Creative Writing
A typical writing day usually begins at 7 am, ‘with a cup of tea and whatever sweet snack I can find.’ ‘Year after year, I sent dozens of submissions out into the slush-pile’ Undaunted, Dwyer continued to hone his skills, maintaining then, as now, a regular writing routine. A typical writing day usually begins at 7 am, ‘with a cup of tea and whatever sweet snack I can find.’ Eventually, he got an introduction to Sean O’Keefe of Liberties Press from another writer who liked his work and following ‘a year or two of keeping in touch, Liberties Press decided to publish my book, Number Games (2019).’ Dwyer earned richly deserved praise; ‘Irish fiction as ‘(The Independent). When it comes to taking a leap of faith, Dwyer also demonstrates grit and determination. Currently, he is exchanging the running of a successful financial services company (he established the company in 1993) for the literary life. Dwyer will retire next year to focus solely on writing. ‘I always have ideas simmering away in my head. I have a notebook I write these into. If the ideas are relating to something I’m presently working on, I’ll record them in red on page 1 of the file, along with character names, timeline and plot.’ Sound practice and one which served him well in the writing of a political thriller themed around the assassination of American President James Garfield. James Abram Garfield (1831 – 1881) was the 20th president of the United States (inaugurated 2nd November, 1880). Four months into the presidency, Garfield was shot
by an assassin (Charles Guiteau) and died two months later. Garfield was the first (and still the only) sitting house member to be elected. Dwyer already had an interest in American history when he set out to write a historical novel but what he hadn’t reckoned on was the ‘interweaving with a present-day plot’. He still can’t explain how or why it happened. It’s easy to see however how Garfield the man proves an interesting subject. Born into poverty in a log cabin, he grew up poor in Northeast Ohio. As well as serving as a member of the Ohio State Senate (1859 – 1861), he also served as a major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He fought in the battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh and Chickamauga. Plenty of plotting meat on the bone then for a novelist of such prowess as Dwyer. ‘Like most people I knew very little about Garfield. So, I went to the New York Library of Congress, where there is a wealth of primary source material.’ There’s no doubt that when the research bug bites, it bites deep, becoming all absorbing. Which proved to be the case with Dwyer; ‘I read newspaper articles, transcripts from Charles Guiteau’s trial. Interviews, speeches, police and medical reports’. That said, Garfield and his assassination is not as well documented as Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy. But as any novelist worth their salt will attest, there’s no denying the role that an unexpected or quirky detail can add to an
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already intriguing narrative. In this case it was a guy called Roscoe Conkling who proved to be a catalyst. While in office, Garfield denied Conkling the lucrative post of Collector of the Port of New York, giving the plump appointment to William H. Robertson instead. The resulting row brought about Conkling’s resignation. Dwyer became curious when he came across Conkling’s name (‘while messing about on Wikipedia’) thinking it strange enough to spark curiosity in him. ‘I had to learn more. The plot evolved from imagining alternative, plausible versions of the assassination to the accepted ‘lone gunman’ theory. To do this I had to balance the plot against historical evidence.’ No mean feat by any standard. But for an award winning writer (a former ‘winner (2003) as well as a host of other literary prizes; the challenge was more than achievable. As well as finding Conkling’s name of interest, as Dwyer delved deeper, he found parallels between himself and Richard Todd (the writer in The Garfield Conspiracy engaged with writing a book about the assassination). At core, the novel could also be deemed a midlife crisis journey. Todd, although outwardly successful, feels unsure of himself as doubts about his writing abilities plague him. Dwyer admits to finding empathy. ‘I did go through a mid-life crisis, though I didn’t realise what it was until I came out of. A lot of Richard Todd’s sense of futility and confusion was real to me.’
