Kevin Berry – Crafting Stories from Resilience

Exploring the Impact of Christchurch on a Best-Selling Author’s Work

Kevin Berry discusses how Christchurch’s resilience influences his diverse writing, spanning genres from crime noir to YA fiction, and shares insights into his creative process and authentic character portrayals.

Kevin Berry, an incredibly talented Amazon best-selling author based in Christchurch, New Zealand, has a remarkable ability to weave the essence of his resilient city into his diverse body of work. Christchurch, a city that has faced significant challenges, particularly after the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, serves as both a backdrop and a source of inspiration for Kevin’s writing. Despite the destruction that left parts of the city in ruins, Kevin remained, channeling the city’s strength and his own experiences into his stories. His novels, set against this unique landscape, explore themes of resilience and transformation, offering readers a glimpse into a world where adversity is met with creativity and hope.

Kevin Berry’s literary prowess spans a wide range of genres, from contemporary crime noir to young adult fiction and science fiction, showcasing his impressive versatility. His works have not only captivated readers but have also earned him prestigious accolades, including the Sir Julius Vogel Award and the Awesome Indies Seal of Approval. These honors, along with his #1 bestseller status in multiple categories on Amazon, underscore the quality and impact of his writing. Kevin’s ability to authentically portray diverse characters and settings is a testament to his skill and dedication as a writer. His novel “Stim,” which explores the experiences of a character with Asperger’s Syndrome, is particularly noteworthy for its authentic representation and the empathy it fosters among readers. Through his powerful storytelling, Kevin Berry continues to connect with a global audience, drawing inspiration from the resilience of Christchurch and the quiet hours of the night when his creativity thrives.

Kevin Berry, an incredibly talented Amazon best-selling author based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Kevin’s life and work are deeply rooted in this resilient city, which has seen its share of challenges, especially after the devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011. Despite the destruction that left parts of Christchurch in ruins, Kevin remained, channelling the city’s strength and his own experiences into his writing.

Kevin is the kind of writer who thrives in the quiet hours of the night. When most people are asleep, he’s wide awake, crafting stories that span a wide range of genres. From contemporary crime noir to science fiction, from young adult novels that tackle social issues to middle-grade interactive fiction—his versatility is truly impressive. He even co-wrote fantasy, though those books are now out of print.

His work has not gone unnoticed. Kevin has earned the prestigious Sir Julius Vogel Award, an honour he shares with his collaborators. He’s also received the Awesome Indies Seal of Approval twice, which speaks volumes about the quality and impact of his writing. And let’s not forget his impressive rankings on Amazon: #1 Bestseller in Australian & Oceanian Literature, Noir Mysteries and Thrillers, and Hard-Boiled Mysteries, both in the US and Canada.

Living in Christchurch, a city with about 400,000 people on New Zealand’s east coast, Kevin is as far removed from the rest of the world as you can get. Yet, he remains connected to the global literary community through his powerful stories. Despite the challenges his city has faced, Kevin continues to write, drawing inspiration from the resilience of the place he calls home.

Your novels are set in Christchurch, a city deeply affected by earthquakes. How has living in earthquake-hit Christchurch influenced the themes and settings of your books, particularly in Shooting Messengers?

I experienced the destructive earthquakes and wrote about them in Stim and Kaleidoscope. Many old buildings were ruined, and the CBD was cordoned off and guarded by soldiers to ensure safety until the most dangerous structures could be fully demolished. Thousands of aftershocks occurred, including some big ones. A large part of the eastern city was designed as a Red Zone, where building would no longer be allowed. Nearly every road had to be fixed.

As I sat in a cafe watching birds nesting in the wreckage of a pharmacy’s roof across the road, I wondered what it would be like if parts of the city remained as a ruin. Who would live here? Would society deteriorate? I wrote my crime noir books Shooting Messengers, The Possum Fur Plot and To Kill A Conman with that dystopian setting in mind.

Of course, in real life, Christchurch is being rebuilt as a modern, world-class city, so thankfully my bleak vision will not come to pass. But I enjoyed developing the idea of a darker alternative future.

Your work spans a wide range of genres, from contemporary crime noir to YA fiction and science fiction. What drives your exploration of such diverse genres, and how do you manage to maintain authenticity across these different storytelling styles?

I always write in first person (except when writing interactive children’s fiction, when I write in second person). This gives me the scope to develop unique voices for my main characters. Exploring different voices is one of the great joys in writing, I believe, and writing across multiple genres allows an even greater range of possibilities. Immersive reading takes the reader on a journey along other lives and to other worlds. Writing diverse voices means you’re experiencing a character in your head for months, even years. But it does take time to get the voice ‘right’. When I wrote Kaleidoscope, it took me three months until I felt I had the right voice for the main character – and then I had to rewrite everything I’d done up to that point!

In your novel Stim, you explore the experiences of a character with Asperger’s Syndrome. What inspired you to write about this topic, and how did you approach creating an authentic representation of someone living with Asperger’s?

I wanted to write about a character with Asperger’s because there were so few books on the subject, and TV and movies frequently portrayed these characters in a comical way. I could write as a main character with Asperger’s authentically because I have that syndrome myself (I was diagnosed in my 40s) and my eldest son has autism. The best thing about writing the book was the number of emails and reviews I got in which people told me they now understood a family member much better than before.

 As an Amazon #1 Bestseller in multiple categories and a Sir Julius Vogel Award winner, how have these achievements shaped your writing career? Have they influenced the way you approach new projects or connect with your readers?

It’s certainly encouraging to receive awards and great reviews, and it does inspire me to write more. Hearing from happy readers is wonderful. It is also tremendous to have support and respect from fellow authors. Writing can be a lonely task, but connecting with readers and other authors makes it worthwhile and encourages me to start new projects.

 You mentioned being a night owl who prefers writing late into the night. How does this nocturnal writing schedule affect your creative process, and do you find that the quiet of the night influences the mood or tone of your stories?

It takes me a while to get into the right headspace for writing, and the longer I can spend in a writing session (with short breaks), the better the writing goes. So I find it useful to start writing when I know I’ve got everything else done for the day and it’s quiet in the house. I would often start around 11 pm and write until 1 am or 1.30 am. Unfortunately, as I get older, I’m not able to do that as often as I used to, and I’m working on finding a new writing process that works for me. One tip I can pass on, though, is to write in sprints, especially with someone else. It’s surprising how much you can write when you set yourself 20 minutes or so to write as many words as possible. Leave the editing until later when the whole story is down.

 Having co-written a fantasy series that is now out of print, what insights did you gain from the co-writing experience? Would you consider collaborating on another project in the future, or do you prefer working solo on your novels?

I enjoyed co-writing overall. You can talk through ideas with your writing partner, and the final result can be better than what either writer could achieve alone. The way we approached it was to write different sections and edit each other’s work until everything appeared to be in the same voice. I certainly would consider co-writing again, but it would have to be with the right person, someone I know well, with a shared story vision. But most people (including me) are busy on their own projects, so it may never happen. We’ll see.

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