In Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip’s latest novel, A Deadly Covenant, a human skeleton is discovered at the site of a controversial new dam in remote northern Botswana, and rookie Detective Kubu is drawn into a terrifying local feud…

The Reading List spent a few minutes chatting with Sears and Trollip about their writing life.

The Reading List (TRL): Good afternoon, Michael Stanley – or should we say, Michael and Stanley – and thank you for agreeing to an interview.

We call this interview #TheFlap – it is based on the Proust Questionnaire, a parlour game made famous by the French writer Marcel Proust, who believed that the answers would reveal a person’s true nature.

So far we’ve revealed the true nature of some literary luminaries including Chibundu Onuzo and Yewande Omotoso. Don’t be nervous.

So here goes!

TRL: What were some of the unexpected challenges that came up while you were writing? What was unexpectedly easy?

Stanley Trollip: Writing book-length fiction with someone else posed a variety of challenges. Probably the most obvious was how to blend two different ways of saying the same thing. As soon as I realised that no one way is the best way, it became easier to brainstorm and easier to compromise. Since each piece we write bounces back and forth up to 20 times, the logistics of version control are essential to get right. It is very dispiriting to work hard on the wrong version. 

What was unexpectedly easy was blending our two writing styles into a seamless result.

Michael Sears: Since we don’t plot, we often face some difficult moments in the story, especially when we’re not sure who the bad guy is. In A Deadly Covenant we had several choices, and we were surprised by the outcome!

Although we hadn’t visited the Shakawe area of Botswana for some time and we wrote the book while the pandemic prevented travel, the setting was clear in our minds and hopefully as clear on the page.

TRL: What was the most difficult scene or chapter to write?

Stanley Trollip: The spiritualism of the Bushman peoples plays a role in a number of our books. Writing a scene from the perspective of a Bushman dancing a trance dance in order to communicate with the ancestors is challenging. We want to give readers an insight into their practices, which are different from those in the West, while treating them with honour and respect.

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Michael Sears: I agree with Stan. In addition, a Bushman suddenly appeared early on in A Deadly Covenant. We knew he was important, but we didn’t have a clear idea what role he was going to play.

TRL: If you could co-author a book with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose and what would it be about?

Stanley Trollip: I can’t imagine anything more interesting and challenging than writing a book about human nature with William Shakespeare.

Michael Sears: Isaac Asimov. The book would be a novel, but it would be about artificial intelligence, building on his Robot stories.

TRL: What’s the more important daily goal: a certain number of words, or capturing an idea on the page?

Stanley Trollip: I’m not very disciplined, so setting a goal of a number of words per day wouldn’t work for me. Having an idea for a new scene or character is the best I hope for.

Michael Sears: I think capturing an idea or introducing an intriguing character will encourage the words to flow. There may be only a few, but the later ones will come faster. At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

TRL: Kill your darlings? Or nurture them?

Stanley Trollip: I have learnt that I need to kill my darlings! Whenever I feel I’ve written something special, Michael covers it in red ink. Unfortunately for my ego, he’s usually right. When we sent the manuscript of our second book, A Deadly Trade, to our editor at HarperCollins, we had two characters, a hunter from Texas and his son, of whom we were particularly fond. Our editor returned the manuscript with the question scrawled across it: “What are these two characters doing in the book?” We were very upset, because they appeared first right at the beginning and reappeared throughout the whole book. When we recovered our composure, we realised that they did in fact add very little. So we had to rewrite the whole book to take them out.

TRL: What habit distracts you most from writing?

Stanley Trollip: Online research – it is so easy to go down a rabbit hole.

Michael Sears: Yes, I agree. And the research becomes an end in its own right and may even detract from the story.

TRL: After readers have read this book, what should they read next?

Stanley Trollip: The other seven Detective Kubu mysteries or our stand-alone thriller, Dead of Night, about rhino poaching in South Africa.

Michael Sears: I’d suggest the first Kubu prequel – Facets of Death. Once the reader knows where Kubu came from, they’ll find it intriguing to discover who he became in the books set later.

TRL: What books would you recommend within your genre?

Stanley Trollip: So many! The Vanished Man by Jeffery Deaver; Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey; The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly; The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas; City of Silver by Annamaria Alfieri; The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey; I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottir.

Michael Sears: I’ll stick to outstanding African crime fiction that is still underrecognised in my opinion. Unfinished Business by Leye Adenle (Nigeria); Lightseekers by Femi Kayode (Nigeria); The Missing American by Kwei Quartey (Ghana); Payback by Mike Nicol (South Africa); Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe (SA).

TRL: Do you have an ideal reader in mind while you are writing?

Stanley Trollip: Someone who enjoys the setting and backstory as well as the mystery.

Michael Sears: Ditto.

TRL: What is your greatest indulgence?

Stanley Trollip: While writing: exploring online. Otherwise, it is travel.

Michael Sears: Food and wine – preferably together in a wonderful setting. DM/ML

A Deadly Covenant by Michael Stanley is published by Orenda Books (R260). Visit The Reading List for South African book news – including interviews! – daily.