WA farmer and author Michael Trant‘s new thriller, Blood And Gold, focuses on a gold prospector in the WA outback who seemingly vanishes into thin air.
It’s Michael’s third novel starring rugged character Gabe Ahern, the grumpy solver of mysteries.
Michael chats to The Starfish.
What’s Blood And Gold about?
After a friend goes missing while prospecting out near Cue, Gabe decides to help with the search. He realises his mate isn’t the only one to disappear after bragging at the local pub about the gold they’d just found, so digs a little deeper and deals with things in his own unique way.
In your intro you say far too many prospectors and tourists have perished in the WA outback over the years.. is that what inspired this book?
Sort of. It is a reasonably common occurrence unfortunately, and I like to keep my stories on the mostly believable side, so the premise that four or five people have gone missing and died in the area isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. What really got the idea started was a couple of guys I knew told a story years ago of when they found some gold and were discussing it at the local, then the next week when they went back someone had pegged a claim over the area. What really surprised them was they’d never mentioned where they’d found it, but someone knew…. Plus there’s always some old fella at a bar talking about the gold they’d found, sometimes even showing it off.
Is there an incident in particular that affected you?
When I was writing the first draft early last year, a father and son’s prospecting camp was discovered by a station worker near Meekatharra, with no sign of them anywhere. The alarm was raised, and sadly their bodies were found three days later. That was what prompted the Author Note at the beginning of the book.
What kind of research did you do for this book.. did you go prospecting?
Mostly online stuff, looking at maps and things, researching how prospecting licenses works. Never went prospecting, not unless you count the Kalgoorlie tourist park when I was twelve. I’ve been through Cue a few times, and it was the unique buildings and history there that made me think it’d be a nice setting for this story. Plus I’m familiar enough with the landscape. I don’t have to research too much about that side of things. I also called into The Prospector’s Patch in Midvale for a chat, and once they realised I wasn’t completely mad they were quite helpful.
Can you see why so many people do this as a weekend hobby?
I can. It’d be a great way to spend time out in the scrub, though I imagine it’s a bit like fishing – great fun when you’re catching things, bit boring when you’re not.
The protagonist, bushman Gabe Ahern, has featured in your earlier novels, ( Wild Dogs and No Trace.) What is about Gabe’s character that appeals to you – and to your readers, do you think?
Apparently everybody knows a Gabe; some old grumpy fella who likes to keep to himself, but will do anything for you once you’ve cracked that hard outer layer. He’s also willing to change his outlook on things and put aside earlier prejudices and misconceptions, so he’ll tell it like it is, but doesn’t stick his head in the sand either. Plus he’s got a cheeky wit and doesn’t suffer fools lightly.
You grew up in rural WA; do you still live on a country property?
I’ve downsized a fair bit now, from about 670 000 acres to 10. I’ve got a little block on the outskirts of Three Springs, where I work for a local farming family. My partner has a house in Perth so when I’m not working I’m there. It’s good, we get the best of both worlds.
What’s a typical day for you?
If I’m writing and working, I’ll generally get up early and try to get as much done as possible, usually aiming for 1000 words before heading off. Mostly, work is driving big, slow moving machinery that pretty much steers itself, so sometime I can write in the cab, or edit. If it’s something needing more concentration like spraying or harvest, I’ll have an audiobook going, or even listen back to a manuscript using text-to- speech software.
How long did it take you to write this book, and was the process enjoyable?
About three months to do the first draft, which I rarely find enjoyable. I much prefer editing up an existing draft, because I’ve got something to work with. I don’t plot much, so first drafts are the hardest part for me.
Do you think your style is evolving with each novel, and with your growing level of experience, does it get easier each time?
I’m not sure the writing gets easier, but being able to push aside the self doubt when I get stuck certainly does. No Trace was the first time I’d ever written to a deadline, but that then made it easier to convince myself I could do it again with Blood and Gold. And now having finished four full manuscripts, all of which required lots of revisions and the removal of slow, boring sections, it does give me the confidence to carry on with very ordinary first drafts, knowing that those other four were in a similar state at one point.
Blood And Gold looks as though it would lend itself to being turned into a movie. Had any nibbles there yet?
There’s been interest in Wild Dogs, so we’re waiting to see what happens there.
Would you like to see your books made into films?
Absolutely. They’d all lend themselves really well to a screen adaptation. I get asked all the time who could play Gabe! There’s many great options out there.
And are you already working on your next book?
Nothing’s contracted as yet but I’m working on sending Gabe up to a FIFO camp as a Wildlife Protection Officer. Thought it’d be nice having him protect the dingos instead of culling them, plus it’d be interesting to see how he butts heads with an over-enthusiastic safety officer. And there’ll be something nefarious going on in camp which Gabe of course gets unwittingly involved in and has to sort out.
Blood And Gold (Penguin Random House) by Michael Trant is out now.
