Robert Lautner's Blog, page 2

Four weeks to go.

Jan 2024. Never actually thought we’d make it out of ‘23 TBH.

Where I am, in Pembrokeshire, it’s raining, raining hard. It’s been raining pretty much every day since December.

The ground is flooded, the garden’s dead, we’ve had back to back storms and dozens, yes, dozens, of power cuts. My PC died on Christmas morning, couldn’t take the power cuts any more. I needed a new mobo, cpu and ram. But this was that time of the year when everything stops. Amazingly I managed to get everything delivered by the 28th and got back up and running by the evening. Now, after the long, long stretch of the end of ‘24 I can think of what lies ahead.

Every now and then I have to remind myself I have a new book coming out, and now, after years of waiting for it, I’m now just four weeks away from Quint being published. That didn’t happen last year, in fact, I haven’t had a book published since 2018.

For most of us ‘23 has been a hard year, and I’m heading into this year, like millions of others, with less money and more debt than I started last year. Every thing coming in is less, every thing going out is more. But I’ve got to put hope into this book, I’ve got to get behind it more than any other book I’ve written because it means so much to me.

I know that might sound odd (it’s a book about Quint from JAWS, how serious can it be?) but it’s a novel that I think has a perfect timing and resonance for today. And I’m serious.

There are themes and attitudes in the novel that when I re-read it seem to be all around us now but there is hope in the story. Obviously we all know Quint’s ultimate fate so I made this book to end on a comparatively more positive outlook and when we see Quint in JAWS he’s not exactly a negative person, in fact I’d argue he’s the jolliest asshole out of the cast, so I wanted to roll into that character, the comedy of his life, the tragedy of his life and how at the end of it he’s still smiling and singing (until those black eyes roll over white, of course).

Feb 2024 it’s out. I hope you like it and let me know what you think.

The Head. The Tail. The Whole Damn Thing.

It’s now just under seven months to go for publication of my novel based around Quint from JAWS. That seems like a long time but not when you’ve been waiting about eight years for it to exist at all.

So Feb 2024 will come around to line up with the 50th anniversary of Peter Benchley’s original novel and then the paperback will follow in 2025 for the 50th of the film. We’ll see what happens to my high hopes then.

I’d like to get some thoughts down on what this book actually is and its purpose.

I write literary fiction, whatever that actually is, but I suppose it means that there are certain sensibilities and themes you don’t find in other genres, a reading experience that fulfils differently.

I write what I want to write. Anyone could write a book about Quint. All you need to do is check all the boxes. USS Indianapolis? Check. Sharks? Check. The Orca? Check. And so on. That’s a book, sure. But that’s not a story.

And most would concentrate on the Indianapolis as the engine for the story. That’s the event, right? That’s what Quint’s all about, right?

That’s lazy. It’s the same trap that filmmakers fall into whenever there’s been an attempt to tell the story of the tragedy. They feel the event is enough, that the action is the drama, is the story. And they fail.

Mostly they fail because we know the story, know it’s tragic and terrible. We know. What else you got?

Obviously I wrote this book from a deep affection for JAWS. The film has been a constant in my life. And what appeals to most fans is the mystery of Quint, and, in contradiction almost, it’s that mystery which makes the character. He doesn’t need a past, all we need to know about him is in the film so, in effect, writing a novel about the character is almost sacrilegious to the mystery. It shouldn’t be done.

So I didn’t look at it like that. I wrote a novel that could actually be about anyone. Anyone that is who had three wives, grew up in the depression, went to war, survived the sinking of a battleship and became a charter captain specialising in shark fishing. And it’s also none of those things. It’s a character story and journey. You can take it as a story about Quint when you pick it up but it won’t be when you finally close it.

I have chosen the non-profit organisation “Beneath The Waves” for charitable donations from myself and the publisher on publication and future royalties. You can help support them.

https://beneaththewaves.org/

Quint 1st edition hardbacks are available for pre-order.

https://smarturl.it/Quint-HB

Here’s to swimming with bow legged women.

I just finished the copyedit on a book I wrote some years ago that was originally scheduled to come out in 2019. Publication was delayed due to legal issues because it was about a character who already exists in both book and film.

Initially everyone was OK with it, including the holders of the rights, but then lawyers stepped in and the whole project was shut down.

Now, this year in fact, from out of nowhere, permission was given for related works to be produced (this is not unique to me of course) with certain provisions.

So now I’ve just finished editing a book which is re-scheduled for a Feb 2024 release. Why so long if it’s ready to go?

