Switch Author Grant McKenzie – Interview
Debut Author on His New Thriller and 20-year Quest to Get Published
Jun 29, 2009
Grant McKenzie’s first piece of writing was a play featuring Hong Kong Phooey when he was 10 years old. When he was 13 his family emigrated from East Kilbride, Scotland, to Calgary in Canada. He became a journalist working the ‘dead-body beat at the local tabloid’ and decided, aged 26, that he wanted to be a novelist. After five manuscripts went unpublished, he finally hit gold with Switch, a crime thriller that unfolds at a blistering pace. It’s about two men whose families are kidnapped by a psychopath, who then orders the men to commit various crimes. He lives in Gibsons, British Columbia, with his wife and daughter.
Where did the idea for Switch come from?
Grant McKenzie It was an amalgamation of ideas. Finally, two different ideas came together when I thought, Hey this could be an interesting premise. One idea dealt with a mall Santa and another with a black cop. Neither of those appear in the book, but that was the genesis. The big thing is for an idea to be strong enough for me to want to start writing and then it takes on a life of its own. A few people have told me they didn’t see the twist coming at the end of Switch, and one of the reasons is that I didn’t see it coming.
You’ve got several narrative strands woven into Switch. Was that difficult to achieve?
GM This is the sixth book I’ve written but the first that’s sold. This one definitely had a faster pace to it. The jumping back and forth actually became faster after it was accepted [for publication]. The original draft was 85,000 words and then after I sold it they asked me to cut 15,000 words. I had a lot more dialogue between the two cops, but the editor said some of the dialogue was interesting but didn’t add to the plot.
Using the 19-century Shanghai Tunnels under Portland, Oregon, gives Switch a distinctive atmosphere. How did you come up with that?
GM The novel I had written before Switch was set in Seattle. For Switch I wanted a different city but still on the west coast because I live there and know it. Portland is an easy drive from Vancouver and as I researched it I discovered these tunnels and thought, Oh, that’s cool. So I researched their history and used it in the book. But I stretched the tunnels to places they didn’t actually go in real life. I don’t let facts get in the way of telling a good story.
What lessons did you learn from the five manuscripts you wrote that didn’t get published?
GM I became a better writer with each book. Everyone and his dog has an idea for a novel. But the big thing is taking an idea and making it into a novel-length story that’s interesting. I jumped genres a little bit trying to find my niche. One of the closest books I got to publication before Switch was a near-future sci-fi thriller. After that I wrote another book, which I still think is a terrific book, and that was another thriller, but with younger characters and a techno edge to it. But the darkness of that novel was the reason it did not get picked up [by a publisher], especially in the US. That was why I asked my agent to shop my new book, Switch, round the UK because the writers tend to be darker. You look at somebody like Martina Cole, who I really like, and you can’t write any darker than she goes with her characters. I hoped the UK would be more accepting, and they were excited by Switch.
What problems did you encounter as you wrote Switch?
GM The problem for debut writers is confidence because your only critic is yourself. So you’re constantly questioning everything you do, every sentence you write, every character you create. You have to keep buffering yourself. Switch went through eight or ten drafts and with each one I was able to smooth the edges and work on those scenes I’d got stuck on.
How is your follow-up to Switch going?
GM It hasn’t officially been accepted yet. I’m close to wrapping up the rough first draft. I’m not happy with it yet. I’m just trying to get the story down. I want to get to my editor this summer. It’s a stand-alone thriller with totally new characters, set in Canada and over the border in the US. I’m working on it full time, not because I have any money but my contract at the newspaper ended and I wanted to give everything I have to make novels my career. I’m broke but enjoying the writing.
How have you been inspired by your crime reporting experience?
GM Sometimes as a reporter you felt a bit useless – all you could do was report the facts. Whereas in fiction you can jump in and take over. In a fictional way you can bring about a resolution.
How did you get an agent?
GM You send out query letter after query letter. The agent I have now, Amy Moore-Benson, represents Alex Kava. I was looking at some of the publishing deals posted and noticed that Amy was a new agent who had just sold a big three-book deal for Alex Kava, who writes thrillers, and I thought, Oh, maybe she would be interested.
Inspirations?
GM John Sandford, Robert McCammon, British thriller writers Suart MacBride and Allan Guthrie, Simon Kernick. Martina Cole’s very interesting. I also read science fiction and British fantasy. And Neil Gaiman and comic books – I’d love to write a comic book one day.
Your number one book to re-read?
GM The book I would love to have written is Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon. I just think it’s fabulous.
Publication Information
Switch ISBN 9780553819915 is published by Bantam in the UK; in Canada by Penguin July 2010; by Heyne in Germany in August 2009
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