Ricky Monahan Brown
When did you begin writing?
I’ve aspired to be a writer since I was around 12, but I eventually became a lawyer and forgot! Then, I suffered a catastrophic stroke and this emotive, sometimes absurdly comic, story fell into my lap. The result was my first book and memoir Stroke: A 5% chance of survival.
Tell us about your Call of the Isles story.
I’ve often spoken about how my fellow Edinburgh Law School alumnus, stroke victim and writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, is my literary hero. RLS spent his final years living on the island of Samoa. The Teller of Tales is inspired by his reflections on island life and his self-imposed exile.
Do you prefer writing short stories or longer pieces of fiction?
My favourite prose form might be the novella! The challenge of distilling an idea for a novel, or expanding what might be a short story idea, is fertile ground for me.
What is your favourite novel or short story that has an island setting?
Treasure Island, of course! A few years ago, I reread it with my son and found that Stevenson’s evocation of the island as a place – and the complexity and charisma of John Silver – are masterful.
What do you dislike about being a writer?
The contemporary expectation that a serious creative writer’s work should have an overt and easily digestible message or politics is anathema to me.
What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel or short story?
Any of the very short stories collected in Stevenson’s Fables. They’re not easy to get a hold of, but it’s worth the effort. A world away from Aesop’s take on the form, his fables are enigmatic – gnomic, even – and endlessly thought-provoking.
What are you currently reading?
The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats. The way he uses folklore, myth, the occult and developments in his form to explore the story of his island is very interesting to me.
What are you currently working on?
I’m doing research for a proposed doorstopper of a novel inspired by the life of my artistic hero, Scott Walker, and his experimental art-pop single with The Walker Brothers, The Electrician.
What is the best piece of writing advice you have come across?
I solicited a great piece of advice from David Constantine at a launch event for his short story collection, The Dressing-Up Box. Write a sentence, but instead of a full stop, put down a comma and carry on. When you think you’re done, write another comma, keep going, and then,
Where can readers connect with you and your writing?
I’m on most of the socials as ricky.ballboy. That’ll lead anyone to most everything else there is to know.
***
You can read The Teller of Tales in Call of the Isles.