Seamus Heffernan has been a lot of things: journalist, student, teacher, politician, and, as of last year, professional writer when his first novel, Napalm Hearts, was published under Crooked Cat Books. Now, just over a year later, Heffernan continues his writing career with Ten Grand, picking up where Napalm Hearts left off, following Thaddeus Grayle, a London-based private eye, as he navigates his newest case.
As one would hope for with crime fiction — and much like Heffernan himself — Ten Grand is brisk and lively, not leaving room for lingering descriptions or subsidiary side plots.
“The book’s prose style is very fast pace. There’s a lot of dialogue, it’s very clipped and there’s a lot of talking back and forth to move things along … I’m not really great at meandering passages, these huge drawn out descriptions. I like books that are really tight and where passages keep moving very quickly.”
His fast-paced tempo is what lends the novel its energy, but Heffernan’s precise writing style helps too; if a scene meanders or strays from the end goal, it gets cut. There’s no mercy in editing, especially when the objective for the final product is a tight, meticulously crafted narrative intended to barrel along.
“You can’t allow yourself to get married to even the stuff that you really like in your book if it’s not telling you something about the characters or moving the story along.”
Despite this, Heffernan wants to give Thaddeus Grayle, as well as other characters, the space to unfold into dynamic individuals.
“I want to see them grow a little bit and you can’t do that unless you give them the time and the pace to express themselves, to give themselves direction.”
Regardless of the fact that Heffernan has now written two novels, he’s not immune to the hurdles writers face. Like anything else, there are challenges that need navigating; motivation, time constraints, and indecision cluttering the mind. But he also knows these challenges won’t impede him for long.
“As long as I knew what the scene was trying to accomplish, how it was going to progress the story, I could get through it.”
Like any other writer, Heffernan is not immune to self-doubt either, but he doesn’t let it stop him.
“There’ll always be things you want to change. If you had an unlimited amount of time, an unlimited amount of resources, you’d be noodling away until the end of days.”
After completing Ten Grand, Heffernan has a wealth of knowledge to share with other writers: kill your darlings, treat writing like your job, learn to accept praise from yourself and others, and learn when to put the pen down and let the editors do their job. However, his most notable piece of advice is this:
“Lots of people say ‘I love to write, but I’m waiting to be inspired,’ which is the single worst thing that you can ever do. If you’re sitting around waiting for lightning to strike, you’re going to be very, very, very disappointed.”
Ten Grand will be released on Tuesday, June 18 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble online, and at local bookstores. The launch party will be held at 6 p.m. on Friday, June 27 at the Kariton Art Gallery.
