Tony Park chatted to Pan Macmillan about his writing process, influences and research for his African themed books, including the upcoming Scent of Fear!

Scent of Fear releases in South Africa in December and draws on the real life war on poaching for inspiration.

The premise of this book is that poachers target tracker dogs and their handlers with improvised explosive devices. In a horrifying twist this became a reality after Tony had finished writing Scent of Fear, when a pipe bomb was discovered on the 12th October in the Kruger Park.

Read the interview:

Are there any other authors who you think have influenced your style?
I don’t think I’m influenced by others, but I’m inspired by good writers to try harder. The American thriller writer, Nelson Demille writes brilliant dialogue. Closer to home, Margie Orford nails characterisation every time and no one captured Africa better than the late, great John Gordon-Davis, my literary hero.

What is your writing process? Same time every day? Only when inspired? What does your writing day look like?
Writing at least one book a year (I did two this year, including Captive which came out in April), I have to be disciplined. I write four pages a day, ideally after a morning game drive in the bush. The sooner I finish the sooner I can get to a swimming pool or sundowners.

Your books are very well researched – do you do all the research yourself?
Yes and no. I write my story first then fill in the research gaps later. I find the best way to research is to find people who are experts in the field I need to write about. People are incredibly giving – for Scent of Fear, I spent time with a real life anti-poaching tracker dog team in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve and they could not have been more helpful.

• Read the complete interview at Pan Macmillan

Categories Africa Fiction International South Africa

Tags Interviews Pan Macmillan SA Scent of Fear Tony Park