It’s my privilege to share my interview with Austrlian stunt performer and true crime writer who’s overcome some incredible struggles to create amazing true crime books. Here he talks about his work and how he meticulously researches his books.
Please tell me about your books. Which one was your favourite to write?
Of my 18 books, there are a small number of stand out books that hold a special place for me. My first book was by far my greatest accomplishment, simply for the fact that I was unable to read until I was 19. Owing to a rough start in life I didn’t have the same opportunities as some others do, and at 19 I began teaching myself how to read and write effectively. I’ve always loved the concept of the narrative and more than anything I wanted to be able to interact with story telling and yarning. So I wrote a biography of an old man I knew who had been extremely kind to me, and I used that experience of writing his story to teach myself those skills. Separately, the Squizzy Taylor biography was such a marathon project that its completion left me unable to write anything for nearly a full year afterwards. It went on to be my first bestseller, and will always be something I feel honoured to have had the opportunity to write. And I feel that the biography of Squizzy’s enemy, Minnie Clark, is the third book I still feel very grateful I had the opportunity to write because it rewrote the narrative of the 1919 Fitzroy Vendetta to re-include the enormously powerful female characters including Minnie, Dolly Gray, Bridget Mahoney and Hettie Williams.
What drew you towards true crime?
My second book was the biography of the Luna Park that was once in Western Australia. I was an itinerant circus performer at that time and I was researching it because of my love for circus, sideshow and carnival themes. However, as I assembled the base narrative it became quickly apparent that I was writing a true crime book as I discovered that almost all of the people who managed, owned or ran the Park were arrested and sent to prison for a variety of crimes.
The book was called The Dark Side of the Moon and it led me to remember that I’d always had an interest in Squizzy Taylor since I was a boy, and I decided that I would love my interests towards true crime writing. As a child I’d seen a TV show about Al Capone and my dad commented that we had a figure in Australia called “Squizzy Taylor”… his name stuck with me all my life owing to its almost dark pantomime quality. However, when I decided to research him I was baffled that there had only ever been one attempt at writing a biography about him, and it was very abridged and missed about 60% of the details about him. So, I began a seven year process of reading over 30,000 newspaper articles about him, assembling and writing his biography.
How do you choose crimes to write about? What draws you towards a certain topic?
When I began writing the Squizzy Taylor biography, I realised quickly that there were a number of secondary characters surrounding him throughout his life and a lot of them had something in common. I was surprised to discover that there were far more key female figures around him and participating in organised crime, as well as children, elderly and also disabled criminals. In fact, these outsider criminals made up the majority of the criminals who held key positions in Melbourne’s underworld at the time, and they fascinated me. By then I was working in maximum security prisons, and I was aware that most criminals are male, 18-35 years old, white, heterosexual, violent offenders. Whereas these criminals were quite the opposite, and they fascinated me. So I began looking for the stories about the law breakers who were queer, or were aboriginal, women or elderly as I continued amassing a catalogue of stories that spanned alls rates of the country.
How do you carry out your research? And how do you get people to talk to you?
The research process has more to do with long, often tedious hours spent following a hunch than knowing someone with a story. In all of my books I’ve been able to find at least one of the surviving family members, and I’ve reached out to all of them. In the case of Squizzy Taylor, his daughter only died last year at the age of 101. However, in most instances, including a number of the families of Squizzy Taylor, it was incredibly difficult to get them to agree to collaborate. There were two main reasons for this, and it wasn’t instantly obvious why the families often didn’t want to collaborate at first. The more obvious reason has to do with the trauma that their ancestors often caused their children, grand children and today’s generation as well. The scars of their actions are often still felt by their families a hundred years later. Don’t made sense that a lot of the families didn’t want to rehash those memories and traumas. However, I also found that a number of individuals approached me after I published the books I’ve written and were then keen to discuss their ancestors with me. As I asked why they waited for the book to be published, they almost all said that they wanted to see how I handled their family’s story, and they didn’t want to risk being associated with a project that was going to glorify the crime, sensationalise the criminal actions or defame their ancestors. I’ve always been a big believer in presenting biography with an interest in showing the journey, not the actions. Granted, these people often committed incredible and often horrific crimes. However, my main interest is in understanding what delivered that person from being a perfect new born baby to a place where they were standing before a jury of their peers being sentenced. In more recent days I’ve had a lot more success being able to seek collaboration from the families of the people I’m researching because of my already published books. But it wasn’t always easy.
What books do you like reading yourself? Any authors you’re particularly fond of?
I love 1984 by Orwell. His ability to introduce incredibly diverse ideas with simple language is something I try to replicate. I love some of Dickens’ material because he has such an interest in the context of daily life, the objects people interact with and the setting that creates the narrative. My daughter Juliette introduced me to more modern books including The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. But I also have a massive collection of periodical magazines and newspapers from the 1840’s – 1920 period that include Punch, Figaro and newspapers.
If you could collaberate with anyone, living or dead, on a writing project, who would it be and why?
I love the work of Robyn Annear. She’s both an incredible author and a genuinely sweet person. Her works on Melbourne’s history are next level and I think I have all of her books. Dr Clare Wright is an incredible author and academic historian I’d love to write with. Her work into the details of women’s histories have been a huge inspiration to me.
What books are you looking forward to in 2025?
In 2025, I have two titles being published. The first published on New Years Day and is the biography of a gang who were present in North Melbourne from 1895-1905, known as the Crutchie Push. They were one of dozens of push gangs who were present at that time, however, they cut apart from others for the fact that a number of their members were leg and arm amputees, and used their crutches like martial arts weapons. The second book will be titled Black Widows – Women Who Kill, and is a group biography of 22 different stories of women who tried to or succeeded in killing. It will be released to coincide with my season of life true crime shows at Adelaide Fringe from Feb 20-March 21.
What’s next for you? Any new projects you’re excited about?
I’m currently working on a PhD titled Aboriginal Spirit Connection to Waterways. The thesis is an incredible challenge and one I feel really blessed to be writing.
Do you have anything to add?
I’m truly grateful to everyone who follows me on social media and for the support they give me by coming to my live shows and history walking tours. Through their support this has gone from being a fun hobby to something so big I never expected it could ever do these things!
Thanks Roy for telling your incredible story! If you want to keep up with Roy’s work, follow him on Facebook. Good luck with the PhD!
