Victor O'Reilly

Where have you been?

Where have you been?

Here and there

This web site has been 'off air' for so long that I guess an explanation is in order - if only for the many hundreds of readers who have, most kindly, taken the trouble to track me down and write to me directly.

Before I write anything else, let me just say that your interest and support is much appreciated. Actually, it is much more than that. It is both motivating and truly touching - even when you are lambasting me, quite justifiably, for not getting books out fast enough. "Lambasting," let me say in passing, is a great word.

Probably the most moving e-mail arrived on May 30 2005.
It was headed, "Publish, don't perish," an attention grabbing headline for an author if ever there was one, and it read:

Other recent e-mails included the following (headed "New Books Wanted"):

and:

and:

It is hard not to feel great affection for people who write like this. I do feel truly blessed. Still, such a statement scarcely answers the questions: "Where have you been, and what have you been up to, and why have you appeared to drop out for while?"

Good point!

But let me give you the fairly short sanitized version for now.

From February 1999 to mid 2001 I was involved in the sad and emotionally exhausting business of a domestic split and custody battle. All of this happened in Dublin, Ireland because, in case you never knew or have forgotten I am Irish, albeit Anglo-Irish.

The Anglo-Irish are, in essence, the remnants of Ireland's ruling class stemming from the days when Ireland was ruled by Britain. These days we are something of a relic but much of Ireland's literary tradition stems from the Anglo-Irish. Oscar Wilde, Bernard Shaw and Yeats, for example, were all Anglo-Irish - as were many of Britain's more successful field commanders including the Duke of Wellington. Mind you, the Duke, who was born in Ireland, rather spoiled the whole thing by commenting: "Just because one is born in a stable does not make one a horse."

Be that as it may, anyone who has been through a major family breakup will know how truly awful it is; and anyone who has not - really does not need to know any more. There are so many happier subjects to think about. Head out for the woods in the Fall; look at the setting sun; contemplate the beauty of the birds that land on your deck; take your lover to an outdoor concert on a summer evening; hug your grandchildren closely; savor your Armagnac; admire the peace and beauty of a switched-off television; relax to Gounod (a much over-looked French composer).

Don't dwell on misery. Be lucky.

I did not stop writing during this period but I certainly was more focused on my children than my books - which is probably the way it should have been.

In mid 2001 we reached a settlement and almost immediately the children and I flew to the US to live in Virginia. We chose Winchester because a close friend lived nearby and I wanted a support system for the kids. We chose the US because we all wanted to try the American experience and many of my friends and most of my readers live here. I am also a great believer in having adventures because without a without a bit of risk-taking the world would be a dull place.

We did not bargain on 9/11 which immediately made being an immigrant vastly more complicated. Let me emphasize 'vastly.' Simply put, the country went paranoid. The effects of that paranoia were to make the normal business of living considerably complicated for us foreign types. However, trying to explain that to a native born American who takes things like a Social Security Number, Credit Record and so on for granted is, I have learned, virtually impossible, so I shall say no more about it until I get around to writing my version of MASH based upon the INS.

More than a few wits commented that we should have come in illegally via the Rio Grande because then there was a tried and true Hispanic network which could have arranged all the necessary forged papers in a heartbeat, or a New York minute, or sooner.

What can I say! Suffice to say that my grandmother, a marvelously eccentric woman, set a high ethical standard from which I have found it hard to deviate; so we chose the legal route.

Here I should probably mention that, apart from my fictional writing about terrorism throughout the Nineties, I have actually studied and experienced the reality of terrorism for decades and had also been of some small assistance to Congress on that subject during that period. Accordingly, Congressman Jim Saxton of New Jersey's Third District, who had been decidedly prescient about the terrorist threat, took me in hand and in mid 2002 I was awarded Permanent Resident Status in the U.S. under the XXX heading.

