Featured Author - Stephen Booth

[Kell]

Stephen Booth

 

Website / My Space

Review - Black Dog

Interview

Competition

Stephen Booth is one of those rare people who, when you find out a little about them, are just so interesting that you want to know more, and this is reflected in his writing. His novels are at the forefront of the British crime genre and his intense style grips the reader from start to finish.

 

Many thanks to Stephen for agreeing to spend the month with us answering our questions and letting us know a little about his books.

[Kell]

Hello Stephen, and to the forum - I hope you'll enjoy your time with us.

 

I have a couple of questions to start things off - obviously you've spent much of your professional career writing (being a journalist) - in what ways does writing novels differ from writing for newspapers and magazines, and what kept you going while you were writing your first novel, Black Dog?

[Stephen Booth]

Hello Stephen, and to the forum - I hope you'll enjoy your time with us.

I have a couple of questions to start things off - obviously you've spent much of your professional career writing (being a journalist) - in what ways does writing novels differ from writing for newspapers and magazines?

 

Thank you for that wonderful welcome, Kell. And hello, everybody! I

[Guest fireball]

hi there and, as herself said, welcome Stephen. (Yes, it's me...AGAIN.!)

 

The bauld Gavin Murfin!

 

Is he of sorts an amalgam of any of the journalists you met/worked with.?

Because he just feels so right, not to be. .!

[Stephen Booth]

and what kept you going while you were writing your first novel, Black Dog?

 

I have to confess straight away that although BLACK DOG was my first published novel, it was far from being the first novel I'd written. In fact, I wrote my first novel when I was 12 years old, so it must have been in the blood.

 

When I seriously set about getting published, I was writing what I suppose would be called paranormal thrillers. I got my agent through one of these books, but she never managed to sell it to a publisher. I was told they didn't fit easily into a 'category'. Eventually, my agent suggested I should write a straight crime novel. I'd been a big crime fiction fan myself for many years, so it felt right.

 

At that time, I still had the 'day job' and I was writing in the evenings, sometimes late into the night. But I was producing a novel every six months in that way. I was very determined to get published, and I knew I just had to keep writing until I found the right voice and produced the right piece of work.

 

And that was BLACK DOG. By the time I finished it, I knew it was the book that would get me published. Within a few months, it had done more than - it had changed my life completely!

 

Stephen

[Stephen Booth]

The bauld Gavin Murfin!

Is he of sorts an amalgam of any of the journalists you met/worked with.?

Because he just feels so right, not to be. .!

 

Ah, Detective Constable Gavin Murfin... there's a character who's taken on a life of his own!

 

Yes, I suppose he does bear some resemblance to a certain type of journalist of the 'old school'. I've definitely met a few Gavins.

 

But not only journalists. I've been told that of all the police characters in my books, DC Murfin is probably the most realistic. I'm not sure what that tells us about our police force here in the UK...

 

Stephen

[Guest fireball]

Thanks for that. I won't, at least not here, try to go on about THAT woman (you know who.!), but you made mention of

I moved into news, covered crime, and worked as a court reporter. I've investigated corrupt council members,

it'd be interesting to know if you've had incounters with real life Angies, and are they too, a bit like gavin as in amalgam, of any of the said.?

[Michelle]

And I have to ask.. fireball, do you know Stephen, or are you just a big fan?

 

Stephen, I'd like to welcome you too. I have alot going on at the moment, so Kell is taking care of you for me.. and is doing a wonderful job,as always. I hope you enjoy your month with us.

[Guest fireball]

Apart from having all his books, and being a member of http://www.stephen-booth.com , I only know of him through his books and being on his site ! LOL. I don't actually know him per se, be sides his wife might have something to say about.!

And my late wife would too. Oh lor'.!

[Stephen Booth]

And I have to ask.. fireball, do you know Stephen, or are you just a big fan?

Stephen, I'd like to welcome you too. I have alot going on at the moment, so Kell is taking care of you for me.. and is doing a wonderful job,as always. I hope you enjoy your month with us.

 

Thank you, Michelle. Kell is definitely doing a great job!

 

I believe fireball is a member of the Stephen Booth Forum, though under a different name. I wasn't entirely sure at first, but the question about Angie clinches it.

 

To explain: Angie Fry is the sister of one of my series characters, Detective Sergeant Diane Fry. Some readers (fireball among them) seem to have a theory that Angie is "up to something". Me, I couldn't possibly comment!

 

On the general question of characters, I don't think I've ever based a character on a single real-life person - they're all amalgams, in various ways.

 

Stephen

[Kell]

you guys will give me a swollen head at this rate!

