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
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!