After 9/11, I was keen to make some kind of positive contribution during that period so worked for the Pentagon for a period of time. That, in turn, led me to write a series of critical reports on the Army's new vehicle, the Stryker ('Stryker & The Reality of War') and subsequently on the need for armor protection in Iraq in general ('Preventable Deaths'). Unfortunately, these reports were all too prescient. The various weaknesses I outlined did exist and soldiers died as a result.

Both of these reports can be downloaded from www.cochraneinstitute.com. They were written at the initial suggestion of Congressman Jim Saxton who felt that my perspective, knowledge and "out of the box thinking" might be useful. Mind you, he did not always appreciate the directness and bluntness of my language but he certainly found the findings useful; and, to his great credit, he acted. As a consequence of such efforts, and of those of a limited number of others, our troops now have better armor than they otherwise might.

Better armor means fewer casualties. This did not happen by accident and if you knew the extent of the opposition we faced, even though lives were on the line, you would be apalled. The defense contracting business, heavily staffed by retired military, is a maelstrom of greed, ambition and treachery because, simply put, too much money is involved. Remember, the US spends more on defense than the rest of the world put together. Realize that a general's star can be a ticket for a retiree of that rank to become a millionaire. That is heady stuff which has led to agendas which have little to do with the needs of the combat soldier.

Still, I thought the issue of armor protection a worthy cause and continue to do so because a great deal remains to be done in this area.

You may well ask what was a fiction author doing by writing serious military reports on real equipment in time of war. The short answer is that I am not an amateur, have been researching matters military for over four decades, wanted to make a contribution, care deeply about the Army - even though I may disagree with it on occasions - and have a high opinion of Congressman Saxton. Also, all my fiction has been, and continues to be, inspired by, and rooted, in fact. It is also worth noting that the contribution of us creative types in war is a well established tradition.

Nonetheless, I did not bargain for the truly horrendous amount of work involved so when I finally surfaced, blinked and looked around, it was mid 2004 and my return to a more balanced life, focused mainly on writing was way overdue. That said, I felt I could not just abandon my military work .

I compromised by deciding to write a humorous, non-fiction memoir while continuing to do several hours of military work every day as well. The memoir would be about the decade I spent living in a thatched cottage in Ireland which eventually resulted in the New York Times Best Seller, 'Games of The Hangman,' which started my writing career. The story would be in the tradition of 'A Year In Provence' and 'Under The Tuscan Sun' - essentially stories about dropping out from mainstream living to live in idyllic surroundings while also having to cope with radically different cultures. I called the book "The Cottage' because my tiny thatched Irish cottage was the centerpiece of the whole adventure.

A year later, 'The Cottage' is finished and I am now returning to the thriller writing business while still putting in several hours every day on military matters.

So now you know.

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Casting the Movies

Casting the Movies

Who could play fitzduane?

I grew up in a house without TV, a matter of parental policy, so books and movies, watched in the cinema, were my primary source of entertainment and escape. I shall refrain from commenting on other activities I discovered when in my teens, and outdoor pursuits like shooting or rambling or watching Rugby in the rain.

There was a great deal of rain where I grew up.

Decades later I still adore books and movies and if you put a gun to my head, and asked me to chose one medium over the other, I would be hard pressed to make a decision, except to run.

Both are amazingly powerful creative media.

The great thing about a good book is that if you put any effort into at all, and when you are tired that is tough, it truly does engage, stimulate and exercise your mind. Because only part of the story can be adequately explained in the space the author has available, great demands are made on your imagination and the end result is that, inevitably, different readers interpret aspects of books - particularly the appearance of the characters - in widely different ways.

In contrast, a good movie is an all encompassing audio-visual experience that does more of the work for you and no finer way to relax, that is entirely legal or a not hazard to world population growth, has yet been found.

All of which brings me to a few thoughts on the intriguing and decidedly challenging business of transferring my books to the screen.

Let me stress the word 'few.' I'm going to pick up on this later.

