A Conversation with Novelist David Marlett

with David Marlett

We are delighted to welcome novelist David Marlett to Omnimystery News today, courtesy of The Story Plant, which is coordinating his current book tour. We encourage you to visit all of the participating host sites; you can find his schedule here.

David's new historical courtroom drama Fortunate Son (The Story Plant; February 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) is based on the true story of the greatest trial in British history.

We recently had a chance to catch up with the author to talk about his book.

— ♦ —

Omnimystery News: How do you characterize your books? Legal thrillers? Historical dramas?

Photo provided courtesy of
David Marlett

David Marlett: Historical trial novels. This is a new genre that I know will resonate with a wide assortment of readers. This combines the best of contemporary legal thrillers with finely textured historical novels.

OMN: So that suggests each will be a stand-alone novel.

DM: That's right. Each book is based on a major historical trial and the characters and events surrounding it. Thus no recurring characters would be right for my genre.

OMN: Tell us something about Fortunate Son that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.

DM: I came across a brief reference to this amazing story during my first semester of law school. The trial at the core of Fortunate Son established our modern attorney-client privilege, and thus it was mentioned in a law school text. Never did I imagine that that simple reference would lead me on a journey into the life of James Annesley, months of research in Ireland, Scotland and England, and eventually to write this novel.

OMN: How would you tweet a summary of the book?

DM: #FortunateSon A true story of adventure, love, betrayal, and the extraordinary young man who rocked the future of the British legal system.

OMN: Have you included any of your own personal or professional experience in your books?

DM: Sure. Though most of my characters are actual historical people, to bring them alive I have sometimes infused them with characteristics that I have observed in people whom I have met and/or still know.

OMN: Describe how you go about creating the plot of your books.

DM: I begin with the trial. Perhaps not writing the trial, but in knowing the trial, the characters, and all the events that led up to it and/or happened around the trial. Knowing this first helps me select the trial to become a novel in my series. Once chosen, those facts begin to create an outline that I work from. I will learn whatever biographies I can of the historical characters, and create ones for the characters I invent to help tell the story. Once I have the characters fairly well known, and the storyline fairly well established, I then let the story develop as it will … often taking paths that I had never expected … though still being true to the overall historical events, etc.

OMN: How do you go about researching particular plot points? Any particularly challenging or exciting topics?

DM: I fact check exhaustively. I use the Internet primarily, but also I read a lot of books related to the characters and events in my novel. In addition, I always spend time in the actual locations of the events, or as near as possible. My most challenging topic to research? For Fortunate Son it was the life at sea for crew in the Royal Navy. It was a world of which I was least familiar among the numerous different settings in the novel. The most exciting topic to research in Fortunate Son was life in Dublin in the early 1700s. It was a fascinating journey of discovery.

OMN: How true are you to the historical settings of your books?

DM: I try to stick to the actual setting, but I do take liberties where exact locations are not known, or I where I need to collapse time sequences in order to keep the story flowing (and when such alterations are not harmful to the historical accuracy of the overall novel.)

OMN: If you could travel anywhere in the world to do on-site research, all expenses paid, where would you go?

DM: After American Red (my current book) will be Captured Run, set in San Francisco around 1875. So, to do that research, I will go stay there for awhile.

OMN: Have any of your outside interests found their way into your books?

DM: I am a photoartist with a website at MarlettPhotoArt.com. Yes, I suppose my "vision" for things works its way into my books. I am very visual, and have a tendency to write that way.

OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?

DM: Fantasy adventure. Loved Stewart Little. It had a huge influence on me. I wrote many "sequels" in my journals during my elementary school years.

OMN: What kinds of feedback have your received from your readers?

DM: I love hearing how the story moved them emotionally, and/or transported them to another time/place.

OMN: What advice might you offer aspiring writers?

DM: Just write. Stop complaining that you are stuck on chapter 3, and just lock yourself away and get to writing. Don't worry if it sucks. Just write. You will always have time to edit later.

OMN: You have many years of experience in the film industry. Have you considered adapting Fortunate Son for the screen? And if so, any thoughts on who might play the key roles?

DM: I am now beginning discussions with producers regarding a film or series being made from Fortunate Son. Thus I will generally refrain from stating my opinions about actors to be in certain roles. That said, I would love to see Liam Neeson as the awful Richard Annesley.

— ♦ —

David Marlett is an attorney, artist, and self-trained historian who grew up in a storytelling Texas family. He attended Texas Tech University where he earned multiple degrees in finance, economics and accounting. Subsequently, he earned his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law.

He is a serial entrepreneur focused primarily on the arts. (He once owned eight bookstores across the United States.) David currently speaks and lectures at conferences and universities on transmedia, storytelling, entrepreneurship in the arts, and crowdfunding. He has been a featured contributor to MovieMaker magazine, Digital Book World, and many other publications.

He has developed and sold a number of film scripts and has directed/ acted in many regional theatrical performances. David lives outside Dallas, Texas, and has four children. For more information about the author and his work, please visit his website at DMarlett.com.

— ♦ —

Fortunate Son
David Marlett
A Historical Courtroom Drama

Stretching from the dirty streets of Ireland to the endless possibilities of Colonial America, from drama on the high seas with the Royal Navy to a life-and-death race across England and up the Scottish Highlands, from the prospect of a hangman's noose to a fate decided in the halls of justice, this is a powerful, relentless epic.

Here nobility, duels, love, courage, revenge, honor, and treachery among family, friends and ancient enemies abound. And at its center is the most momentous trial in Irish history — the trial of Annesley v. Anglesea from which our modern "attorney/client privilege" was forged, and our concept of a "jury of one's peers" was put to the test.