Lisa Brackmann’s love of China drives her writing

Lisa Brackmann is the critically acclaimed author of the Ellie McEnroe novels, which are set in today’s China. The books include “Rock Paper Tiger,” “Hour of the Rat,” and “Dragon Day.” In “Dragon Day,” Brackmann says she posed serious questions. How much can people really change, especially in a positive direction? What does it take for them to do so?

“My books generally have some kind of real-world issue or issues woven into them,“ said Brackmann. “The books tell the story of Ellie McEnroe, an Iraq War vet with a bum leg and a worse attitude who ends up in Beijing, China. One of the overarching themes of the series is that a war doesn’t stop just because the fighting does—the effects linger on in the countries that waged them and in the soldiers who fought in them.”

While she deals with serious issues, Brackmann said her books also include humor. “I can’t seem to help that, no matter how serious a subject I’m dealing with. I take what I do seriously. I’m driven by a need to understand the world better and to communicate some of what I’ve learned. I’m not interested in writing the same thing over and over again. There has to be something compelling about each project that gets me through the long and, at times, tedious slog that is writing a novel.”

Characters are the most important of all, because they are what really drive the story.

According to Brackmann, Ellie constantly wrestles with what she sees as her own moral failings. “Her attempts to make up for those failings, and her inability to compensate, lead her in some very dangerous directions. Ellie is really fun to write because she’s kind of like my id—she doesn’t have a lot in the way of social skills and tends to say the things you shouldn’t say, but are really tempted to.”

One of the worst things a novelist can do is to become what Brackmann calls, “overly didactic.” Brackmann sees other elements being far more important to a good story. “For novels, good prose is important. Tension is important. Characters are the most important of all, because they are what really drive the story.”

What about setting? Brackmann is a native of San Diego and finds it ordinary. She said, “When I travel outside of the state, I get a lot of reaction about my being from strange, eccentric, exotic California. So this is one of the things I try to do when I portray a place, wherever it is: Bring the ordinary to the exotic, and the exotic to the ordinary.

“The changes in China have been staggering since I started going there in 1979. One of the things that’s been interesting has been this rise of tremendous wealth since the Cultural Revolution. It’s so extravagant at times that it seems like a parody of itself. Every other day it seemed like there would be a story about rich a guy or high official crashing his Ferrari full of hookers while drag-racing through Beijing.”

I’ve always thought it was very important to strike a balance in portraying China. It’s an endlessly fascinating place, and it’s rarely boring.

Lisa Brackmann was also fascinated by the factional infighting, with roots in the Cultural Revolution, and the corruption that is embedded in the system. “I had a character I introduced in the last book, Sidney Cao, an eccentric, art-obsessed Shanghai billionaire with tight connections to the Chinese leadership who seemed like a perfect vehicle to dig a little deeper into this world.”

“I’ve been going to China for most of my life now,” said Brackmann. “I felt there weren’t many portrayals of contemporary China in Western fiction, and I wanted to share some of the things I’d seen and experienced over the years. Most of the locations and many of the small details in the books are based on places I’ve been and things I’ve experienced.

“I’ve always thought it was very important to strike a balance in portraying China. It’s an endlessly fascinating place, and it’s rarely boring. At the same time, it’s a place where over a billion people wake up every morning and live their lives, a place like any other.”

Learn more about Lisa Brackmann on her website at www.lisabrackmann.com.