Interview with Allan Guthrie

Following the UK publication of his novels Two Way Split and Kiss Her Goodbye, BooksfromScotland.com spoke to Allan Guthrie about his crime writing, influences and the future of his 'literary noir' novels.

"Two Way Split" and "Kiss Her Goodbye" were first published in the USA, but have now been published by Edinburgh company Polygon. How important was it to you that your novels were published in the UK? The presentation of the UK editions is very different.

They are, yes. The presentation of the US editions is very different too. PointBlank (US publisher of TWO-WAY SPLIT) went for a modern photoshopped design and published in trade paperback, whereas Hard Case Crime (KISS HER GOODBYE) commissioned an original painting to reflect the ‘lurid’ style of American 50’s paperback original crime covers, and published in mass market. Polygon has gone with an architectural theme, with some amazingly atmospheric photography. Each publisher has a style they want to go with and I really like the variety.

As for getting published in the UK – I had to broker both US deals without a literary agent, which wasn’t ideal. So, after that, my focus was very much on trying to interest a UK agency in hooking me up with a UK publisher. Took a long time but eventually I found an extremely enthusiastic agent in Mark Stanton at Jenny Brown Associates, and he found a similar enthusiasm at Polygon. The timing was perfect, since Polygon were looking to develop a new crime list.

How do you describe your writing and do you consciously differentiate yourself from other Scottish crime offerings?

I tend to make a distinction between crime fiction (which I write) and detective fiction (which I don’t). That’s simply so that anyone buying my book doesn’t have false expectations that they’re picking up a mystery or a whodunit. But really I just write about people and situations that interest me and try to do so as entertainingly, succinctly and elegantly as possible. At the moment, the word ‘transgressive’ is an epithet that has a ring of truth about it. Someone came up with the phrase ‘literary noir’ and I like that too. My writing is often described as ‘hardboiled’, a style attributed to Hammett, although it’s present in Hemingway, and Mark Twain before him. There’s a definite American influence. But, still, I’m not sure how different my writing is from certain other Scottish crime offerings. Irvine Welsh is seen as transgressive, Louise Welsh could be described as writing literary noir, and the American influence is also there in Christopher Brookmyre. There’s certainly no conscious attempt on my part to differentiate myself from that kind of writing.

Do you consider yourself a part of the 'Scottish Crime' literary canon?

I’d be delighted to be considered part of any literary canon. I just think of myself as a writer, who happens to Scottish and writes crime fiction.

You've discussed on other websites the American and British noir writers who have influenced your writing, but what of Scottish authors?

My first attempt at a crime novel was called BIG DUNC’S HAMMER and it was something of a Christopher Brookmyre/Charlie Higson pastiche. I’ve moved in a different direction since then, although humour’s still very important in my writing. Other Scottish influences are Stevenson and Hogg (on a thematic level, which is becomes apparent if you read TWO-WAY SPLIT), Gordon M Williams (THE SIEGE OF TRENCHER’S FARM), and, on a technical level, fellow Polygon author Ray Banks, along with a more recent discovery for me, the incredible Alan “Sparky” Bissett.

Whereas Rankin, Jardine, Anderson etc focus on the police and the criminal investigation, you tell the stories through the eyes of the criminals, the thugs, the prostitutes. In fact, the police are often noticeable by their absence...

That’s true. I’m far more interested in abnormal psychology than I am in police procedure. There’s a bonus, too, in writing from the point of view of the criminals: the stakes for the average criminal are almost always higher than they are for the average detective. The criminal is often fighting for his freedom, whereas the detective is doing his job. There are ways round this – where the detective becomes personally involved in a case, for instance – but it’s a contrivance that only usually works for me in rare cases (William P. McGivern’s THE BIG HEAT being the most effective example that springs to mind). Focusing on the criminal’s plight creates immediate intensity, urgency, conflict – elements which are vital ingredients in the kind of novels I write.

The deal from Polygon has allowed you to become a full time writer – is this an ambition fulfilled?

