by T. M. Parris
We are all indebted to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (www.icij.org) for opening the lid on the huge and secretive world of offshore finance, following the leaking of the Panama Papers and others. The Laundromat, by Jake Bernstein, illustrates some of the stories that the Panama leak exposed, and was also made into a Netflix film starring Meryl Streep. Some details, including for example the use of blank pre-signed forms when setting up offshore accounts, are drawn directly from that source. My inspiration for Zoe comes from a reference to the fact that the company directors of thousands of offshore companies are often “low-paid employees” of the firms which set them up.
Without doubt, things have tightened up since those leaks, with truly confidential banking becoming increasingly rare. Bearer shares, in particular, have been outlawed now in numerous domains. I will freely admit I do not know if Zoe’s stunt could be pulled off in the real world. It really is a “what-if?”
Various other things: I spent a lot of time looking at online brochures of super-yachts for sale. Much of what’s said about Freeports originates from an article in the Economist written in 2013. Finally, Pippin’s supposed thefts are loosely based on real cases, including the replacement of a painting with a photograph, which happened in Bel-Air and is described by the LA Art Theft Detail on their website.
Acknowledgements
I haven’t included an acknowledgments section before, because my list is always so very short compared with other authors, for whom writing a book seems to involve a cast of thousands. That sounds great and I wish my writing were more social.
That said, there are some people who I rely on to help get these books together, and have had an influence not just on the Clarke and Fairchild story but my writing as a whole.
First, my beta readers, the people who read each draft at the earliest possible stage and comment on it. Thank you for always being so lovely and tactful! But also thank you for being honest and letting me know what’s not so good, doesn’t work at all or is downright inexplicable. I never ignore you, though I don’t always follow your suggestions. Special thanks to Julia Blewett, Matt McAvoy and Snyman Rijkloff who have read all of them and have shaped the whole series.
Thanks to Ryan O’Hara at Rhinobytes for his excellent covers. It’s only when I get the first draft of a new cover from Ryan that I start to believe I’m actually going to publish a book. He puts a lot of thought into the imagery and I love them all.
A mention for Jericho Writers, in particular my developmental editors Sharon Zink, Eve Seymour and Russel McLean. Harry Bingham’s evangelism on the theme of self-publishing, on his video course and also at the Festival of Writing, is probably the single thing which has most encouraged me to self-publish.
There’s so much out there for trainee writers, but I want to make special mention of Emma Darwin’s excellent blog, This Itch of Writing. Emma is wonderfully articulate, and this blog is an incredibly rich – and free – resource of detailed, original and well informed material which debunks quite a few myths and explains many of the “rules” that are so often thrown at those who dare to pick up a pen. It has changed my writing for sure.
Facebook is a great place to connect with other self-published authors, who are generally a mutually supportive bunch. I’d like to make special mention of the administrators of the awesome 20BooksTo50K Facebook page which has almost 50,000 members and a Top Posts document which again takes several days of reading. It’s influenced the role of writing in my life, how I do it, when I do it, and far more.
Also a special mention for David Gaughran, whose hairy face is a familiar sight to many of us self-published authors. His enthusiasm and openness as well as his expertise, particularly in all things to do with marketing and getting along with Amazon, are invaluable, and once again much of it is freely given.
I would also like to thank everyone who’s reviewed any of my books. Even if you didn’t like it very much, it means a lot that someone’s gone to the trouble of feeding back. Some have reviewed more than one, and I thank you in particular.
That turned out a bit longer than I thought…
About the author
My name’s Tracey Parris and I live in Belper, a lovely town in Derbyshire, in the middle of England. I’ve been a market researcher and data geek, an English language teacher, a player of the flute, trumpet and Irish whistle (not at the same time), a marathon runner, a baker of fine cakes and a local councillor.
I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled a lot, particularly in Asia and Europe, and I’ve visited most of the locations featured in these novels.
I’ve been writing since 2011, both fiction and non fiction. The Clarke and Fairchild series, my first self-publishing venture, is a result of my fascination with international travel and the moral ambiguities of the world of politics. I had the idea for the character of John Fairchild in a moment of homesickness wandering the streets of Beijing.
If you want to hear more about where the inspiration for the Clarke and Fairchild novels comes from, join my Facebook page (T.M. Parris) or my mailing list on www.tmparris.com.
T.M. Parris
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www.tmparris.com