Nick Quantrill tagged me for this in his excellent The Next Big Thing Interview that can be found here. So I guess I better get busy trying to get people interested in my ramblings…
What is the working title of your next book?
Which one? I’ve got three on the go simultaneously: The Glasgow Grin, sequel to The Hunters; Bone Breakers, a standalone Stanton brothers’ novella; and Cry Tomorrow, a revenge novella that will introduce readers to the Blood Smoothie!
Where did the idea come from the book?
The idea for The Glasgow Grin came from The Hunters, which even though it is resolved is also left open for a sequel. The sequel follows on a week or so after the events in the first novel. Bone Breakers came from a short entitled Hot Fat that was due to go in The Greatest Show In Town, but seemed like it would benefit massively from space to breathe. So I dropped it from the collection and rewrote it. Cry Tomorrow came out of reading Incident on a Rain-Soaked Corner from Heath Lowrance’s Dig Ten Graves. I wrote a story with a very similar premise long before I read Heath’s tale. I was ready to include it in my short collection, but when I read IoaRSC it was immediately obvious that the tales were quite similar, and that Heath’s was vastly better than mine, so I dropped it. However, much later, I recycled and altered the short and used it as the basis for a revenge novella that I’d already started drafting.
What genre does your book fall under?
Everything I write, barring a few minor exceptions, is a crime thriller.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
The Stanton brothers get revenge on the man who crosses their path.
Will you will be self-published or represented by an agency?
Self-published.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
The first draft has taken about six months. The next draft and additional edits will take another two or three.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Wanting to write something that I as a reader will feel compelled to read. Wanting to write something that thrills and excites my admittedly tiny readership, but also expands that readership further. Further inspiration was also provided by my love of tough guy thrillers: Richard Stark, Dan J Marlowe, and most of all James Crumley, whose C.W. Sughrue and Milo Milodragovich first-person narratives helped inspire the Stanton brothers’ general couldn’t give a shit attitude towards the world.
What else about your book might pique the readers’ interest?
A cynical and weary tone-of-voice, a Teesside locale that is pretty much virgin territory in fictional terms, an assorted cast of villains, both humorous and frightening, and most of all the brothers themselves. A series is only as good as its main protagonist/s.
After checking, it seems there is absolutely nobody on the planet who hasn’t already done this, so I haven’t a clue who to pass the virtual baton to. If you fancy being nominated then mention it in the comments below and I’ll tag you after the fact!
