Guest Post & INT Giveaway: Kerry Wilkinson on Writing Crime & Fantasy

The Difference Between Writing Crime and Writing Silver

It's hard to define my day job. Depending on whether or not it's raining, it could be any or all of freelance journalist, amateur cyclist, TV-watcher, slow cooker enthusiast, old-man-napping-on-the-sofa, or - of course - author.

When it comes to writing, most of my time is given over to creating crime novels. I have the Jessica Daniel series, the Andrew Hunter series and other standalones with which to keep myself going. Because three books a year simply isn't enough and crime - fictional or otherwise - is far from my primary passion, sometimes I find my mind drifting.

I do enjoy writing crime, the characters, the situations - but it is limiting in the sense that it's set in the real world. I've always wanted to write a crime book where, just as the big reveal is about to happen near the end, aliens invade and everyone realises there are much bigger issues afoot. It would amuse me but, my word, would it annoy readers! Justifiably. 

Anyway, it is those mind-wanders of future technology, alternate worlds and so on that means it's liberating to step away from the real world and try something else.

The Silver Blackthorn series came from that. I'd written five, perhaps six, Jessica books more or less back to back and my mind craved something new.

Growing up, I'd always been into science fiction, fantasy and dystopia and so creating something within that genre was always likely to happen sooner or later.

It's also emancipating to think beyond the 'real' world. Setting the series in the near-ish future allowed me to create whatever sci-fi type of future technology I wanted. It allowed me to build a world without having it be too different from our present-day one.

Beyond that, of course, books - good ones at least - should always be about people. A writer can have the greatest imagination that brims with ideas and creations - but if he or she can't write characters, there's not much chance for a connection to readers. In short, why bother?

Fortunately for me, the reaction to Silver from her first appearance in Reckoning has been incredibly touching. I've had lots of people contacting me in various ways to talk about her and her gang of friends. I even had a pregnant woman email to say she and her partner were thinking of calling their child Silver!

I loved writing Reckoning, Renegade and Resurgence and frequently miss Silver, which, I suppose, is the spur to get on and create something else. Either that or I'll write aliens or mutant dinosaurs into one of my crime books.

About the Author

Despite two national newspaper reports to the contrary, Kerry Wilkinson is male. Honestly.

He is an occasional sports journalist and can frequently be spotted cycling the hills of Lancashire. He was born in Somerset but now lives in the north west. 

Giveaway

I have 2 copies of Renegade to give away, or if you would prefer, a copy of the first book, Reckoning! Just fill in the rafflecopter, it's open internationally too!

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