Life of Reilly

MATTHEW Reilly hates routines, but he's guaranteed to put out a bestselling blockbuster novel every two years.

ACTION writing hero Matthew Reilly is worried about his voice.

On the eve of his national tour to promote his book Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, he's fighting off a sore throat with pharmaceuticals and lemon drinks.

The Australian author has a seriously big fan base hanging out for signed copies of his latest action thriller and he doesn't want to let them down.

"You have to be fit when you do the book tour because you are seeing 400 people a day and constantly doing interviews," he says over the phone from his home in Sydney.

"People always say to me, 'Your hand and wrist must hurt from signing the books?' In fact, it's the voice that goes first because you are talking to everyone."

Reilly hopes his new novel, the fourth to feature US marine Captain Shane Schofield - code name Scarecrow - will appease fans outraged by the death of a major series hero in the 2003 book Scarecrow.

He says Scarecrow's reaction to his friend's death is explored in detail in the new book.

"I don't spend the whole book examining the human condition, that's not my kind of book. But I think there will be a lot of satisfaction for those readers who were affected by that character's death."

The notion of an old Soviet mega-weapon was the trigger for the story, and he blended that with his desire to write a story set in the Arctic.

"Where would you put a Soviet mega-weapon? You'd probably put it out of the way, and in this story it is designed to be placed at the start of the northern hemisphere's jet stream," he says.

The author doesn't let reality get in the way of his imagination, and he's yet to visit the Arctic.

"I have visited quite a few of the places I've written about. I've not been to the Arctic, but I have been to Stonehenge, Easter Island, the pyramids in Egypt, the Three Gorges Dam in China, and even Lake Desert in Utah, which featured in Area Seven."

Reilly dazzles his readers with techno-wizardry, but admits only 85 per cent of it is real. "If I've done my job correctly, you won't be able to know where the real ends and the fictitious starts."

The maghook, which been part of Scarecrow's arsenal since Ice Station and Area 7, is pure fiction.

"But I have had emails for years from people saying they have searched the internet looking for maghooks. I've had marines writing to me, saying, 'Gee, I wish I had one of those maghooks'. "

Most blockbuster authors are under pressure to churn out a book a year, but Reilly dislikes routine.

"I'm one of those people, who, say when I drive to the golf course - I'm a very keen golfer - I will often take different routes to the golf course, just to vary it up a little," he says.

"I do one book every two years now. It takes me about 13 months to write a book. I can't get that book-a-year routine down. I think it works to my advantage, because I take my time to write the book and then I take my time to get my next idea."

He says his phenomenal success may never have come about if he had not self-published his first novel The Contest in 1996.

His steely determination stems from his school days at St Aloysius' College in Sydney. (Incidentally the source of the name of Aloysius Knight in Scarecrow.)

"I was very good at academic work in high school and I think I copped a bit of a hard time for that. Fortunately for me I was also good at sport, and being good at sport helps you in an Australian boys' high school.

"I think what I learned from getting a bit of a hard time in high school is, damn it, you might as well succeed anyway."

He wanted to work in the film industry, but his mother, a maths teacher, and his father, who worked for the Department of Corrective Services, insisted he have a back-up plan.

An arts and law degree led to work as a paralegal. "I never practised as a lawyer, but my law degree is still the best thing I've ever done in terms of training my mind."

In a roundabout way, his dream of working in Hollywood has come true. Walt Disney Pictures paid $1 million for the film rights to his futuristic novel Hover Car Racer five years ago.

"They are getting a new screenwriter on board. They have gone through several, but it's a $100 million film and they aren't going to give it the green light until they are happy with the script," he says.

"I have optioned Scarecrow and I was engaged to write the first draft screenplay for that, which I did. It's now being rewritten, but I'm OK with that, because sometimes you go far enough with a script and you can't rethink it, and we needed a new mind to address it."

US TV producer Mark Gordon wants to turn his Seven Ancient Wonders series into a big-budget TV show for the ABC network in America. "That will be written over Christmas, and if the script sets the world on fire they could be shooting that next year."

Meet Matthew Reilly at the Wheeler Centre, October 17, 6.15pm-7.15pm, and in Sale on October 18. Details wheelercentre.com

Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves, by Matthew Reilly, Pan Macmillan, rrp $45 (hardback)