If there is anyone who has a route into the mind of the Police Detective it's an ex Police Officer, so it might come as a bit of a strange fact that its one of the jobs that Craig Russell held (also an Advertising Copyrighter and Creative Director) before settling on writing. Craigs other great passion was Germany in particular Hamburg, so blending the two together generated perhaps one of the most unique Crime Thriller series to date. Originally bursting (or perhaps slashing) his way into the publics imagination with Blood Eagle back in 2005, each subsequent novel in the series brings bizarre killers to the light of day. Now expanding to include a new Hero, Lennox, who's set in 1950's Glasgow, he's becoming not only prolific but very successful with his plot devices, his twists and above all a gripping writing style that just refuses to let the public go. As fans, we couldn't believe our luck at getting an interview with him that follows here. Beware the Writer my friends, his words may slash a deeper path to your imagination...
Falcata Times: Writing is said to be something that people are afflicted with rather than gifted and that it's something you have to do rather than want. What is your opinion of this statement and how true is it to you?
Craig Russell: I definitely think that writing is something you have to do. Whether it’s an affliction or a gift is hard to say. I once heard about a writer who fastened her leg to her desk with a belt so she had to focus on her writing – I would say that it was an affliction for her. For me, it’s a blessing. I love writing and being a writer. The best way of summing it up is that if I were to win millions on the Lottery and knew I would never have to work again, I would devote my leisure time to doing exactly what I currently do for a living. Just for the love of it. I consider myself a very lucky man and I am eternally grateful to the readers who buy my books or borrow them from a library for allowing me to continue with my work.
FT: When did you realise that you wanted to be a writer?
CR: I can’t pinpoint an exact moment. For as long as I can remember, from the time I first became aware of what an author was, I wanted to be a writer. I have done other things before becoming a writer, but I was always aware that it was like I was observing the world in preparation for becoming an author. Until I became an author, it was almost as if I was a witness rather than a participator.
FT: It is often said that if you can write a short story you can write anything. How true do you think this is and what have you written that either proves or disproves this POV?
CR: I think this is absolutely 100% right. I still think the short story is the purist form of writing and tests your skills as a writer like no other. Also, a lot of the writing that inspired me as a teenager was in the form of short stories. This kind of goes back to your previous question too: I remember reading The Golden Apples of the Sun anthology by Ray Bradbury when I was about thirteen or fourteen and thinking ‘now that is exactly what I want to do’. From there I went on to read the short stories of Guy de Maupassant, Poe, Gogol, Chekov, Kafka, James Joyce, Sholokov, William Trevor, Heinrich Böll... Some of my favourite pieces are short stories rather than novels. In fact, there are key short stories that I can point to as being more influential than almost anything else I’ve read: The Sound of Thunder by Bradbury, Pale Anna by Böll, Thithyphuth, or my Uncle’s Waiter by Wolfgang Borchert, Metamorphosis by Kafka and The Other Son by Pirandello (which is mentioned in one of the Fabel series, Eternal).
In fact, I had set myself a target of getting a literary short story published before writing a full-length novel. It was, so I did. The short story was called Crab and was the reflections of a put-down teacher who also suffered from synaesthesia. Looking back, it was terribly pretentious and self-important, but it got published and determined me on the course of writing a full-length novel.
FT: If someone were to enter a bookshop, how would you persuade them to try your novel over someone else's and how would you define it?
CR: I would define Lennox as classical noir. Maybe neo-noir.
I would define The Valkyrie Song as being that little bit different to the normal crime output. It explores many serious contemporary themes.
FT: How would you "sell" your book in 20 words or less?
CR: Lennox – classic, intelligent noir page-turner with black, black humour and a charming, violent, cynical protagonist you’re a little ashamed of liking.
The Valkyrie Song – if you like Henning Mankell’s Wallender, then you’ll love this. Sympathetic cops and crimes with roots in recent European history.
FT: Who is a must have on your bookshelf and whose latest release will find you on the bookshops doorstep waiting for it to open?
CR: Chris Brookmyre, Jeff Lindsay, George Pellecanos.
FT: When you sit down and write do you know how the story will end or do you just let the pen take you? ie Do you develop character profiles and outlines for your novels before writing them or do you let your idea's develop as you write?
CR: A little of both. I tend to have a main theme for the book, a core idea and a conclusion. The best way I can describe it is like going on a road trip where you know where you want to end up and the kind of places you want to visit along the way, but you allow yourself the scope and flexibility to take as many detours and excursions from the main route as you feel like – to the extent of maybe ending up at a different destination.
As for characters, they come to life and almost have an independent will. Very often I find that they just won’t do what I had planned for them to do in a certain situation.
FT: What do you do to relax and what have you read recently?
CR: Take my dog, for long, long walks. Paint (pictures, not walls and skirting boards). Cook. Continue my twenty-year long struggle with the German language (I speak it fluently but ungrammatically – life’s too short to master Second Conjuctive Past). Watch classic films in my home cinema. Talk to my kids.
I don’t read when I’m writing, but during my ‘break’ I re-read Room at the Top by John Braine and The Stories of William Trevor. I also revisit Heinrich Böll frequently. I’m slowly beginning to catch up with the 21st Century.
FT: What is your guiltiest pleasure that few know about?
CR: My pleasures aren’t that guilty I’m afraid. Don’t smoke, don’t do drugs, drink only moderately, work out four times a week... My wife has said to me that June Whitfield has a more rock’n’roll lifestyle. Although, I have to say... if I open a bag of liquorice allsorts...
FT: Lots of writers tend to have pets. What do you have and what are their key traits (and do they appear in your novel in certain character attributes?)
