Jonathan Payne

Jonathan Payne is a British-American writer based in New York City.

His first novel, Citizen Orlov, was named a Book of the Month by Apple Books. It won the 2024 IBPA Silver Medal for Mystery/Thriller and the 2024 IPPY Bronze Medal for Suspense/Thriller.

Payne previously worked in national security for the British government.

He holds a Master of Arts degree in Novel Writing from Middlesex University, London.

Payne's new novel is Hotel Melikov.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

Hotel Melikov is the sequel to Citizen Orlov. It picks up a week after the first book finishes, in the same unnamed, fictional central European country between the two world wars. The sequel kicks off with a bang, as tensions between the government and revolutionaries erupt into civil war.

This series revolves around Citizen Orlov, an unassuming fishmonger who accidentally becomes a spy. But, of course, I can only use his name as a title once. Naming the other books in the series is an interesting challenge.

I've always loved stories set in hotels, like A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles and John Irving's Hotel New Hampshire. Since this novel both begins and ends in Hotel Melikov, the grandest hotel in my fictional capital, I hope the title will tempt readers to wonder what happens behind those walls, and what role the hotel plays in the civil war.

Also, since there are nuns on the cover, and one of them is carrying a gun, readers will hopefully be wondering what on earth is going on!

What's in a name?

With the exception of nuns, no one in the Orlov novels is given a first name. This is because it's a rather strange, formal society in which everyone is known by a title. So, anyone who's not an Officer, Judge, Minister, Prince, etc, is known as Citizen.

Since the novels are set nowhere, the family names are taken from everywhere. I use popular family names from all over central and eastern Europe. Orlov, meaning eagle, is a common family name in Russia. Orlov is an everyman, which is conveyed in part by giving him a common name.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I like writing both the beginning and ending of novels; I struggle with the middle. In the middle of a novel, there are so many strands in play, and all of them need to be wrangled in a way that sets up the ending.

In Hotel Melikov, I knew that the plot had to kick off with the civil war erupting, and I knew where both Orlov and his beloved nation would end up. The tricky part, and the fun part, was plotting the route between those two points.

Whenever I get tough homework from my editor, it usually relates to the middle of a novel.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

Orlov is both me and not me. When I think about politics and government, and perhaps life more generally, I often find myself bewildered by the things that go on in the world and the strange ways some people behave. In a sense, the character of Orlov is my bewilderment turned up to 11. The result is a protagonist who's well-meaning but also very confused and utterly paranoid.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I'm a huge movie fan, and that definitely informs some aspects of Hotel Melikov. In particular, the middle of the novel is set at a convent at the peak of Mount Zhotrykaw, the highest mountain in the kingdom. In setting it there, I'm referencing a couple of classic movies featuring religious communities at the top of mountains: Lost Horizon, based on the novel by James Hilton (from which we get the concept of Shangri-La), and Black Narcissus, made by one of my favorite cinematic partnerships, the brilliant Powell and Pressburger.

Visit Jonathan Payne's website.

--Marshal Zeringue