An Interview with John Puzey

New AR author John Puzey talks to us about his new release, Captive Audience, and shares insights into his writing life.

1. Could you please share a few details about your new book, Captive Audience?

The first half of the book is set in a World War Two prison camp in Italy where three men meet and decide to put on entertainment for the other POWs. The story continues after the war as two of the men search for the other while building stage and writing careers.

I guess it’s a story of friendship, of change, of how people can find what inspires and motivates them in the most unexpected places, about how a person can arrive in one’s life and completely change its direction. It’s a story that tries to refute the idea of inevitability. Oh, and I hope it is humorous at times!

2. What inspired you to write the book?

My father was a prisoner of war from 1942 to 1945. Initially in an Italian camp, from which he escaped but was recaptured, then camps in Austria until he was liberated. Unsurprisingly, from the earliest age from which I understood such things, I was fascinated by books and films about the POW experience.

The theme of camp entertainment was drawn from my father’s many letters to my mother, which I still have, where he frequently commented on the quality of shows and plays put on by the POWs and how important they were for the morale of prisoners. He wrote admiringly of a multi-talented POW called George Allen who produced, directed and starred in many of the shows he saw. This book is a tribute to my father and mother, but also to George Allen, whom I have fictionalised in the book, who did so much to keep the men sane and hopeful.

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3. What is your writing process like?

In my head, I am a well organised writer who puts in a long shift every day at my favourite desk on an old Remington typewriter, looking out on a glorious view across mountains, lakes, estuaries etc.

In reality, I am disorganised and easily distracted, usually perched on the end of the dining table and often sitting and looking at my laptop for long spells without doing anything apart from mumbling under my breath. One thing I am consistent about, however, is making a cup of tea before I start trying to write.

At least now, with spring and summer, I can sit in our garden room and look at the trees and flowers rather than stare at the laptop.

4. Do you ever suffer from writer's block?

No, I don’t think I have writer’s block. I do think I have writer’s laziness though. Once I get started, I’m fine and can write for long periods, unless I’m distracted of course…

5. Do you have a favourite character in your novel?

In this book my three main characters are all favourites, and, I suppose I would have to admit, represent parts of my own personality. Shy, but able to act as if I’m not, writer imposter syndrome given I hardly had an education and had to learn stuff later in life, a lover of corny jokes and old-time music hall, and politically active and some would say, outspoken. It’s all there.

6. Are you able to describe your book in just three words?

Immutability is bollocks.

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7. What was your greatest challenge while writing this book?

Apart from the ill-discipline in my writing process, described above, this was being slowly written over two years during a time when I had some health problems. Largely behind me now, but to me it showed how important being both relatively physically, and emotionally, fit is to my ability to write.

8. You have previously published two other books, Ripple of Darkness, inspired by your great grandfather and Two Lives. What inspired you to write a third novel and how does it compare to your first two?

My first book was semi-factual, about the death of my Great Uncle and the man responsible for it. In my second I wanted to explore how memory can change over time and therefore change perceptions of what happened in a life, which in turn changes the life itself.

Captive Audience, is, as I've noted above, a long overdue tribute to my mum and dad, but I also wanted to write something which is more light-hearted than my previous work. I’m still at the beginning of writing fiction and finding it exciting trying different genres.

9. How has your previous experience as a writer, broadcaster and public speaker on housing and homelessness informed your work (or working process)?

I was a much more disciplined writer in my professional career because there were always externally imposed deadlines to meet. But even when writing about housing and social policy I was keen to make the stuff as readable as possible and would try some wry humour and drama whenever possible.

Similarly with public speaking, broadcasting etc. communicating the message with passion but where appropriate, humour, was important to me. Having trained for a while as an actor when I was younger helped with this, I think.

So, certainly I spent years trying to tell stories about housing deprivation, homelessness and poverty in a way that I hoped would connect. I suppose that was, on reflection, a useful grounding for writing novels.

10. Have you started writing another book? If so, are you able to offer any clues?

Yes, I’m well into a new book. This, again, reflects my love of history and is set in Vienna in 1913 where three, later to become notorious people, all resided. In my book they meet, and all kinds of unexpected things happen which may or may not have change the history of the 20th century!

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11. What sort of books do you like to read? / What are you currently reading?

I’m a particular fan of books that use fictional characters to provide insights to historical events, or well researched fictional narratives for historical figures. Writers like Robert Harris and Bernard Cornwell for example. But also, some of the great writers of the past who imbued their work with political and social observations and warnings, like George Orwell and H.G. Wells. Equally I’m a devoted fan of P.G. Wodehouse – anyone of the Jeeves books can still make me laugh out loud.

One of my favourite recent reads was Robert Harris’s Act of Oblivion, a fictional account of a real 17th century manhunt for two of the men who signed the death warrant of Charles Stewart.

I am also an avid reader of non-fiction history, currently reading Alice Hunt’s Republic, exploring those much misunderstood and misrepresented years between 1649 and 1660 when England was a republic, and Mark William Jones’ 1923, the year of Hitler’s attempted putsch in Weimar Germany.

12. Do you have any plans for the launch of your new book? / What do you hope readers will take away from your new book?

I’m hoping to do some social media, Facebook, Instagram stuff etc. also some physical launches and book signings.

What do I hope people take away from the book? Well first what I don’t want anyone taking away is that being a POW is fun or enjoyable. That’s not to say that people didn’t have fun at times and certainly many have testified that their time as a POW was one when they learnt new skills and trades, although this was very much less likely if they were a POW in the eastern theatre.

I think I would like people to contemplate what freedom is, maybe it’s not always that

straightforward to describe. Also, that people are fundamentally good regardless of nationality or what side they are on in a war. And that nothing is inevitable, people can change in positive ways, and that the world can change in positive ways. Finally, I hope people will have a few giggles as well!

Biography

John Puzey was the Chief Executive of the Welsh housing charity Shelter Cymru from 1990 to 2020. A frequent writer, broadcaster and public speaker on housing and homelessness, he helped to shape a range of key policies, practices and legislation in Wales.

His previous publications are Two Lives, an account of two men on different sides in the First World War and a Ripple of Darkness, a story of friendship, love and betrayal set in the late 19th century.

You can find out more about John and his books by viewing his Authors Reach profile or by visiting his website.