CR: I have a labradoodle who’s probably got a higher IQ than mine, two cats, one of whom has a serious catnip habit. I don’t mention them or base any canine or feline characters on them. I worry that, if I did, they would get an agent and a lawyer and claim a cut of the royalties.
FT: Which character within your latest book was the most fun to write and why?
CR: In Lennox, I’m ashamed to say it’s Twinkletoes McBride. He’s a friendly, chatty sort of fellow who, despite not being an intellectual giant, is very focussed on self-improvement: mainly by reading the Reader’s Digest. I try not to let the fact that he is also psychopathically violent to order and earned his nickname as a torturer for a gang lord (it involves boltcutters, taking off his conversational partner’s socks and shoes and reciting “this little piggy...”)
In the Fabel novels, Jan Fabel himself, or feisty Anna Wolff.
FT: How similar to your principle protagonist are you?
CR: Well, I have two principal protagonists: Lennox for the Lennox novels and Jan Fabel for the Fabel series. I have to say that I am much more like Fabel than Lennox (I hope!)
FT: What hobbies do you have and how do they influence your work?
CR: Painting, cooking, reading (of course), keeping fit, watching good film. They influence my work insofar as they allow me much-needed downtime. Sometimes ideas pop out of the air when I’m preparing a meal or on the cross-trainer.
FT: Where do you get your ideas from?
CR: Everywhere. I research constantly and sometimes, when I’m on the trail of something to do with the book I’m working on, a completely irrelevant fact will emerge that sparks off a completely new idea.
FT: Do you ever encounter writers block and if so how do you overcome it?
CR: Not really. But if I’m going through a sticky patch, I tend to work through it: I just keep on writing, even if I have to throw out what I write. It’s all about keeping your brain running.
FT: Certain authors are renowned for writing at what many would call uncivilised times. When do you write and how do the others in your household feel about it?
CR: I work from about 8.30am until 6pm. When I’m well into a book, I’ll write in the evenings and weekends, but I always find time for the kids.
FT: Sometimes pieces of music seem to influence certain scenes within novels, do you have a soundtrack for your tale or is it a case of writing in silence with perhaps the odd musical break in-between scenes?
CR: I definitely write to a soundtrack and it’s always relevant to the book: Herbert Groenemeyer, Annette Louisan, Mia, BAP, Wolfgang Haffner, Lars Danielson, theEsbjörn Svensson Trio and countless other German and Scandinavian acts when writing Fabel (we share the same music tastes); Mel Tormé, Julie London, Edmundo Ros, Nat King Cole, Benny Goodman, etc. when I’m writing Lennox.
FT: What misconceptions, if any, did you have about the writing and publishing field when you were first getting started?
CR: I don’t think I had any. I had been a freelance writer for twelve years before becoming a novelist and I was pretty much in the know. Maybe I would have to say that one of the surprises is how much fun it is: the people you deal with, editors, publicists, agents, booksellers, librarians... they’re not like other ‘business’ people. You are still dealing with ‘book people’ – they’re in it because they love books and literature.
FT: If music be the food of love, what do you think writing is and please explain your answer?
CR: Truth is, I think writing is two things: self-psychotherapy and a workout for the brain. I think I write partly to sort out who I am and where I am in the world. Each book I write leaves me a slightly different person. I also like to think I learn more about the world and people with every book I research and write.
20) What can you tell us about the next novel?
CR: The Valkyrie Song is published on 6th August. It involves Jan Fabel in the desperate race to track down a highly-trained professional assassin: a woman known only as the Valkyrie. At the same time, there is a spate of murders of male customers in Hamburg’s red light district, and the press begin to claim that the ‘Angle of St Pauli’, a much feared female serial killer who disappeared from view ten years before, has reappeared.
I am currently working on The Long Glasgow Kiss, the sequel to Lennox, in which a big-league bookie meets a sticky end and Lennox gets dragged into finding out who did it. And into the world of illegal bare-knuckle fighting and worse.
FT: What are the last five internet sites that you've visited?
CR: www.allaboutjazz.com
www.leo.org (a German language site with on-line dictionaries and fora on the German language)
http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.hamburg.de/onlinewache (the website of the Hamburg Police)
http://www.classiccarsforsale.co.uk/
and, of course...
http://members.lycos.co.uk/falcatatimes/
FT: Did you ever take any writing classes or specific instructions to learn the craft? If so please let us know which ones.
CR: No. I’ve never gone to writing classes. For me, writing is like bodybuilding: the only way to really improve your form is to work at it every day. Just write and write and write.
FT: How did you get past the initial barriers of criticism and rejection?
CR: I feel almost embarrassed to say that I was enormously lucky and didn’t have to go through the soul-destroying rounds and rounds of submission and rejection. The Fabel series sold almost instantly in the UK and Germany, with auctions in both markets, and then very quickly into 23 languages. Almost all of the criticism I’ve had has been positive and being nominated for the CWA Gold Dagger and winning the Dagger in the Library was a real boost. It’s perhaps a cowardly thing to say and do, but if I’m alerted to particularly negative reviews or comments, I don’t read them. I was advised by a very experienced author to ignore such comments as there’s usually some other agenda behind the remarks.
FT: In your opinion, what are the best and worst aspects of writing for a living?
CR: To be honest, for me there is no downside to it. The best aspects are the act of writing and creation itself, where you can immerse yourself in a completely different world, as well as that moment when someone comes up to you and tells you that they’ve really enjoyed reading your book – that, for me, is what it is all about.
I suppose the one thing I don’t really relish is big author events when the books come out. I am naturally quite a quiet person, not overly reserved, just quite quiet. I really enjoy bookshop events where you have genuinely interested readers and you can really get to talk to them – I’ve even used one of these events as a sort of ‘focus group’ to discuss elements in my writing. But I don’t want to be a ‘showman’ writer.
No comments:
Post a Comment