Erich R. Sysak is a Thailand-based writer who was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1967. He has authored three books of fiction: Dog Catcher (Monsoon Books, 2006), a crime novel set in Florida; Stage IV (Monsoon Books, 2010), another crime novel, this time set in Thailand; and Water Heart (Kindle Books, 2010), an academic mystery that involves a missing graduate student. He currently lives in Sakon Nakhon where he runs a small rice and mango farm. In this interview he talks abut his books, writing, Thailand, and the publishing scene in general.
Voicu Mihnea Simandan: Your latest novel, Stage IV has recently been released by Monsoon Books from Singapore. It is a book about an American stage IV cancer patient who decides to spend his last days on earth in Thailand. Where did the idea for this book come from?
Erich R. Sysak: A close friend from New Orleans has battled liver cancer these past twelve years. He’s a real superhero because he’s survived so long beyond any expectations and because you wouldn’t even know he was sick. Like Lawson in the book, my friend doesn’t complain. He savors life which in turn gives me a sense of gratitude and awe. But financially he suffers. The chemo, the drugs, surgery, and the insurance games have wiped him out. In spite of surviving a deadly disease the stress of living hand to mouth in the United States is the one sure thing that will kill him. So we often discuss the advantages of moving to Thailand as a way of economic survival.
VMS: How long did it take you to write it?
ERS: I’ve been tinkering with the book for three years.
VMS: The book’s subtitle, “Healing in Thailand can also be murder,” and the vivid/shocking the front cover image of a gloved hand holding a syringe are quite eye-catching. How has the book been received?
ERS: Asia Books wanted the word, Thailand, to appear on the cover so I wrote fifteen tag lines and then used several different surveys through friends, e-mail and Facebook to narrow the choices. I think it’s a catchy phrase because it’s baffling, but intriguing. I haven’t heard any feedback about the cover. What do you think of it?
VMS: I think it’s got great art work! Reviewers have catalogued your books as “noire fiction”. Some time ago a group of writers and artists established a “Bangkok Noir” movement that encompasses art, literature, music, and film.
ERS: If you write about Thailand then you will often write about crime, cynicism, and sexual motivations which all relate to the hardboiled school of American crime writing. Social alienation is also a noir theme and expats are by definition alienated from the local culture as well as their native culture. It creates an interesting conflict that is complicated by setting as much as plot and character. Writers like Christopher G. Moore have been exploring Bangkok, Pattaya and Southeast Asia for many years so if anyone has made Bangkok noire a genre it’s him.
VMS: Stage IV was published by Monsoon Books, one of the best (if not the best) independent publishing houses in Southeast Asia. Tell us about the editing and publishing process you went through.
ERS: The book went through four readers and three detailed edits from several different editors. It’s a grueling, slow, painstaking, but necessary process. Phil is very selective and committed to quality. I’m proud to be in the Monsoon stable.
VMS: In 2006, you published at the same publishing house, Dog Catcher, a totally different crime novel about greyhound races and illegal dog breeding in Florida. I suppose the book was marketed for a different audience…
ERS: Yes, I wrote the book long before I discovered Thailand. But I see no reason why expats here in Southeast Asia wouldn’t enjoy a gritty, urban-noir set in Florida rather than Bangkok or Pattaya. I just recently released Dog Catcher as an eBook and it’s experiencing a second life.
VMS: Why the transition from US-based novels to Thailand-based novels? Do you think there is a strong enough readership in Asia, in general, and Southeast Asia, in particular?
ERS: I see more westerners here every day and I don’t think the emigration will end soon, but rather increase as the world economy shifts from West to East. Asian economies and culture have dominated during the majority of the world’s history so it’s no surprise. And Thailand stimulates my imagination. It offers so much material for good fiction.
VMS: This year you have also published, through Kindle, Water Heart, a more literary novel set, like Stage IV, on the beach resort of Hua Hin. Tell us more about the book.
ERS: Hua Hin is the beach resort town where Thailand’s upper classes come to play. Local expat Mike Bonner haunts the corridors of the town’s deteriorating Jackley International University. Classes are small and getting smaller. Revolutions in Bangkok don’t help enrollment. But where else can you find the bright and beautiful children of Burmese generals, Russian mobsters and royalty?
Bonner wants a break from those long freshman discussions of Huck Finn and deadly creative writing workshops. He’d rather open a rare bookshop in town or a cafe.
When a beautiful Muslim graduate asks him to find her missing fiancé, a sexpat named Palmer, the investigation leads them to the Giant Mekong River Catfish camp where they will take on a surprisingly American cargo.
VMS: Why you have chosen to e-publish Water Heart, rather than go through the more traditional publishing process?
ERS: Over the process of two years Water Heart was selected and short-listed at two major American publishers then eventually dropped. The big talk at the time was eBooks and how they were taking over the industry. Naturally, I was interested and so I decided to use Water Heart as my beta eBook… So far, it’s been incredibly successful and I’m glad I let go of my fears.
VMS: What is your writing routine?
ERS: I fill up three or four notebooks with character sketches, plot ideas, scenes, and notes over the course of one year or so and then write the first three chapters of the book over and over and over until I get the right sound, the right pace, and most of all the right conflict. Once that momentum gathers in the first three chapters I work every day for two or three hours until it’s finished. Then, I let the manuscript sit unread for as long as I can possibly can before I begin revising.
VMS: What are you working on right now? What book are you preparing for your readers?
ERS: A veterinarian’s Thai wife drowns during Hurricane Katrina. When the veterinarian returns his wife’s dead body to her hometown of Sakon Nakhon in Issan he is framed for a murder.
VMS: As a writer, how has Thailand influenced your view of the world and the way you approach creative writing?
ERS: Not only has Thailand stimulated my creativity, but has also given me a home where I have the time to write, read and think. I had to work so hard in the States just to get by I rarely had the energy it takes to write books. Coming to Thailand was the best decision I ever made.
VMS: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
ERS: If you love constructing stories then don’t give up. It might take ten years before you figure out the craft so it will require some patience. Don’t beat yourself up when the story doesn’t work. Every story you write gets you closer to your goal.
VMS: Thank you for your time and I’ll be waiting for your next novel.
ERS: Thank you!
Voicu Mihnea Simandan
Bangkok, Thailand
December 16, 2010
I enjoyed this interview with Erich. I also once wrote a story about a person diagnosed with cancer deciding to spend their last days in Thailand – it is an interesting concept. I wish Erich continued success.