Because Feb 2024 will be the 50th anniversary of Peter Benchley’s seminal novel. JAWS.

My novel is also one word.

“QUINT”

I can’t talk much about it as it’s not officially announced but you can probably guess what it might be about. Or at least what some of it might be about (it’s a character story above all).

If you know JAWS, the movie, (and if you don’t I’d like to say welcome to our planet) there’s one scene that captures the imagination and silences a cinema above all others. It’s only four minutes and it’s regarded as one of the greatest speeches in cinematic history. The Indianapolis monologue from Robert Shaw, from Quint himself.

I’ve been a JAWS nut since I was a child but I’d never thought I’d write a book based around my favourite character from my most loved film.

I took that monologue (and the minutes before) and developed a novel telling a story from the 40’s to 60’s about a character we know very little about apart from that one thing:

Quint survived the tragedy of the USS Indianapolis.

Oddly enough, with that monologue, Quint made it impossible for any other fictional character, in film or book, to also be a survivor of the tragedy. Everyone would always say, ‘Yeah, they just stole that from JAWS.’

So I did what you could only do. Write a novel about Quint to tell the story (and other things of course).

I could write about this experience and my love for JAWS for a long time but I won’t now.

Just wanted to say that far and above all my books this is the one I’m most passionate about. Because it means so much to me to be allowed to write it.

Up the Amazon!

Once again I have been entirely neglectful of this page, but now the year is ending and my thoughts turn to writing again.

My only real pieces of news this year are (one) that we decided to let out our cabin on AirBnB. The plan was that we wanted to do some renovations (we have lived in the place for about eight years and it needed a spruce) so we thought we’d move out and do it up and, to earn some money to help with the work, we’d let it out on AirBnB thinking that only one or two people would come and it might be fun. And then people started to book. And then they kept booking and kept booking and booking.

Within a few weeks of listing our chalet was fully booked for the season. This was great but it meant we couldn’t do the painting and decorating we’d planned. But the whole AirBnB thing was really enjoyable and we met some lovely people (some of whom are coming back!) and we’re really thinking of making a full-time business out of it because it was such an experience.

I live here!

The second thing was because of the AirBnB thing I haven’t been able to finish a novel this year, but I do have two unpublished manuscripts (one of which was rejected, the other never presented) so I thought I’d publish them on Amazon.

I’ve never done it before but I didn’t want to wait two years for a publisher’s schedule to catch up. I just wanted to get them out there.

Unfortunately I found it really difficult, exhausting even, to get my head around the formatting for the kindle programme but, eventually, I got something reasonably acceptable.

Now, I haven’t done anything to promote the first book (and haven’t put the second up) as I thought I’d leave that for 2020 so I’m going to start whispering about it.

The main change for this book is that I’ve published it under my own name, Mark Keating, rather than Robert Lautner. Strangely enough I did this because Mark Keating is less well known and I wanted to re-establish him…me?…as a writer again. I don’t know. But if anyone can advise how to promote Amazon books that would be great.

Here’s the UK and US Amazon links for Rabbit Moon.

 

 

And I’ll publish my second book soon. It’s called Sturdy Maiden, set in Burma in 1942. An elephant story and that’s all you need to know right now, but I’ll post snippets of it when I can.

And here’s our link for my AirBnB if you want to book and visit the remotest part of the Pembrokeshire coastal path and walk down to the sea from our front door!

https://airbnb.com/h/chalet-to-the-bay

 

Us in winter!

 

That’s a wrap.

I’ve just finished a new novel which is always a strange time. On the one hand it means I can play Skyrim without feeling guilty that I’m not working but on the other there’s a peculiar emptiness that comes from not doing the thing you’ve been doing for so long.

Also when I’m writing I don’t really pay much attention to social media or other stuff (hence my long, long absences of participation) so I emerge, blinking in the light and wondering why this Trump thing is still happening and is everyone still talking about cake.

Anyhow now that it’s done I thought I’d share some of the music I listen to when I’m writing. I can’t work in silence and my family is always around me so it’s normal for me to write with a bit of noise in the background and I choose music that suits my writing, or at least I hope I do.

Angel Olsen.[image error]

All of it but especially her Strange Cacti EP and My Woman.

A lot has been said about Angel Olsen’s style so there’s nothing new I can say. Watch some of her live stuff on YouTube. I think she might be possessed by a very talented spirit. I imagine a studio engineer says, ‘OK Angel we’re ready for you,’ and looks up, ‘Angel? Angel?’ and there’s nothing behind the glass but a strange blue mist that starts to “sing”?

