Suzanne Harrison

The novelist and journalist tells Lynne Hackles routine in Hong Kong about her writing

Suzanne Harrison, author of The Colour of Thunder, lives in Hong Kong and has been a journalist for many years. She is now a freelance but says: ‘A goal I set in my twenties was to write full-time, and ideally, that would be as a published author. In the absence of that (until recently) I reminded myself I had a varied career doing what I love to do. ‘I work best in the morning and start by checking emails. A full inbox makes me feel out of control so I like to reply quickly. Then I’ll look at some global news websites. I’m a news junkie.

‘I mostly work from home and if someone in my family talks to me, I don’t hear a word. However, phone calls from my sons, studying in Sydney, are always answered. I’m pretty organised. I love stationery, writing things down and also using my phone diary. If I’m on deadline, though, I can lose track of time and a looming deadline means I can conjure laser-sharp focus at any time, barely coming up for air.

‘When I started as a cadet at the local newspaper, the offices were noisy and everyone swore and smoked. However, my perfect (fantasy) writing day now, for fiction, is a comfortable office chair, good wifi and being left totally alone.

‘If you move to Hong Kong as an adult, you have to make a solid social effort if you don’t want to be lonely. We’re lucky as we live in a beach-side village. Kids run around barefoot, neighbours call in. But office hours can be long and travel is common. With Covid, however, that stopped completely. We had two weeks quarantine with all five of us wearing tracking bracelets and no one killed anyone, so that’s good.

‘The Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society invited me to talk at an event. The subject was “Mistakes I have made. Lessons I’ve learnt.” I was so keen to do it

– I’ve made a lot of mistakes – but Covid hit and it was cancelled. Soon, however...

‘When I was six years old, growing up in Perth, Western Australia. I won a competition writing a story about a naughty koala. At the age of fourteen I wrote in my journal that I would become a journalist. I’ve always loved reading but wasn’t exactly brilliant academically. I was encouraged, but knew I’d have to work at it. My great grand-aunt was quite a famous Western Australian author, Katharine Susannah Prichard, known for her controversial communist stance. There were book-mad people I could have met and mingled with but I was more interested in hanging out at the beach. It was after university that I wanted to find myself stumbling into the world of writers. I craved adventure and hoped journalism would take me there. In fact, in 1997, I did actually sit next to Salman Rushdie at a bar in Dublin. I sipped my drink, saying nothing, and regret that.

‘I’ve written many half-finished novels, some terrible, some pretty good. In 2015, I started The Colour of Thunder, a thriller set in modern-day Hong Kong.

It’s being published by Legend Press in February. The story was inspired by the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong in 2014.

I’d lived there since 1999, but in 2015/2016, we were temporarily in Sydney. I was homesick for Hong Kong and envisioned a story about the diversity and excitement of the city with the protests as a backdrop. I enjoy delving into what makes people behave the way they do and can spend a month thinking about the germ of an idea. When ready, I just start writing, usually in the morning and after I’ve done some kind of exercise, so I don’t go mad. I’ll edit the first chapter for weeks then tell myself to move on.

‘Knowing Hong Kong so well, research for The Colour of Thunder was minimal. However, the journalist in me made sure small elements were factual. As for planning, much is seeing potential, like a movie trailer in my mind. Listening to loud music in the car or when walking works wonders on my imagination.

‘I’m currently working on a semi-comic novel where a single mother witnesses something she wasn’t meant to and has to deal with the fallout. She has teenage sons, halfdrunk retired parents and various unhelpful friends. I hope it’s funny and heartfelt. My aim is to finish it by the end of the year.’