An Interview With Laney Cairo
At the beginning of August, Torquere Press's Alex Draven interviewed Laney. He has graciously given us permission to print the interview here.
Alex Draven : Undercover Blues is set in Australia, although neither of the main characters is a native - what's your connection with the country?
Laney Cairo : I’m a Londoner by birth, but have lived in Australia for long enough that I have an Australian accent, unless of course the person listening is actually Australian. My children were born here, my social connections are here, and I don’t think I’ll be leaving here any time soon.
AD : Do you surf? Or prefer to watch others in action?
LC : I have surfed, a long time ago, and dredged up those teenage memories for the writing of Undercover Blues. I think I’m a bit middle-aged and arthritic to get on a board now.
AD : For a regional crime boss, Harvey Cooper's a pretty likeable chap - where do your sympathies lie more? The police or the bad guys? Cops or robbers?
LC : More misspent youth here. I once had peripheral contact with an outlaw bikie gang, and while at one level I knew the blokes ran drugs and used violence for profit, they were also considerate and good-natured. They had a code of conduct that was about looking after their own people. It obviously made an impression on me, and I was able to use my own grudging admiration of these blokes to make Harvey likeable. If he’d been only vicious and greedy, Undercover Blues would have been a different story.
Having said that, I’m an inherently law-abiding person who’s never even had a speeding ticket.
AD : Do you have any favourite cop shows or police proceedural writers that have inspired you?
LC : I read a fair bit of crime, but find that what sets my imagination on fire are the stories written in the space in between the criminals and the police. I personally blame the Modesty Blaise and Travis McGee novels, where the real fun action is an amalgam of criminal activity and law enforcement. I also adore the Elizabeth George ‘Inspector Lynley’ novels, which are very much character-driven.
AD : So, what are you working on at the moment? Anything we might be seeing soon?
LC : I have two more titles pending with Torquere. Bad Case of Loving You is about a doctor and a medical student, and the politics of a unionized public health system. And Fand is an urban fantasy.
I finished another short novel a couple of days ago that I’m currently tidying up, ready to send off. There’s a full-length novel also finished and in the rewrite stage. There’s a half-written mainstream speculative fiction novel that needs finishing. And I have four more novels at the planning stage.
I’ve enjoyed using an Australian setting so much for Undercover Blues and the recently completed novel that I’m thinking of a rural Australian setting for the next novel. It would be an excuse to tax-deduct a trip out of the city too.