How I wrote a novel on espionage

Debut novelist Nick Davies has written a sunset-noir story about a tourist swept into a dangerous world of Latin American espionage. El Flamingo (RRP $31.99, YBK Publishers) is out now.

You bought a ticket to Colombia to research this book. Tell us about that.

I had never been before, but at the time I had a great interest in the mountainous, jungle-clad landscapes, the coffee, the history of resilience, the magical realism. That ultimately served as the genesis for the story as I thought it would be the perfect setting for a lost, disillusioned dreamer who is thrown into a world unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

How did that experience serve your writing?

Colombia and Mexico are characters themselves that speak profoundly to the senses, to the emotions. There is so much that uplifts, yet much that breaks your heart. All the incredible things these nations gift to the world – the music, the dances, the food, the storytelling – are found in abundance, while constantly hovering over their lives is corruption, violence, crime, and poverty that the people are forced to weave around. It served my writing by allowing me to have a base inspiration for every scene which [character] Lou Galloway encounters. Every cobblestone street, back-alley coffee shop, jungle-hidden salsa bar, and Mexican-hacienda wedding, was based on something I witnessed firsthand.

What is sunset noir?

Sunset-noir refers to the subgenre that El Flamingo falls into. Maybe it’s the first of its kind. It is set against a backdrop that contains elements of noir that form a character-driven mystery thriller, while evoking more escapism, more colour, more humour, more adventure than your standard mystery or thriller.

How does it feel for this character to be out in the world?

Exciting, surreal and downright weird. For about five years Lou Galloway was this imaginary dude I sat around yarning with at all hours, like some kind of a madman. It’s like having an imaginary friend who is suddenly about to (hopefully) be envisioned by a bunch of other people, and that’s a little nerveracking.

Plans for another book?

I have ideas, but they will take some time to make their way onto a page. I personally work slowly, and it takes a good year or two of purely just living, learning and imagining before a narrative starts to carve itself out.