ALL SAINTS DAY INTERVIEW : R J ELLORY

All Saints Day Interview: R J Ellory

R J Ellory's A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS is a beautiful piece of writing. A fantastic bit of storytelling. A modern classic.

He's also written loads of other books which everyone says are dead good, too.Really.

RJ has a new novel out at the moment called Saints Of New York. And it's All Saints Day today. So . . .

I got into my private helicopter and flew to England to interrogate him with a series of questions worthy of Gore Vidal. Or Vidal Sassoon.

Anyway, we shared a jumbo kebab in Birmingham Bull Ring, next to that Tony Hancock statue.I think.

PDB: Your name is a bit like Roger Melly from Viz. Do you ever get confused with him?

RJE:  Yes, all the time.  In fact, only today, I was in a supermarket in Toronto and the supermarket attendant asked if I was THE Roger Melly, the one from Viz.  

I told her I was, yes.  She was so excited she said I could have all my groceries for free.  Like a special gift for being Roger Melly.  I went back later and told her the truth, that I wasn't really Roger Melly.  She asked me why I would do that.  She told me she had already called her mother and her aunt and her uncle and told them that she had met Roger Melly from Viz.  I said I was sorry.  She said that wasn't good enough, that a 'sorry' didn't clean the slate, that I shouldn't tell lies and fool people around like that.  She made me pay for my groceries.  She also fined me twenty dollars and said if I didn't pay the twenty dollars she would call the cops.  I paid the twenty dollars.  

The rest of the time people think my name is Ellroy and they ask me if I am the guy that wrote 'LA Confidential'.

PDB: How much research did you do for 'LA Confidential'?

RJE: I watched the film twice before I didn't write the book.  While I was not writing the book I spoke to two other people who had also seen the film, and they helped me not write the book.  Their help was invaluable.  Had it not been for their input, I think I might have even ended up with an incompletely unwritten book.  I also studied the history of the donut while I was not writing the book.  The book talks a lot about American cops, and if you're going to write about American cops you need to know everything possible about donuts.  Or so I'm told.

PDB: How long should the perfect guitar solo last?

RJE: The perfect guitar solo should last from the start to the end of the solo itself, and no longer.  If the guitar solo starts before it's supposed to start, then it will drown out the singing.  This is not a good thing.  If the guitar solo lasts longer than it should, then it will obscure the singing when it resumes.  It is very simple really.  It should start when it is supposed to start, should continue for the entire duration of its length, and then stop when it is supposed to stop.  That way you can hear what the singer is singing and all that other stuff.  That is the perfect length for a guitar solo, and I challenge anyone to disagree.

PDB: You were born in Birmingham, lived in Canada and write in American. You travel a lot and your books have been translated into oodles of languages. Is this anything to do with the Witness Relocation Programme?

RJE: I was born in Birmingham, have never lived in Canada, but I did return from Canada this morning.  I was only there for a week.  This was not - however - part of the Witness Relocation Program, but part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors.  The reason I write in American is so that people won't recognize me in the street.  I once wrote something in English, and I was interrupted while eating dinner in a restaurant.  This was a traumatic episode in my life, and I hope never to repeat it.

PDB: A Quiet Belief In Angels has been optioned to be made into a film by the man behind the Edith Piaf film. Is it going to be a musical?

RJE: I hope so, yes.  I heard a rumor that Benny from Abba was looking at the possibility of getting his cousin to write some music for it, but then I heard that Benny doesn't have a cousin so now I am not sure.  The difficulty with the film industry is that so much of what you hear is just gossip.  You hear one thing from one person, another thing from someone else, and you don't know what to think.  The only rumor I have heard that got me enthusiastic about the musical adaptation was that Elton John was considering the part of Joseph Vaughan.   I just have to be patient, as with all things.  I know that also that despite what everyone has been saying, Clint Eastwood has not directed a musical before.  I thought he directed 'Singing In The Rain', but I was wrong.

PDB: RJ is JR spelled backwards. How weird is that?!

RJE: Well, my mother gave me those initials because she didn't want me to be mistaken for JR Ewing of 'Dallas' fame, you know?  She knew that at some point during the series someone would shoot him, and she didn't want me to be hurt because of a simple case of mistaken identity.  I think it showed a considerable sense of foresight on her part, don't you?  Hence JR Ellory was never destined to be, and I was simply RJ Ellory.  Brilliant!

PDB: Which is the best, Truman Capote, Freddy Truman or 'True' by Spandau Ballet?

RJE: This question I don't even know how to answer!  I am concerned that my answer may incriminate me, and therefore I invoke the Fifth Amendment and decline to answer in case the information I give is injurious to my reputation or standing in the community.  I do know a couple of things: that I have never read a good book by Freddy Truman, nor has Truman Capote ever demonstrated a natural flair for cricket, and as far as Spandau Ballet is concerned...well, let's just say I missed the eighties altogether, and that was a conscious decision.

Cheers Mr E!

R J ELLORY's  official website is here.