Looking back to the emerald isle.

Recently I’ve been spending some time looking back at some of the older books, primarily editing the fourth, fifth and sixth Hugo books (‘L’ombre de l'île’, ‘L’assassiner de Sebastian Dubois’ & ‘L’impondérable’) for a forthcoming new trilogy edition. While doing so, I thought I’d spend a little time explaining the story and the process behind creating these books that I hope you might find interesting.

When I originally started the Hugo books I didn’t really have a plan except just finishing the first one. I never dreamed it was going to turn into such an undertaking! However when the reaction was so good to ‘un homme qui attend’ I quickly turned my thoughts to what I would do next. Of course, I hadn’t realised it at the time, but in writing that first book I had created a whole town full of characters, each with their own quirks and backstory, so because of that, it was a no brainier to carry on with Hugo and these stories.

My plan, such as it was, was derailed when I started writing the third book, (‘Les Noms Sur Les Tombes.’) I’d finished the second (‘Les Fantômes du Chateau’) and had enjoyed writing the Sebastian character (more about him in the next blog) I had decided book 4 would be a book about Sebastian and a dastardly thing he does to Hugo. However after I started book 3, my focus changed. I won’t give spoilers, but the denouement of book 3 gave me an idea for what would turn out to be book 4.

I remember ‘L’hombre de l’île’ being nothing but fun to write, despite the often dark and serious storyline. For the first time, we see Hugo out of France and facing something unimaginable. Just getting used to his new, happy life, he is suddenly faced with losing it all.

I never meant these books to have an agenda of any kind, but it’s impossible to ignore some of the terrible things that still go on in this world even today. It’s shocking to say that not only does gay conversion therapy still exist in 2022, it’s made worse by the fact there are still people who believe it to have substance.

The character of Felix Missero was so desperately tortured it led him to do despicable things and it was his backstory which interested me. How did he end up the way he was and how did it make him do what he did? I’m not making excuses for him, that’s a whole different discussion, but what I am saying is, let’s look at his past and see how he ended up where he did.

In this book, Ben is looking for revenge, but really what he is doing is searching for explanations. I’m not even sure if he gets them, but by asking the questions, we are highlighting something we might never think about. Was Felix born evil? Was it nature or nurture? I’m afraid we never really get those sorts of answers, not really, but by looking at something as an outsider we might get a better picture. If Felix had been left alone and not punished for something he had no control over, what would have been the result? How many lives might have been saved?

Setting the story in Ireland was an easy decision. I love Ireland and just prior to writing the books, I had been on couple of amazing holidays there with my family. I wanted to create a whole new world, but still have it very Irish. As I started, my thoughts also turned to a potential spin-off featuring the garda and doctor who feature heavily in the book. Unfortunately, I never got around to it, other books took over, but maybe one day we’ll look in on these quirky Irish characters again and see what they’ve been up to.

The Ben in peril storyline was actually a direct result of what I can only describe as an uproar amongst some people whenever Ben was placed in danger. It took me completely by surprise how beloved Ben became. He had, after all, begun as a somewhat overly confident and annoying young french man who would do anything to land Hugo. Of course, it was all bluff and bravado and I think that it was what people saw in him and why they took him to their hearts.

As I finished the third book and the killer was revealed, it was inevitable that Ben would feel some kind of guilt, even though he shouldn’t because he’d done nothing wrong, but it is the sort of person he is. The question is, what would he do about it? He wanted revenge, but more importantly, he wanted justice for someone he once loved. And that revenge is what led him to Ireland and to make a fatal decision.

The book begins in the present day, Hugo arrives alone in Ireland and we immediately sense something is wrong, but it’s not until the end of the chapter we understand what it is. This book also began my love for creating stories with both flashbacks and flash-forwards interspersed. It’s something I’ve continued to do in several books afterwards because I find it much more interesting than a standard linear approach.

Ireland itself is as much a character as anyone else. Even though the town and island are imaginary, I based them on my memories of many such villages in Ireland. I wanted people to be able to taste the salty Irish Sea air along with Hugo.

Along with the new characters I also came up with an intriguing idea. A potential son-like figure for Hugo. I had toyed with the idea of a baby, but dismissed it, primarily because a child would be difficult to factor into a murder mystery novel. I also had a similar thought when my beloved dog Charlie died. I had planned for Hugo and Ben to adopt a rescue dog who looked remarkably like my angel. In the end, I decided against it, for much the same reason as a baby, too distracting and I’d be forever making sure Hugo dashed home to feed and walk said puppy. Probably not ideal in the middle of a denouement!

Then the character of Baptiste came to me. A young French boy becoming a man. Lost and troubled, with no family to speak of. It made perfect sense that Hugo would emphasise with such a boy and want to do whatever he could to help. Baptiste and his girlfriend Chen Gao are central to the story, and it is to protect them that Ben makes a terrible decision. I thought a lot about how to make it realistic. Why would Ben do something so extreme, particularly to protect strangers and more importantly, to go against the ones who love him? But this is Ben we’re talking about, and it was just within his nature. By saving Baptiste and Chen, he was doing something he wished he could have done for his friend Felix.

I’m particularly fond of the character of Brigit. My love for Angela Lansbury is no secret, and as with the character of Agathe in the second Hugo book, they were both most definitely written with AL in mind. She once had a script of mine to read, but that’s a story for another time! (There are definite Easter eggs in that character you might spot if you’re a keen AL fan!)

Looking back on the story as I have been this week has been a mixture of fun and dread. Dread because I always hate looking back and always fear I’m going to hate what I see and be acutely embarrassed by it. Did I enjoy revisiting this book? In the end, I did. It was good to see Hugo and Ben in a story from their near past and I didn’t squirm half as much as I thought I might when reading through it. It’s been a fun revisit and I’m not dreading the next quite as much.

Oh, and a final note about it. I’ve included some of the character profile pictures I created along with my long-time collaborator Maria. There are more on the ‘art’ section of the website, and I’ll be adding some more in the coming weeks. Maria always does such an amazing job of understanding my cryptic messages and designs and I love how her creations breathe life into these characters that normally just live between the pages.

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon. And don’t worry, my journey down memory lane is only temporary. I’m about to start a brand new book but thought I’d do this before I do, primarily because I’m quite far ahead and I now have three books finished and waiting for publication!

Anyway, I hope you are all well. Drop me a line if you’d like!

Love

Gxx