Elements of a Hot Thriller:
The Bone Parade

AUTHORLINK: How did you conceive the idea for The Bone Parade?

NYKANEN: I don't remember how I came up with the idea. For a number of years, I have thought it would be interesting to do something about a sculptor. I always have a notebook with me where I jot down ideas, or an interesting turn of phrase. So, I had made notes about Ashley all along, but my original conception of him changed as I began careful research--something I always do. When I wrote my first novel, Hush, about an art therapist, I interviewed a real art therapist, read her book, and even took a course at a local college. I always immerse myself in the material. When I started The Bone Parade, I contacted Elizabeth Meade, a sculptor who lives in Portland, and sat in on our classes to inform the novel about the details of the trade.

AUTHORLINK: You open the new book in the killer's point of view, which is usually a taboo, because we don't typically like a killer. How did you pull that off?

NYKANEN: I look at Ashley actually as a wonderful presence. I'm quite fond of him. Typically, I write chapter, immediately rewrite it, then move on. In Ashley's case, I did one major draft of his voice, then I had to leave him alone. He had spoken clearly. What I like about writing in first person is that it let's you get into the killer's head. In Hush I had used what the British novelist David Lodge referred to as the "free indirect" style to move from third person right into the head of a character so that it seems as if it's first person. A villain like Ashley can easily become a stock character, and I didn't want that. The reader might not like what he is doing, but there's an old line that says, 'the jury that laughs never convicts.' Ashley is funny. He makes you smile, no matter how awful his activities. You still have a forgiving sense about him, not only because of the humor, but you become invested in the character when you know him intimately. You find yourself--against all sense of decency--rooting for him not to be caught. And that's what fiction should do--put us at odds with our own sense of who we are. The world cannot be divided into black and white, and it is important for all of us to recognize this truth.

AUTHORLINK: How did you find your first agent?

NYKANEN: Theron Raines was my agent on the very first book, an autobiographical investigative report about an underground child sex ring. When I worked undercover for NBC, I produced an award-winning documentary on the subject. When I finished the work I asked my friend Tom Miller, a travel writer, to give me his agent's name, but he told me that Theron wasn't taking new clients. A year later, I called Raines, not remembering what Tom had said. As it turned out, Theron Raines wanted to represent the book. We were unable to sell that work or a second one, a historical novel called A Blow to the Heart, about a Japanese immigrant. I wrote the autobiographical book in the late 80s, at a time when the networks still dominated the air and the culture was different. I think the book would feel very dated today, so its time has passed. But I remain hopeful that we can sell the historical novel at some point, though it's a departure from what I am now doing. I have momentum going with Hush and Bone Parade, so it's not advisable to depart from the path at this time.

My current agent is Luke Janklow at Janklow & Nesbit.

NYKANEN: Some books don't get written to get published. They are learning exercises. It was very difficult for me to accept rejection of the autobiography. It was devastating, especially since editors would write back admiring letters, but nobody would buy it. I was perplexed. They loved me, but they wouldn't marry me. First, I felt, 'I don't give a flying ____. It was very frustrating. You try so hard to glean anything from the rejection letters, something you can learn, and often find little that helps you. It was very difficult, a huge disappointment. The rejection for the second book didn't come any easier. It was a political novel--a tough sell.

Perhaps the public just had no appetite for this kind of book.

On the other hand, Hush was quick success. The work sold within two weeks! Jenninfer Weiss at St. Martin's bought the book. The same house also made an offer for The Bone Parade, but my current agent, Luke Janklow, and I settled on Hyperion. Theron sold Hush within two weeks. The title has sold 7,000 hard covers, and 120,000 soft covers.

What do you think of the quality of published books in today's marketplace?

NYKANEN:

I read a lot. My objection to many contemporary novels is that they feel self indulgent. It's very easy to let yourself become enamored of your own prose.

The Human Stain by Philip Roth is self indulgent. flabbergasted that critics let Roth get away with endless repetition. They even praised him for it. I can't stand narrative-driven books bereft of any atmosphere. John Le Carre embodies wonderful novel writing. He exemplifies a very good writer who has a real story to tell. I want my books to tell a good story, to bring to the reader a world he or she has never experienced in depth.

