Q&A: Robert Edeson, Author of The Worsener’s Tale

Briefly tell us about your book.
The Worsener’s Tale is a crime mystery-thriller. Richard Worse is an Australian intelligence analyst who, because of a family connection, travels to England to assist in investigating the unwitnessed death of historian William Whencely in the Norman bell tower of St Eke’s, the village church of Steeple Resting, near Canterbury. As Worse begins to uncover the truth, his own life and those of his loved ones are endangered.

What inspired the idea behind this book?
The Worsener’s Tale started when I imagined, rather mischievously, writing a bogus ‘lost’ Canterbury Tale in the voice of Geoffrey Chaucer. I soon decided it would be more interesting to invent a medieval author, predating and having literary priority over Chaucer, and write a Tale attributed to him. The result became the Prologue to a modern-day thriller having connections to an infamous pilgrimage in the Middle Ages.

How did you go about developing your characters?
The character of Worse, the protagonist, has been developed over two previous novels, though in The Worsener’s Tale I explore more his inner world—ruminations, moral challenge, doubt, and motivation. Secondary characters are ordinarily determined by plot, but are made real by an author imagining being in their place, taking their voice, holding their emotions. It is important that characters are consistent within themselves, that different ones retain their individuality, and that none is surplus to the needs of the story. Finally, characters are best given life by having them speak, in dialogue with others.

What are you hoping readers will take away from your book?
I hope readers find themselves fully transported into Worse’s world of edgy crime fighting, his complexity as a person, and his moral certitude in dark moments. I hope they come away with vivid after-images of character, place, and events. I hope they are left pondering questions of human nature. And finally, I would hope that readers enjoy not only the narrative, but the language itself of this novel, and its humour, so that they leave entertained, amused, perhaps contemplative, and even a little puzzled.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
A novel is written not on the page, not at a keyboard, but in the imagination. That is your workspace, to be kept uncluttered, free from distraction, and uncontaminated by other people’s stories. Outside influence is a threat to originality. Remember that writing takes time—always more than you expect. Don’t be disheartened: the longer your manuscript’s gestation, the more mature it will be. Understand that writing a novel is a form of enchantment. It will invade your thoughts for months or years. Be willing to submit to its demands but try also to keep a healthy balance between the creative and the secular in your mental life. Think carefully about sharing your progress with trusted literary friends (say, in a writers’ group), and expect to receive criticism if you do. But whatever is said, hold tight to your own voice: authenticity is the first duty of authorship, and its reward.

Buy a copy of The Worsener’s Tale here.