Stef Harris is a writer, film director and a frontline police officer of 34 years who, in 2017, was awarded the Commissioner's Commendation for Bravery. He has published three previous works of fiction and, in 2006, turned his first novel, The Waikikamukau Conspiracy, into a film. Renamed ‘The Waimate Conspiracy,’ the film went on to win four best film awards around the world and sparked the beginning of Stef's sideline career in filmmaking. His arthouse feature film ‘Blue Moon’ has won several film awards as well as being officially selected for the prestigious Cannes Antipodes Film Festival, screening in Cannes in 2022. His most recent novel, Double Jeopardy, was longlisted in the Ngaio March Awards and shortlisted for the NZ Booklovers Awards.
Tell us a little about The Girl From Sarajevo.
The two novellas are thematically linked, both stories feature a strong and heroic female protagonist.
The Girl from Sarajevo: Katia Botes will do anything to become a published author. When she encounters the aging novelist, Dragan, she embarks on an audacious plan to represent his new novel as her own. But Dragan holds a dangerous secret that may destroy them both.
The Other Jasmine: Wong Jo Li travelled from Ningbo to marry a wealthy man only to find herself a virtual sex slave imprisoned on a derelict farm. She is not Darryl’s first victim and she must find the courage to escape or suffer the same fate as the other Jasmine.
What inspired you to write these novellas?
The Girl from Sarajevo came from my lifelong obsession with the idea of becoming a writer so it was easy for me to imagine a character with the same unfulfilled burning passion. In the nineties, there were a number of very successful immigrant women writers whom I admired for their success writing fiction in New Zealand. The bizarre thought occurred to me, if a young woman, say from Sarajevo, wanted to be published badly enough, perhaps she would entertain the idea of “borrowing” a story from the old country. The idea stayed with me over the years, but I knew it was only half a story idea. Then, from my fascination about where war criminals go after the war, came the character Dragan, lying low in a flat in Auckland. Once Katia and Dragan met, the story wrote itself. Initially I wrote it as a film script, knowing it was too short for a novel, but the story wanted to be told and I relented during lockdown. I told myself, who cares how long or short it is, I should simply get it written and then see what I have. The novella took just four weeks to write the first draft. Only later did it occur to me how many of my favourite books are indeed, novellas.
The Other Jasmine was partly inspired by my time as a community constable working with victims of domestic violence. Many of the women were refugees and mail order brides, women who had their passports confiscated and were literally locked inside the house in a strange country. My approach was to start the story with a tone of dark satire but, like the slow boiling frog, the story gradually becomes darker as time goes on. The story started as a screenplay, however, the lead character, Wong Ji Li, demanded to have her story told comprehensively. Once again, because I had been living with this story for a long time, the first draft was completed in six weeks or so.
What was your routine or process when writing this book?
With each novella I had been thinking about the story for a long time, the process was simple, put your ass in the chair and write until your back gives out.
If a soundtrack were made to accompany this book, name a song or two you would include.
As soon as we go into pre-production, I’ll be listening to a lot of music from Joan Armatrading, Carole King, Dusty Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Sinead O’Connor, Amy Winehouse and Adele.
These novellas started as film scripts so who would you like to see playing the lead characters?
Dragan is an alcoholic Croatian poet who we suspect of some unsavoury involvement in the Balkan war. Infatuated by the girl next door, he fixes his unblinking gaze on Katia. I would love to see what Michael Hurst would do in this complex layered role.
I was channelling ‘Tina from Turners’ when I wrote the character of Billie. Bubba Olo would be excellent in the part of Billie, Wong Ji Li’s only friend in New Zealand.
Quincy Goodman has the look of some 1970’s TV detective where the name of the show is the name of the detective. Matinee idol looks, remember Magnum PI? I need to find a kiwi Tom Selleck.
Ma, the harridan matriarch of the Cates family, and Wong Ji Li’s nemesis could only be played by Robyn Malcolm.
What did you enjoy the most about writing these novellas?
It was never my intention to write for women, so when the novellas were finished, I was surprised at the outcome. I asked women friends to read it and I approached a woman whom I will call ‘Anne’ at the Society of Authors who had offered to read manuscripts for other authors. We communicated only by email, and after she had offered good advice and some editing, I invited her and her husband out to a nice restaurant lunch as my guests to thank her. After a pleasant meal, Anne admitted she had been convinced over the past eight weeks that the author Stef (me) was another woman. So she was much disconcerted when this big man stood in front of his author wife and made the introductions! So I took that as a vote of confidence in my ability to write female characters.
What did you do to celebrate finishing this book?
Pegeen and I enjoyed a Trinity Hill Syrah, the perfume/florals and complex spice of Syrah introduce a juicy. succulent palate defined by fresh vibrant fruit flavours, mmm.
What is your favourite book this year, so far, and why?
Small Things like These by Claire Keegan. A beautiful and perfect novella about a recognisable ordinary man, Bill Furlong, faced with a dilemma. All evil needs to flourish is for good men to do nothing. The film starring Cillian Murphy and Emily Watson will be released in New Zealand in April 2025.
What’s next on the agenda for you?
I have a short film for release later this year. ‘Sister Josephine’ is the true story of a Catholic Nun who taught me to box. I seem to have been writing about heroic women of late.
I have recently started writing an international crime thriller set here in Aotearoa.
Meanwhile Pegeen keeps forwarding me messages from well wishers eager to find out what happened to Frank Winter and his dog Dolly, from my 2023 crime novel Double Jeopardy. So that may be a priority soon.