if question interests you enough, it'll lead you to other questions, all of the who, what, where, when, why, how variety. Follow those questions and you'll start to find your story.
A lot of people think that, in the writing business, it's not what you know, but who. This has not been my experience. Who you know might get an agent to take a look at something you've written, but after that you will stand or fall entirely on the quality of your writing and other business calculations.
In other words, the best a mutual acquaintance can do is to possibly get your work moved closer to the top of the agent's pile. But this is a minimal benefit, because agents read everything that's submitted to them anyway. That's their business. It may take the agent a while, but eventually he or she will read what you've sent.
7. What are your thoughts about Hollywood adapting your books?
Lee Child said it best: a movie represents a $40 million advertising campaign for your books (but it would also be cool to see Jack Reacher on the big screen).
As for the Rain books, I optioned the movie rights to a guy named Barrie Osborne, who won an Oscar for producing the Lord of the Rings trilogy. His production company, Three Dogs & A Pony, is comprised of Barrie, two Japanese partners, and one Australian partner. They all know Asia well and are good people, and I think they're just the right group to bring the Rain books to the screen. We'll see...
8. What excites or distresses you about the thriller genre today?
Well, I'm excited to be a part of it, that's for sure. And that thrillers are getting a lot of recognition (look at what International Thriller Writers has become in just a few months since its inception). As for distress, I suppose there are distressing trends in the publishing industry, or at least there are lots of conversations about it. But I like just writing the best books I can and doing what I can day by day to get people to give them a try. If it works, I'm thrilled; if it doesn't, I've done what I can and have no regrets.
9. What's the last book you read?
Just finished Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. Freakin' fascinating! Listened to it in the car during the Killing Rain tour and barely noticed how long I'd been driving.
10. What's next for you?
Well, I've still got about 25 cities to go on the Killing Rain tour. The fifth Rain book is outlined, so I guess when I get back in August I'll take a little break and then start writing in earnest.
Don't miss Barry Eisler's Overnight Success? story.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Interviews | Permalink
Comments
I love the John Rain series so I'm thrilled to see this interview. Thanks. :)
Posted by: Shelly | Jul 14, 2005 5:44:30 PM
:( Sad, I hope the Rain series continues after #6 as it is one of the best series I have ever read.
Posted by: Mike | Nov 12, 2005 10:28:26 PM
