Pivoting 180 and Looking Backwards: Writing Historical Fiction

Today, we are visiting with the wonderful Monte Dutton. If you missed his earlier article on writing sports themes in your plot go HERE. Now we're going to pivot 180 degrees and look backwards in time.

Fiona - 
So Monte, I've read your books that have a sports theme perhaps riff is better word. I was surprised to know that your newest manuscript is a step in a different direct. How did this new story call to you? Is it a complete change of genre?

Monte - 
Let's see. Let me try to remember how Cowboys Come Home came about. I'm a fan of Larry McMurtry. One of my favorites of his novels is Leaving Cheyenne, which is a 20th-century western. Cowboys Come Home has little to do with it, though it's set not too far away. I came up with the idea of writing the adventures of a couple war heroes returning to Texas after World War II. I'm fond of "closing of a man's frontiers" story. 

The story is based in a part of Texas with which I have some similarity. I first started this because I was encouraged to write a western. I first rejected it, but then I happened to take a long driving trip shortly afterwards, and I kind of daydreamed this story. I wrote a few chapters, and the potential publisher wasn't interested. I think it was looking for a more orthodox western. In other words, I think my story lacked sufficient sagebrush and tumbleweed. So I abandoned it, but the story was on my mind, and I put enough pieces of it together in my mind that I went back to it when my current crime novel, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, was going into the editing-proofreading-dickering-back-and-forth stage.

Fiona - 
Have you been to Texas?

Monte -
Yes. Many times. A part of my family settled in central Texas. I have a close friend in the town on which my Janus, Texas, is based. I spent a lot of time in Texas researching a non-fiction book called True to the Roots: Americana Music Revealed. Each year I emcee a town charity event in that town. I traveled to the DFW area for NASCAR races during the two decades I spent writing about auto racing for a living. As a boy, I went to livestock sales, rodeos and horse shows out there. The culture and heritage of Texas is prominent in me, even though I am a South Carolinian.

Fiona - 
And the tug about WWII?

Monte - 
I gradually became a war buff over the years. I majored in history (and political science) in college. I discovered that, no matter how much one reads, it's no substitute for looking at the lay of the land. First, I started going to Civil War battlefields. Lots of them are near NASCAR venues. Then I got curious about the American Revolution. Then I became interested in World War II. I haven't walked those battlefields, but I've done a lot of reading over the past, oh, five years. Cowboys Come Home begins at Peleliu in the Pacific, but the scene moves quickly to post-war Texas, where Ennis Middlebrooks and Harry Byerly come home hoping for peace but things don't work out that way.

Fiona -
I have an undergraduate degree in history degree; but to be honest, the thought of writing a historic fiction is daunting, especially when people from that era are around and someone could say, "Hey Gramps, is this right?" Did you feel brave starting the journey? What were some of your concerns?

Monte - 

I guess the difficulties are both big and little. I spent a lot of time as a boy talking with my father's uncle, who was stationed in the Pacific during the war. Imagination is involved, too. The book has a lot to do with the relief of war's sacrifice, both at home and among the soldiers (the major characters were Marines). There's an element of post-war corruption and profiteering. The folks back home are tired of rationing and repression. The soldiers are tired of military discipline. A certain desire to go wild hangs in the air. A lot of this involves me trying to put myself in their places. The little things are so much easier to research with the Internet at my disposal. I look up the various models of cars, the brands of beer popular and available, the history of roads and when a dam was built. The real town adapted in the story had a large training camp during the war, and I put some effort into what really went on. The corruption involved in parceling out that land is a major catalyst to the story. I'm not trying to conform with real history, but I'm trying to make a story that is plausible.

Fiona - 
What surprised you the most about the process of researching your book. And what road maps can you give other writers?

Monte -
This is my second trip back in time. My second novel, The Intangibles, was set in the South during the turbulent sixties. Though I wasn't as old as the characters there, I was alive and had many memories to draw upon. This is a greater leap. 

