Steve Vincent: Writing US politics from Australia

HALLIE EPHRON: Steve P. Vincent lives in Australia but his series featuring Jack Emery are political thrillers set in the US. In his photo, Steve comes across as a stealthy guy whom you wouldn't want to cross paths with in a dark alley. But his bio makes him sound more like a bloke with whom it would be fun to share a pint:

Steve P. Vincent lives with his wife in a pokey apartment in Melbourne’s north-west, where he’s forced to write on the couch in front of an obnoxiously large television. When he’s not writing, Steve keeps food and flat whites on the table working for the man. He enjoys beer, whisky, sports and dreaming up ever more elaborate conspiracy theories to write about. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political Science and History. His honours thesis was on the topic of global terrorism.

Welcome to Jungle Red, Steve, and please, explain yourself! 

STEVE P. VINCENTS: “You do what? Why?!”

Those are usually the questions I get asked right after people realize I’m Australian and that I write about US politics. My Jack Emery series of novels – The Foundation, State of Emergency and the new release Nations Divided – feature an Australian protagonist helping to fight against political conspiracies in the United States and around the world.

The series has been praised for its accurate depiction of the US political system, something I studied at university and put a lot of work into making sure I represent as close to perfect as possible. Yet I still get asked the question.

So here’s a few reasons why I choose to set my novels in the US political system rather than the Australian one.

US domestic politics is far more interesting!

In Australia, most people are pretty apathetic about politics, because both major parties are pretty similar and because voting is compulsory. In fact, we even get a fine in the mail if we don’t vote. Despite this, the country is usually well run and most people are pretty well off.

In the US, there’s political dynasties and your leaders are more interesting than the old white guys we get. There’s also far a greater divide between the major parties, and within the major parties. Then there’s other things that seem crazy to us – like filibusters and debt ceilings and the turkey pardon.

Internationally, the US can actually achieve something!

The United States has the economic, military and diplomatic punch to get stuff done internationally when it chooses to. Australia… not so much. This is great for a fiction writer, because it lets me craft all sorts of interesting, giant conspiracies that have global ramifications.

What’s more interesting: a novel about the US and China being on the brink of nuclear war because of a terrorist attack in Shanghai, or a novel about Australia and New Zealand having a tense political standoff because of the ban on apple imports? Exactly.

I like to eat!
A wise man once said: write books about Australian politics and you’ll know what it is to starve. Well, not really, but it feels like someone might have. In addition to having more options for plot and characters, lots of authors set their books in America because it’s a bigger market. Ah, capitalism!

I like to impress people at parties!
Though being an author doesn’t get you the number of free drinks that being a rock star does, there’s still a chance that somebody might buy me a beer. I think my chances are greater if I can impress them with my deep knowledge of the electoral college system, rather than the Westminster system.

Donald Trump…!
Though we do have our own version of The Donald – a larger than life mining billionaire named Clive Palmer. He currently sits in Parliament, owns a dinosaur theme park and is rebuilding the Titanic. Despite this, his contribution to public policy has been fairly minor. Let’s see if you guys do...

HALLIE: We rarely talk politics here on Jungle Red, but an American future with Donald Trump at the helm would be a horror story, not a thriller. Speaking for me personally that is.

As this blog goes live, it's the dead of night in Melbourne, so we may have to wait for Steve to speak up. But that shouldn't stop you from asking questions. Do US politics seem more of hotbed for a thriller than Australia... perhaps too much so?

Steve P. Vincent is the author of the Jack Emery series of political thrillers – The Foundation, State of Emergency and Nations Divided. Connect with him on the web, Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads.