octobre 2009
Lire l'interview en français
Hello Leigh Redhead. Our first question is a kind of ritual on Plume Libre : Who are you, Leigh Redhead ? Could you tell us a little more about you?
I'm a 37 year old Australian who grew up with hippy parents and lived all over the world. I've worked as a stripper, waitress, masseuse, apprentice chef and deckhand on a fishing boat and I'm currently living in Hanoi, Vietnam, writing and teaching English. I've written 4 books in the Simone Kirsch Private Detective series - Peepshow, Rubdown, Cherry Pie , and Thrill City and have just started the fifth, as yet untitled.
What kind of reader are you ?
A voracious one. I'll read anything and everything, even the back of a cereal box. But I've always LOVED crime fiction. I was obsessed with the Trixie Belden girl-detective series when I was a child. So much so that I did my university Masters thesis on Trixie. She was very earthy and funny, so much better than Nancy Drew. Nancy Drew seemed to walk around with a stick up her butt !
How did you come to writing ?
I started writing when I was a little kid, dictating stories to my mother. The first one, when I was 3, was called ‘The farmer and the ghost'. It was more horror than crime but I was leaning toward genre fiction even then. I wrote heaps as a kid, didn't write much during my twenties (having too much of a good time, partying and chasing boys) but got back into it just before I turned 30. I'd been threatening to write a novel for so long I thought ‘it's now or never'. The first draft of Peepshow took me a year to write and when I finished it I think i twas the happiest day of my life. I'm generally lazy and never finish anything. I couldn't believe I'd done it.
Simone Kirsh is a quite unusual character, could you introduce her to the readers ? How is she born ?
Simone has a similar background to me. She was born in November (scorpio) and grew up with hippy parents and did lots of crazy jobs and worked as a stripper before becoming a private detecitve (actually, she still works as a stripper WHILE she's working as a private detective. She needs the money !) I wanted to write as stripper detective character because I thought a lot of female crime characters were too conservative (while the male detectives got to drink and have sex and be involved in violence the females seemed to stick to soft drinks and never got laid). I also was tired of strippers in books and TV being portrayed as bimbos or victims. Most strippers I met in my life were intelligent, tough and very very funny, yet I never saw that in the media. I wanted to portray a realistic stripper character, who identifies as a feminist, even though she takes her clothes off for a living, and I think I have. Another interesting thing about Simone is that her mother lectures in gender studies at university. So there is a juxtaposition between Simone's feminism and her mothers 70's feminism which creates some fun conflict.
Why a private detective ?
I prefer the private detective genre to the police procedural because private detectives can be naughtier than police. Break some laws. I also like writing Simone in first person, which really suits the genre. And I actually did a Private Investigator course in Melbourne so I know a little bit about it. There's a scene in Peepshow where Simone is on a stakeout and has to piss into a funnel. I actually had to do that myself when I was doing my course and it's not easy !
Usually, an author and his main character have some things in common. Is that applies to you ? What do you have in common with Simone ?
We have the same background, and we look a bit the same, but I think Simone is a lot braver than I am. Simone gets to do and say things that I would be too shy or embarrassed to do. But I'm thinking them. She's sort of like my alter ego, but I'm not sure if she's my good or evil twin.
Streep-tease : passion or reason ? It seems that Simone wanted to continue doing some ? How do they become a streeper ? In your case, was it by choice or by particular circumstances ?
Simone's the same as me. I became a stripper because I couldn't get a normal, straight job, but after a while I fell in love with it. I'd always liked being creative and performing, and stripping really fulfilled those urges. It was the most fun job I've ever had, and the girls I worked with became my best friends, and are still my best friends to this day. I've got the ultimate straight job at the moment - teaching - but I have to say I really miss stripping, just like Simone does when she stops.
When writing your first book (Peepshow), did you already have the idea to make it a series ?
Yes, as soon as I finished the first book I knew I wanted it to be a series. I love series detective fiction myself, and I wanted to find out what happened to Simone. It's lucky for me that a lot of readers want to know too. I love how all the characters develop and change through each book.
How do you feel the reception of your books by foreign readers and more particularly by French ?
I'm delighted at all the response I've had from foreign readers. I get a lot of emails through my website and I find that French readers in particular really like the character of Simone. People in some countries are turned off by the fact she works as a stripper, but French readers are not judgemental at all.
What was your reaction when you learnt that your books were translated and sold across the world?
I couldn't believe it and I still can't. I love getting the foreign editions and seeing the different covers and trying (unsuccessfully) to read the translations.
What is your author's best memory ?
It's a toss up between finishing my first draft, and the day I got the email saying my first book would be published by Allen and Unwin. It was my childhood dream come true. Oh - and seeing my book in a bookshop for the first time. It's an amazing feeling.
What would you like to tell to readers who still do not know your books ?
My books are a fun, fast-paced read and Simone is a great character to spend time with. A lot of people write to me and say she's the type of person you'd want to go to a bar and have a drink with. I've tried to make her as realistic as possible, while still writing exciting, unpredictable, page-turning plots. She's complex, funny, tragic - a little bit of everything really - and still gets to give it to the bad guys.
Do you still writing about Simone ? What are your plans ?
I've just finished the 4th Simone Kirsch adventure, Thrill City, set in the world of crime writers. (Hopefully I don't get in too much trouble. I've tried to disguise people so I don't get sued.) I've started the 5th book, which I think will be set in the hippy commune where Simone grew up.
Thank you very much, Leigh Redhead, you have the last word.
The last word ? How about a song lyric : ‘The road goes on forever and the party never ends.'
