Michael Collins is Extreme!

Irish-born, Bellingham-dwelling author Michael Collins is driven by stuff that most of us wouldn't even dream of attempting. And by that, I don't mean novels, I mean his penchant for marathons in far-flung places. He tells the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's John Marshall about his upcoming plans:

In the space of six weeks, this prize-winning novelist is dedicated to competing in two marathon events in diabolically different climes. First off, in late February, was the Sahara Sub-Marathon in the desert country of Algeria, which Collins won against world-class competition. Then, on April 8, he is scheduled to compete in the North Pole marathon, where an expected 70 racers will be delivered by helicopters to ice floes where the marathon course often will be less than 12 feet from the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean.

"I like the competitiveness," he says, "but also having my mind and body totally focused on winning. It provides the one true feeling I have of well-being."

It should come as no surprise that he sees parallels between writing and running. "The intensity of training for a race is very similar to the intensity in writing a novel," he says. "With a novel, I give it four to five months. With running, I couldn't run 90 miles a week for an entire year, so I make a four-month commitment to that. I have that way of compartmentalizing my life: now I'm a writer, now I'm an athlete."

His next book is going to be published in the UK as THE SECRET LIFE OF ROBERT E. PENDLETON, but in the US as the more mundane DEATH OF A WRITER -- switching from Viking (which published his last book, LOST SOULS) to Bloomsbury. And let's just put a "here we go again" stamp on his next statement:

"I got trapped in the crime genre for a couple of novels, although I never wanted to master that genre," Collins relates. "I had to fight to do the book I want to write and had to go to a new publisher, Bloomsbury, which has been much more supportive. The new novel reads better. It is less of a procedural and more of a philosophical commentary on the human condition, which is what I am really interested in."

Funny, the write-up on Amazon UK sure makes this out to be a crime novel....

Comments

[Stacey Cochran]

I totally see a parallel between writing and running. The hours alone, the self-discipline required, the low pay.

I was a miler in HS, ran CC in college.

Great post, Sarah.

Stacey

[Rebecca]

I ran high school cross country, and I totally see the parallel with running too. The long warmup, followed by the hitting a pace when you realize that you're almost comfortable (but you can't stop). Also the kind of satisfaction that comes from being that focused for a period of time, and the sense that your real competition is always yourself. Also the tired but puzzled elation when it's over.

[michael collins]

Hi! Thanks for picking up this piece on my running life. I just wanted to say in my "Quote", what I'd meant to say regarding the Crime Genre, was that "I was unable to really master the genre, and not that it is not a formidable and psychologically challenging genre. If I could have written with the deft suspense quality of the masters of the genre, I'd be a lot happier, but alas, I could not invest that intangible in my so-called crime writing. So what I've tried to do is distinguish my books as not 'Crime novels' since reader expectations are often aligned with a tigher, and faster-paced book than I write. So basically, I was not slamming the genre, as much as trying to establish some sort of definition for my own writing career." In fact, most of my favourite living writers are crime writers, Jason Starr, Ian Rankin and Michael Connelly to name a few.