The Bookmarked Interview... with BR Dexter

Author BR Dexter has recently released his debut novel, Footsteps of Heroes, a story about friendship, division, tradition and honour, all bound up within an intriguing mystery and set in a fictional South African boarding school for boys.

Taking place in the mid-1990s, just as Nelson Mandela is about to win the country's first democratic elections, Footsteps of Heroes is a beautifully written story about the fun, fear, adventure and drama that can be found when hundreds of boys are forced to live together under a series of strict rules and in a building full of history and brimming with secrets.

Based on some of Bruce's own memories and experiences growing up in South Africa, and peppered with brilliant South African phrases and words throughout [boet, meaning mate or friend, being a favourite], Footsteps of Heroes is the first in a series of books which will be set within Johannesburg's fictional Prince of Wessex School and chart the adventures of Alexander 'Davey' Davidson and his group of friends.

Until recently, Bruce was a practicing doctor in London, but hung up his stethoscope to concentrate on his writing. Here, Bruce discusses the inception of his debut novel, the importance of Johannesburg and its history to his evolving narrative, his guilt at leaving medicine, his experience of school punishments, as well as the books and authors that have inspired him on his writing journey.

why was this the Young Adult story you wanted to tell?

Ok, so, I am not a massive fan of the YA label. I never had a teenager in mind when I was writing the story. My reader avatar is a forty-year-old man who went to an all boys’ school. I think that while it has a young protagonist, and would hopefully be enjoyed by older teens, it is written with an older audience in mind.

It was just the story that came out. It started while I was taking a few weeks off from work. I had always threatened to write a book, but wasn’t sure where to start. It was NaNoWriMo, and I was reading their ‘ideas for books’ advice. One piece of advice was ‘think about a visceral moment in your life’, and a memory of standing at the top of a cliff looking down into a pool of dark water came to me.

"Footsteps was supposed to be a short story to give away as a reader magnet, and it just grew and grew."

It was from a camping trip I went on in 1994, when I was 13 or 14, and we were jumping off a waterfall into the pool below. I was frozen, and all my class mates had made the jump easily. So I started describing the feeling of the rock, the good-natured teasing of my friends below me, and that boy became Davey. The boys below him became Tristan, Bevan, Piet and Lorenzo.

It just happened. Footsteps was supposed to be a short story to give away as a reader magnet, and again, it just grew and grew, to the point where I have shelved that first book. I hope to come back to it one day, because that’s where it all started.

Above: BR Dexter's debut novel, Footsteps of Heroes, which is the first in a series of books featuring characters attending the Price of Wessex school.

The events take place immediately before Nelson Mandela’s historic win at South Africa's first democratic elections; how important will South Africa and its history be in the series?

It will be really important. Johannesburg only exists where it is because of gold. There’s no port, or river or lake, it's there for gold. And that gold shaped Johannesburg and South Africa as a whole. I love history, and we’ll be getting more of it in each book.

"Johannesburg only exists where it is because of gold."

The influence of the Boer Wars, the Bush wars, WWI and WWII, the diamond rush, the Gold rush and all the characters involved with those. Of course, we will fell the impact of ‘the struggle’ (the anti-apartheid movement) and the burgeoning democracy of the mid to late 90s.

The Prince of Wessex School and its pupils are fictional, but how much of it is based on your own experiences?

The school itself, the buildings, I mean, are based on my old school. I knew them so well, that I didn’t need to reinvent the geography. Although I have added something which the school doesn’t have to the narrative.

The experience of the elections and the democratic change are all lifted from memory. One of the teachers is based on a real man, and I’m told he would be flattered. A lot of the boarding house life is based on what happened: the tunnel punishment was real, the pencils punishment happened to a friend of mine, and a prefect walking around with a stick called klapstok are all real. But the rest is invention.

"The tunnel punishment was real, the pencils punishment happened to a friend of mine."

I loved high school, for the most part, and so I have a lot of memories to draw from. It was a hard place, but the mates you made made it all worth it.

Above: Bruce has given up medicine to focus on writing.

You’ve recently given up medicine to concentrate on writing; what attracted you to medicine initially, and how does it feel to have put that career behind you?

Leaving medicine was the hardest decision I ever made. But the right one. My physical and mental health were suffering and I just couldn’t practise medicine how I wanted to anymore. The pressures on the system are transferred onto the staff to do more with less and, eventually, something has to give.

I always wanted to do something that made a difference, and I knew I had the aptitude for it… not that my marks were ever very good. I didn’t do well enough at school to get into medicine, and it took me seven attempts to get in. I think I made a difference. I hope I did. I had, and have, a lot of guilt about leaving, but when I look at how I felt a year ago, I know it was the right choice. I loved being a doctor. Truly. But it nearly killed me. I think I’ll leave it there.

Medicine is generally a very social profession, while writing is a very solitary practice; how have you found that reversal?

I loved the social part of medicine, but I also found the noise really distracting. I have ADHD and so noise is really distracting, especially people talking. I worked in acute medicine, so you’re surrounded by ten different conversations, and sometimes it was too much. 

But working one-on-one with a junior doctor (we’re supposed to call them postgraduate doctors in training now) I loved that. Great banter, teaching, learning. All good. I like the quite now though. I always have music or a podcast going when I work, but I’m enjoying my hermitage.

How much writing had you done before Footsteps of Heroes and how did you know you were ready to take on a full-length novel?

