Multi-award winning author RJ Ellory -  whose books have sold between one-and-a-half and two million copies worldwide - says he’s an optimist, but he’s also a sceptic, bordering on the cynical.

And that’s a healthy balance.

For they say the greatest sceptics are the softest sentimentalists. They want to believe. And you get the sneaking feeling Birmingham-based RJ is a model example. How could a lover of music and words be otherwise?

Ellory’s rise to the top of the literary pile wasn’t easy. That’s well documented in a plethora of articles in magazines and newspapers on his life and upbringing. He hadn’t a rich father, mother, uncle or aunt with high falutin’ connections to pave the way for him. In fact, his father left when he was an infant and he was brought up by his mother and grandmother. Yes, the one song that can be sung loud and clear about Mr. Ellory is that classic Blue Eyes number, ‘My Way’ (which, by the way, was the first single 45 rpm I ever bought way back in the …ah well, too long ago to remember now).

We met at the Paris Book Fair where my wife and I sat listening to him speak (or, more accurately, not speak) at a platform event. As is the peculiar way of the French and the intricate lace-like nature of their language, the host was taking longer to ask questions than the questioned were being allowed to answer. And often the question was lost in the complex, seemingly never-ending monologue prefacing it.

That’s when I first got to see and to like this RJ fellow.

Sitting, not so much confused as bemused, by the ongoing antics of the French around him on the stage, he said with blunt honesty to his translator, “Please ask him to ask me another question. I didn’t understand that one.” 

That’s when my beloved, ever-ready wife, Columbia, a Transylvanian native, went into action, with her trusty camera, moving to the front of the audience to shoot some pics, and politely asking the translator and host to allow Mr. Ellory to answer in English and then have it translated, rather than make him whisper to the translator, who then spoke his words in French.

Well, mon Dieu! I’ve never seen a darker storm of expression sweep across a human face than I did watching the reaction of the translator and the host (and I’ve seen a few in my 30 years of journalism – from serial killers to corporate thieves stealing millions). They literally snarled at my dear, defenseless wife.

That’s when my working-class, west Belfast pride leaped up, as did I, saying in no undue terms that her idea was a pretty good one.

Whether it was because they knew I was from west Belfast and felt greater forces were gathering behind me or whether it was simply diplomatic acquiescence, I know not, but they  acceded to our humble request and allowed RJ to speak in his native tongue.  What he said – and my liking for him increased exponentially after this – was “I have a great trust in people, but not in Mankind. My research leaves me dismayed by the level of corruption by people who are given power to serve us but end up serving themselves. I believe in the basic goodness of humanity. We are by nature tolerant and philanthropic. Just look at the responses to natural disasters that occur in the world. I am naturally an optimist. Crooks and arseholes are a tiny minority, but they are portrayed as a majority in the media. We play an integral role in each other’s lives. It’s when individuals, groups, corporations think they are superior and lose perspective in the grand scheme of things that the shit hits the fan.”

Now I must admit, I would have been most keen to have understood if the author’s final five-word phrase was properly translated to convey the speaker’s many-layered meaning. But alas, my French being quite limited, I could not be the beneficiary of the delicacy of Francophone linguistic niceties.

Then, just as intriguingly, he mentioned one organization he is not particularly fond of – the CIA – in a way that indicated his belief that it is a symbol of this kind of corruption and the view, as he put it, that, “in democracy no matter who you vote for, the Government always wins.”

“In early 2008, several days after Barack Obama’s inauguration, I spent a few days in Washington DC conducting some research and meeting with people at the CIA, the FBI and The Washington Post, and also with some heroin addicts in the projects. The only person from the previous administration to be retained was Bill Gates, as Secretary of Defence. He had been deputy director of the CIA during the Nicaragua debacle a number of years ago.”

And that was it, cos the host nor the translator wouldn’t let the Anglo-Saxon near the microphone again after that (for fear, I sense, he might outshine the French authors around him with his insights, but then again maybe, just maybe, I’m being petty. But probably not). Anyhow, that’s when I decided he was a fine fellow and would make an even finer interview. His first words after introducing myself confirmed this still further. “I’ve a bottle of Jack Daniels somewhere, let’s go find it if we can,” he said, making his way with large determined steps across the main floor of the fair towards his French publisher’s booth.

That was a Friday afternoon around 2pm. We were still talking on Saturday around 9pm. And probably would have continued Sunday except RJ had to fly out to England then. But let me be clear, however, about one thing. It wasn’t constant round-the-clock chatter and we didn’t over-consume generous amounts of hard whiskey. In fact, we didn’t touch a drop of the uisce beatha (honest, Injun’). Instead, having found said bottle empty, we proceeded to consume gentle amounts of wine and champagne next day, in part to celebrate the popular reception he had received at the fair (there were quite lengthy queues of people waiting for books to be signed) and what I sensed (or at least, hoped) was a sincere meeting of minds. And ‘energy connect’ as some new-age sages would say.   

In between, and during, book signings, we covered a wide range of subjects that RJ was more than delighted to speak about and do so in a direct, no-nonsense manner.

As all of Ellory’s novels are set in the United States, I kicked off with a Washington-linked question.

Q: Will Obama be re-elected, and if so, how?

A: He’s a decent guy. I am optimistic about him. Disappointed, yes. Who wouldn’t be? But, Obama, with the best will in the world, may not have been able to do much more because he’s walked into a closed box.

Q: Closed box?

A: Yes, a structured system has been in place in the US for more than 200 years and that dictates the country will be governed in a certain way. There are, of course, minor degrees of flexibility, but frankly, it hasn’t changed much. There is the same manipulative control by certain people. The same people who were involved in the assassination of JFK and Clinton almost being thrown out of the White House.  Prime Ministers and Presidents are figure heads, puppets. No one man can run a country. There is no real democracy. 

