Donald Wightman
The story of Bland Encounter centres around Dave Bland, a man struggling to make a new life after the break-up of his marriage. The middle-aged train manager turns to an internet dating site and is puzzled when a mysterious Russian lady contacts him. Is she a high-class hooker, a hit woman or a lady simply looking for love?
Galina arrives in the UK and he invites her into his home, but complications arise when Galina’s niece appears on the scene. A sex-trade worker down on her luck, Irina needs a place to stay. With money tight, Dave formulates a plan for Irina and her colleagues to target Trainspotters due in town for a special steam weekend. But chaos ensues when members of a rival steam railway try to sabotage the event. Order is eventually restored, but the consequences prove crucial for the people involved.
The book is said to have echoes of 1950s Ealing comedy; how did you incorporate this?
Like an Ealing comedy, there are many knockabout scenes in the book. One in particular brings that era to life when supporters of the two rival steam railways battle it out for supremacy This is reminiscent of the 1953 Ealing film The Titfield Thunderbolt, where a rival bus company tries to sabotage the efforts of the railway's supporters. To complete the effect, I gave the characters names that were typical of the period.
What other techniques did you employ to create the humour in your book?
'Writing humour is a serious business,' someone once said; an adage I very much agree with. Dave's idiosyncrasies and his less than rational approach to life were the basis for a large proportion of the humour, (think Victor Meldrew meets Del Boy meets middle-aged Inbetweener,) as was exploiting the language and cultural misunderstandings between Dave and Galina. I also sought humour from exploiting unlikely situations. For example: the scene where a bevy of East European vice girls attempt to entice Trainspotters away from their notebooks and binoculars.
How much did your railway industry knowledge help you to write this book?
It certainly helped when it came to writing scenes for the main character Dave Bland. His role in the book is that of a train manager working on routes in the West Midlands and North West. This is my own area of expertise, so I was able to use my industry knowledge and experience to give these scenes a certain authenticity. It also allowed me to highlight in a humorous way, the problems train crew face when dealing with the public on a daily basis.
Where did your inspiration for the story come from?
The book originally started off as a collection of amusing real life incidents. I then decided to turn it into a story but needed an unusual plot to make it stand out from all the other thousands of published novels. When I started writing it, internet dating was just becoming popular and the first references to dogging were appearing in the media. I combined the two activities to create the thread for the first part of the story. Once Dave’s relationship with Galina had developed, I wanted the story to build to a big finale. After taking a trip on the Severn Valley Railway one day I had the idea of having two rival groups of Trainspotters battling it out. I then added in the wrecking of a Safari Park by a hijacked train to increase the mayhem.
Please tell us a bit about the character of Dave Bland.
His character is that of a middle-aged, lonely individual looking for sexual, and ultimately, emotional fulfilment in his life. Flawed, idiosyncratic and cynical, he struggles to understand a world he sees through his acutely literal vision. Although he wouldn’t necessarily regard himself as a Trainspotter, there are similarities and, according to my wife, to me also!
To what extent have your surroundings in Bridgnorth been responsible for the setting of the book?
I'm sure all writers call on their own life experiences for inspiration. This was certainly true in my case. Having spent the last twelve years commuting on a daily basis to my home station at Wolverhampton, working firstly as a Train Manager and latterly as a Train Driver, it was inevitable I would use locations in that same area (albeit thinly disguised) for my book. For scenes in the second half of the story, the Severn Valley Railway in Bridgnorth provided the main inspiration whenever I was stuck for literary direction.
Do you have a lot of time to think up story plots when are you are driving around the countryside?
If I happen to experience any amusing or unusual incidents during the course of a working day, I will store them away for possible future use. One real life situation that I was able to work into the story was the day I discovered a stray dog on my train, which then wouldn't stop barking when I placed him in the cab with me.
What is next for you?
There's still more work to be done on my website http://www.donaldwightman.com where I have a special readers' forum; there’s some weird and wacky correspondence posted on there! I have ideas for a sequel to Bland Encounter but that's all they are at the moment. I did think of launching a problem page on my website, with Dave Bland in the chair, but his advice might be a bit too off-the-wall for some readers!