Murder and the Perfect Wave
Showcase interviews Timothy Burgess
Pasadena author Timothy Burgess set his novel The Never-Ending Swell in the intriguing light-meets-dark ‘60s California surfing world. We asked him about pulling together the elements of character, plot, and place.
Showcase: What came first, the plot or the setting?
Burgess: The setting. I remember going on day trips to Huntington Beach back in the Sixties and early Seventies with my parents. The town seemed so otherworldly to me –the whole act of surfing, the kind of clothes people wore, what they drove, and how they interacted with each other – I found it fascinating. When I decided to write a mystery, I thought a town like Huntington Beach would make for a great setting.
Showcase: Does the location shape your protagonist, Liam Sol?
Burgess: La Bolsa, the beach town where Liam lives, is on the edge of America. On one side is the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and the other side is civilization. Liam’s life is spent looking out to the ocean, his back to the real world where the rigors of daily life occur. He knows about the waves and the ocean currents, but he knows very little about the currents in everyday life – or for that matter, the currents that run through his own life. This, of course, all comes back to bite him when he tries to find out who murdered his father.
Showcase: What writers have influenced you?
Burgess: Franklin W. Dixon, a pseudonym, I know, but the Hardy Boys were the ones who got me thinking about writing. Years later, it was Raymond Chandler as I fell in love with his style and prose, as well as his main character, Phillip Marlowe. Chandler opened my eyes to how one could tell a story. Then I ran across Timothy Harris’ Goodnight and Good-Bye, and that really ignited my interest in trying to write a mystery. Reading authors like James Lee Burke, Robert Crais, and John Shannon only solidified my interest – I wanted to do what they were doing.
Showcase: What were you doing before you started writing?
Burgess: I worked in Human Resources and Career Development, but I was always thinking about writing. In college, I wrote song lyrics and sent them out to punk rock bands, and then I wrote spec scripts for TV and feature films and, though I had a few good meetings, I was never able to make a sale. After writing a couple of short stories which were published in online publications, I finally got the nerve to try writing a novel and that became The Never-Ending Swell.
Showcase: What did you learn from the process itself?
Burgess: Not to edit yourself while you’re engaged in the act of writing. Both my main character, Liam Sol, and my story became much different than I had originally envisioned. I was aware of that as I was writing, but I decided to let Liam tell the story and I just followed him along. It was a scary process but also an exciting one. I’m more than happy with the result.
Showcase: Will your next novel have the same hero? Same setting?
Burgess: Yes, Liam Sol will be returning in California Son, set in the same city but four years later.