Q&A with Ron Corbett

 

Photo by Julie Oliver

 

 

Ron Corbett is the author of the new novel Cape Rage. His other books include the novel The Sweet Goodbye, which features the same protagonist. Also a journalist and broadcaster, Corbett lives in Ottawa.

 

Q: Cape Rage is your second novel featuring your character Danny Barrett. Do you think he's changed at all from one book to the next?

 

A: The reader is starting to know more about the character, his background, his motivation -- how he ended up with the rather unusual vocation of being a freelance undercover police officer – so it may seem that the character is changing, but it’s more a matter of becoming familiar with the character.

 

Q: What inspired the plot of Cape Rage?

 

A: Betrayal is an important part of the plot to Cape Rage, and an important part of Barrett’s character. The opening sentence in the first book, The Sweet Goodbye, is this: “The first time I worked undercover I arrested my brother.”

 

Barrett had good reasons for doing that, but anyone would be left with feelings of betrayal. How could you not? He was your brother. In Cape Rage, betrayal will be a theme explored by many of the characters.

 

Q: This novel focuses on the Pacific Northwest--why did you choose this location for Danny Barrett's new case?

 

A: Not to be too glib, but I wanted water. The Sweet Goodbye was all forest. I wanted a bit of space, some open horizons. I lived on Vancouver Island for a year, which would be about a hundred miles north of my imaginary island in Cape Rage, so I knew the landscape. I enjoyed going back there.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: Again, I hope I’m not being glib, but I hope they enjoy it. That’s really all I want when someone finishes one of my stories, that they enjoyed it, that they don’t think they wasted their time, that whatever troubles or worries they may have – they forgot about them for a few hours.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: The next Danny Barrett story. I’ve started spending time in Tampa, and that’s where it’s going to be set. Outside the city.

 

All the circuses used to winter around Tampa, between there and Sarasota, there’s a town, Gibsonton, that was pretty much settled by circus performers and carnival workers. I’ve visited the town a couple times now. Some of the old carnies are still there.

 

I’ve got a rough plot. There will be quite a few characters in this one.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Thank you for the opportunity to talk about Danny Barrett. I hope you enjoy Cape Rage. Your readers can let me know what they think about the book by contacting me at roncorbettbooks.com. I wish you all the best.

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Ron Corbett.