Behind the Puppet Strings: A Q&A with Keegan Wilson, Author of Puppet Nation

With Puppet Nation, debut author Keegan Wilson delivers a gripping political thriller packed with betrayal, tension, and razor-sharp intrigue. At the centre of the chaos is Paul Negus, a complex figure navigating a murky world of espionage, shifting loyalties, and high-stakes power plays.

In this exclusive Q&A, Keegan shares the inspiration behind the novel, reflects on his writing journey, and offers insight into the themes, characters, and secrets woven throughout Puppet Nation.

What was the initial spark that led you to write "Puppet Nation"? Can you share a bit about the journey from concept to final draft?

I was in a difficult place when I began writing Puppet Nation. Following my latest back surgery, which didn’t work out as planned, I was left with chronic pain in my lower back and right leg and foot. Twenty-four hours a day without any respite, scar tissue is strangling my sciatic nerve. On top of that, I was diagnosed with a functional neurological disorder. Basically, after more than a decade of pain, my central nervous system went haywire, and an issue with the way my brain receives and sends signals developed. The pain I was experiencing was overbearing, and I was unable to continue in my role as senior press officer at a government agency, a job I loved, and I was extremely miserable. I could not escape from the pain, and I could see no clear way out of my situation. The only thing that kept me going at that time was my wife and three children.

At this point a friend lent me Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household. I thought it was a very entertaining and interesting read. I particularly enjoyed how in it the hunter became the hunted, and so I decided to try and use that “hunter turned hunted” theme in Puppet Nation.

Due to the nature of my injuries, I cannot sit or stand for extended periods. Everything starts to rage and hurt even more until I’m so distracted by the pain I can’t think of anything else, but I had the whole story in my head. I began writing in short bursts. Filling up notepads. The whole thing just flowed out of me. If my daughters were in a dance class or at gymnastics, I would use the waiting time to write. Once the book was finished, I typed it up, which gave me the opportunity to finesse. I then read it over and over again, all the while tightening the whole package. I was worried that I might find the editing process boring, but it was the total opposite. I was finding the story exciting and entertaining, which made me think that others might enjoy it also.

Being published wasn’t the goal. I was ultimately doing this to test myself and my capabilities, to give myself purpose, and if the pain was too much and I had to stop, I wasn’t letting anyone down. That Puppet Nation is now being published is a dream come true, and it makes me feel proud. Especially as when I started it, I was very low. Thankfully I received excellent help from the NHS and learnt techniques to better cope with what I am experiencing. Submerging myself in creativity has been a massive factor in taking me out of myself and giving me something positive to focus my thoughts and energy on.

Paul Negus is a fascinating and complex character. What qualities did you want to bring out in him, and how did you go about developing his character?

You don’t get to find out his name until about halfway through the book, as I wanted his character to be revealed slowly so the reader is almost like a detective piecing together their own profile of the person they are reading about. Details are revealed slowly, and we also have a window into his ‘in the moment’ thought process.

I wanted to show through his actions and behaviour that he is experienced, very professional and good at what he does, which includes doing bad things for the bigger picture of good. It was also important to me to expose some of his vulnerabilities and self-doubts.

One of the rules for writing is that your character must be likeable. When creating Negus, I ignored that rule. It was more important to me that he was understood and respected, so I hope when readers make that connection, they will be sympathetic and invest in him.

The themes of betrayal and trust play a significant role in "Puppet Nation." How did you explore these themes in the context of a high-stakes thriller?

You can add manipulation to that list. Betrayal, trust and manipulation have become powerful forces this century. Misinformation has become an industry. Conspiracies are now part of the mainstream discussion. We have also become conditioned to politicians lying and seemingly behaving badly and in their own interests. There are facts, and there are “my facts are different to your facts”. The result is general confusion and mistrust of the official narrative and of each other, which I find it very sad, and we see this played out in the news on a regular basis.

This division, of course, is terrible for the majority of people; it is fundamentally dangerous, but for someone writing a political thriller, it gives an opportunity to really let rip. Suddenly your ideas and plots are plausible because events we have seen played out in the news since the early 2000s seem so unfathomable and relentless.

Then there is the vocalised blame. “Oh, it’s the axis of evil.” “It’s the Israelis.” “It’s the Chinese.” “It’s the Americans.” “It’s the Europeans.” “It’s Muslim extremists.” “It’s the Met Police.” “It’s men.” The spark that shaped the underpinning of the plot for Puppet Nation was Boris Johnson making the son of a former KGB agent, Evgeny Lebedev, a member of the House of Lords. There was a lot of discussion online and in the media of Russian influence and there being a threat to UK security, which led me to think about what a country like Russia could do if it really wanted influence over the UK. I was struck by the idea of a bloodless coup, of seizing power without anyone knowing or even realising, and the sleight of hand would need to involve control of the criminal network, the media, politicians and civil service, all without anyone knowing they were being manipulated.

