Fifteen questions for W. Kenneth Tyler, Jr.

This is the story of Perry Barnes, a multi-talented man who made one teenage mistake. As a result, he winds up being trained by the US Army in WWII in the skills and arts of sabotage, killing, self-preservation, and espionage, that would also come in handy for a first-class jewel thief. Before the adventure is over Perry has stolen the world-famous Mecklenburg Diamond with the intention of returning it to the authorities for true love, of all things. Along the way, while working as a journeyman golfer on the PGA tour of the 1950’s, he is befriended by the most bewildering array of characters, some real, some not, who add marvelous vignettes of clever humor, masterful storytelling, redemption, situational intrigue, steamy romance and devotion throughout.”

Mostly just to satisfy an itch. Primarily, my inspiration was the same as that of Roger Mace, a major character in the novel who just wanted to see if he could write a book. However, I have always enjoyed writing to persuade and have done so many times over the years. I’m told I’m good at it too, which stroked my vanity. I enjoy creative writing that is subtly humorous at times and downright funny at others in an effort to make the intended reader, usually of correspondence, pause and reflect on what I am truly asking of them.

I’m not sure I turned into a creative writer through 40 years of owning my own CPA firm. After all, I have an undergraduate and master’s degree with concentrations in marketing. I’m a bit of an oddity in that I can do the marketing/creative side of the business as well as the numbers. In fact, I got started years ago in an advertising agency writing radio commercials and speeches for corporate executives I had never met. However, as for the creative writing CPA part, I’ve said many times in the past, half-jokingly, I’ve successfully written some of the most inventive, compelling and persuasive prose imaginable to the IRS during my career.

Subtly humorous storytelling. Mostly PG rated without being maudlin. Thoughtfully truthful and descriptive of people, emotions and situations without the least bit of Pollyannaish claptrap. Absolutely zero gratuitous violence. Lastly, if the reader is paying attention, my style is cleverly quotable. In the end I’m not looking to inundate the reader with fast paced, often violent action, beat them over the head with jokes or uncomfortably titillate them into a state of agita. I prefer put them in a frame of mind to grab a cocktail, sit a spell in a favorite over-sized armchair and eagerly anticipate turning the next page with a hopeful delight as to what may be coming while slightly regretting the page they just left behind.

The characters, story, relationships, timeline, etc. just pop into my head. It’s not really a conscious thing with me. I can’t sketch out a story line in advance then try to write to that plan. I sit down at a computer and simply type in an attempt to describe the movie that is playing in my mind. My fingers often have a difficult time keeping up with what I see in my brain in picture form.

When I start typing at the top of a page, I literally have no plan or idea as to what may fall out of my head by the end of the page. This often results in characters, events or places that had not previously come to mind on any prior level. I can’t explain it more simply than that.

However, once someone or something gets down on paper and becomes part of the story it frequently gets further defined or evolved. In fact, there is a character in my second book that was an afterthought in the beginning, and my mind over time developed him, somewhat subconsciously, into the second major figure in the story.

I decided early on that I wanted the story to revolve around a fictional character during the 1950’s who was first and foremost a gentleman in the traditional, grandest manner in which that term used to exist. I also wanted him at his core to be one of the “strong, silent types” as they used to be called. I wanted a guy who was recognized by others as a “man’s man” and “ladies’ man,” in a non-piggish sort of way, without a hint of ego or self-promotion. Above all, Perry had to be likeable.

Also, I wanted in the character of Perry someone who was very good or above average at virtually everything he did (hence the multi-faceted part) without being the best at anything. At the same time, I didn’t want everything he did to necessarily be good. I wanted him fundamentally to be principled and seek to do good and right even if that was not technically the legal course of action. In other words, I wanted the internal struggle between the right thing to do and the legal thing to do. The last thing I wanted Perry to be was someone who was flawless. Quite the contrary as it turns out.

Lastly, I wanted a character who seemed by circumstances mostly out of his control to plausibly meet the most bewildering array of real folks or pop up in the oddest of places throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s. As to Perry being a multi-faceted character, I guess that’s true. I don’t think I consciously developed him as much as I needed him to be multi-faceted to make the story plausible.

Every book I have written so far is heavily laced with doses of love and romance. This is particularly true in the second book. As for redemption, who doesn’t love some sort of recovery or reclamation for a likeable main character? Apparently, I do because all three of my books so far are riddled with this redolent emotion. The concept of Perry Barnes was of a man who certainly got healthy doses of romance and redemption and seemingly a little of lots of things: kindness, rascality, righteousness, indignance, decency, etc. Also, as I said earlier, it was important that he was a gentleman. With respect to the theme of “identity” you mention in your question, I’m not sure what that concept implies or what it means in this context.

The reason for the 1950’s was simple and twofold. First, the 1950’s is generally thought by many to this day as a “Golden Age” of post-war economic boom, family values, simpler times, great cars and the birth of rock and roll.

Second, Perry needed to acquire a vast number of high level and diverse skills in order to become a uniquely capable jewel thief. The best place I could think of to place him in order to obtain those skills was as a trained World War II clandestine saboteur. The 1950’s was close enough to WWII to be a plausible training ground.

