What appealed to you about writing a collection of stories as opposed to a novel?
BB: You need to remember that I didn’t set out to write a book at all. I had been writing some short stories during the last few years in many cases as ideas for film or television. These stories found their way to people who were involved with publishers and they were very supportive and suggested a book might be a good idea. Hence ’Sweet Jimmy’.
Is there any crossover in how you approach a script as an actor, and how you approached writing stories?
BB: As an actor it’s all about character. Who is this person? What is their back story? Writing Sweet Jimmy was the same. I would start with a character that interested me and then explore the character and where their choices led him/her.
Bryan Brown
Where did you find the inspiration for your characters? They seem like a motley group!
BB: The characters in many stories are inspired by incidents that I remember as a young man that I saw played out by other young men. I would wonder where is that person now? Was that just a bad moment in growing up or did it set the course for a life in crime for that person. And then I let my imagination run.
Are there any films or books that inspired you to write Sweet Jimmy?
BB: I read a lot of crime. It’s a big literary genre. Henning Mankell’s Wallander and Ian Rankin’s Rebus always delivered more than the crime. You got to smell Malmo and Edinburgh. I like that. I hope you get a smell of suburban Sydney with Sweet Jimmy.
Are there any more stories, or a novel in the works?
BB: Lets see what people think of Sweet Jimmy before I wonder about another book. I do have an idea but I’m not sure I’m smart enough to pull it off.
Sweet Jimmy by Bryan Brown is available instore and online now.