It has been put to me that shrinking 400 hundred odd single spaced pages of fast paced story into perhaps 120 pages of screenplay would be an overly demanding task.

Rubbish! Just for starters, as many of you have commented in your e-mails, I am an intensely visual writer so substituting visuals for words will not be a problem. That is what movie talent does. I'm not saying the task is easy. But I am saying that the movie business has talent in spades and it can do the job on time and on schedule.

It has also been stated that my stories are too complex to transfer to the the screen.

Really! The truth is that just about anything can be adapted for the screen providing people with vision are allocated the task. The examples are too many to list. The next and much repeated objections are that my hero is foreign (Irish), many of the locations are outside the US, and the main movie makers are American and American audiences only like to watch American movies.

Here I take a deep breath and offer some contrary evidence. Anyway, I tend to be suspicious of generalizations.

JAMES BOND?

TITANIC?

BRAVEHEART?

BRIDGET JONES' DIARY?

CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON?

GLADIATOR?

THE MUMMY RETURNS?

Finally, I run into the objection that all I do is write old fashioned adventure stories and in these days of High Concept movies, who wants to look at a story? Here my answer is that the story has been around since mankind huddled around trying to invent the campfire, and shows no signs of vanishing, so I think I am safe for a time.

The toughest bit, it seems to me, will be the casting. If that is not done right, the rest will be dust. Think of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN without Tom Hanks. It would not have worked. Think of the early James Bond movies without Sean Connery. He was essential.

I am a great admirer of casting directors. I think it is one of the toughest jobs around but when it is done right the results can be extraordinary. And, I have to say, it is often done right.

Let me say here and now that I make no pretence at all to be a casting director. Thse are merely the musings for fun of the man who originated these characters ably aided by his much loved and highly media-informed children.

Hugo Fitzduane

Fitzduane is a big man physically, with a definite presence, but he is a reluctant hero. He has a great sense of humor which pervades everything and he has both charm and charisma. He is a leader. But his charm is not superficial, he has substance. He keeps his word, is loyal to his friends and his values and is a thinker as well as a doer. He has been around, he has seen more combat than most, he is not a kid. He is essentially kind, a decent man, still with a tendency towards idealism on occasions, but he is also lethal when roused. He is curious, an explorer by nature, so is impelled to push the envelope when others might hesitate. This aspect of his character gets him into a great deal of trouble.

Fitzduane is Irish according to his passport but not in the sense that is generally understood. He does not have an Irish accent though he does have a compelling voice, indeed it is one of his strengths. He is neither a Nationalist nor a Republican. He is Anglo-Irish, yet apart from that environment also. He values his friends, adores his children yet is at ease in his own company. He lives in his own unfettered world, and what he has he holds. He believes, in freedom and will fight for what he believes in.

His mother was American.

Our stand-out choice for the role would be GEORGE CLOONEY who has got better and better over the years and manages toughness, humor and compassion more ably than most. A less well known alternative could be DAVID JAMES ELLIOTT (Star of JAG).

Etan

Etan, a strong, tall blond Irish newscaster plays a prominent role in the first of the trilogy as Fitzduane's love interest and ends up having to fight for her life.

Our choice: PORTIA DE ROSSI.

Kathleen

Kathleen is a beautiful dark haired Irish nurse who gets involved in Fitzduane's violent world with tragic consequences.

Our choice: CATHERINE ZETA JONES.

Chifune

Japanese women have a long tradition of subservience to their men. Chifune is one of the new breed of Japanese women who live their own lives their own way but still retain their feminity.

In this case, Chifune is not just independent but a highly trained agent who can more than hold her own againt the opposition, male or female.

Our choices: MICHELE YEOH or NAOKO MORI.

Shane Kilmara

Kilmara is a seasoned, battle-hardened, rugged warrior, and man of the world, who has seen most everything and understands that what might be right is not necessarily what is practical. By nature he is a pragmatist and somewhat sceptical of Fitzduane's idealism yet he also respects the younger man's qualities and he is immensely fond of his friend.