 

And not to worry about long answers, Stephen - they're great! We all love getting to know more about authors and how they go about their writing.

 

Speaking of which, Stephen; when you're writing, do you work from a set plan that you've written up beforehand, or do you just let it all flow out as it comes?

[Maureen]

I really like it when an author has a set of constant characters, as you get used to them from one book to the other....it's like a favorite TV series...what made you decide to use constant characters rather than instant ones? Is it more difficult to write about them from one book to the next...or do you find you get to "know" them more?

[Stephen Booth]

Speaking of which, Stephen; when you're writing, do you work from a set plan that you've written up beforehand, or do you just let it all flow out as it comes?

 

Well, this is where I think I do everything wrong! No, I never have a plan for any of my books, Kell. When I start writing, I don't know what's going to happen, and I have no idea 'who did it'. For me, writing a novel is a discovery process.

 

I know there are many authors who produce a detailed plan before they start writing, but it wouldn't work for me. That's because I start with the characters, not with a plot. I have to feel that the characters are real people I can believe in, then I turn them loose and watch what they do. So the story arises out of the characters, rather than the other way round. The only thing I do at the beginning is to create an opening situation or scenario for them to respond to.

 

This is an exciting way of writing, but a bit scary too, because I don't have full control over what happens. Characters do things that surprise me, and the story takes unexpected turns.

 

I sometimes think I'm lucky to be writing about police detectives. The way I see it, it's THEIR job to find out what happened, not mine! So far, Ben Cooper and Diane Fry have done that for me.

 

Stephen

[Stephen Booth]

I really like it when an author has a set of constant characters, as you get used to them from one book to the other....it's like a favorite TV series...what made you decide to use constant characters rather than instant ones? Is it more difficult to write about them from one book to the next...or do you find you get to "know" them more?

 

As a reader, I'm like you, Maureen - I love a series where I can follow the lives of the characters through several books. Some of my favourite crime series are by Peter Robinson (Inspector Banks series), Reginald Hill (Dalziel and Pascoe) and John Harvey (Charlie Resnick series).

 

But as an unpublished writer, I wasn't really thinking beyond getting the first book published. Those unpublished novels I mentioned earlier were all 'one-offs' or standalones. And I didn't think BLACK DOG was going to be any different when I started writing it.

 

What happened was that the two central characters, Ben Cooper and Diane Fry, seemed to take on a life of their own during the writing, and they became completely real to me. In a way, I sensed their whole lives unfolding in front of me. Before I'd finished BLACK DOG, I knew there was far more I wanted to say about those two than I could possibly fit into one book, or two. That was how I knew I had a potential series - it was entirely due to the characters.

 

This was lucky, because when HarperCollins made an offer for BLACK DOG, they immediately asked for a second book, and I already had ideas for it.

 

Yes, I know Ben and Diane very well now. I've 'lived' with them for eight or nine years, and they're like old friends I haven't actually met. Often the easiest part of a book to write is the dialogue between Cooper and Fry, because I know exactly what they would say. It's almost as if I'm listening in to a conversation and trying to write it down.

 

It's very helpful to have these two - and some of the minor series characters. I can't imagine saying goodbye to all my characters at the end of each book, then having to create an entirely new set for the next one. But I know some authors do that, and they feel it gives them more freedom.

 

There are a lot of readers who like to get their teeth into a series and become involved in the characters' lives over a period of years. I'm very happy about that! Right now, I feel as though I still haven't explored everything about Cooper and Fry, and I'm aiming for at least 10 books in this series before I think about doing something different.

 

Stephen

[Maureen]

What do members of your family think about your writing? Are they fans/critics, do they suggest "ideas" or "plots"?

[Stephen Booth]

What do members of your family think about your writing? Are they fans/critics, do they suggest "ideas" or "plots"?

 

Well, Maureen, my wife always says she loves my books - but then, she has to!

 

My parents are a different matter. Books had never really been part of their lives, and they tried to discourage me from writing when I was a child (they called it "scribbling"). They never thought journalism was a 'proper' job, either. When I gave it up to write novels full time, I discovered they were telling everyone I'd taken early retirement (well, I was just doing my hobby!).

 

My parents do receive a specially personalised copy of each book as soon as it's published (in fact, SCARED TO LIVE was dedicated to them), but I don't have any evidence that they've ever read them.

 

Friends sometimes suggest ideas for novels - and, of course, readers are very good at this! But I find it difficult to use other people's ideas. Somehow, they have to be my own if I'm really going to believe in them.

 

That's not to say that family and friends don't inadvertently give me ideas for the next plot...