As for the golf, that period of professional golf also has a nostalgic patina associated with it. This is not a book about golf, per se. Golf, touring professional golf in this case, is the vehicle which makes most of the events and chance meetings between Perry and all the other characters, real and/or fictional, plausible. Most of the people Perry meets and exotic parties and places he attends happen because he is a touring professional. There is only a smattering of detail with respect to the actual golf played by Perry.

Easy. The story demanded it. The initial sub-story is of Roger Mace, an aspiring writer, who goes out with the intention of finding ordinary people who have done something truly extraordinary at least once in their life and write a book about their collective adventures. He runs into Perry Barnes right out of the chute and the journey begins.

I thought it was important, probably because I didn’t know what I was doing, to periodically bring Perry back from the story he is unfolding about himself in days gone by to the present so the reader doesn’t forget about Roger’s contribution.

Storytelling techniques? I’m not sure I could pinpoint or even name a storytelling technique of you gave me a week and an unlimited budget.

Perhaps one technique might be pacing the story to lead the reader along an intended path but leaving the outcome for the reader to decide what happened. Subtle humor also makes the more anxious moments less recognizable but still felt. The last thing I wanted were action scenes that involved a bunch of people killing a bunch of other people for any reason.

I have read lots of books over the last 30+ years. Some of my favorite authors include Nelson DeMille, Roy Jenkins, Scott Turow, Ben Macintyre, Daniel James Brown, Erik Larson, Walter Isaacson and many others. They are all magnificent in their own way.

However, I can honestly say I don’t feel I was consciously influenced by any of them. Oh, I’m sure there is some phrasing or dialogue technique from some or all these authors that has snuck their way into this text, but I would be hard pressed to pick it out myself.

I’ve got to be honest. I had no idea I was exploring any such thing. If we’re talking about Perry I never intended for him to appear to be immoral and in need of overall change along those lines. In my mind I always viewed him as being fundamentally principled, seeking to do the right thing even if that was not technically the legal course of action. At worst he only needed some of the general maturing that comes to most of us at some time in life.

It was my feeling that if I brought enough real people, places, things and events into the book I could meld in the fictional characters and make the story more believable. So, I did a ton of internet research. Plus, I went to Williamsburg. I traveled to Savannah and walked the town for three days. I went to Sir Winston Churchill’s Chartwell home in southern England and the Highlands in Scotland where Aldercraig (a real place but I changed the name) is located. I read numerous books on the SOE in England and their clandestine sabotage activities. I even read a few books written by first-class jewel thieves.

I did the same thing with the professional golf world of the 1950’s and in one case 1945. Almost all of the references to courses, players, winners and tournaments are substantially true.

There are some real people from the past that my fictional characters interact with and have relationships. Those conversations are purely fictional obviously although based them on research. I always tried to keep them true to the known demeanor of the real figures.

For example, in Hunting the Red Fox, the Jackie Gleason portrayed is entirely believable given all his known habits, inflections of voice and other proclivities. He’s also funny as hell in the book in my mind as he was in real life.

People generally don’t expect their CPA to be a creative writer or even remotely comical and I suspect more than a few would rather I not be either. On the surface, they want the steady, unemotional and intensely humorless CPA they expect.

This novel contains lots of subtle and not so subtle, sometimes bordering on smart aleck irreverence. I think it takes two readings of the book to pick up on most of the humor.

The intrigue and adventure segments are mostly an unconscious act by me to simply type the motion picture playing in my head at any given moment. I’d like to take credit for employing “specific literary influences or storytelling models” but it would be a lie. As I said earlier, I’m not exaggerating when I reply to people who ask questions such as this concerning my planning and/or motivations that when I start typing at the top of a page, I literally have no plan or idea as to what may fall out of my head by the end of the page. This often results in characters, events or places that had not previous come to mind on any prior level. I can’t explain it more simply than that.

The challenges were threefold. First, I had to make sure I maintained the character and integrity of the researched historical data as I attempted to seamlessly meld in fictional characters and events.

Second, I always tried to stay true to the actual timeline of history. So if Perry was 18 in one chapter, so he couldn’t be 25 in the next chapter two years later. Sounds easier than it was.

Third, I was still running my CPA firm for years after I started the book and hurtling towards retirement and more golf later on. I didn’t have enough time to devote to everything. That’s why it took me five years to write the first half of the novel and three months to write the second half.

The very first time I sat down to start this book I slapped a title on the computer file and page one of the manuscript as a place holder. I had to call it something in order to save the file but never considered this first title to be sacrosanct by any means nor is it important now.

Eventually the publisher asked me in a concerned manner something to the effect of, “Are you married to this title? Is it important to you.” I told her I was not, paused briefly and said, “How about Hunting the Red Fox?” And in no more time than that the title was changed.

The fact that it came out of my mouth so casually and without any forethought shouldn’t diminish the title in the least in my mind. I have come to like the title very much and think it enhances the overall product. The design for the cover was done in combination of the publisher, my wife Barbara and me. My wife, an educated interior designer really deserves most of the credit . . . or blame.