Ian

Austin’s under-cover cop Dan Calder is a man with a tendency for trouble –

either creating it or falling into it… the protagonist in a crime series that’s

been favorably compared to international names like John Grisham and Ian

Rankin.

Hi

there I’m your host Jenny Wheeler and today Ian talks about why he doesn’t see Dan

as a “hero”, describes how he became a full-time writer after a long and

successful career as a police officer, and the high value he places on reader

feedback.

Six things you’ll learn from this Joys of Binge Reading episode:

How Ian found purpose in the police An Englishman at home in NZHis troublesome protagonistGrabbing opportunities with both handsLike L&P - 'World famous in New Zealand'Famous guests he'd invite for dinner

Where to find Ian Austin: 

Website:  https://www.ianaustin.org/

Facebook: @ianaustinauthor

 Twitter:  @ianaustinauthor

What

follows is a "near as" transcript of our conversation, not word for

word but pretty close to it, with links to important mentions.

Jenny: But now, here’s Ian. .  Hello there Ian and welcome to the show,

it’s great to have you with us.

Ian Austin: Hi, Jenny. Thanks for having me.

Ian Austin: Undercover policeman-turned crime author

Jenny Wheeler:  This time we're not that far apart. You're just one side of Auckland  and I am on the other side of Auckland, which is rather unusual. So you're based in New Zealand, you're a former police officer, turned full time author and I'm thinking that maybe you harbored secret hopes of writing long before you actually got into it. What made you decide to swap chasing crims for writing.

Swapping chasing crims for writing

Ian Austin: The truth is probably exactly the opposite. I had no qualifications from school whatsoever. I think I was always seen as being the dunce at school, and to be honest, I didn't do an awful lot to persuade people otherwise.  It was only when I joined the police, that I talk about as being my salvation, because it really was.  In the police I learned maybe I'm not quite as silly as people thought I was, and I actually had this certain set of skills for writing and formulating plans, making statements, recording interviews - that kind of thing - that was a big part of that.

When I came to realize over a period of time that I have these abilities, I started to enjoy the writing side a lot more of what I was doing, designing lesson plans for National Crime Squad and things like that. And then the idea to write a story came and with the career that I had all this research material.

'Naivety and ignorance' the key

That old adage that people talk about, "everyone's got a story inside them?" It happens to be true with me and so for a number of years I wanted to write a book and I was lucky enough to be able to do so. 

Jenny Wheeler: I looked up online to see how many cops had become novelists, and

funnily enough, there aren't as many as there are lawyers. I don't know if

that's a surprise, but Joseph Wambaugh is one of them. There are a number of

others whose names are slightly less well known. Have you networked with any of

the other cops turned writers?

Ian Austin: To be honest, I haven't. I think it comes down basically to a lot of

naivety and ignorance on my part. Before I started writing, I didn't do any

research into what I should do or talk to other people about it. I just sat

down at a laptop one day and started to write and learned as I went along,

which is how basically I learned most things.

Standing in good company

Since I've been writing, I've met a number

of New Zealand policemen that are also writers. Some of them are still in the

job and write under Nom de plumes. Others have left the job and are now writing

like I do.

Jenny Wheeler: Oh, great. That's wonderful. So you've published so far a trilogy of

highly praised crime novels. Reviewers compare you to big names like John

Grisham and Ian Rankin.