My second Joe Geraghty novel, The Late Greats, is due out in the spring through Caffeine Nights. It’s a slightly unusual job for a PI, but he’s asked to babysit a reforming Hull band on the brink of their comeback tour. When the lead singer goes missing, Geraghty’s asked to go far beyond the call of duty. Although it touches on my love of music, it’s really a story about friendship, family and what really constitutes success in life.
What's your favourite part of the creative process?
It’s definitely the time spent between the first draft and submission. I like having some raw material to work with and I like the act of shaping it and discovering all the little things that seem to happen in the manuscript organically. I tend to be a plotter and a thinker by nature, so it’s nice to be surprised a bit. I like the challenge of sorting out the good stuff from the bad.
What are your views on e-books?
The only thing I know with any certainty is that they’re here to stay. As a writer, I want my work to be available in whatever format readers choose. The convenience and ease of being able to reach out literally anywhere around the world has got to be a good thing. It levels the playing field a little. As a reader, I’ve not quite got the bug. It’s more my personal circumstances mean I don’t massively feel the need for a Kindle, but I was hardly at the front of the queue for a mobile phone. I don’t seem to have my finger on the pulse in that respect. If I was point to drawbacks, I’d look at pricing. I don’t think they’ve really found the right level yet, particularly in respect of the large publishers.
It’s vital. It is a cliché, but it’s what readers notice first. They need to be visually arresting. I’m fortunate that Caffeine Nights work with a really talented guy who produces excellent work every time. Going back to e-books, it’s no less important. I’m sure people judge an e-book in exactly the same way, even though it’s not a physical product. Maybe the challenges are slightly different, as you initially see a thumbnail on Amazon, but you only have to look at the quality from a publisher like Blasted Heath to see how important it is.
What aspects of marketing your book do you enjoy?
It’s the face to face stuff. The Internet has brought a new dimension to marketing, but you can’t beat going out and talking to readers. I’ve found you have to make quite a mental shift to be able to do it, but it’s great to talk books with people. I suspect it’ll become even more important to me next year. From Christmas, I’m staying at home to look after my daughter, and write. I’ll be gagging for some adult conversation by February! I think the danger of Internet marketing is forgetting you’re talking to people. Nobody wants a continuous stream of adverts thrust at them. There’s nothing worse than over the top self-promotion.
What are you reading now?
I’m just about to start with Dead Money by Ray Banks. Ray’s one of my favourite writers, and for me, he just continues to improve. I’m a little surprised it’s a rewrite of his debut novel – I really don’t see the point – but if Ray writes them, I read them. Although he’s a ‘crime writer’, I suspect Ray might just have something like a Trainspotting in him. He’s got an eye for the small details which lift him beyond many other writers. The last book I finished was Made in Britain by Gavin James Bower. It’s about three sixteen-year-olds who are leaving school in northern England. It’s one of those novels filled with both hope and despair – sort of a state of the nation piece. I found some bits of it better than others, but well worth a read. I tend to read widely within crime fiction, so I’ve got new ones from Lee Child, JJ Connelly, Gerard Brennan and Craig Russell waiting to be read.
What are you currently working on?
The main focus is on the third Geraghty novel, which is about half done. It’s starting to take shape. After that, I’ve got a few ideas – some Geraghty, some not. Other than that, I’m working on a novella for Byker Books, provisionally entitled Bang Bang (You’re Dead). It’s a very different challenge to writing a novel, certainly harder than I first thought. It’s also very different in tone to a Geraghty novel, so a definitely a challenge. As ever, I’m working on short stories all the time for different anthologies and collections. It seems like 2011 has been fairly quiet, but there’s plenty to be going on with for 2012!
What would your epitaph be?
‘At least he didn’t just sit there watching the television …’
As a fan of Nick’s work, I’m very much looking forward to the release of The Late Greats, and also interested to see where Joe Geraghty goes after that – he’s a great character. The Byker Books novella is one to watch for as well. There are two in the pipeline that I know of, and they both promise to be very good indeed.