 

Stephen

[Michelle]

You said in your interview that you're contracted for 2 more stories in the series. If the contract gets renewed, do you have plenty of material and ideas to keep you going for a while? Have you considered a different series, or even another genre?

[Stephen Booth]

You said in your interview that you're contracted for 2 more stories in the series. If the contract gets renewed, do you have plenty of material and ideas to keep you going for a while? Have you considered a different series, or even another genre?

 

For me, it's a bit of a leap in the dark signing a three-book contract, because I don't normally see more than one book ahead. Yes, I have an idea for the next book (which will be number 9 in the Cooper & Fry series), but not for the one after that, which I'm already contracted for!

 

Having said that, I can't envisage ever being completely out of ideas. They seem to be everywhere. In a file on my computer, there are lots of thoughts, snatches of dialogue, glimpses of characters and locations, subjects I'd like to research one day. I'm confident that something there will spark an idea for a new novel.

 

I do know that the Cooper & Fry series will have to reach an end one day. It applies to any series - there comes a point when the author should stop, or at least do something different for a while. As a reader, I'm aware of it, and I just hope that I can tell when the time comes for me.

 

When you have a successful series, there's a lot of pressure to keep on producing another book, and another (preferably one every year). And I don't just mean pressure from the publishers, but also from readers, who often write demanding to know when there'll be a new book! But one day there will be a new series, or a standalone at least. The decision might happen when this contract comes to an end, but it's too early to tell yet.

 

A new genre? Crime fiction is such a vibrant, wide-ranging genre that it does everything I want as a writer. You can write about character, place, relationships, contemporary social issues - whatever you like - and still provide a great story as well. I'm always thrilled whan a reader says to me: "I don't read crime fiction, but I really enjoy your books".

 

So I think I could create something quite different from Cooper & Fry, yet still come under that (very wide) umbrella.

 

Over the years, I've written quite a lot of science fiction, then paranormal thrillers of various kinds. None of them was published, and I don't think any of them really worked as well for me as the crime novels do.

 

Stephen

[Kell]

Stephen, I was checking out your events page and you have a very busy schedule! Do you enjoy all the touring? And if so, what is it you like best about it? Alternately, what do you like least about it?

[Maureen]

Well, Maureen, my wife always says she loves my books - but then, she has to!

 

.....well that's debatable! Family can be the harshest critics, I believe!

[Stephen Booth]

Stephen, I was checking out your events page and you have a very busy schedule! Do you enjoy all the touring? And if so, what is it you like best about it? Alternately, what do you like least about it?

 

Actually, Kell, I'd been thinking this year was pretty quiet so far.

 

It will undoubtedly get very busy from September onwards, when I have a new book out in the UK. Touring and events are all part of the business these days. Yes, I do enjoy doing it - partly, I think, because the writing itself is so solitary that it's good to get out in the 'real world' now and then.

 

The best part is meeting readers, and hearing their reactions to the books. Some events are also big social occasions for writers, who might only meet each other once or twice a year (for example, at Bouchercon in the USA, or at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the UK).

 

The worst part? Well, it's very strange sometimes to find yourself visiting a new city - or even a new country - and to see nothing of it, apart from an airport, a hotel, and a bookshop. Touring can mean arriving in a different place every day and never quite knowing where you are!

 

Stephen

[Stephen Booth]

.....well that's debatable! Family can be the harshest critics, I believe!

 

Maureen, I didn't say my wife doesn't criticise ME - just not the books!

 

Stephen

[Kell]

Any plans to come to Aberdeen? We'd love to see you up here!

 

Also, I was wondering, how do you go about the business of writing? Do you set aside a certain amount of time each day to write, or do you just write when inspiration strikes?

[Stephen Booth]

Any plans to come to Aberdeen? We'd love to see you up here!

 

Aberdeen isn't on the schedule at the moment, Kell - sorry! I'd love to do more events in Scotland, but there's, erm... a bit of a hurdle for English authors to get over.

 

I was thrilled when Ottakars bookstore in Oban offered to tour me around the West Coast and some of the islands last year, but the plan fell through with the takeover of Ottakars by Waterstones. This means I still haven't done any events further north than Glasgow, and Wigtown (Scotland's 'book town').

 

You do have your own home-grown crime writer in Aberdeen, though - Stuart MacBride. Do you know his books?

 

Stephen

[Kell]

I do indeed, know his books - one of the book groups I'm in (The Posh Club) read his first one, Cold Granite, and I've since read the sequel. Looking forward to his third one coming out later in the year too.

 

I was very put out when Waterstones took over Ottakar's - they seem to have put paid to quite a few planned tours for various authors in doing that - very upsetting! I hope you'll get to Aberdeen one of these days.