I started writing poetry when I was a teenager. Not lovely-dovey crap, slightly gritty stuff, or social commentary. When I was 18 I started a book about a group of friends at an all-boys school. It was going to be like Scorsese's Goodfellas, but set in a high school. I’d never finished anything, but every few years I would start another story.

"It was going to be like Scorsese's Goodfellas, but set in a high school."

I even have one about a doctor who fights crime and injustice – think Jack Reacher who went to med school, but less big. Those I started in 2013, when I moved to the UK and was reading a lot of thrillers; Dr Teddy Stein, ex-British army surgeon and now working in intensive care in South Africa. I might go back to him after the (six book) Wessex Legacy is finished.

You’ve chosen to self-publish; why did you make that decision and what have been the most rewarding - and most challenging – element of it?

I curse the decision daily! No, seriously, I have just read about and heard so many horror stories of agents and publishers and, after leaving medicine, the last thing I wanted was to just be a cog in another machine. 

I don’t think authors get a fair rub in the traditional publishing model… unless you’re a big name.  Maybe it's me avoiding sour grapes, but I wanted to do it myself. The rewarding part is choosing who I work with; my editor Mark [Stay] is fantastic, my designer Steve has been brilliant, and I’ve just made contact with a printer in South Africa who I hope will be printing thousands of my books soon.

The most frustrating part is starting from zero with every new thing I have to learn. But I love learning things so, eventually, it’s a blessing. My current ‘zero’ is marketing… Read my book? I’ve got lots to learn.

What's the first book you remember loving?

Arctic Adventure by Willard Price, was the first one I read myself that I loved. I love the adventure, the animals, and that I always learnt something by reading those books. A little later on was The Outsiders, by SE Hinton. Man, that changed everything!

Which literary character would you most like to be?

Derfel from The Warlord Chronicles, by Bernard Cornwell. Big, brave, strong, kind hearted, loyal. Has no time for shitty leadership, fiercely loyal to leaders he admires. My sort of guy. He’s a dude.

What's your favourite movie/TV show adapted from a book?

The Shawshank Redemption, adapted from a Stephen King short story. Both are brilliant. For TV, probably The Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell. I love historical fiction.

Which book do you think should be adapted for the screen that, so far, hasn't been?

Boet, obviously Footsteps of Heroes! Although I’ve seen lots of good books wrecked by TV. Maybe Conn Iggulden’s ancient Greece books. Those are great.

Where's your favourite place to write? 

In my head, while I walk. I then lose about 95% of it when I sit down to write. I've tried dictating but it’s never stuck.

Describe your perfect writing set-up?

Massive screen, Apple keyboard, three different fidget toys, a lump of Blu-Tack, which we call Presstick in SA, and ten different note books/pieces of paper/Post-it notes. And a white board for ideas as they come to me. No, two white boards. And coffee.

What was the last book you read, and would you recommend it? 

I’m about to finish Mr Mercedes, by Stephen King. Really enjoyed it. But it may be one of the only times I say this, “I think the TV show is better”! There, I said it. Don’t lynch me, hardcore SK fans.

Which book is next on your reading list? 

Spud, the Reunion, by John van de Ruit. It’s a South African book, the original series, Spud is also set in a prestigious all-boys school, but his are more comedy with a side of growing pains. Mine are grittier, I think. Though I love his books.

Plotter or pantser?

Pants, all the pants! I’ve tried plotting, and the plan never survives first contact. So, I think its just procrastination for me.

You can have dinner with four other authors, living or dead, who would you choose?

Ernest Hemingway; he’d be a big-drinking, arm-wrestling dinner guest with the best stories. I love his writing. It's simple on the surface, but so layered. He was a really interesting guy, I think he probably had ADHD.

Stephen King; I came to his books only recently, and I’m blown away. I want to pick his brain. He’s off the booze, but maybe I could invite 1980s Stephen King.

Aaron Sorkin; he’s a screenwriter, but no one alive writes dialogue better than him. I think he’s teetotal now, too.

Struggling with the fourth. I want to say Churchill; he was a great speech writer, but I’ve never read anything else he’s written. He was really interesting, and he definitely had ADHD. We could compare notes. Also, he liked a drink.

What book do you think you should have read, but still haven't?

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. My wife loves it and has red it several times, but I just can’t start it. I know I should.

How do you organise your bookshelves? 

Badly. Hardcovers together. Non-fiction together, then sort of by genre. Not alphabetically. That’s boring.

What’s your favourite book?

For the longest time it was The Old Man and the Sea, by Hemingway. But I haven’t read it for almost 30 years. I sat down one evening and read it cover to cover in one sitting. It’s beautifully written, and typically Hemingway, simply written too.

But, more recent (probably 25 years ago now), are The Warlord Chronicles, by Bernard Cornwell.  They're about King Arthur as a Celtic warrior battling the invading Saxons. That’s probably my favourite series.

What are you currently working on and when might we see it?

I’m working on book two of the Wessex Legacy, Ties that Bind. It starts 30 seconds after Footsteps of Heroes ends. I’ve set myself a completion date of November 1^st, so hopefully by April 2027 it will be on shelves. And then I'm also working on plugging my book! Available from my website, www.brdexter.com and through Amazon.

To purchase BR Dexter's novel, Footsteps of Heroes, on Amazon click here.

If you Are a published author and would like to be considered for a Bookmarked interview, drop me a line at maxelwoodwrites@gmail.com