Physically, he is bearded and with an experienced face.

Got to be SEAN CONNERY or GENE HACKMAN.

The Hangman

A complex, deeply evil figure of enormous charm and energy and considerable physical appeal, who spent much of his youth in Cuba, the Hangman is something of a chameleon and is capable of carrying out many different roles with aplomb.

Sad to say he is no longer with us, but my original choice for the role was that fine actor RAOUL JULIA. Now we are opting for ROBERT DOWNEY JR. , KEVIN SPACEY , TIM ROBBINS or DAVID DUCHOVNY.

The Bear

An experienced Swiss detective who loves good food, the Bear is grumpy but lovable and a whole lot smarter than he appears at first. Physically in the book he is, well, bear-shaped, but, for all that, the man we would choose to play the role on the screen would be BILL MURRAY. However, an intriguing alternative could be DANNY DE VITO.

Beat Von Graffenlaub

Beat is an aristocrat, a banker and a member of the Bernese establishment personified. He has grown up to wealth and privilege and takes his position in society as no more than his due. He is powerful within the context of his world and arrogant, yet for all that not a bad man. In fact he has many good qualities and can be quite decent on ocassions. But his elitist world and his responsibilities, real and imagined, limit him. Indeed in some ways he is downright naïve.

Physically, he has the authority and distinction of his rank and dresses superbly. He is no longer young but remains a good-looking man.

We nominate MAXIMILIAN SCHELL or MICHAEL DOUGLAS or ROY SCHEIDER.

Erica Von Graffenlaub

Erika is sexy, ambitious, amoral, intriguing, lethal and has married well for position and money. Men are attracted to her as flies to honey. She dresses superbly. She titillates, dominates, sucks in and spits out. Men are there to be used. Life is there to be experienced. There are no limits. She is exceptionally attractive and equally dangerous.

Our choices: ASHLEY JUDD , LIZ HURLEY or KYLIE MINOGUE.

Oshima

Oshima is a died-in-the-wool Japanese terrorist who has long ago committed herself to a campaign of extreme violence against a society that she perceives as decadent and corrupt and only fit for destruction. Personally, she is quite beautiful but her physical assets are offset by an obsessive personality. She lives to kill and suffers no remorse.

Our choice: LUCY LIU or NAOKO MORI.

Lee Cochrane

Cochrane is an intensely private man in his early fifties, the master of the shadows, and is dedicated to his special world of counter-terrorism. Intelligent, compelling on a one to one basis or in small groups, he operates outside conventional systems and operates mainly through his own network. Personally an enigma, there is never a suggestion that his focus is other than on the national interest. In effect, he is a genuine patriot. He is not a fanatic but he is more dedicated and consistent than most. He has an original and creative mind and specialises in linking people, places and situations together. He has a perspective that most others lack.

Our choice: ED HARRIS.

Al Lonsdale

Lonsdale is the classic sidekick who backs up Fitzduane when the going gets tough. A rangy outdoors type, almost certainly a Southerner, Al has a Special Forces background and a laconic sense of humor.

Our choice: SCOTT GLENN

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Public Speaking

Public Speaking:
Writer-in-Residence:

The Booking Office is open!

I enjoy most aspects of being a writer, particularly the actual process of writing (which many writers are supposed to dislike - preferring to spend more time on research or whatever) but after an intense period of writing, I do miss human interaction from time to time. I miss the communication and I miss being tested on the issues. My computer may crash but it has not got around to debating with me yet (And I'll take a rain-check on that day arriving).

But if you're a communicator by nature, and that is certainly my role in life, then there is something about talking to - and sparring with - an intelligent and demanding live audience which is vastly stimulating. In fact I often think I learn as much from the questions and the cut-and-thrust after a speech as the audience learns from me. And arguably that is the way it should be. If the audience don't always know as much of the specifics of a subject as the speaker, what they do bring to the debate is a whole fresh series of perspectives which can charge up the speaker for the next time around.

