Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures.com is pleased to have as our guest, Richard Graham-Yooll.  Richard is the author of A Foreign Policy.

Good day Richard and thank you for agreeing to participate in our interview.

Norm:

Richard, when did your passion for writing begin? What kept you going when you probably, like most authors, received rejection slips?

Richard:  

It began pretty soon after my interest in reading, a long time ago, but it was a long, long time before I decided to try seriously to get books published. Until then, I suspect that fear of rejection was a major factor that held me back. Once I started, I guess it was arrogance that kept me going, the assumption that each rejection had to be a mistake. This isn’t good. I would have done much better if I had realized early on that for many rejections there was a reason. In fact, premature encouragement is bad for a writer. I submitted my first novel directly to Simon & Schuster ten years ago. Although rejected, I received a very detailed and encouraging response, stating the reasons for rejection. Instead of rewriting, I submitted to more publishers. Then I submitted the same manuscript to agents. I am a slow learner.

Norm:

Was there anyone who really influenced you to become a writer?

Richard:

Yes, and I’m going to contradict what I just said. I believe the person was Miss Trant, my English teacher in what in this country would be my 3^rd grade. Encouragement is a powerful tonic for a child with no confidence. Teachers are so powerful. If a teacher assures a child it is a born writer, the chances are it will become one, even if he or she really wasn’t to begin with.

Norm:

How did A Foreign Policy come about?

Richard:

Slowly. It was a merging of completely separate ideas.  I visited Iran just months before the revolution and after visiting Saudi Arabia, I was haunted by some similarities. While working for an international insurance company, I saw some criminal potential in the business, but it seemed better to write about it than test it. Then more recently I was struck by the fact that while American insurance companies consider terrorism to be the major economic threat, the giant European reinsurance companies are focusing on the catastrophic impact of global warming, with data to back their concerns. Somewhere in all this I knew there was a story if I combined the ingredients.

Norm: 

How did you create Guy Sinclair in your book? Did you plan him out or did he evolve as you wrote the book?

Richard:

I was never sure whether Guy would work out as a hero. I wanted my protagonist to reflect the thinking of an average American businessman, orthodox and ordinary. From that point he evolved. While not stupid, he is certainly not an intellectual. Nonetheless, his understanding of the world became more sophisticated without his realizing it, and ultimately he stood up for what was most important to him. If he survived, it was despite me, not because of planning. So, the answer to your question is that he evolved on his own. I cannot take credit.

Norm:

As a follow up, what would you say is Guy’s biggest strength? His greatest weakness?

Richard:

Guy’s conservatism is both his strength and his weakness. He is accustomed to hierarchical command, to following and taking orders. He trusts his employer and his government when he should have reason to doubt, but on the other hand he is slow to trust anyone from outside his familiar world. He probably should not have married an actress but, having made the commitment, he is loyal to her needs and in this we see his strength. Once he accepts a situation, he is loyal and persevering. This isn’t to say the poor man is retarded, just a little slow to accept new ideas.

Norm:

Throughout A Foreign Policy you have included some very detailed dialogues. Where did that dialogue come from?

Richard:

My wife says I talk too much. I enjoy acting and I like to hear a person’s voice when I write. Writing dialogue is like improvised acting. You start a dialogue and do not necessarily know how exactly it is going to end up.

Norm:

Will there be any unique ways you'll be marketing your book that is different from how others authors market their books?

Richard:

I wish I knew how other authors marketed their books. I have gone with a small publisher. The good news is that they offered to get the book out within nine months of contract, and I felt that topicality was important. The bad news is, I suspect, a minuscule marketing budget. For the moment, I am relying very much on networking, primarily through email, by persuading groups of friends, business acquaintance, and anyone whose address I have, to pass the word onto their friends, and so on. Since book is coming out in paperback, which means it’s relatively cheap to buy and mail, I am taking advantage of Internet availability in different countries to spread these networks as widely as I can. For example, I have a few English speakers in Japan who are ordering copies from a Japanese online supplier. Once the book is out and available, I may try to promote some controversy to stimulate interest.

Norm:

Tell us more about the title of the book – A Foreign Policy. What does it signify?

Richard: 

It’s a weak pun. Large insurance policies are more foreign than most Americans realize since they may be reinsured in several different countries. I use the word “foreign” also as something strange or threatening and, of course, there is the political side. How will history view US foreign policy toward countries like Iran and Saudi Arabia? This is not being judgmental. A problem with any foreign policy is that it relates to established governments and not necessarily to the people they govern. Sometimes the interests of the two are not the same.

Norm:

Who are your favorite authors, and why do they inspire you?

Richard:

This should be an easy question, but I tend to go through phases. Certainly not all the writers I enjoy inspire me. Robert Ludlum may be the doyen of international intrigue, and I have enjoyed his work, but I have not read anything of his for a long time, and while Ken Follett is another leader in the genre, recent work has been disappointing. I admire Dick Francis and enjoy most mystery writers, but I limit my doses. Long term favorites are Graham Greene and Somerset Maugham. I could ramble on with names, but I don’t think it would be helpful. My literary tastes are very catholic and I admire and enjoy many non-fiction writers, like Bill Bryson and Stephen Jay Gould.

Norm:

What is next for Richard Graham-Yooll, and is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Richard:

I have completed another thriller, which is in the editing stage, but I would like at some point to get back to writing a historical novel. I began one as a teenager but never finished. I think there is one thing I would add about the writing business. It’s lonely and isolating and the best answer is to find a compatible group, more for the companionship than even the critiquing.

Thanks once again Richard and good luck with all of your future endeavors.