Johann Johannsson

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And in the endless pause there came the sound of bees.

This guy died this year and it’s a terrible loss to the world. His music was practically the soundtrack throughout my work as Robert Lautner and I can’t believe he will not work again. Terrible, terrible that he is gone. I listen to a lot of Icelandic instrumental music.

Big Thief.

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All of it. One of the only recent bands I know that sound just as good, if not better, live than in studio but look like they just met and are all in different bands. Listening and watching Adrianne Lenker and Buck Meek perform is like being invited to spy on someone’s subconscious. You become part of their therapy.

Alex Cameron.

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Funny and brilliant. Makes me happy all the time. He should be emperor of his own island. He looks and talks like that guy you used to know that was always sofa surfing and peaked in high school and you miss him and he still has your sunglasses.

Oh look, he finally did a new post.

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So it gets to almost a year since I wrote anything here. I didn’t intend for that to happen, but hey, I have been on Twitter and FB so maybe that’s not all bad.

The Draughtsman has been nominated for The Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize.

I’m really pleased about this. I’ve never been nominated for anything before. It’s thrilling and I’m very grateful and honoured to be considered.

http://www.walterscottprize.co.uk/

It’s been a long time posting anything because I haven’t really had the motivation to do so.  Like a lot of us it’s been a couple of difficult years for me and difficult to stay positive but this is a step in the right direction and hopefully my new book will be picked up soon.

Thanks!

Zero words given.

I don’t count words. I do at the end. Sometimes I even forget to put page numbers down.

I’m intrigued when writers post things like :’Phew! 10,000 words done! Here we go!’ and so on. This may be a trivial post; just something to bounce readers of your FB along or to garner congrats but I don’t understand it; relative to me of course.

Most days I don’t write at all. When I do I’m content if I think I’ve written as well as I want to, if I’ve moved the story along, gotten to a point when it would be right to stop. My days are too busy with getting along in my own household to spend it writing.

My children and my wife are both at home with me all day so uninterrupted writing is impossible. In fact writing a couple of sentences at a time without some discourse going on is difficult. For example in the few minutes of writing this I have been asked to draw a circle around a piece of pipe, someone yelled ‘Can you hear me?’ and someone entered my room to ask if I knew my other son was double-jointed. Oh, and do I know where the dogs are and can I bring someone outside a bowl of warm, soapy water. All while I can be seen sitting at my desk with my headphones on and tapping at my keyboard. In fact before I finished that last sentence I’ve been asked to put together a shopping list and told we have to go to the plumbers to pick up a 45 degree corner joining pipe.

All of this is just to say that’s probably why I don’t bother counting words or chapters (I don’t put chapters in until the end either) because when I do write I know it won’t go on for long. This is my own fault in that I cannot write in the morning or at night. I write in the afternoon; when everybody else is also doing things or wants my participation. And I imagine that is how some of my reader’s lives are. Would I rather count 10,000 words as an achievement, or just one good page that I’m happy with and hope someone else will be too? I’m pretty sure readers don’t count the words. But they do number how much time they would need to spend caring about what they read. Or they can read a novel about another Roman general again.

One week to publication. The Draughtsman.

I’m not a political person. I can play devil’s advocate and I can be the staunchest of supporters, but what I cannot stand is hypocrisy. And who does? Well, all of us do, including me. It’s the nature of the modern world. Can’t exist without it.

Apart from what I hope is a dramatic work one of the driving aspects of The Draughtsman is that it doesn’t matter about the period of the story; much of what occurs is relevant today.

Ernst Beck, my protagonist, works for the company now labelled as, “The Engineers Of the Final Solution.” The company that built the ovens for Auschwitz.

I mostly read non-fiction, essays and biographies, and I find these generate more ideas for me than fiction. The Draughtsman came from some of Hannah Arendt’s “Origins of Totalitarianism” and especially the concept of the “banality of evil”. A book that could have been written yesterday. Unfortunately.

The focus of The Draughtsman is the SS plan to construct an unprecedented design of an oven to work on a mass scale, an automated oven as big as a building that would never stop burning. It is the complicity of the company, the dilemma of one of its workers, that is the principle. The oven is just my Maltese Falcon, the McGuffin. It’s also real.