A lecture followed by a good question and answer session is - certainly should be - a win-win situation for all concerned. And note my emphasis on the post-speech Q&A session. Lectures are great but it's that interchange which can really make the electricity crackle, makes the audience feel they have been allowed to get their point across - and which helps to drive the core message home.

Both are amazingly powerful creative media.

I mention all this because I have recently decided to do some teaching and public lecturing in the US. Specifically I have two objectives:

Public Speaking: To hit the lecture circuit and further develop my US public speaking career.

Writer-In-Residence: To attach myself to some fine academic institution as Writer-In-Residence (or whatever other title is used) where I can lecture and teach on a part-time basis but still have time to write.

Having led a fairly adventurous life for over half a century inevitably means that I am well informed and experienced enough to talk about a variety of topics, but I have chosen topics areas where I have particular expertise and about which I feel concerned - and, indeed, passionate. And which I feel many in the US may care to know more about. Arguably need to more about in some cases. And entertained by. Life is too short to be serious about everything - though some subjects deserve a deep breath and some tight focus.

Speaking Topics

21st Century Terrorism and the increasing threat to the United States: - and what should be done about it. It's a threat of a different order of magnitude than ever before which can be countered but only if it is properly understood.

The widening gulf between the most successful country in the world, the United States and its armed services: An explanation of the issues - with a particular emphasis on the US Army - and recommendations as to what should be done about it - illustrated from my own experiences spending years researching the army and months in the field with units of the army such as the 82nd Airborne, the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), and the 101st Airborne (Air Assault). Plus some Pentagon time.

Renaissance Ireland: After more than half a century of being independent and yet economically unsuccessful - suddenly Ireland is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. What is the background? Why has this turnaround happened? Where is Ireland going now? And what are the lessons for the US bearing in mind that there are similarities between Ireland and many US states? And not forgetting that no less than 42 million Americans are of Irish descent.

The writing of a Best Seller: The true story of how I wrote GAMES OF THE HANGMAN in a thatched cottage in Ireland and ended up breaking into one of the most competitive markets in the world. And what can other would-be published authors can learn from this?

The secrets of researching an International Thriller: Or why I try and avoid being shot at too often. Or arrested for too long. A detailed and sometimes humorous account of how I have researched my books from tracking down the Japanese Secret Service to helping out Lawrence Livermore National Lab put Iraq's supergun out of business.

Why the US works so well: - and why so many other countries do not An Irishman's perspective together with some thoughts on what Americans must do to keep at the leading edge with particular reference on less but more effective government, lower taxes, better education, fostering decision-making at local level and learning to think globally.

Interested parties may care to read my Bio on this web site and then to contact me via e-mail. The booking office has opened.

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Death of a Year

Death of a Year:

Birth of a book

This is a sad story.

Well, part of it is. Another part is plain ironic. But there has been happiness too.

Sad or not, life being the funny thing it is, some good may come out of it all longer term.

In the short term it has been a stressful mess which for most of 1999 brought my writing plans to a halt.

Relax, they have started again and this time at a faster more purposeful tempo.

The phoenix effect.

In many ways I would prefer not to tell my story, but so many readers have written to me to ask about my next book and, indeed about me personally, that I feel it should be told. Having led a fairly adventurous life for over half a century inevitably means that I am well informed and experienced enough to talk about a variety of topics, but I have chosen topics areas where I have particular expertise and about which I feel concerned - and, indeed, passionate. And which I feel many in the US may care to know more about. Arguably need to more about in some cases. And entertained by. Life is too short to be serious about everything - though some subjects deserve a deep breath and some tight focus.

I have had thousands of e-mails, some very moving (all of which I have endeavored to answer personally).