• I'd start out trying to gain a broad overview of the time. For instance, in the past few years, I've read biographies of FDR, Churchill, and MacArthur. They're not characters in my novel, but their stories gave me a feel for life in that time. 
• The next stage is to apply and envision the mood of the time. I have to feel like I know the characters so that I can have a firm grasp of what each would do in the pertinent circumstances.
• Study the language of the time. 
• Try to talk the way people talked. Watch old movies. Use words like "swell" and "scram" and cliches of the time. 

I just got my first one-star review of Forgive Us Our Trespasses. The reason was that the reader didn't like the foul language. I got it from overhearing the kids of today and monitoring their social media and the like. I don't feel comfortable trying to censor and tone down. I doubt many will quibble with the language of Cowboys Come Home. These characters are harsh in other ways. They don't waste time on their Twitter feeds. They waste time drinking liquor and chasing women. They brought home both the audacity and the fatalism of war. Live life to the fullest, for tomorrow may be your last!

Fiona - 
You mentioned physically visiting places - that's huge. I am a big proponent of experiential research. What are some resources that you've used and can recommend?

Monte - 
I'm a photographic person. To write this, I needed to know what it's like to sit on a horse and chat with your buddy while pondering the sunset. I needed to know what the banks of the Red River looked like. I needed to know what it was like to live in a house with a party line. I needed to look up the harsh weather conditions of the 1946 Cotton Bowl, which was played in ice and snow to a scoreless tie between LSU and Arkansas. I needed to know what high school cheerleaders wore in 1946. You can't recreate what it was like in 1946, but you can imagine by visiting places that haven't changed all that much. The Fort Worth Stockyards. An old Texas town with buildings that have been around since that time. An old school building, preserved for history. A lot of these experiences were just stored away and, what do you know? A need for them arose.

Fiona -
Can you talk about your genre change?

Monte - 

I feel as if, as a novelist, I'm flitting about, moving from one genre to another. Part of it is to find a niche. Another is that I'm not suited by nature to stay in one compartment. Writing a novel is both damned hard and damned rewarding. To do it effectively, which is my goal, I have to be absolutely in love with my story and characters. I love my characters. Writing about Riley Mansfield, the pot smoking songwriter of The Audacity of Dope, was fun. So were Chance Benford, the converted football coach of Crazy of Natural Causes, and Denny Frawley, the murderous politician of Forgive Us Our Trespassess. I get tired of all of them, though, by the time the tale is told. My curiosity takes me to something else. Ennis and Harry aren't much like anyone I've written about previously. I've really enjoyed getting to know them.

You can stay in touch with Monte through his
Web Page and Twitter.

As always, a big thank you ThrillWriters and readers for stopping by. Thank you, too, for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you 
helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.

Hitting It Out of the Park: Writing Sports in Your Story with Monte Dutton

ThrillWriting welcomes author, sports journalist Monte Dutton.

Fiona-
Monte, so great for you to come over and share your expertise with us ThrillWriters. Can you give me a quick glimpse at your background as a sports writer?

Monte - 
I'm one of those kids who starts writing three graphs for the local paper when he's 14. I started writing diaries about football practice as a means of getting better at typing. I planned on being a lawyer when I went to college and got accepted, but, after four years of pre-law, I had developed a dislike of lawyers. I decided to take a year off, got a writing job, loved it, won a bunch of awards, and kept at it, not knowing, of course, that one day the slow death of newspapers would begin. I always wanted to write fiction, though. It was just a matter of honing my skills.

Fiona - 

Amazon Link

And you took your love of sport into your writing. Your Kindle Scout Winning book, CRAZY OF NATURAL CAUSES (which, by the way, I thought was fantastic) centered around the football field BUT it wasn't really about football at all, and this Canadian girl--who understands very little about football--was still intrigued by the story line. Can you tell folks about your book, and then how you were able to write about sports (football) while still not writing about sports? Making it accessible to all kinds of readers?