I’m sure you could list dozens of examples relevant today that aren’t hypocritical, companies and practices you don’t condone, that you’re not complicit with, but I’ll give you a big one that you are part of.

Your phone, your laptop, so-called green cars, are running on Lithium batteries. But the nature of mining for Lithium is environmentally destructive, hazardous, so we go elsewhere. And, yes, it’s as bad as you think it is.

It would be almost impossible for us to live as we do without Lithium, yet it cannot be produced ethically. By being the consumers of what we now consider essentials we are complicit. But if it was not us that used these products, if they were only used by corporations, governments, banks, not in our hands, there would be outcry in the streets.

Are the workers in the factory of Topf and Sons, the draughtsmen, complicit in the worst of the Nazi’s plans simply by doing their jobs, fulfilling their contracts? What could they have done? What would you have done?

There is a line I use often in the book: “And that is how it was done.”

It’s used to show how easily regimes function, even when they are not classified as regimes, and it’s exemplified by another line: “The people would police themselves. We would all become cameras to show the transgressors. Judge each other without being asked to do so. This the future.”

And, like using the oven in the book, I’m using Lithium for the same analogy.

“The will of the people” is not a mandate. It’s an excuse. From Brexit to border walls it’s an excuse. And that is how it is done[image error]

The Draughtsman.

 

 

So I’m finally about to get the first reading copies of The Draughtsman. Cover’s pretty nice if predictable and by that I mean what else were you going to put on the cover of a book set at the end of the second world war that features the ovens of the concentration camps as its main story.

This book took a lot out of me. I never intended to write a holocaust novel and built it up to purely examine how one would feel, how we would look at, someone who designed the ovens for the camps and somewhere in there is a message about corporate responsibility and social responsibility that has modern parallels from both sides of the coin. I hope. Through edits some of the subtlety and objectivity may have got diluted for a wider audience but that ain’t a bad thing in the long run because it’s come out fine in the wash.

What struck me recently was with the whole Apple situation and their tax bill and the countries they choose to work in based on tax avoidance and cheap labour is what makes the book relevant. You can argue that capitalism has no morals but who decided that? What if you put up your hand and asked: why not? What makes this OK? You could also argue that in some countries child sex is not frowned upon so should we open up brothels there ourselves to take advantage? What constitutes morality? Why is business immune, unaccountable?

I don’t need to point out hundreds of examples, you all can reel off a dozen yourselves where companies and the governments they hold up screwed you and your country and others all because business doesn’t have a morals department. We accept that the law must have a moral vacuum but why should we accept this from multi-nationals who, in the eyes of the law, are considered “individuals” only when it suits them? It’s a tired argument and none of us has anything new to say on it.

So I wrote a book about a man who designs ovens for Auschwitz.

 

Ahh, publishing.

It’s been 2014 since Road to Reckoning came out and people may be wondering, “Hey, whatever happened to that debut author? Where’s his new book? It’s over two years since his first. Who are you talking about? Where’s my burrito?”

But if you think about it I finished that book in 2012. To fit into a publishing schedule books are given a date that can be one or two years from the time it was finished, contracted, edited and proofed. So did you think I just sat on my behind for four years?

I’ve written three books for publishers in that time. And yet, here we are mid 2016 and none of them have come out. Why? It’s that scheduling again and also the crazy world of publishing. See what I didn’t realise is that publishing is quite a fluid career path for editors and directors. They move on, leave (even die) and when that happens a lot of bumpy things also happen that affect the writer as well.

Like many creative industries when someone leaves for a role in a competitor they get a period of time before they start their next position where they don’t do anything in that industry; for competition reasons, maybe poach their favourite authors/editors, take manuscripts they’ve been looking at with them and so on. So let’s say they get three months between jobs, guess what also happens? Your book stays right where it is for those three months. All the books they were working on get pushed back for the next person to deal with, and another publishing schedule, and don’t forget new books from other authors are also hitting their desk, contracts stipulating publishing dates looming from the backlog of books already on the cards and we go on and on.

So I have a new date for Jan 2017 for the first of these books, now called The Draughtsman, which is set in Germany at the end of WW2, but because that book was due to be published in 2016 my others have also been put back so in theory a book I finished in Jan this year may not see the light of day until 2019.

All of this is very disheartening, mainly as it means I haven’t had a book published for three years despite writing them and kind of leaves the point of gathering a reader-base in the dust. And even though I’m thinking of starting a new book shortly it’s difficult to motivate when it might not come out for four years. And who knows? The people I’m working with now might have all moved on by then.