This month's Featured Author, Nicolas Drayson, answers questions from The Masons Book Club from Wichenford, Worcestershire.
Q: Have you spent time or lived in Africa?
A: Yes, though only in Kenya. A few years ago my wife took a job in Nairobi with an international agroforestry research organisation and we were lucky enough to see quite a bit of the country. It was there that I wrote my first novel Confessing a Murder.
Q: Do any of the places in the book such as the Meati and Mr Malik’s club actually exist?
A: Well spotted. There is indeed a restaurant in Nairobi called The Carnivore where local game is on the menu. I never went there myself although I know it is very popular with tourists. I have cooked zebra, but many local Kenyans tend to look down on “bush meat”. They prefer goat or beef. As for the Asadi Club – while I like to think there is such a place, as far as I know it exists only in my and your imaginations.
Q: You obviously have an interest in birds, have you ever organized or attended bird watching trips yourself and did this give you insight into how members interact?
A: I have been on a few bird-watching trips in several places and have found watching the other people on them can be more than half the fun. But while I have enjoyed them, I find it easier to see birds and beasts when I’m on my own.
Q: The idea of the farting and birdspotting competition is very original, what gave you the idea and have you taken part in such competitions yourself?
A: Never! But this is an interesting question because it brings up the subject of where do writers’ ideas come from. All I can say is that I know they come out of my head, but how they got in there I usually have no idea. And sometimes they seem to feel pretty happy staying just where they are and I have a devil of a job to coax them out. Should you ever find yourself in this situation with your own ideas, I have found that a glass of two of champagne and a good cigar will often do the trick.
