Robert Wilson on the importance of setting

Today's Boston Globe offers an interview with Robert Wilson, author of the Javier Falcon novels and other thrillers. Wilson talks about research he did for his latest, The Hidden Assassin, and about the importance of immersing himself in his settings : "I wanted to get real Arab voices. So I went to Morocco; I had a contact who ran a clothes factory near Rabat, and I interviewed the workforce from the financial director to the top floor."

Wilson says his agent for foreign rights wants more books about the Seville-based Falcon. "I could move him to Barcelona or Madrid," the author says. "But Barcelona is a completely different culture; all the police work would be done in Catalan. I'd have to live there for three or four months. ... I also have the idea of setting a novel in London. But am I able to go back to London now? Could I write a novel set there?"

The Wilson interview was on one of four full pages the Globe devoted to books. It was nice to see an American newspaper recognize that it has literate readers who care about ideas. Not all American papers recognize this.

© Peter Rozovsky 2006

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