There are three writers who have been very kind to me over
the last year. Each of them has helped promote my books and have reviewed a
number of my titles. Without them, my profile would have been noticeably lower.
I really believe that. They’re also pretty good friends with each other, so I
always think of them as a collective; and as friends of mine.
Now, the thing is, due to my lifestyle, I can’t read and
review every book that I’d like to. I barely get the time to read the books
essential to the PhD I’m currently working on. But I had an urge to show these
writers how much I appreciate all they’ve done for me. Best I could come up
with was this lousy four-way interview. But here, I think it turned out all
right. So, without further ado, here’s what happens when
Ryan Bracha,
KeithNixon,
Mark Wilson and I get together via a long-ass web chat.
KN - The two sites have a different focus - Al's is on self
and indie published books, whereas typically (but not exclusively) CFL is on
larger, more established authors and publishers.
It's hard to find good writers, I mean really good ones,
skilled in their craft. There's a huge number of books out there, and more
being added every day. Of the self publish stuff I see about 10% are top notch.
The indie published authors have already been in effect
filtered and generally they are of a higher quality - they have a contract for
a reason.
Having a traditional publisher contract doesn't guarantee
the reader is going to pick up any better books, however. I don't suddenly find
a huge step up over at CFL, for instance.
Finally, unless you're a major name like Ian Rankin,
visibility is key.
KN - So Bracha, name
the three best and one worst decision that has meant the most to your success
as an author?
RB - Good question that. The best three decisions... Okay,
first and foremost has been the decision to do everything myself. I've learned to
create cover art, edit, publish and market it to my own standards, so if any
part fails it's on me. If it's a success I get to congratulate myself. Plus it
means everything I do is cost free, ensuring maximum return on investment,
which goes only to me. Or the wife. Which is nice.
Second one, um, I suppose it lays with my decision to never
revise my work other than for continuity issues or typos. It gives me a chance
to hammer the work out and get promoting it. I reckon I've done well so far, in
that the work has been greatly received and performed far higher than I ever
hoped. The longer it goes on though, the more the expectation that the bubble's
gonna burst with the next book when it turns out to be utter garbage.
The third one is to know when to take advice. I've been
known to think I know it all, but with my writing I'm always happy to learn
from more experienced hands and apply it to my increasing arsenal of skills and
knowledge. It's been a huge case of slowly slowly catchy monkey. I want to make
a real success of myself in the literary arena. The worst decision I made was
to ignore my wife the first ten times she told me to self publish. I could be a
year more experienced if I'd listened to her!
RB - Mr Wilson, your
4 main works of fiction have been 4 vastly different genres, each with various
influences. Which one taught you the most about your art and why?
MW - In all honesty I only began to feel like I was becoming
a competent writer by my third book, Head Boy. By the end of it I reckoned I
was developing enough to start thinking of myself as a writer. Writing from the
mindset of a sadistic sociopath brought me right out of my literary shell.
MW - Question for
Gerry: For a writer who sets his books in Northern Ireland, you do a good job
of focusing on issues that don't directly involve the sectarian aspect of the
region. Ever feel like shining a literary light on any experiences you'll have
had of this?
GB - Most of my Troubles experiences are now blurry
memories. I remember British soldiers who emerged from a graveyard next to our
house in Warrenpoint in the eighties at regular intervals. I remember being
searched by prison guards at Long Kesh prison when I visited family members at
the ripe old age of 6. I remember my mother handing her handbag over to
security guards at the front door of Castlecourt Shopping Centre in Belfast and wondering why
they were allowed to poke around in there when I wasn't. But there's also a
stock-pile of primary and secondary source Troubles stories in my memory banks
from lips lubricated by liquor; mostly from a Republican perspective.
It took a long time to get everything almost straight in my
immature brain. And I'm one of the lucky ones. I was shielded by a lot of the
shite by my father and his decision to raise his family outside of Belfast. I was still
aware of the conflict and the roles that people I knew played in it, but those
aren't my stories. I think if I wrote about the Troubles (and I probably will)
it would be with the intention to explain my own opinions and experiences to my
children, who will have as many questions as I had as they grow up. I just
don't know when will be the best time to do that. I think I need a little more
distance first. Until then, it'll remain peripheral to my work.
GB - Ryan: One of the
things we seem to have in common is a pretty eclectic taste in music, at least
according to the Facebook updates you've written that have caught my eye. Do
you draw on music for inspiration in your writing? And do you listen to music
when you write?
RB - Most definitely, is the answer to your first question.
Music is one of my truest passions, and yeah I do consider my tastes eclectic.
I love that feeling you get when you hear a band or artist for the first time
and you just instantly know that you've found something that's gonna be with
you forever, and then seeing it performed live is another level altogether.
As far as influences go, yeah, I take a fair bit of
influence from artists who stretch themselves, and don't play it safe to compromise
what they're trying to say. Scroobius Pip is one such artist. Or Beck, I love
how he changes direction with every release. I like instrumental music to write
to, because I find myself sidetracked by singing along otherwise! The
soundtrack to Amelie, by Yann Tiersenn is a consistent favourite in the
headphones when I'm tapping away.
RB - Keef! We're all
authors who set our books particularly local to ourselves, as I'm sure most
are, what is it about Margate
that inspires you to set you work there?
KN - Ok several reasons. One is write about what you know. Margate is on my
doorstep. But the biggest factor was the backdrop, ie a once successful town
gone to seed, suited the narrative and characters.