Monte - 
Crazy started out being even crazier, I wanted to write sort of a farce, but once I invented Chance Benford, the maniacal football coach who loses everything, I had grown to take him a bit more seriously. 

Chance becomes a man buffeted about, reinventing himself on the fly, swept away by a current and coping the best he can. He's a good man, but a flawed one. Not a saint. Not a sinner. Like most of us, somewhere in between. In short, I came to care about Chance. I wrote through him and made some changes based on how this man I created would react in this absurd world in which he, and, to a lesser extent, most of us, is living. It's amusing, but it's not a comedy. It's perilous. He acquires enemies. There are people out to get him. He was a football coach, though. He's resourceful.

Sports is in all my three novels so far, but only the middle one is really a sports novel. The first, The Audacity of Dope, is about a pot-smoking songwriter who reluctantly becomes a national hero. 

Riley Mansfield is an ex-football player. 

The Intangibles is centered around a high school football team, but it's about the South and civil rights and the 1960s. 

Chance starts out as a football coach. What I love about sports writing is that it's all right there in front of you. In other areas of life, people fold under pressure and commit fouls, but most of the time, it's behind closed doors. A ballgame is right out there in the spotlight. To summarize, in writing about other issues, I tend to include sports because it has been a vibrant part of my life and I know a lot about it.

Fiona - 
If a writer is including sports in their writing, what guidelines could you give them so that it doesn't read like a play by play of a Monday night game?

Monte - 
Here's one suggestion that I have come across in sports-themed novels. Sometimes the narrative seems to suggest that the character being voiced is something of a simpleton, even as it is obvious from the narrative that he or she is most definitely not. It's a lot of the reason I've written in third person so far. 

Secondly, remember the writer's obligation to tell the reader something he doesn't already know. Know the game well enough not to botch its details, but, in fiction, dwell more on motivations and emotions. A sporting event is worthwhile for writers of thrillers. Lots of shocking things happen. Lots of clues are left. I dramatic game or auto race could easily be the basis of an allegory.

Fiona - 
Let's talk about characters. In sports there is the dynamic of team and individual. How can you balance those in your character and how do you keep from making the whole thing into one great big cliche?

Monte -
I think I'm more of a myth buster than perpetuator. I'm irreverent by nature, and journalism naturally cultivates cynicism. It's easy to typecast people. I'm a populist as a writer and in general, I like to knock the high and mighty down to size. My characters are resourceful, mischievous, likable, flawed, and more than what appears on the surface. There are few stock characters in my books. I don't know. Some might say they are predictably flawed, mischievous, et al. I just try to conjure up characters that intrigue me, figuring there must be others out there who will feel the same way. It's hard to describe a concrete way to avoid clichés, It's sort of like keeping score at a baseball game. There's only one way, which is the way that works for you.

Fiona - 
You have a new book on Kindle Scout - one that is not sports-centric. Can you give us a peek?

Monte - 

Forgive Us Our Trespasses

by MONTE DUTTON

Good cop vs. bad politician. One must die.

Denny Frawley is a corrupt prosecutor with ambition. Hal Kinley, who has known Frawley all his life, is a good cop who has watched his friend grow into an unscrupulous monster. Among the obstacles in Frawley's path to the governorship are an alcoholic spouse, a scheming mistress, and his drug-dealing twins. The kids are as awash in corruption as their father. Kinley's son has been drawn into their orbit. Kinley is determined to save his son and stop his old friend. The odds do not favor him

Fiona -

If you go to this LINK and give this book a thumbs up - it will be delivered to your Kindle for FREE if Monte earns the contract.

Does this novel have any sports in it?

Monte - 
A little golf and baseball. It's a fable about the corruptive influence of patronage. Good cop vs. evil prosecutor and his conniving, murderous minions (not cartoon variety). Denny Frawley is a mean, bigoted crook who wants to steamroll his way to the governorship. He has an alcoholic wife, a scheming mistress, and a pair of drug-dealing twins, who are chips off the old block. Hal Kinley has known Frawley all his life. Kinley's son has fallen under the spell of the Frawley twins, and Hal's goal is to stop Frawley's rise and win back the respect of his son.

