Guest Post: James McCrone – BASTARD VERDICT

thebookdivasreads

May 29

Good day, book people. As most of you know by now, I'm an avid reader. I strive to read a book each day and on a good day, with a few fast-paced reads, I might actually hit two books for the day. One of the many things I've learned since starting this blog is that authors do a ton of research for their writings. If a book is set back in time, then the author must research the political clime of the time, the language used during that period, as well as the correct fashion, foods, eating utensils, and housing. The same holds true if an author is setting a book in a different country. Language and slang usage isn't the same in the United Kingdom as it is here in the United States, even though both countries supposedly have English as their official language. I'm incredibly pleased to welcome back to the blog, James McCrone, author of Bastard Verdict. Mr. McCrone will be discussing with us the assistance of others in his research and writing. Thank you, Mr. McCrone, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to rejoin us today. I'll now turn the blog over to you.

It Takes a Village
by James McCrone

The writer needs a combination of arrogance and humility—arrogance to carry you over the bad spells of imposter syndrome and worse, and humility about the work itself, and your own limitations. Research is key, and taking editorial advice on board when the time comes is a must. But during the writing, there must be a balance.

I've written elsewhere about my difficulties in letting go. But I'm not quite a control freak. It's true that most of the work of putting words onto the page is done alone. But just as it takes a village to bring up a child, it also takes a village to bring out a book. I look to all kinds of people for help as the book develops. And setting Bastard Verdict in Scotland made the collaborative effort more necessary.

My first reader, biggest fan, and harshest critic is my wife, Lisa. Before dinner, I'll often print out the pages I wrote during the #5amwritersclub for her to read. (I work 9 to 5 at my day job, and so need to write in the wee hours of the morning—usually 5 am to 8 am—before heading off to work.) She'll note inconsistencies, or things she likes, or question why a character does something, and I'll take her comments and suggestions under advisement for the following morning when I make a new start. Generally, I start my writing day with minor edits to the previous day's writing before continuing. And sometimes I delete the whole previous day's work.

My protagonist, FBI Agent Imogen Trager, is a woman, and I look to my wife and daughters to make sure my descriptions, her inner thoughts and her portrayal ring true. With Bastard Verdict, I added yet another degree of difficulty. Imogen is an American in Scotland.

Though I lived in Scotland as a boy, and have been back many times, I was keenly aware that my own American-ness might inadvertently throw in something implausible or somehow "off." I sought out a Scottish editor for Bastard Verdict, suggested by another friend there, to make sure my depictions, descriptions, and insights rang true. I also pressed Scottish friends into service. When I needed insight into the workings and intricacies of the British constitution, I reached out to a scholar I know at the University of Edinburgh. For help finding a good editor in Scotland, I reached out to another friend, a professor at the University of Glasgow.

My books deal with sometimes arcane political rules or institutions. I don't put all my research on the page, but I need to understand it thoroughly to write about it convincingly. I've found that academics are very giving of their time, and they're pleased to offer insight and expertise when you can give them focused, specific questions. (I also leaned heavily on insights from a Political Science professor and Electoral College scholar for my first book, Faithless Elector). In Bastard Verdict, I showed a crucial scene to a British constitutional scholar for review and comment. I needed to make sure I wasn't going off the rails, and that I had it right. Or at least plausible. He offered some tweaks and explanations that I worked into the book. I was grateful for the help.

In another instance, I was having trouble thinking of a place where Imogen and her friends could hide out for a few days. While I lived in Scotland as a boy, I don't know the country as well as some friends do. So, I asked another friend in Scotland if Alyth was a good place for my fictional purposes. He not only said that it was, but he quoted from a poem about the little town, a snippet of which I duly put into the book.

Finally, like the child raised by the village, the book is ready to face the world. Like the child, the book is as ready as it will be, and holding it back will only harm it.

Bastard Verdict

by James McCrone

May 15 - June 9, 2023 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

YOU DON'T NEED TO WIN, JUST DON'T LOSE

In politics, people cheat to win, or because they're afraid to lose. Which isn't always the same thing. A second referendum on Scottish Independence looms, an unlikely investigator uncovers meddling in the first, and desperate conspirators panic, with deadly results. Bastard Verdict weaves high stakes, low politics, and complex characters into a noir tale of power, loss and Faustian bargains.

When a Scottish government official enlists FBI Elections Specialist, Imogen Trager (on research leave at the University of Glasgow) in the fall of 2023 to look into the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum—ostensibly as a means of ensuring that a possible second referendum will be conducted fairly—he claims that he wants an outsider's unencumbered view.

The government official may not be what he seems, and the trail Imogen follows becomes twisted and deadly, leading to a corrupt cabal intent on holding on to power.

But they didn't count on Imogen, a feisty, conflicted and driven investigator who goes strictly by the numbers, if rarely by the book. To find the truth, Imogen will risk everything—her reputation, career, and possibly her life. None but a very few know that truth. And those few need it to stay hidden. At any cost.

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery-Crime, Thillers
Published by: Hernes Road Books
Publication Date: May 2023
Number of Pages: 293
ISBN: 9780999137741

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Author Bio:

James McCrone is the author of the Faithless Elector series—Faithless Elector, Dark Network, and Emergency Powers—"taut" and "gripping" political thrillers about a stolen presidency. Bastard Verdict is his fourth novel. To get the details right for this thriller, he drew on his boyhood in Scotland, and scouted the locations for scenes in the book while attending Bloody Scotland in 2019 and again in '22.

His short stories have appeared in Rock and a Hard Place; Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of NoirCon, and in the short-story anthology Low Down Dirty Vote, vols.2 and 3.

He's a member of Mystery Writers of America, Int'l Assoc. of Crime Writers, Philadelphia Dramatists' Center and he's the vice-president of the Delaware Valley Sisters in Crime chapter. A Pacific Northwest native (mostly), he lives in South Philadelphia with his wife and three children. James has an MFA from the University of Washington, in Seattle.