Q: With Presidential elections next year, what does he have to do to stay in office?

A: There is a 50/50 chance of him staying in power. Let’s hope so, for the alternative could be Sarah Palin, worse than Bush, plasticine in the hands of those who really run America. There are many things Obama can do, things he is capable of. The question is whether he is permitted to do them. For example, he needs to focus on strengthening education and cut military expenditure.

Q: And the United Kingdom?

A: The coalition Government needs to take education apart and put it together again (interviewer’s note: I liked the Humpty Dumpty image that popped into my mind). We need to get people reading. Around 60 percent of adults in the UK are semi-literate.

Q: What about events in the Middle East. Libya, for example?

A: The United States has political interests in Libya. Those in control see Libya as a potential goldmine. Obama sees it as ridding Libya of Ghaddafi, as claiming freedom for a people.

Q: Are you dismayed, disillusioned, by what you see and hear around you about the direction the world is moving in?

A: No, in fact, I’m optimistic. The tide is turning. In Greece, Egypt, Libya, even Ireland. People are saying to their rulers, ‘enough is enough, you are here to serve us, not yourselves.’

Q: Can authors like you influence political leaders through your writing?

A: Not alone. We can be part of a larger coalition, with peoples’ support. I was in Turkey at a European writer’s conference last December. We all signed a declaration about two clauses in Turkey’s penal code linked to criticism of government policies. It is an obvious restriction on freedom of expression. Yet I don’t think the Turkish government has even acknowledged the declaration was signed by so many writers.

Q: From politics to literature: are you concerned about the future of books?

A: Whether books are in print form or electronic is irrelevant. What is important is that people read. I’ve done more than 160 library events in a single year. That’s how important I think it is. Yet we are seeing the broad, wholesale closure of libraries and bookstores. I hear people say, ‘I voted Labour because my Dad did.’ That’s not good enough. They should know the issues, or at least have a conceptual grasp of them.

Q: Your own books, how do you define them?

A: In a phrase: “Human dramas, not simply crime novels.”

Q: Taking one book, ‘A Simple Act of Violence’ and a key focus within it, of the CIA, as well as your comments earlier on stage about this particular organization. Please elaborate on your view.

A: Aha, the Criminally Inefficient Association.  Around 41 countries have been bombed since the end of the Second World War and the CIA has been involved in all of them. So what is their intent? Democracy? Freedom? Hardly. More like Kuwaiti oil. Iraq oil. More than 40 tons of cocaine were transported into Nicaragua every month, the proceeds of which were relayed through offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands, and that money was then used to continue funding this illegal war. Oliver North was the face at the front of that, but behind him was John Poindexter and the entire American Intelligence Community. The US was fined a paltry 18 million dollars by the European Court of Human Rights, but instead of paying the fine they bribed voters and put their own president in place, and she just cancelled the fine.  40 dollars for each voter to vote the way the US wanted them to vote, and that's in a country where the average annual income was 300 dollars. Simply put, the CIA is a group of organized criminals. ‘A Simple Act of Violence’ is 258,000 words long and is, in effect, a textbook on the CIA's actions in Nicaragua. I still have around 60,000 words left over in a file, which I may use in some way in the future. In saying that, it is still a work of fiction, for while a work of non-fiction simply provides information, a work of fiction does much more. It must entertain and create emotions.

Q: How do you generate ideas for your novels and how do you decide they are good ones?

A: I have ideas for books constantly. They come as if to a magnet, among many other thoughts. If I’m still thinking about it after three months, it’s a good idea.

Q: Do you have a set writing schedule?

A: I write about 40,000 words a month. My novel, ‘Vendetta’ took five-and-a-half weeks to write. I researched it as I went along. It’s around 197,000 words long. 

Q: What does the future hold for you?

A: Highest on my agenda for this coming year is getting a CD recorded with the band (RJ is singer and guitarist with band, ‘The Whiskey Poets’) and finishing my next book for 2013, as well as taking my son to Europe. I’m ahead of schedule on my book, so that’s good. And I’m always on the lookout for new ideas.

For entertainment purposes and additional insights, I asked a series of ‘Favorite’ questions.

Here they are:

Music – “I’m a blues fan through and through. Lightnin’ Hopkins, Muddy Waters and Steve Miller (Fly Like An Angel) are among my favorites."

Music Group – 13th Floor Elevators

Singer – Nina Simone. Real name Eunice Kathleen Waymon American singer, songwriter, pianist arranger, and civil rights activist.

Song – ‘I Put A Spell On You,’ a 1956 song written by Screamin' Jay Hawkins.

Poem – ‘Leaves of Grass’ by Walt Whitman.

Poetic lines –

‘The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.’ (‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening,’ by Robert Frost)

Novel – The Shipping News, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning novel by American writer E. Annie Proulx, published in 1993.

Movie – All The President’s Men. Directed by Alan J. Pakula. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Jack Warden. About reporters Woodward and Bernstein uncovering details of the Watergate scandal that led to former US President Nixon's resignation.

Dead Person – Winston Churchill. “He exemplifies indomitability of human spirit in face of adversity. My grandmother worked for him and told me once that he apologised to her and the rest of his staff for sometimes being irritable and impatient.”

Live person  - former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. “A strong individual character who – despite all obstacles, and irrespective of whether she was right or wrong – maintained her integrity.  I think, since Churchill, she has been the only ‘head of state’ calibre Prime Minister we have had in the UK.”