Gary Kemble's debut novel, Strange Ink reads more like the work of an established novelist. The writing is powerful, the characters spring off the page and the darkness at the heart of the book is truly chilling. The protagonist Harry Hendrick wakes up hungover with a tattoo on his neck he has no memory of acquiring. Harry is a journalist with a small local newspaper and naturally curious so he's intrigued when he discovers that the tattoo is a representation of an arcane magical symbol. However as he begins to have dark and disturbing dreams and more tattoos appear on his body Harry knows that something supernatural is trying to warn him. As Harry investigates further he discovers a tangled web of darkness tied to a story that almost destroyed his career and he becomes determined to uncover the truth. Strange Ink is a thrill-ride of a book, full of tension and darkness that at times is all too human. Highly recommended, especially if like me, you are a fan of Angela Slatter's Verity Fassbinder series.
I had the chance to ask Gary a few questions about Strange Ink, his writing and his influences.
Q1. Who are your literary heroes and why?
I'm a huge Stephen King fan. I like the way
he takes normal settings and gives them a macabre twist. It's
something I've tried to emulate in Strange Ink.
On a completely different note, I really
enjoy Kurt Vonnegut because he breaks many of the rules of writing
and yet it still works. I aspire to be so brave.
Q2. Strange Ink features a main character;
Harry being haunted by another character; Rob and yet the difference
between the two is made obvious. Was this difficult to write?
Yeah, I didn't want Rob to be too
stereotypical. I reached out to people who know former special forces
soldiers to see if I could get someone to read the Rob sections, but
didn't have any luck so I had to rely on military non-fiction (mostly
SAS Sniper by Rob Maylor and Robert Macklin). (Yes, the character in
my book is named in Rob Maylor's honour).
The other tricky bit was gauging how much
detail to include as Rob's personality begins to bleed into Harry's.
I didn't want to be too heavy-handed but I also didn't want readers
to miss the clues. I hope I got the balance right!
Q3. Any advice for a debut novelist?
It's handy having a second book pretty much
ready to go if/when your first is picked up. That was the situation
when I sold Strange Ink (Skin Deep down under) to Australian
publisher Echo. It meant I wasn't freaking out about book 2 in the
series, because I had a fairly solid draft in my back pocket.
Q4. The story is very much rooted in Brisbane.
Is it important for you to make the place and the landscape part of
the story?
A large part of it was just not wanting to
bite off more than I could chew. I had what I felt was a solid
concept. Setting Strange Ink in my hometown meant I could draw
heavily on my own experiences and locations I know so well.
I'm proud to have a genre book set in
Brisbane on the global stage (following in the footsteps of John
Birmingham, Trent Jamieson and Angela Slatter... and more) but I
definitely planning on spreading my wings in future books.
Q5. Will you revisit Harry in your fiction in
the future?
Yes! The second Harry Hendrick book -- Dark
Ink -- is coming out in 2019. I have drafts for books 3 and 4, but
we'll have to see how the first two go, so please keep your fingers
crossed!
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