Allan Guthrie's resume ought to be laminated and pasted above the desks of every writer who still has the energy to pound away at the keyboard despite countless rejections because they know that someday, some way, someone is going to recognize the genius of their prose and publish them.

Guthrie, a Scottish crime fiction writer, submitted his work for years before finding any success. Today he has three novels under his belt, one new book out now for "reluctant adult readers" and two more novels on the way. His first novel, Two-Way Split, was nominated for the CWA Debut Dagger award before it was published (recognition that led to it being picked up by Point Blank Press) and recently won the 2007 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year award. His second, Kiss Her Goodbye, was published by the fantastic Hard Case Crime imprint, as was nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Gumshoe awards. His latest, Hard Man, has been earning him some of his best reviews -- and most biting criticism -- of his career. More on that in a moment.

I first heard about Guthrie through the Hard Case series, then because he was frequently mentioned by others who write about crime fiction on the web, novelist Duane Swierczynski in particular. Everyone raved about his work and seemed to think he was just a genuinely nice guy. As I learned more -- such as the fact that he's a literary agent and a commissioning editor for Point Blank -- I realized that this was a guy I should get to know. I began by reading his work and really liking the mix of grit, smart plotting and concise detail. I then reached out to him personally to ask if he would submit to a Monday Interview. Proving what a nice guy he is, he was quick to oblige.

Now, about that criticism of Hard Man. Some people have pointed out that the book is rather violent. They're right, to a point. It is violent, but no more so than his other books nor those of dozens of other writers in the genre. In fact, after reading these reviews and assorted web postings, I'll admit I was hesitant to dive into the second half of the book, which was said to be where all of this took place. Yes, it is violent, disturbingly so in places. But it's all germane to the story and, I think it's safe to say, necessary.

The book follows Pearce, a carry over character from Two-Way Split who is approached by the Baxter family who want him to protect their daughter/sister from her deranged husband. All is not as it seems -- you'll root for different people as the book progresses -- and as the story unfolds Guthrie ramps up the action and has the reader racing through the pages seeking resolution. The cast of characters includes the pretentious teen bride May, supposed psychopathic husband Wallace and May's wacky father and brothers. They populate one of the most entertaining crime fiction books of the year.

TIRBD: Much has been made of the violence in the book, though to be honest, I was expecting much more given the furor from some corners. Why do you think people react so to what seems like very germane action? Do you think about that at all while writing?

AG: Glad to hear that, John. I don’t have an answer regarding the violence question. I wish I did. When I wrote Hard Man I didn’t think it was any more violent than the previous two books. In fact, having just recently spent some time with my debut, Two-Way Split, again, I’m surprised anybody would think Hard Man is more violent. And I recall the violence in Kiss Her Goodbye being described as “Grand Guignol,” “over-the-top,” etc, so, yeah, it makes me wonder.

But maybe there’s a perceived increase in violence due to the fact that Hard Man is written almost exclusively from the victims’ point of view, whereas in the previous books the description of the violence is largely from the aggressors’ point of view (and very deliberately reportorial, because of it). If so, then perhaps it’s not so much that Hard Man is more violent than its predecessors, but that the violence comes across more painfully. That’s possibly a more-challenging viewpoint for the reader, but I haven’t heard (yet!) from any readers who weren’t up to the challenge. I do try to offset the violence by adding plenty of humour, but not everybody gets the humour, of course.

In answer to the second question: I try to focus on story, character, drama, etc, when I’m writing. I can’t really do anything else. Trying to appeal to everybody is way beyond my capabilities and the surest route to insanity I can think of. One person’s “too violent” is another person’s “not violent enough,” so I write the kind of books I want to read and I hope that I’m not alone in wanting to read them.

What is it about Pearce that makes you want to keep coming back to him? Does any affection you have for a character affect your ability to dole out punishment to him (and if so, I'd hate to see how you treat the ones you don't like)?

Pearce is something of an accident. I never planned writing more than one Pearce novel. Initially, I brought him back at the suggestion of a writer friend who thought another Pearce novel would be a good idea. Also, the ending of Two-Way Split is ambiguous, and some people wanted to know exactly what happened. Hence, Hard Man. And now Pearce doesn’t seem to want to go away, ’cause he’s in Kill Clock as well.

He’s actually something of a nightmare to write about. He’s far too passive for a protagonist. In Hard Man, he spends the first third of the book refusing to react to anything, and then spends most of the rest of the book… incapacitated. Very hard to advance the plot when the main character’s immobile. I’ve had words with him several times but he won’t listen. He’s very much his own man.

You've been candid about your years of struggling to get published, yet now you can't turn around without being nominated for or awarded a prize. Did something change in the industry, the reading public or your own work to cause this?

