Q&A With K.J. Dando Author of Lies After Death

 

Recently I had the good fortune to review "Lies After Death" a blistering thriller set in Wales by exciting new talent K.J. Dando. You can find the full review...here

Always keen to spot up and coming Welsh authors we reached out to K..J. Dando for a chat. 

Your debut novel has an air or authenticity regarding tough guy Tom Crane. Can you tell us a little about your background. From school, I served in the British Army and actively engaged in operational duties in Iraq, Kosovo, and Bosnia. I then pursued a career in the health and fitness industry before falling into my current profession as a business manager for a large motor group. So now I work with numbers all day and words in my spare time!

Tell us about your book. My debut - Lies After Death - is about a man called Tom Crane who is plagued by the death of his wife after a tragic car accident five years ago. Crane, who now works as a fixer for wealthy and powerful clients, suddenly begins receiving mysterious letters and phone calls from someone claiming to know the truth about his wife's death. As Crane uncovers more and more secrets and lies, he finds himself being pulled into a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Can he trust the messages, or are they part of a larger conspiracy?

What was the hardest scene to write? They're all difficult in their own way, although I do find writing dialogue slightly more challenging than writing action. So, any scenes that have a lot of dialogue were probably the hardest to write.

How do you develop the characters in your book? I try to develop my characters through their interactions in the story. I think showing how a character reacts in certain situations as well as the things they say, help the reader to understand the character and their values.

Plot or character? Which deserves more attention? In my opinion — both — and probably in equal measures. I think the plot should be exciting and keep the reader guessing as to what's going to happen next. Equally, I think the reader needs to connect and relate with at least one of the main characters, so that they care about them and become invested in their story.

What is your writing process? I plot a skeleton of a story before I start to write, but leave plenty of space to flesh it out.

Is your novel part of a series? I'm hoping Lies After Death will be the first of a series for Tom Crane.

Do you have any plans to develop other books/characters/series? If so can you outline them for us?

I'm currently in the process of writing the follow-up to Lies After Death — watch this space. Hopefully, I'll have an announcement for you soon...

What authors/books influence your work? I'm a big fan of Lee Child and admire what he's achieved with his character, Jack Reacher. I also enjoy reading Clive Cussler's work — his books are always entertaining and full of adventure. As the two authors I've probably read the most, these are the two who have no doubt influenced my writing the most.

Has any book ever “changed” you?

Yes, Lies After Death. As someone with no literature qualifications or experience, getting signed and published gave me the confidence to think that maybe I can write. Maybe I can create stories to entertain people and give them some respite from 'real life'. If you could be a character in any fiction novel, who would it be? That's a tough one! I'd probably have to say Dirk Pitt from the Clive Cussler series. Purely down to the travel, experiences, and adventure. What is your favourite novel and which is your least favourite. I can’t! How do you narrow it down to one favourite? Also, in terms of least favourite —there's books I've started, but stopped within a couple of chapters, knowing it wasn’t for me. But I couldn't name them. I wouldn't want to disrespect the author's work. It wasn't for me, but I'm sure others would enjoy it.

Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

Once upon a time I trained as a tattoo artist. Almost all of the tattoos on my left forearm I did on myself.