HAVE YOU EVER dreamed of writing your own crime novel? Or maybe a biography of your own life?
For Brisbane-based author and journalist, Matthew Condon, writing true crime novels was something he did not imagine he would fall into.
Originally, Mr Condon began writing fiction novels, publishing his first book, The Motorcycle Cafe, at 26 years old.
“I have always wanted to write,” Mr Condon said. “I’ve been writing since I was 10 years old.”
Mr Condon explained a few of his books were based on his grandfather, who died when the author was very young.
“Writing these novels…gave me the chance to work out who [my grandfather] was,” Mr Condon said.
However, when approached in 2010 to ghostwrite a biography of the overthrown and jailed Queensland police commissioner, Terence Murrary Lewis, the story piqued his interest.
“I was happily writing novels for years and never thought of true crime writing,” Mr Condon said.
“I always thought, ‘No, I will never ghostwrite a book’…but in the end, I was curious.”
After three years of interviews and 400,000 words of transcript, Mr Condon published the true crime story that exposed a police underworld, in which Mr Lewis played a central role.
“I got sucked into the story,” Mr Condon said.
The novel, Three Crooked Kings, eventually became a trilogy which made the 2017 shortlist of the Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance.
Now, the author of over 10 acclaimed books, Mr Condon has been focusing on a true crime podcast. The podcast, which will be airing this November, follows the cold case murder of Vincent Allen in 1964, by Vincent O’Dempsey, from Warwick.
“It’s called Ghost Gate Road,” Mr Condon said. “I’ve been working on this all year.”
Lucky Logan City residents will get their chance to learn invaluable writing skills from Mr Condon at a live stream workshop this weekend at the Logan City Library.
The Queensland Writers Centre will live stream the workshop from 10:30 to 1:30pm on Saturday, November 7.
Anyone wanting to write true crime, a biography or the story of their own life, is encouraged to come along and learn skills that will help them achieve their novel goal. The workshop will also offer a writing exercise component in a collaborative atmosphere.
For those that cannot make the workshop, Mr Condon shared his number one tip for would-be writers: perseverance.
“It’s all about absolute persistence,” Mr Condon said. “You can’t do this job without being obsessive, and having a strong self-belief.”
“It’s hard work, it’s not magic.”
Those who are interested in the workshop can purchase tickets here.
