Q&A with author Gregory Payne
‘Chase to the Brazen Head‘ is an exciting read. There’s a secret society, mysterious characters from the past, wild boat rides, giant fighting crickets and an archery exam – where the price of failure is death. Today, we talk to Gregory Payne, about how he came to write the book:
YH: What inspired you to write ‘Chase to the Brazen Head’?
GP: I’ve always liked history so was really interested when one day I discovered the journals of the West China Border Research Society (one of the ‘history clubs’ for adults which were popular in China before 1949) in the HKU library. Reading these journals gave me the idea to write ‘Chase to the Brazen Head’.
YH: How did you become a writer?
GP: When I was a child my father used to take our family to second-hand book shops, to buy fiction. This made me interested in reading stories, as a child, and that led me to trying to write it!
YH: Do you have any advice for someone who wants to be a writer?
GP: Write about what you know. If you write about what you know, you are more likely to create a really believable story for your readers.
YH: You must know a lot about Chinese history, culture and history. Why are you so interested in China?
GP: I have lived in Hong Kong many years, and many of my colleagues are Chinese. I became curious about their lives and wanted to know more, so I tried to learn as much as I could about Chinese culture and history.
YH: How did you learn so much about all the weapons in the book?
GP: When I was a teenager I did a lot of archery, so when I came to write the book I already knew a lot about archery. For the other weapons in the book, I learned about them from going to museums, and reading articles and books on the subject. But I learned the most from old historical journal articles.
YH: Who are your favourite writers?
GP: Two authors who write fiction for adults: George Orwell – who wrote ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ and ‘Animal Farm’, among other things – and Michael Ondaatje – who is most famous for his novel ‘The English Patient’.
YH: What is the first book you remember reading?
GP: A picture book called ‘Chicken Little’ – about a chicken who thinks that the sky is falling. My parents taped me reading it aloud when I was 5 or 6 years old, and they still have the recording somewhere!
YH: What were your strengths/weaknesses in school? Were you athletic; artistic; musical?
GP: I was just an ordinary kid. I enjoyed history and English lessons, but I wasn’t much good at maths! I played ‘Aussie Rules’ football, and did a lot of archery in my spare time.
YH: When you were writing the book did you ever have a long break from writing?
GP: No. Once I had started, I was anxious to finish it.
YH: When did you start writing books?
GP: When I was 12 years old.
YH: Do you have any pets?
GP: I have a dog called ‘Bingley’, and a cat called ‘Darcy’. They are named after Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy in ‘Pride and Prejudice’.
YH: Did you always want to be a writer?
GP: I always felt that, one day, I would try to write a novel. It was like some ‘unfinished business’ that I knew I would have to get to eventually.
The second photo down is Timeless Books by Lin Pernille ♥ Photography
