by Don Butler
I once had a newspaper assignment to go to Canada’s west coast with a group searching for the rare white “spirit bear.” I never dreamed that decades later, that adventure would become a chapter in my latest murder mystery, Norman’s Conquest. But my career as a journalist has offered up countless episodes and experiences that fit perfectly into my current career as a novelist.
When I was young, I wanted to be a fiction writer. Although I chose journalism as my field of study in university, I did so because I imagined it would hone the writerly skills I needed to become a successful author.
As it happened, journalism proved endlessly fascinating for many years (and it paid the rent). But when I finally stepped away, I discovered that my newspaper experiences infused the fiction I would eventually write.
Newspaper characters populate both my novels: 2021’s A Life of Bliss and this year’s follow-up, Norman’s Conquest. Travel editor Bliss Browning and managing editor Norman Pugsley are the titular characters of my two books, augmented by a quirky cast of newsroom denizens.
In part, I was simply following Mark Twain’s famous dictum to “write what you know.” After so much time and so many different jobs at the Ottawa Citizen newspaper in Canada’s capital, I was certainly qualified.
I also recognized that some of the journalists I met along the way were colourful characters – prime fodder for my books.
While most of my fictional journalists are composites of people I worked with, a few are more closely drawn from real characters.
The best example is a fictional character named Renata Richter, the egghead editor-in-chief of the Ottawa Daily Advocate, a recruit from academia. She speaks five languages, tells her writers to let her eccentric story ideas “marinate,” and loves special print sections focused on far-off places. I once worked for an odd, if lovable, editor quite a bit like that.
I’d never heard the expression “Christ on a bicycle” until one of my editors uttered the phrase. It shows up as Norman Pugsley’s favourite catchphrase in both my books.
There are journalists in my novels who spend inordinate amounts of time talking to their broker on the phone, take smoke breaks that consume more of their shift than actual work or use the F-word with comical frequency – all inspired by people I worked with.
I also drew on my newspaper experience for a seminal scene in Norman’s Conquest. Through epic incompetence, the Daily Advocate publishes a highly defamatory story linking a senator to the murder of a sex worker. Though Norman Pugsley’s role in the publishing blunder is peripheral at best, his editors blame him, derailing his hitherto stellar career.
That never happened to me or anyone I worked closely with, but because of my newspaper background, I could present this key episode of the book in a way that was plausible – not only to the public but to my fellow journalists.
My portrayal of all these characters and events is satirical, but there’s at least a tiny grain of truth to them. They also inject humour that leavens the tone of both novels.
Some of my personal journalistic experiences provide grist for my plots. One chapter in Norman’s Conquest describes the spirit bear encounter I mentioned earlier – a mostly faithful retelling of my own experience stalking the bear.
Pierre Trudeau, one of Canada’s longest-serving prime ministers, makes a cameo appearance in another chapter. I covered Trudeau during my time as a political reporter for the Ottawa Citizen, so I felt confident including him in the novel.
Had I never been a journalist, it’s possible I could have invented similar characters and story elements. But those portrayals would likely have been less credible – and much less fun to write.
The feedback I’ve received about Norman’s Conquest from other journalists has been gratifying. One, a former editor-in-chief of three newspapers in Canada, said my portrayal of newsroom culture was “dead on … a very effective rendition of a particular milieu.”
It all goes to show that, as usual, Mark Twain knew what he was talking about.
About the author: Don Butler had a long career as a journalist at the Ottawa Citizen, where he worked in a variety of roles, including executive editor. He lives in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, and is married to journalist Christina Spencer. His first novel, a travel mystery called A Life of Bliss, was released in 2021. Norman’s Conquest, released in May of this year, includes many characters from his first book. He’s already planning a third mystery in the series.
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