AUTHORLINK: Has your career as a journalist helped you become published?

NYKANEN: The fact that I have worked as a journalist has had a tremendous impact upon my life. I got into journalism because I loved to write. Investigative reporting taught me many valuable things. For one, I learned to write very clearly. You can't survive as a novelist if you don't write clearly. Sometimes you learn from assholes as well as from nice guys. I worked for a lot of assholes in the network television world, but I learned a great deal from them. One of the most valuable lessons they gave me was the value of rewriting. As an investigative reporter, I didn't have deadline pressure. I could write a longer story, but the piece had to be crystal clear, especially because of the libel laws. My stories put people in prisons and forced resignations at the highest levels of government. I had to be sure of what I was saying. To this day, I rewrite over and over again. Except for Ahsley's chapters, I have rewritten every single sentence of every single chapter 10-12 times. When a work is as good as I think it can be, I make myself do it again. You have to pay attention to detail. You can't get smug about your work. If you think it can't get any better, the truth is, it probably can.

AUTHORLINK: How many hours per day do you write? And does that interfere with your family life?

NYKANEN: I write at least 6 hours each day, not including lunch and phone interruptions. In fact, when I am writing I don't answer the phone, and I avoid checking e-mail. I am disciplined about my breaks. If I write for less than five hours I'm short-changing myself. I start early and quit by mid afternoon to spend time with my family. My wife is a psychotherapist who works with severely emotionally ill people. We have one daughter and we live in Nelson, Canada where our child can be educated in an excellent private school. Besides, Canada is a great place for the aging hippie that I am.

NYKANEN: Finding your voice is absolutely critical. And the only way you can find it is to keep writing. Writers who want to write need to do it, need to discipline themselves. I tell writing students that if you want to be a potter, you have to spend at least 6 or 8 hours a day at the potter's wheel. You have to learn your clay, the dyes, and temperatures. Writing is a craft. As a journalist I honed my skills but it didn't teach me to write novels. I had to write them to find my voice.

You also have to know what you want to write about. The problem is a writer can read a work that's rather flabby and think, 'I can do that better.' But if you merely emulate a lot of what is out there, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. If you want to break through as a novelist, you have to have a great story. That's what sells books, and that's what survives in the reader's mind.

If you are going to break through, you must have a compelling story and great characters who will tell the story. And you need narrative tension so that some editor will not be able to put the work down.

When I was working full time, I made myself write 6 days a week, turning out a minimum of 2 pages a day. The stories I wrote established a form of discipline. It's all about progressive resistance. When you first start to lift weights, you can't go for an hour and a half non-stop, but you can bu ild up to that. That's how you build up your strength as a writer, too—by keeping at it at least an hour or so a day. Set yourself some realistic goals, an hour a day or two pages a day. Then do it!

AUTHORLINK: What are you working on now?

NYKANEN: I'm writing a psychological thriller in which all the major characters are adoptees, birth mothers, or both. The story is absolutely terrifying. It's the scariest book yet.

AUTHORLINK: How long will it take you to write the new book?

NYKANEN: I've been at work on the new book for two years. The Bone Parade was the exception—I wrote it in nine months, the fastest I have ever completed a novel.

AUTHORLINK: Over the course of your career, how do you hope people will remember you?

NYKANEN: I would like for people to feel when they have read one of my novels that they've come to understand the depth of thinking, the depth of psychology of a dark character. I hope that I can give them insight into the psychopathology that they won't find anywhere else.

AUTHORLINK: Are you a dark character in real life?

NYKANEN: My friends have always said they can't believe I write about such dark characters. They say I seem like such a normal guy. But, I grew up in a troubled home, and didn't speak until the age of 5 and 1/2 . I have had a lot of therapy and expect to continue counseling for the rest of my life. I experienced a strange combination of growing up as a troubled child, yet feeling passionately about underdogs. Perhaps because I didn't have a voice for a long time, I really wanted to give voice to those who are voiceless!

—Doris Booth