Tina Clough with her latest book, The Chinese Proverb.
Tin'a Clough latest novel is a beauty.
The Napier author's third thriller, The Chinese Proverb, captured me from the first page with her powerful main character Hunter Grant, an Afghanistan war vet.
As I was introduced to more characters in this compelling tale I was hooked.
Hunter is taking some much needed time out in his cabin deep inside the New Zealand bush. While out walking with his dog he finds Dao, a young woman close to death.
He nurses her back to life and she tells him of her life at the hands of "Master", chained to a wall and treated like a slave for years.
With help from his army friend, Hunter soon discovers that there's a drug ring involved worth millions of dollars.
It's not long before Hunter becomes the hunted and to make matters worse, Dao disappears.
Clough builds the tension superbly with a well thought out plot and great characters. It's one of those books that if you have to put it down you can't wait to get back to it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what Clough comes up with next.
I asked her some questions.
WHAT CAME FIRST WITH THIS NOVEL, THE CHARACTERS OR THE PLOT?
The character of Dao came first. I read about a girl who had been kept enslaved and isolated from childhood and I wondered how someone in that situation could be integrated in normal life again; what they had not learnt about society, interactions and acceptable behaviour.
WHICH IS EASIER TO WRITE - A MALE OR FEMALE CHARACTER AND WHY?
This is my first attempt at writing a story in the first person as a male. I had to change my writing style completely and see everything through a man's eyes. Shorter sentences, different dialogue, fewer adjectives - very interesting. But I'm happy writing from either a male or a female point of view.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED IN THE PROCESS OF PUBLISHING THREE BOOKS?
The value of rewriting and rewriting until it feels completely right. And rewriting is more than going through and cherry-picking paragraphs to edit, it involves a completely different attitude from the writer.
DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR ROUTINE WHEN YOU ARE WRITING?
I do so many different things all the time that a routine is impossible. I am the 'groundsman' for a one acre property with shelter belts and fruit trees to prune and lots of grass to mow. I also translate and edit medical research papers pre-publication for a European university. I am very lucky to have the freedom to function like this; I can do whatever seems best at any given time, taking into account the weather, my mood and any deadlines looming.
WHAT DO YOU DO TO RELAX AND SWITCH OFF AFTER WRITING?
I read, chat to my hens, clean the house - whatever needs to be done so I don't just go straight back and write some more.
HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU SEE YOUR BOOKS IN SHOPS? S
lightly dislocated from reality - I still find it hard to believe a storyteller like me got into print.
WHAT WOULD BE YOUR TOP THREE TIPS FOR ASPIRING AUTHORS?
Stick to your own style, don't try to write like anyone else, and remember to rewrite and rewrite again.
WHAT'S NEXT ON YOUR AGENDA?
My next crime novel is finished apart from some fine-tuning. It's a political corruption thriller set in Wellington a few years into the future. After that I might go back to Hunter Grant (I quite like his style).