Then what happens when you are the only person who realises what has happened, but you can’t tell anyone because you don’t know how far the grip of that control and influence extends? Suddenly you can’t trust anyone. Then at the height of the paranoia, you start to doubt your own mind and question whether you can actually trust your own thoughts.

The book is full of intricate plots and intense action. How did you manage to keep the tension high throughout the story?

I had a set of rules for writing Puppet Nation that I tried to stick to:

• Keep the chapters relatively short but make sure they are action-packed and push the plot forward and subtly set up the twists and turns that follow.

• Keep it exciting so the reader wants to find out what happens in the next chapter.

• Use short sentences that pack a punch.

• Punish the characters as often as is possible and believable.

• Create mystery and keep that mystery so when things are revealed, the reader is caught off balance and is surprised.

In a weird way, I think being in constant pain helped. Because one of the ways I have changed is I have less patience for things than I did previously. I like it when the point is reached quickly. I don’t have time for anything else. I switch off. Become distracted. So I applied this to my writing. It’s a bit like when you go for a job interview; you should always drink a lot of water beforehand because the intense need to go to the toilet will help you keep your answers succinct.

As a debut author, what were some of the most rewarding and challenging aspects of writing Puppet Nation?

My physical condition and being in pain were the most challenging aspects, but the book basically flowed out of me. I didn’t have to think too hard. I was lucky; when the writing presented me with a question, I was always able to find an answer quickly. Maybe that’s down to having those rules in place.

Also, as you are trying to write something set in the present day that you want to be convincing and realistic, I had to be mindful of things happening in the real world and their significance to what I was doing.

The biggest reward was completing it. As I mentioned, I was doing this to test my capabilities on my terms. So while the actual process took longer than it would have done before becoming disabled, I managed to complete it and prove to myself that I could.

How has your background or life experiences influenced the story and characters in "Puppet Nation"?

I read a lot, watch TV and films, and keep an interest in the news and what people say online, and I suppose some of that has bled through into Puppet Nation on a subconscious level, but Puppet Nation is just pure imagination. There is nothing in my life that has directly influenced it. Except that I have three daughters, so it was very important to me to create strong, interesting female characters. To show how they were capable of good and bad. There are four female characters who emerge in the second half of the book who are a force and central to everything.

"Puppet Nation" dives into the world of espionage and government conspiracies. What kind of research did you undertake to ensure authenticity in these elements?

Those elements were already there. I didn’t need to do much in the way of research. A lifetime of consuming books, TV, film and news had me well prepared. In addition to this, Puppet Nation is a work of fiction. So I’m free to use “poetic licence” and my imagination. It doesn’t have to be true and accurate; it just has to be convincing.

Writing a thriller often involves a balance of plot and character. How did you approach this balance in "Puppet Nation"?

Puppet Nation is the first of a trilogy. I’ve had the other two books already worked out in my head all along. So that overarching bigger picture has helped me keep a balance of plot and character in Puppet Nation. It was a planned journey, which eliminates nasty surprises and difficulty, though the main factor driving this balance in Puppet Nation has been the reader and a desire to entertain and keep them off balance and guessing.

I have tried to achieve this by creating a puzzle for Negus, which the reader is invited to follow and puzzle over as well, and that can only work by my sharing information at the right points.

This may sound odd, but humour and jokes really helped me keep on top of this. Comedians are live-in-the-moment and have to not only entertain a roomful of strangers, they also have to make that audience full of strangers laugh. The most skilful comedians are masters of language and storytelling. They know exactly how to manage the audience and when to push their buttons. The setup for a joke has a plot; it has characters and context; it sets a scene that everyone can identify and buy into. Then comes the punchline. The punchline is almost always something surprising that hits from out of the blue, which is what makes us laugh. So the comedians’ formula of setup and punchline is something I applied throughout Puppet Nation. Only I’m not chasing laughter; I’m using it to hopefully create thrills and suspense.

What do you hope readers will take away from "Puppet Nation"? Are there any particular thoughts or feelings you want to evoke?

There’s not a specific intention around evoking thoughts or feelings; I just hope that people who read it enjoy it and tell their friends about it and then want to read the second and third books.

Where can readers connect with you online to learn more about your work and stay updated on your latest news?

I’m on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Bluesky as @popcultmag.

I’m also on X as @impossiblemule and YouTube as Impossible Mule. This is for my music. I write songs that have been described in music press as “murder folk” and “sinister”. Playing guitar and writing songs, I’m a fairly prolific songwriter. I’d like to get back to performing, but at the moment I’m incapable of singing and playing guitar at the same time without becoming too uncomfortable, although music has been a huge help in helping me cope with pain. I can lose myself in the music for hours. It helps me ignore my body.