An Interview with Seamus Heffernan
Who is Seamus Heffernan?
Well, I’ve been a lot of things in a lot of different places—high school teacher, policy wonk, freelance journalist, marketing/communications mercenary, speechwriter— but right now I work in politics and live in British Columbia, Canada, where I split my time between Abbotsford, Mission and Vancouver.
Can you describe your path to publication?
Long and winding. I wrote the book’s first 1,000 words or so at my kitchen table one groggy Saturday morning after hosting a party at my old house in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and finished the first draft some seven years later at another kitchen table all across Canada, in British Columbia. I only have myself to blame—I wasted too much time and let life get in the way more than once. In the last couple of years I got much more serious about finishing it, and after I completed my master’s degree last spring I had just enough gas in the tank to blow through the last 8,000 words or so.
After that, I shared it with some friends whose opinions I trusted for feedback, polished it up and started submitting to publishers who would take manuscripts from new writers (i.e. un-agented starry-eyed dreamers). Crooked Cat got in touch and the rest is the proverbial history.
Napalm Hearts is out now. Why should we buy this book?
If you enjoy a lightning-paced thriller with more than a few twists, plus a story with a bit of heart, I’m confident it would be a good fit for your book shelf. NAPALM HEARTS, my debut novel, is a detective story about a successful but lonely American PI working in London, England. He works infidelity cases and while he’s making a good living, he’s bored as hell. He accepts a case from a wealthy client who wants him to find his much-younger and missing trophy wife. It’s set to be the first in an ongoing series.
What got you into writing?
When I was a kid, my dad used to bring me to this used bookshop in my hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland, where I became an obsessive reader of comic books and cheap paperbacks. That got me writing a lot, both in school and on my own, but so much of it was just dreck. In the back of my head, though, even as I got older, I always knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to write cool stories and create characters people cared about. I wanted my book to someday be on that book shop’s shelf.
Seven years is a long time. Why’d you stick with it?
This should be where I say something like “Oh, I write because I must” or “I simply have no choice, I’m an artist” but none of that’s true. I love the craft of writing, I love the world-building it demands, and I love the satisfaction of creating a story that just hums along while it draws people in. But I never really feel like I have to do this. I’m envious of those who have that kind of discipline and devotion, frankly. I do it because I enjoy it. Bottom line: It’s fun—but it’s also important.
It’s probably the most human thing about us, to share stories. We all do it, all the time. “Oh man, my boss reamed me out today.” “Hey, did I ever tell you I was in a band in college?” “Listen, I’m doing this cleanse and I’m literally gonna die if I don’t get a burger.” Watch anybody at a party, mingling. We swap tales to get to know each other.
Fiction is the natural extension of our need to share stories. That’s why I write. This thing where we make up stories and throw them out into the world is just this wonderful, precious thing we get to do. I’ve personally decided to use that gift to write pulpy detective novels, but what the hell. We don’t all get to win a Nobel for Literature.
Can you tell readers about your next project?
Well, I’m working on the follow up to NAPALM HEARTS. It was never intended to be a series about these characters but when I got to the end I found it surprisingly open-ended. There’s a lot of room for these people to grow, and I’m intrigued to see where they’ll end up.
I’m also writing a TV pilot script about public servants and the politicians they work for. It’s more of a dramedy than straight-up satire—not quite Parks & Rec but perhaps a little gentler than Veep.
Can we have a brief description of your book, where it is available to buy and how people can get in touch with you?
Thaddeus Grayle is a successful but bored American private investigator who has grown weary of snooping after the cheating spouses of his adopted city of London, England. Recently divorced and even more recently sober, he fills what little free time he has with movies, baseball and his own torrid affairs. He wants a change, and it finally arrives thanks to a wealthy businessman desperate to find his hard-partying wife—a young woman who might be in the biggest trouble of her life.
NAPALM HEARTS may be ordered here, on any Amazon site and Barnes & Noble.
A cinematic neo-noir told with breakneck urgency, NAPALM HEARTS is the debut novel from an exciting new voice in crime fiction.
More from Seamus Heffernan:
info@seamusheffernan.com