Fiona - 
If I were writing about a sportscaster/ sports journalist, what personality traits would be helpful to have and what characteristics would make them a bad fit for their job?

Monte -
Hardworking, underpaid, all sorts of dysfunctions bred from travel, cynical from years of being manipulated and lied to. Sports writers are often flawed. They are fun-loving, and inevitably they are embittered as their world changes. 

Broadcasters have greater egos, are generally prettier, and grow adept at putting on airs, owing to the dramatizing that comes with the job. Sports writers are more insecure. Broadcasters crave adulation. Then, of course, there are exceptions on both sides. Broadcasters are seldom hard-bitten, though.

Fiona -
Thanks, Monte. And now, we insist that you tell us a sports related, perilous story of near woe.

Monte - 

Sports writers have many weaknesses, but they work long hours. Most show up early, and most work late. The sports palaces are darkened and empty hulks by the time most scribes trudge back to their cars, and from there to the room, the airport, and occasionally even home.

I traveled the country following race cars for twenty years. I still write weekly columns about them. About five hundred times I watched, listened, asked questions, transcribed the answers and tried to assemble a series of stories – typically a race story, notebook, a few facts and quotes for what we called “the rail,” and a column – and ship them electronically back to the home office for dissemination.

Five hundred races create the inevitability of randomness.

Hours after a NASCAR race at the sprawling track in Kansas City, Kansas, as dusk was settling over the mass desertion, three friends and I stacked our papers, filled our briefcases and backpacks, donned our windbreakers and headed out.

Behind the Kansas Speedway suite level – the press box is generally the suite with the worst food and fewest drunks – is sort of a breezeway, a long, open-air hall, with the suites on one side and rails on the other, interspersed at regular intervals by elevator cylinders.

We were all about to get on the elevator when one’s cell phone rang. He answered, and it was obviously a call he had to answer. The office, maybe, or his wife, maybe even a race car driver he had been trying to reach for his day-after column.

The rest of us could have boarded, but, out of collegiality, I suppose, we waited.

It was the best phone call ever, even for those of us who still don’t know who it was.

We got on the elevator, and, apparently, the noise reduction, or whatever elevators have, masked the sound of shots being fired because, at the precise time we were descending, at the bottom of the shaft, an armed robbery was taking place at the track’s box office, or whatever they called the place where people counted lots of money on the evening after a NASCAR race where about eighty thousand people had paid their way in.

An off-duty police officer was shot. If the box office had been on the same side of the cylinder as the elevator, four journalists might, too, have been shot. The timing that saved us was crucial. It was the time one of us had been talking on a cell phone and the other three randomly decided to wait.

We walked out of the elevator. We heard the screeching noise of a black station wagon – they don’t call them station wagons anymore, of course – speeding away. As we walked across this plaza, sirens started going off, and police officers started converging – several careening cruisers, two individuals sprinting wide open, and even a helicopter! – although, thankfully, they didn’t see four sedentary sports writers strolling out in the open as possible perps.

Being the keen observers that we journalists are, we became mildly suspicious that something was amiss. We retreated to the elevator and the press box, made a few calls, and started working on an unexpected story.

And pondering whether, by the fateful accident of a phone’s ring, we had cheated death or injury. Destiny just missed.

Fiona -

Thank you, Monte. 

ThrillWriters, can you take five seconds to throw some support behind Monte? Go to this LINK and give his book a boost.

You can stay in touch with Monte Dutton:

• On his blog - mostly fiction and book reviews and essays on writing: wellpilgrim.wordpress.com
• Mostly non-fiction: montedutton.com
• Twitter @montedutton and, slightly more irreverent and generalized, @wastedpilgrim
• Facebook Monte.Dutton
• Instagram Tug50

Thank you so much for stopping by. And thank you for your support. When you buy my books, you make it possible for me to continue to bring you helpful articles and keep ThrillWriting free and accessible to all.