{"id":84348,"date":"2018-11-09T10:34:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T23:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/?p=84348"},"modified":"2018-11-13T12:23:22","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T01:23:22","slug":"tony-park-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/2018\/11\/09\/tony-park-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A with Tony Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tonyAustralian Author Tony Park was born in 1964 and grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Australia and England, a government press secretary, a public relations consultant, and freelance writer. His novels have been acclaimed bestsellers since his very first, Far Horizon<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

He is also a Major in the Australian Army Reserve and served six months in Afghanistan in 2002 as the public affairs officer for the Australian ground forces.<\/p>\n

His latest book, Scent of Fear<\/em><\/a>, will be published on the 27th of November by Pan Macmillan Australia. Read on for a Q&A with Tony Park about Scent of Fear<\/em><\/a>, his writing habits, his favourite literary quote and more …<\/p>\n

\n


\nWhat is your favourite book and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hold My Hand I\u2019m Dying<\/em> by the late John Gordon-Davis. This was the first novel set in Africa that I ever read and it\u2019s still the best. The book is set in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at the time of the country\u2019s Bush War. As well as being a remarkable snapshot of the time, it captures the essence of Africa, a continent of incredible beauty and terrible tragedy. It\u2019s a love story and at the same time raw, racy and real.<\/p>\n

Who do you most admire?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Outside of my family, Nelson Mandela. He was a convicted terrorist who forgave his captors and did more than any other politician I can think of to unite people, rather than divide them. I also admire him because he is the only politician I can think of (perhaps in the history of the world) to quit while he was ahead.<\/p>\n

What is the biggest challenge you have ever faced?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting help for some issues I was having. I went to war, in Afghanistan, as an Army Reservist for six months in 2002. It was the longest I had ever been away from home. I served mostly behind a desk and no Australians were killed or injured during my time, for which I was incredibly thankful. As the war went on, however, many Australian service people were killed, or suffered physical and mental injuries. Friends of mine were affected. For a long time, until I sought help, I felt guilty that I had survived and ashamed for not doing more. I drank too much to try and feel better. A psychotherapist friend suggested I seek help, and I did. I found out that what I was feeling was quite common, for people who have survived while others have fallen. I feel better about my service now and I\u2019ve taken a volunteer position, doing PR for a charity called Veterans for Wildlife that pairs military veterans with anti-poaching and conservation programs in Africa. Giving something back, helping others, helps, and I try to highlight the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues in my thrillers.<\/p>\n

What is the best advice you\u2019ve ever received?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re having problems, if you know you\u2019re on the wrong path, stop and ask for directions. There are people out there who can help you find your way.<\/p>\n

Do you have any unusual writing and\/or reading habits?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have a daily quota of words that I have to write, but I never, ever finish at the end of a chapter. There\u2019s nothing worse than being confronted by a blank page the next day, so even if my quota ends at the end of a chapter I write the first couple of lines of the next chapter. I try to stop mid-paragraph, mid-sentence, so it\u2019s easier to get started next day. One of my favourite things is to have a beer in bed while reading.<\/p>\n

\"tony<\/a>What do you hope readers will discover in you latest book?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scent of Fear<\/em> is about tracker dogs and their handlers employed in the war against poaching in Africa. I learned some interesting facts about dogs and how they work, which I think people might find interesting, but most of all I hope readers get an increased awareness not only of the scale of the poaching problem in Africa, but the good work being done by men, women and dogs to protect wildlife. There\u2019s a war going on in parts of Africa and the human and animal warriors need all the support they can get.<\/p>\n

What is your favourite literary quote?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not so much a quote, but rather the very memorable first line of Ken Follet\u2019s epic novel, Pillars of the Earth:<\/em> \u201cThe small boys came early to the hanging.\u201d<\/p>\n

If your latest book had a theme song, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Who Let the Dogs Out? by Baha Men<\/p>\n

Scent of Fear by Tony Park\u00a0will be published on the 27th of November by Pan Macmillan Australia and his available to order from Booktopia.
\n<\/em>
\nFollow us @TheBooktopian<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Bestsellers of the Week<\/b><\/p>\n

1. Any Ordinary Day by Leigh Sales<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

3. The Land Before Avocado by Richard Glover<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

4. The Barefoot Investor\u00a02018 Update<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

5. Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

6. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

7. The Lost Man by Jane Harper<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

8. The Ice Monster by David Walliams\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

9. The Three Secret Cities by Matthew Reilly<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

10. Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Follow us @TheBooktopian<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian Author Tony Park was born in 1964 and grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Australia and England, a government press secretary, a public relations consultant, and freelance writer. His novels have been acclaimed bestsellers since his very first, Far Horizon. He is also a Major in the Australian Army Reserve and served six months in Afghanistan in 2002 as the public affairs officer for the Australian ground forces. His latest book, Scent of Fear, will be published on the 27th of November by Pan Macmillan Australia. Read on for a Q&A with Tony Park about Scent of Fear, his writing habits, his favourite literary quote and more … What is your favourite book and why? Hold My Hand I\u2019m Dying by the late John Gordon-Davis. This was the first novel set in Africa that I ever read and it\u2019s still the best. The book is set in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) at the time of the country\u2019s Bush War. As well as being a remarkable snapshot of the time, it captures the essence of Africa, a continent of incredible beauty and terrible tragedy. It\u2019s a love story and at the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":84352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":""},"categories":[4,6676],"tags":[359,715,890,993,4383,9367,6148,6228],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Social-tony-park.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84348"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84348"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84460,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84348\/revisions\/84460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booktopia.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}