KN - Wilson, you've
produced work across a wide range of genres - memoir to superhero thriller to
crime to dystopian. Are you a restless writer?
MW - Restless is a good way to describe my head, so, yes I
suppose. I'm a bit of a slut to my brain's whims. The business side of my brain
wants to pick a genre and stick to it. The writer part just wants to go with
whatever story is tugging at my literary knickers. I can't sleep until I empty
my head so I just crack on. I don't really think about what genre a particular
book fits into until I'm about half way through the manuscript, then I start
marketing to that genre and the business brain lets out a long fart of released
tension.
In all honesty, despite the obvious benefits of sticking
with a genre or style of writing, I don't think I'll ever be able to stay faithful
to one. I'm quite happy to be a genre-tart.
MW - Bracha: More
than once I've seen comments (and made them) noting your very 'Scottish'
writing style. Even in your books that lack Scottish characters, a very Celtic
humour and tone comes through. Explain yourself.
RB - I dunno mate. Maybe it's the Scots who have a very
Bracha humour and tone? Nah, it's just the way I've always written, I think
I've told this story before, but when I first started writing Strangers, I
would hand out the first few chapters to anybody that would take them, and one
fella who read it handed me a novel saying I'd probably enjoy the writing,
based on my style, and it took me months to finally read it. It was Bedroom
Secrets of the Master Chefs by Irvine Welsh and it blew me away. Superior to mine without
a doubt, but it set me on course for a love affair with Scottish writing that
shows no sign of abating, and has no doubt filtered into my own writing. I
completely associate with the total disregard for convention, the foul mouthed
humour and sometimes inhuman ability to be inventive with the language that the
best Scots have. The short answer, though, is I dunno.
RB - Brennan: If you
were stuck in the Andes with your characters,
which would you eat first? Which would you kill in a fit of fury? And which
would you be happy to chill out and shoot the shit with?
GB - Right; eat, kill, shoot the shit... I'll pick WEE
ROCKETS as the basis for the answer since (judging by sales and reviews) it's
my most popular book. So, I'd probably eat Liam Greene, as he's the meatiest
and he deserves it. Feckin' parasite.
I'd probably kill Joe Phillips in a fit of rage, because
he's pretty gormless and frustrating. He's not a bad lad, really, but I know
how irritable I can get from time to time. Put me on the Andes
with no food, you better not break wind.
And for shooting the shit, it has to be Wee Danny Gibson.
He's the most likely to have remembered to pack a carry out and he's pretty
funny. I should point out, that in my mind, these kids aren't 14 years old
anymore. They're almost 20 now. That makes me a little less creepy, right?
GB - Mark... I
imagine it took a lot of courage to write Paddy's Daddy. Reading the dedication
alone almost broke my heart. How do you feel about your son reading this book
in the future? I ask because I'm playing with a similar idea myself and I'm a
bit scared of it.
MW - Good question Gerry.
I thought about that a lot in the months after I published
the autobiography. Spent a lot of time worrying that my son would be
disappointed when he grew up and realised his da' isn't who he thought he was.
Two things happened to take that worry away. First I realised that every son
gets to a point when they lose their illusions about the hero dad they believe
in, and then they grow up and hopefully reconnect in a different way.
Secondly, I spoke to my wife about it and she pointed out
that I was forgetting who the boy is.
He's only five but is a very self assured, confident,
empathetic and funny as fuck wee dude. Seriously, my five year old is the best
man I know. My Mrs reminded me of that and asked me what I thought Paddy's
reaction would be when he was a grown man and understood the childhood I'd had
and the resulting problems that followed.
Simple answer. He'll be well proud of his old man for
changing his life for his kids.
Problem solved.
KN - Where the fuck
did Fireproof come from? Quite different to your other books - religion, God
and the devil none of which figures elsewhere…
GB – I’m actually surprised that this is the first time I’ve
been asked that question. The answer’s pretty simple, though. FIREPROOF was
published after WEE ROCKETS, but it was actually written before. Back then
(about 2006, I think – other books were written and abandoned back in my
earlier writing days and I didn’t keep date records), I considered myself a
horror writer rather than a crime writer. But then I realised that I was
actually better at writing crime. However, Al Guthrie, once my agent and now my
publisher via Blasted Heath, thought that FIREPROOF was a decent read when I
showed it to him. It needed work, of course, and Al helped me with that. Al’s
input and reassurance made me realise that the book was a lot better than I’d
originally thought.
The next thing was to decide whether or not to release it
under a pseudonym, even an obvious one, like how the late, great Iain Banks put
an ‘M’ in the middle of his name to denote when he’d switched to science
fiction. My middle name happens to begin with an M as well, but I’d have gone
with something a tad more original. However, after some thought, it seemed like
I’d be making work for myself by trying to handle two writing careers side by
side. So I let it come out under my name and waited to see if anybody called me
on it. Two years later, and you’re the first to do that…
But yeah, why a supernatural book that’s heavy on religious
and social piss-taking? It was just good fun to write, to be honest. I’ll
return to that universe some time soon, I hope, because there are readers who
prefer it to my other stuff and I think it’d still be fun to just let my
imagination and mischief run riot again. But I’ve a bunch of crime stuff lined
up first.
RB - (Round-up
question) So the film or TV show of one
of your books has been made, and the opening credits are rolling, I don't care
who made it or who's in it. What's the song that's playing over those credits?
For me, I'm choosing Prodigy, Invaders Must Die for PAUL CARTER IS A DEAD MAN.
Might be a bit obvious but it's frantic enough to cover that opening scene.
