Author Interview With Jake Needham

So, what exactly  do you write?

Contemporary crime fiction, set mostly in Asian cities like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok.

How would you describe yourself in a short third person bio?

Jake Needham is an American screen and television writer who began writing crime novels when he realized he didn’t really like movies and television very much. He is a lawyer by education and only became a screenwriter through a series of accidents too ridiculous to be believed. Prior to that he held a number of significant positions in both the pubic and private sectors where he took part in a lengthy list of international operations he has no intention of telling you about. Mr. Needham has lived and worked in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Thailand for over twenty-five years. He, his wife, and their two sons now divide their time between homes in Bangkok and New York.

What made you initially want to write? Has your motivation changed since then?

The truth is that I never really had any breast-beating desire to write anything. About twenty-five years ago, I ended up owning — entirely by accident — a little Hollywood production company that made movies for American cable television. I was trying to bootstrap the company into something more significant than it was and sketched out an outline for a film as an example of the kind of thing I thought we ought to be doing. A guy at HBO saw my outline and offered to commission a screenplay and put it into development. And that’s the strange and wondrous story of how I became a professional writer….

What do you think is the most important part of writing?

The peace and solitude necessary to do it well.

What is your favourite part of writing?

The peace and solitude necessary to do it well.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.

I hate answering questions about myself.

Do you have a day-job, (other than writing)?

No.

Do you prefer a physical book or an ebook? Why?

I read fiction primarily on my iPad for the convenience of it, but I read non-fiction primary in printed form because I suppose it feels more substantial that way.

So, you write crime fiction novels; tell us a little about your first publication.

THE BIG MANGO was my first novel. I guess it’s really more of a caper novel than the kind of contemporary crime fiction I write now. Maybe it’s even a little old fashioned, but then so am I. For whatever reason, it’s always been a favorite of Hollywood. It’s been optioned so many times over the last ten or twelve years and so many screenplays have been written that I’ve almost lost count. First James Gandolfini was going to do it for HBO right after ‘The Sopranos’ was over, then Tome Cruise was going to make it between ‘Mission Impossible’ gigs, then…well, you get the idea. Sadly, however, it’s never actually been filmed by anyone. And so it goes…

So, how long does it take you, on average, to complete a first draft?

Two or three months. Maybe six weeks longer that that if I’m having fun.

Which projects are you working on at the moment?

I’m finishing the second Inspector Tay novel which will follow on after THE AMBASSADOR’S WIFE. It will be out in fall 2012.

How do you come up with the titles for your books? And do you have the final title before completing your book or after?

Titles are important to me. I have a list of at least thirty terrific titles which have popped into my head at one time or another and for which I have no books yet. I guess that means I have some catching up to do.

How has writing changed your life?

I’m proud of what I do, of course — and nothing pleases me more than knowing that, no matter what happens to me, my sons will always have a line of my books sitting up on their shelves somewhere — but I can’t say writing novels has really changed anything for me. Most professional writers I know treat the work like any other job. We show up at the office in the morning, put in a day’s work, and go home at the end of the day. It’s just that we don’t get paid nearly as well for our days as guys who pull teeth or fix clogged sinks.

Where do you get inspiration for writing from? Do you listen to music whilst writing or have a ‘writing cave’?

I write in absolute silence. Solitude is inspiration enough for me since I’m making all this stuff up anyway. I can’t imagine how people sit in a Starbucks and focus enough attention on the page to end up with even halfway decent work. I know a lot of people do, but I just don’t get it.

Is there a particular form, style or genre that you’d like to have a go at writing? Why?

Not really. I enjoy the kind of thing I’m writing now and I’m pretty good at it. Life is short enough as it is and it doesn’t give you time to write all that many books. I don’t want to waste any of that time writing a horror novel or some sci-fi thing and have it come out as crap. Better to stick to what I do well and do more of it.

Favourite book and/or author(s)?

I enjoy the usual suspects in my genre: Mike Connelly, Steve Leather, James Lee Burke, Martin Cruz Smith, John Sandford. Like that.

Do you think it’s necessary to have a degree (of any sort) in order to be a successful author?

No, I don’t. Certainly not a degree in creative writing, whatever that’s supposed to amount to. Editors and agents help you develop your talent, assuming you have some, not creative writing instructors.

What would you say to those who want to become a writer? Any advice?

Earn some money first and give yourself a cushion. Don’t put yourself under pressure to earn your living as a working novelist right from the beginning. It would shock you how small a percentage of published novelists actually do that, even among many who are well-known and well-establsihed.

Thank you very much for your time.

You’re welcome.

Links

Web site – http://jakeneedham.com/