russell wiley is out to lunch

Russell Wiley a unicorn leader among the horses and other great office wisdoms.

Britty Books is pleased to welcome author, Richard Hine! His debut novel Russell Wiley is Out to Lunch was released as an Amazon Encore novel.  The Encore identifies “exceptional yet overlooked books and works.”  Agreed!  Having been fortunate enough to read the first novel by this up and coming talent, Britty Books had the opportunity to garner some wisdom from the author.


Britty:  Richard, Russell Wiley Is Out to Lunch is your debut novel.  What motivated you to get into the writing business?

Richard Hine: As a boy in England, it seemed to me that being a novelist was the most glamorous thing one could do without leaving the house. I loved reading. And when teachers started telling me I could write, it encouraged me to start dreaming about one day writing a book of my own.

When I was eight or nine, I decided to write a murder mystery.  It was the kind of graphic, sadistic, serial killer tale that, if written today, would get a kid removed from class and seriously medicated.  Despite that, I was allowed to read a new chapter each week to the rest of the kids in my Catholic primary school class.  After several chapters, though, I got stuck and missed a week.  Then a girl called Juliet was anointed the class’s new literary star because she had described a pond as being “dank and mallow.”  After that, my project just dwindled out.  Years later, the novelist Amanda Filipacchi, who is also my life partner, impressed upon me that the key to being a novelist was not simply starting, but finishing your projects.  Which is an important piece of advice, especially for people who have lots of ideas and very little discipline.

I went to an all-boys, Jesuit-run secondary school.  I distinguished myself as a surly, scruffy, cigarette-smoking, chronically late student.  I decided to leave as soon as I was legally allowed, at the age of 16.  Despite my under performance in most academic areas, my English teacher Father Thomas had decided that, as a writer at least, I had a rare quality called “style.” Unable to convince me to stay on at school, take ‘A’ levels and go to university, he implored me to at least not give up on my writing. “Never forget you have style,” he said.

I never forgot that comment.  But I didn’t do much to pursue a fiction writing career for many years.  Instead, I became an advertising and promotion copywriter.  I got into the media business—working at magazines and newspapers—and after a few promotions became an “executive.” I got into short story writing in the 1990s.  I took a continuing ed class at first, and then later joined two writing workshops, one run by Susie Mee, the other by Carol Emshwiller, both of whom were excellent teachers and very encouraging to me.  I published several pieces.  A few years ago, Amanda Filipacchi started her own fiction writing-and-critiquing group—it’s officially called the Fiction Laboratory—and I eventually got around to working on a novel.  For once, I listened to the advice I was given and finished the project.

Britty: What advice would you give to would-be novelists?

Richard Hine: Don’t be scared.

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