Byron TD Smith lives on Vancouver Island. He writes mysteries when he isn’t accounting, motorcycling, or rambling in the coastal forest. He loves the smell of old books and coffee, and the sound of new wave music from 1987. The location of his secret underwater base remains undiscovered to this day.
Windfall: A Henry Lysyk Mystery is his debut novel.
Interview with Byron Smith, December 24, 2020
[Interviewer] You’re an accountant with an Anthropology degree. Why shift to writing?
[Byron TD Smith] It’s a part of me that’s always been there. It’s certainly not a shift away from anything. Honestly, I love what I do and there isn’t any piece of it that I want to carve off. Maybe it’s the diversity that keeps me engaged: writing, accounting, playing guitar, whatever. Sometimes the balance is challenging, like when you want to do A but have to do B.
When I was in grade twelve, my high-school had a computer with some sort of prototype career-planning software, and as you answered questions it narrowed your future down. For me, after just a few answers, it said there were no more options. So, I went back and started making compromises. It finally spat out that I should be either a horticulturalist or a puppeteer.
The challenge with lots of us is that, on the surface, our interests conflict. At best, the connections are hard to see. Unfortunately, the lesson that I took away there was that I had to give things up in order to choose a path, which I think is the wrong message. We’re more complex than that and that’s what makes us interesting. Especially over the course of a lifetime. It was years and years before I had that epiphany where thoughts of “That’s what other people do” were replaced with “Why not me?”
So why not, you know, do taxes and accounting in real life and solve crimes on paper? Why not get a social science education before running your own business? [laughs] Have pancakes for dinner and enjoy whiskey with your comic books.
[Interviewer] And your main character, Henry Lysyk, is that you?
[Byron TD Smith] He’s a once-divorced accountant, so that’s a fair question. I don’t think he’s me, though, and he was never meant to be me. One person who read an early draft actually said there’s a little bit of me in every character in Windfall, which I find pretty amusing. But Henry has a life of his own. He’ll burn himself out fighting for the underdog, regardless of the personal cost, so it doesn’t occur to him to ask, “Why not me?”
This may sound like a strange comparison but, in hindsight, he’s like the non-violent, accountant version of Omar Little from [HBO’s] The Wire. [laughs] I don’t think I’ve ever thought of that before. That’s really accurate.
His relationship with his niece, Frieda, though … That’s his Achilles heel. That’s something he doesn’t want to lose. I guess in that way we’re similar; I’m attached to my nieces and nephews.
[Interviewer] Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
[Byron TD Smith] Oh, absolutely. I still do. With a last name like Smith, you have to. And, you know, I’m hardly the only Byron Smith out there.
It’s a challenge because you are trying to create your own public identity, and hold onto your personal life, and not get lost in the ocean of Smiths. I came close to settling on the name George Gordon, which are the poet Byron’s first names. Finally, though, I chose to distinguish myself slightly with the middle initials TD.
[Interviewer] Which stand for?
[Byron TD Smith] [Smiles] Next question.
[Interviewer] What was an early experience where you learned that language has power?
[Byron TD Smith] My parents were big readers; my mum was into Asimov and my dad was a Louis Lamour completist. So, my sister and I read a lot as kids. But when we would come across questions—what something was, or what a word meant—we would ask our mum and she would say, “Look it up in the Funk & Wagnalls.” I had no idea that this was an encyclopedia. It was just a huge, black “funkin’ wagnell,” whatever that meant. It usually had the answer, and I think this made me associate language with knowledge—and with independence. Those are powerful.
You know, I’ll bet my sister still has that funkin’ wagnell. I’ll have to call her.
[Interviewer] What did you edit out of this book?
[Byron TD Smith] Hmm. Editing is this thing that is equal parts brain surgery and butchery. I’d have to say “violence”, though. Because of some early feedback, I dialled back the violence from early drafts by moving some situations “off screen”, which actually worked to heighten the tension, too. It was great advice and totally the right decision.
Windfall’s a mystery, but it’s not meant to be a mystery-thriller, where there’s a pulse-pounding explosion at every turn. It’s intriguing and engaging; sort of a puzzle that unfolds with clues, red herrings, and good characters that I’m planning to use again. It’s Henry, Frieda, and Tess uncovering the fifty-year old true crime to reveal what’s taken place over the intervening years.
Still, there’s enough on-screen action-violence that it doesn’t fall into the “cozy mystery” genre, though. Plus, some colourful language. [laughs] Maybe that’s how I’m like the characters.
[Interviewer] Do you hide any secrets in your book that only a few people might find?
[Byron TD Smith] Oh, for sure. I love Easter eggs. You should see the hardcover.
[Interviewer] Who is your favourite author?
[Byron TD Smith] I guess if I had to think of this in terms of which authors I read everything they write, I’d say, from a nonfiction perspective, Nassim Taleb and Max Hastings. They both tackle complicated, huge subjects in really accessible ways that make you smack your forehead and go, “Of course!”
As for fiction, I read pretty widely. Like everyone else in 2020, I’m rereading Dune before the movie comes out. I also just finished The Wagers by Sean Michaels, which was a fun heist story. I love the way lots of authors are breathing life into classic mysteries. Anthony Horowitz is writing the traditional mystery sort of style; but he plays with reality, too, dipping in and out of fiction and fact. Those are really enjoyable.
I do have a soft spot for Erle Stanley Gardner. Without a doubt, the old noir writers need to be taken with a heavy grain of salt for things like misogyny, hyper-masculinity, or racism. Still, I think they can be valuable as period pieces. I don’t know that anyone today can plot a story as consistently as Gardner.
[Interviewer] What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel?
[Byron TD Smith] I like this question. It’s not exactly a novel but, at some point, maybe in the early 80s, Michael Crichton wrote a sort of memoir, Travels. It’s autobiographical, but he’s so painfully detached and self-reflective—and such a good story-teller—that you could categorize this under short stories. It must not have done well, though. I think it’s out of print
[Interviewer] And your favourite movie?
[Byron TD Smith] That’s easy. Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. A heist with great banter, good twists, and mischief. I do like mischief.