Ha! Well, I think my years of struggle are the norm. Most writers I speak to have several novels that didn’t make it. The industry has changed over the last few years. It’s even harder to get published now. The big books are getting bigger, and the smaller books are disappearing. I was lucky. The timing was right. By 2001, I’d written two novels that weren’t of a publishable standard. Then I read a bunch of books on the craft of writing, and my own writing improved virtually overnight. I wrote Two-Way Split, the book that won the Theakston’s Crime Novel of the Year 2007, way back in 2001. And it racked up a very impressive number of rejections, many of which were positive. But nobody wanted to buy it despite the nice things they said (bet this is familiar to many writers out there) and I was on the point of giving up writing to pursue a computing career when things started to fall into place.

It began with getting shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger (for unpublished novels). Again, that was in 2001. It took two years and a couple of hundred rejections after that before Wit’s End Publishing, a new publisher in the U.S., got in touch and asked to see the book. The owner then formed PointBlank Press, who went on to publish the book. And round about the same time, another new publisher, Hard Case Crime, said they wanted to publish a second novel, Kiss Her Goodbye. So yeah, I was very lucky these publishers appeared when they did. And I was spoiled by getting to work with two such excellent editors so early in my career.

Given your own experiences from the depths to the heights, are you uniquely qualified for your other pursuits in editing and representation?

Kind of you to say so, John, but I’m very far from the heights. My sales are picking up slowly, but they’re still extremely modest. I wouldn’t say I’m uniquely qualified by virtue of my writing experiences, but as with other writer/editors or writer/agents, I can see things from a writer’s point of view perhaps more easily than those who haven’t been on that side of the fence. Sometimes that’s helpful, and sometimes it’s a world of pain.

OK, so you haven't reached the heights just yet. Do you feel that kind of readership is within your grasp and is something you can reach organically (as opposed to specifically tailoring your books to a mass market)? Or, is the kind of crime fiction you write more of a niche thing?

I'm pretty sure that the kind of fiction I write has the potential to sell well. How well, it's hard to say. Transgressive fiction has often sold in good numbers (American Psycho, Trainspotting, Fight Club, etc.), which makes me optimistic that there's a fair chance my books might appeal to many readers who don't normally read crime fiction – as well as those who do, of course.

Mind you, I just realised those three books I mentioned have all been major films. Okay, so there's no doubt a movie would help. There was a major survey of reading habits conducted in 2004 in the UK by the organisers of the Orange Prize. I found the conclusions on male reading habits particularly interesting: "The men we interviewed had a tendency towards identifying themselves with angst-ridden books showing intellectual struggle, violence, personal vulnerability, catastrophe and the struggle to rise above circumstances." And if you look at the top 20 “milestone books” for men, there's a very heavy slant towards transgressive fiction. So, yes, I think the market's there. But only time will tell.

You have a book forthcoming that is aimed for "reluctant" adult readers. How was writing this different from your other work? Did it take several attempts to reach the right level of difficulty?

Kill Clock has just hit the shops, I believe. It was different from the other books in several ways. First, it’s much shorter – you can read it cover to cover in an hour. Second, I was given a series of author guidelines before I wrote a word of it. And third, it was edited for ease of language. Surprisingly, it actually went through fewer edits than any of my novels. I wrote it, we had one story edit, one language edit based on feedback from a dozen consultants, and that was it done. All very painless and extremely informative.

You've said that you wrote Hard Man with the knowledge that you would be doing readings from it, putting in more dialogue attribution, for instance. Having just finished a screenplay for your first novel, Two-Way Split, do you see value in writing with possible screen adaptation in mind?

I don’t think so. But then I write quite cinematically anyway. I think in terms of scenes -- get in late, out early, lots of visual detail, frequent intercuts between multiple locations, etc. My next novel, Savage Night, uses a highly fractured chronology, which you don’t see too much of in crime fiction but see a lot of in movies. But having said all that, Hard Man uses various character-specific voices to tell the story, and I use that technique in a way which is virtually impossible to transfer to the screen. Perhaps one of the most interesting things about the adaptation of Two-Way Split is how different it is from the book. I’ve taken to saying that it’s “based on” the novel rather than “adapted from.” But novels and screenplays really are very different media and changes have to be made or you can end up with a faithful adaptation that’s 90 minutes of tedium.

You are part of a group of crime writers who seem very close to one another and who support each other's work consistently. How have these friendships developed, and what affect do they have, if any, on your writing?

My experience is that crime writers in general are a very supportive bunch. I’ve developed friendships with lots of writers. I do have particularly close relationships with Duane Swierczynski and Ray Banks. My friendship with both gentlemen sprung from the very early days of my web site, Noir Originals, when Ray sent me an extract of an unpublished novel called The Big Blind, and Duane sent me an unpublished novel called Secret Dead Men. Their writing blew me away. I showcased them on my New Writers page and then went on to acquire and edit both books for PointBlank Press, which is something I’m very proud of. Our friendship has developed from there much as any other friendship develops, through a combination of nipple clamps, regular whippings and the liberal application of peanut butter and mashed banana to the buttocks.

They both give me invaluable feedback on the majority of any new writing I do, so their influence couldn’t be more tangible. I’ve also used them both as the inspiration for characters in my fiction.

Labels: crime fiction, Monday Interview