Alex Pavesi is the author of the new novel Ink Ribbon Red. He also has written the novel The Eighth Detective. He lives in Surrey, England.
Q: What inspired you to write Ink Ribbon Red, and how did you create your cast of characters?
A: I'm always looking to try new things. The idea of writing a mystery novel in which it was unclear what was real and what was fiction (fiction within the fiction) really appealed to me.
It wasn't long before I hit on the idea of a birthday party where the host asks his guests to write stories for him, instead of giving him presents – stories that are specifically about murder – and the rest followed from that.
Six felt like the optimal number of participants for this party, so I began by modelling the characters after the characters in the TV show Friends. I altered them substantially to fit better into the world of the book (which is a lot darker than Friends) but it was very helpful to have those characters as a starting point.
Q: The author Martin Edwards said of the book, “Quirky and unpredictable, Ink Ribbon Red is a Rubik’s Cube of unreliable narratives.” What do you think of that description?
A: Martin has a great way with words! Unpredictability is a quality that I look for in a novel, when I'm choosing what to read, so I was glad to see that Martin described my book in that way.
I think a lot of crime fiction caters to a desire for familiarity, which is something that I do occasionally enjoy, but to me there is nothing better than reading a book and having no idea where it's going to end up.
Q: How was the novel’s title chosen, and what does it signify for you?
A: I liked the idea of having a title that at first glance didn't appear to make much sense, which then becomes straightforward once you get to a certain point in the book. I felt that mirrored the structure of the book itself.
I picked out that particular phrase because I felt the three short nouns were quite impactful when combined together.
Q: Did you write the book in the order in which it appears, or did you move
things around as you were writing?
A: I moved things around a lot and tried various orderings and combinations. Quite a few scenes were cut as well. This was an extremely time-consuming process of trial and error and was probably the most difficult aspect of writing the book.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I won't say much about my next book because a lot is still to be determined, but I will say that it focuses on code breaking. There are surprisingly few mystery novels that centre around codes and ciphers, so I decided I would try to write my own.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Due to the large number of murders in this novel, and my desire to keep them interesting and varied, I found a page on Wikipedia called "Lists of unusual deaths," and read those lists from top to bottom. If anyone out there is seeking some morbid (though educational) entertainment, I would recommend taking a look. They're really fascinating!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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