“Hurt people hurt people.” – Terry Crews
Last week, I started running a series of interviews with my main characters from A WOMAN OF AGENCY, beginning with my principal protagonist from June of 1863, Viola Ross. My purpose, other than sharing a little fun I had in developing the key population of my novel, was to offer a technique for interrogating characters to understand what they will do on the page.
This week, I want to address the villain of the piece, Dublin-born Liverpool street “investigator” Niall Tackett. Let me say here that I had more fun writing Niall than any other character in the story; his voice came in loud and clear from the first. While I did develop his background and motivations in each draft, he remained a constant force of chaos who could shake things up if they got too settled.
I’ll also add an abiding principle of writing any character: we are all the heroes of our own stories. Even depressed individuals are at the center of their perceptions and conflicts, and bear the history that put them there. Today’s quote from Terry Crews tells us that people who are hurt pass that along. I don’t know about you, but nothing will get me to put a book down faster than a character who does something simply because the plot demands it.
And now, let’s hear what Niall Tackett has to say about it.
Interview: Niall Tackett
Niall, how did you find your unusual trade in Liverpool?
How much time d’ye have? I’ve a few pints worth of stories.
As long as they are true stories…
A story is true in the eye of the teller, darlin’, either as it happened or as he saw it happen, p’raps even as he’d’a liked to’ve seen it happen. If you write what I tell you, it’ll serve as true for me.
Back to how you started in Liverpool…
When I stepped off the Hebrides I swore I would never go to sea as a sailor again. Can’t bear to be confined, y’see, and driven at the whim of a master or mate while we’re all in deadly peril. I’d thought that would be freedom after the shipyards of Belfast, as I’d thought that yard work in Belfast would be better than the back stables of old Dublin, but there you have it. When I set foot in Liverpool, I knew this was a place where currents came together and lots of things were possible. I’d experience at sea, in shipyards, in commerce, and in how to get to the bottom of a situation. It did not take long to find people interested in me skills.
What were your ambitions before setting out on this journey, and how has your experience in Liverpool so far changed that?
How far would you say a lad such as meself might expect to get in this life, eh? Someone who can make out some words but not a reader, who chafes at taking orders, who can’t be closed in? I wanted to find me life, and I found it here, made it with me own two hands.
Can you describe what it is that you do?
Call me an investigator. There’s a problem, you call me, I look into it, find who’s involved, give you the information I found, and take care of it.
What’s involved in your average investigation?
Well, let’s say two folks made a deal, one to deliver something, the other to pay him for it. The goods don’t get delivered, and the one what’s been paid don’t answer posts or telegrams. I’m then to see what the problem is, on behalf of the buyer. If supplies up the line are held up, I’ll tell him. If the problem lies elsewhere, I may have ways to get it resolved for me client.
Some have noted that your methods could be seen as … excessive?
Who, exactly?
They spoke in confidence, under conditions where I could not identify them.
There you have it. People will talk. I will allow that persuasion won’t agree with the delicate sensibilities of some, but it’s a hard game in a hard life. If you mean to survive you learn to deal with it.
You’ve done a lot of work for Fraser Trenholm, a major trading house with close ties to the Confederate States in the American rebellion. Do you have any strong feelings about that conflict?
A terrible business, that. As I see it, it’s among them to resolve. We got our problems here, been through that and worse in Ireland and not so long ago. We got people up in Lancashire working the mills, it’s horrible work but theirs and keeps a roof overhead and bread on the table, and they can’t work now because of the troubles in America. So I got no say in the fight, but there’s no harm in keeping the commerce flowing and helping those that see to it.
Say you were asked to look into a matter involving international – imperial – interests aligned with your principal client. How might that change things for you?
I learned in the yards and aboard ship that levers are marvelous things. Back in the stable you could only lift what your back could bear, but get to a ship now, there’s all manner of hoists and gear to multiply a man’s effort. Think about a situation where there’s kings and cities to burn based on what you do, and you’ve a lever, haven’t you?
So do you see yourself staying in Liverpool in your current line of work?
Well, that’s an interesting question that I think requires another pint. As I said, I don’t like being confined, in a ship, a factory, a shop. I come to find that a town, even as big as Liverpool, can feel a bit close after a time. Not the space, but the people, the situations, all press in like. I’d be open to p’r’aps traveling a bit, trying out a new place to do me trade. Perhaps someplace warmer on these old bones. Would love to see America if they weren’t so keen to kill one another.
Summing Up
Look at what Niall is telling my imagined Times reporter. How different is that from Sam Spade’s self-assessment in The Maltese Falcon? In their actions and judgments, aren’t Niall and Spade more alike than different? A fair question to consider, particularly if instead of working for hire with the Confederacy, Niall were assisting the Union (which would have made him a villain in the eyes of many Englishmen of the time).
Next week: Thomas Lannan
You can browse back issues of this blog at https://andrewkass.substack.com/p/the-next-chapter anytime you like. Drop me a comment to let me know what you’re thinking about it all. If you subscribe or let me know you’ve left a rating or review, I will send you a link to my draft online Mood Board for A WOMAN OF AGENCY. (Looks great on computer or tablet, handheld still a work in progress.)
Keep on,
Andy
A young woman holds the key to stopping a Great Powers intrigue that could extend the American Civil War. Set in England, my Civil War spy thriller A WOMAN OF AGENCY has been published by Holand Press as a Kindle eBook (available on Kindle Unlimited) or paperback. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GRHNQKHM/ref=sr_1_2?sr=8-2 => And there’s a 99p/cents promotion on owning a Kindle copy, pricing for a week from June 17th-June 23rd!
