Q&A with local author Ray Wood ahead of his visit to Wardini Books

Texas-born Hawke's Bay based Author Ray Wood is set to talk about his new novel at the Wardini book store in Napier.

Ray Wood is a geologist and fiction writer. His novel Short Odds was featured in the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards, and he’s set to discuss his latest publication, Family Tree, at Wardini Books on July 10.

Louise Ward caught up with Ray ahead of his appearance to learn a little about the man and the writer, with a Q&A.

Q: The new book sounds exciting. But first, tell us a bit about yourself.

A: I grew up in Houston, Texas, and after graduating from university, two friends and I got a fellowship to do geologic fieldwork in Africa. We worked with Richard Leakey in Kenya and mapped volcanic rocks near the Ethiopia-Sudan border.

After getting a master’s degree, I worked for Shell’s research division and then moved to New Zealand in 1979.

Q: Why did you make the move to New Zealand?

A: I knew there was more to the world than Houston. A friend had gone to Antarctica and passed through NZ. He said it was a nice place.

NZ Geological Survey was the first place to offer me a job. I thought I’d stay a couple of years, and then never left.

The geology is unbelievable - earthquakes, volcanoes, resources, the whole enchilada. I discovered that because there are fewer geologists here, if I volunteered for interesting projects, I had a good chance of being chosen.

I love the outdoor opportunities. I was able to be running in the bush at lunchtime, 10 minutes from the office. We could go tramping for days and not see anyone; it felt like you were the first person to be there.

Hawke's Bay based author, Ray Wood releases new novel Family Tree.

Q: Why did you end up in Hawke’s Bay?

A: My wife June’s sister moved here in the 80s. We visited and fell in love with the lifestyle - wine, food, climate, tramping.

We bought a lifestyle block in 1998 and discovered the reality - hard work. But the climate’s still fantastic and we enjoy more of the other things now that we have more time.

Q: What’s your day job like?

A: I worked for GNS Science (Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences) for 34 years, much of that time leading scientific surveys of New Zealand’s marine territory.

I led the technical team for New Zealand’s continental shelf project and was part of the team that negotiated New Zealand’s maritime boundary with Australia. I advised the governments of Brunei, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Oman, Malaysia, and the United States on their continental shelf projects.

I am the chief operating officer for Chatham Rock Phosphate and am still helping Sri Lanka and Oman.

Q: Tell us about the writing. Have you always written?

A: My high school English teacher was fantastic. She inspired a love for words and writing.

I want to write stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. That’s why I’ve chosen farming, fishing and forestry as the settings for my first novels. I can’t have a series with a single protagonist, but I maintain a sense of continuity by sharing a few characters among the stories.

I write in a simple, direct style that I think is accessible to many readers. I was very pleased when several male friends who read non-fiction or not at all told me they enjoyed my stories.

An author must enjoy their story because we read it at least 10 times during editing and revision. One of the pleasures of writing is to overcome the challenges of imagination without the reader becoming aware of the hard work that led to the final result.

Q: So where did it begin?

A: Short Odds was my first novel. I started writing it in 2010. It was going to be about cattle rustling, but for several reasons, it morphed into a Dick Francis-style story about stealing a racehorse.

I chose a female protagonist to make the story harder to write. The story includes themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, and sexual attraction and control.

There are complicated relationships (divorce, infidelity, alleged sexual misconduct) between many of the characters.

Q: Your second novel, Between the Windows of the Sea, is close to your heart isn’t it?

A: Yes, it’s the story I’d write if I only wrote one story. It has all the elements I look for in an adventure story: action at sea, remote settings, extreme weather, bad villains, a bit of romance.

I wrote it in the first person to explore how that changed the writing experience. In a case of life imitating art, New Zealand authorities seized 3.2 tonnes of cocaine floating in the Pacific in early 2023, shortly after this book was published.

The description of life at sea is based on my experiences on scientific research vessels and conversations with commercial fishermen.

The description of the Bounty Islands is based on my trip to The 44s, a group of islands near Chatham Island, looking for the taiko (the magenta petrel), and on correspondence with scientists who have worked on the Bounty Islands.

Q: Your third novel, Family Tree, has just been released. What’s this one about?

A: Family Tree is about the forestry industry. It also has themes of friendship, loyalty and betrayal, primarily in the context of family.

In my previous novels, the bad guys were primarily foreigners. In this story, I wanted to have Kiwis in that role. We bought a share in a forest in 1994. Its harvest may be completed in 2024 after weathering windstorms, animal pests and the market vicissitudes. I’ve tried to reflect some of those changes by including carbon credits and blockchain technology in the story.

If you would like to hear more from Ray, he will be talking about Family Tree and many other things)at Wardini Books’ Wednesday Night Murder Club on July 10, 6pm. It is a free event, and all are welcome.