Well, if you can share with me, I guess I can and should share with you.

For many years my partner and I had not being getting on particularly well but we had, I thought, reached an amicable accommodation for the sake of the children. A relationship requires compromise, or so they say and I happen to adore my kids.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of 1999, she made the irrevocable decision that she that wanted a different way of life which included a new relationship (and about 20 years younger at that).

Compromise became irrelevant. It rarely stacks up well against chemistry.

Crunch time after 15 years.

I know many of you have been though similar situations and ironically so has my much loved but fictional hero, Hugo Fitzduane. As those of you who have read my books know, he tends to have an active love life but to run into problems when it comes to domestic bliss.

Now it was my turn. To have problems, that is. As to my love life, wait for my memoirs.

A slight difference in my case is that my children were older - Evie is 13 and Bruff is 10 - and as it happened they decided they wanted to stay with me.

We sold the house - a long and painful process - went for a memorable vacation on the West Coast of the US late June and July to give us some perspective, and in August 1999 moved into an apartment to create a new home.

A new writing environment.

A new life. I was a bachelor again after a decade and a half. And a single parent.

A strange feeling. Now the break had been made, and it should have been made a decade earlier, I felt a great desire to re-build. To do things better. Much better.

Despite throwing out a dumpster full of papers, I will confess I do not travel light. I have no particular interest in fine furniture or valuables but I have a huge collections of books and files and such stuff weighs heavy.

Actually the move was a story in itself. As it happens the crew could not work out how to block off the electronic beam on the elevator (despite accurate advice from Evie and Bruff) so ended up carrying everything up four floors by hand. And several started the day horribly hung over.

The move, done the hard way by the experts, took fourteen hours in all and was both gruesome to watch and quite funny. And the moral of the story is that it would have paid to listen to Evie and Bruff.

As I find out every day, you can learn a great deal from your kids.

To keep sane throughout this period, I started a daily journal - something I have never been too good at in the past - and found it had unexpected side benefits apart from its therapeutic value.

It made me a better observer because I was constantly looking for raw material to feed the beast.

It gave me a place to put ideas that otherwise might have been lost and - somewhat to my surprise - it increased both my writing speed and fluency.

I guess I was discovering that the practicing disciplines that work for singers, musicians and dancers also work for writers.

By writing more - albeit something unconnected with my current book - I was learning to write more.

If you are puzzled by that, so was I initially but basically it is all about 'flow' or 'Mussin' which is the kind of state that a Japanese martial arts expert aspires to attain.

This is something like a tranquil state of intense activity when internally you are calm and relaxed. Totally involved yet detached.

I am not arrogant enough to say I achieved it - indeed I am not sure I would know - but I certainly had, and have, the sense of it.

My journal experience resulted in an imperative to get back to book writing, and, to break the ice, I decided to write my first non-fiction book, Getting To Know The Warfighters about my sometimes chaotic, often very funny but ultimately rewarding adventures with various US Army units, the 82 Airborne Division, the 101 (Air Assault) and the 3 Infantry Division (Mechanized) while researching The Devil's Footprint and other books.

I have to say it was a joy to write and I finished the first draft in January 2000.

Is it any good? Well, it's a lot of fun and sometimes it is quite moving and though I am biased, of course, my guess is that I am back in the writing game.

But I have lost, at least, a year. Probably a great deal more because there was a substantial lead-in to the denouement.

I regret that deeply.

If you want to know how all of this plays out, just click on the e-mail icon and send me a note saying you would like to subscribe to my newsletter, Letters From Hangman Hall.

My writing career all started with a hanging. Fortunately not mine.

One of the many good things about being an author is that that almost everything, even bad things, can be viewed as raw material - but there are limits.

You may well wonder how the kids are faring in all this. The short answer is exceptionally well and I am hugely proud of them.

Our new home is happy and a whole lot of fun though I confess they tease the hell out of me.

Take care.

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