The more you find out about the book trade, the more you realise how difficult it is to write for a living. I amassed several hundred rejection slips on the road to publication. And many more rejections subsequently! And yet, throughout, I always had my dreams set on one day being paid to write for a living. Fortunately, I’m very stubborn. My experience in the book trade (I was a bookseller for nearly ten years) meant I was under no illusions as to how difficult it was to make a living as a writer. The average advance for a novel in the UK these days is £7,000 – according to recent statistics – and that’s skewed by some of the really big advances. Advances are paid in instalments, so it might take two or three years to see all the money. And of course the author rarely receives the whole advance – there’s the agent’s commission to pay. So, it’s tough to make a living as a writer. I gave up the bookstore day job recently, but I still do some editing and I’m also a part-time literary agent, so I’m not strictly speaking a full-time writer.

You are also an Editor for PointBlank Press, and webmaster of Noir Originals. Can you tell us a little about your website, and the work you do for PointBlank in the USA?

The website was set up to help promote new writers of dark crime fiction, and to provide more information about the many great writers in the field, many of whom were writing in the 50s and 60s and are sadly forgotten. With PointBlank Press, I commission and edit debut crime novels alongside the occasional older reprint. The first three original novels I edited (in 2004) were by Dave Zeltserman, Ray Banks and Duane Swierczynski, all of whom have gone on to land deals with bigger publishers. PointBlank was on a bit of a lull last year, though it did produce Anthony Neil Smith’s fantastically warped PSYCHOSOMATIC. The most recent PointBlank novel is Go To Helena Handbasket by Glasgow-based Donna Moore. It’s a hilarious spoof, exploiting every cliché in crime fiction. All crime writers (published or otherwise) would do well to have a copy on their reference shelf. PointBlank is upping its quota of new books this year and launching with a national distributor in October. There’s a new edition of TWO-WAY SPLIT; a short story anthology which I’ve edited called BEST NEW NOIR; a new edition of Swierczynski’s mind-bogglingly imaginative SECRET DEAD MEN; and THE BLUE CHEER, an original novel by Ed Lynskey. Between now and then we should see the wonderfully dark STREET RAISED by Pearce Hansen and ART IN THE BLOOD, a superb collection of interviews with crime and thriller writers by Craig Mcdonald.

"Two Way Split" has also been published in Italy - are there any other translations on the horizon?

As well as TWO-WAY SPLIT, Einaudi bought another three of my books, so they’ve made a massive investment there and I’m delighted about that. I’m told there’s been a lot of interest from other foreign publishers in the wake of the recent Edgar nomination in the States for KISS HER GOODBYE. Nothing else firmed up yet, as far as I know, but lots of potential.

The film rights for "Two-Way Split" have been sold, and it's easy to see how the fast-paced, visual style of the book would translate to the screen. There are recurring characters in your first two novels, so will "Kiss Her Goodbye" follow on to film as well?

There’s a peripheral character in TWS who has a bigger role in KISS but that’s the only crossover, as far as I can recall. The storylines aren’t related, and they’re very different books, particularly in how they’d translate to the screen. KISS needs a much bigger budget, which makes it a less likely proposition for a UK production company. The chances are that we’ll need to look to the States for an option, and that just depends on whether they’ll see a Scottish movie as an attractive proposition. Of course, we could relocate the story to South Central L. A. (I’m kidding, but you never know…).

Finally, can you tell us a little about your next novel? Do you have a plan for the novels after that?

The next novel is called HARD MAN and features Pearce, one of the main characters in TWO-WAY SPLIT. In the new novel he gets drawn into a family feud, against his better judgment, and the result is weird and violent and intense and, hopefully, pretty funny. I tried a completely different approach to the storytelling in this book, using several character-specific voices to tell the story, and I’m (unusually for me) very pleased with how it’s ended up. I’m now working on the novel after that, and I did have a plan but I’m not very good to sticking to plans and I dispensed with it after the first chapter, so I better not say too much in case it bears no relation to the final book. I suspect all I can safely say about this one is that it might be about a hit man. The final novel in my current 3-book contract is likely to be a prison novel called SLAMMER.