How would you
describe FATHER AND SON?
It’s about a man who
tries to find the killer of an old family friend. But as he delves into the man’s
past, events spiral out of control. It’s a crime thriller with some elements of
a police procedural, and deals with both the aftermath of former crimes and a
new wave of terror that hits the investigation.
Who is John Ray?
John Ray is the son of
Antonio ‘Tiny’ Ray, a local crime boss in Leeds (northern England). Tony Ray is
Spanish, and arrived in the UK in the 60s. He built up a thriving business in
fake/stolen goods and counterfeit money. John is the ‘white sheep’ of the
family; he always refused to join the family business, but he’s a bit of a
maverick and events have a habit of drawing him back into the world of crime.
You’ve written in a
variety of genres. Why crime thrillers?
HOPE ROAD was my first
serious crime novel. The response was a lot better than I’d expected, and I
found that I immediately wanted to write another. I like the mix of strong
characters and tight plot in writing crime. With such a well-known and popular
genre there’s nowhere to hide; you can be as artful as you like, but whatever
you do to be distinctive, you have to make sure the novel delivers the kind of
experience that crime fiction lovers expect.
Did you enjoy
writing FATHER AND SON?
Yes. And what I
enjoyed most of all was that the plot developed organically as I wrote.
Characters seemed to fall into place, and the whole thing started to move with
its own momentum.
Will there be more in
the John Ray / LS9 series?
Most definitely. The
original plan was for nine novels. I have a broad series outline, but nine is a
lot of novels, so whether I’ll get there I don’t know.
What interests you
apart from books?
I very much like food!
OK, so I’m basically greedy. But I also like learning more about food, how it is
produced and prepared. I write articles for a food magazine, which essentially means
I get paid to travel around and eat. What could be better? Other than that I
like travel, music, and I am currently obsessed with American TV drama.
Some writers use
music to help them work. What about you?
No. I can’t work with
music playing at all. I have a condition called ‘musical hallucinations’, which
means that I constantly hear music in my head, a ‘playtrack’ that my brain refuses
to put on pause. For some people this can be irritating, but I don’t mind. If
I’m really, really concentrating on something, the tune currently playing in my
head might drift off into the background; but it’ll still be there, and as soon
as I relax it comes back. The nice thing is that I have fairly wide musical
tastes, and all sorts of things appear on the ‘playlist’ in my head.
What is the main premise
of FATHER AND SON?
It begins with John
Ray being called in to murder scene. An ex-associate of his father (Tony Ray, a
local crime boss) has been killed. There are no leads.
Who’s your favorite
character in FATHER AND SON?
There’s a secondary
character called John Steele that I have grown to like. He’s a police
detective, and he hates John Ray (the main character in the book, and quite a
charismatic figure). Steele has a relatively minor role in the book, but I
think his presence adds a good dynamic to the investigation, which is both a
police investigation and a separate one carried out by John Ray. Steele is a
bit of a thug, but he’s smart and he hates criminals. I reckon he might crop up
again in Book #3.
What or who is
Storm Books?
Storm Books is a
micro-publisher run by Sam Bridges, a friend of mine. At the moment it only
publishes my work, so it’s really a form of self-publishing. It’s an
experiment. I didn’t want to find myself left out of the self-publishing
revolution, but neither did I want to spend all day being a publisher.
Who designed this cover?
Start Bache. He does
the latest editions of Stephen King’s books in the UK . I think he’s great.
Do you now consider
yourself an ‘indie’ writer?
Well, not exactly. I
self-published the first John Ray novel, HOPE ROAD, as an experiment: it was my
first serious crime novel and I had nothing to lose. My agent then wisely
pointed out that, since the first book in the series was self-published, we
couldn’t really sell the second book to a traditional publisher. So for the
moment my crime novels are self-published. But I have another project coming
out soon, a collaboration, which will be published in a more traditional way.
You’ve been on both
side of the publishing divide, first with HarperCollins and Farrar, Strauss
& Giroux, now as an indie. How do they compare?
I love being published
by a big house. They’re full of really bright people who adore books. Doing it
on your own means you have to find an editor and a proof reader and a cover
artist, all of which costs money. However, for commercial fiction these costs
are not too onerous, and if you can be disciplined and thorough in how you go
about things, I think it turns out pretty much the same. In any case, 99% of
the time you’re just writing, so there’s no difference at all on a day to day
basis.
What projects are
you currently working on?
I’m researching the
background to Book #3 in the John Ray series. I’m also just finishing up on a
collaborative novel that has taken six years to write (!) and also finishing a
ghost-written novel for someone else. If I can get all that done by July I’m
going to take a few weeks off...
Where can your
readers stalk you?
Website: http://www.johnbarlow.net
Mailing list: mailinglist@johnbarlow.net
Blog: http://www.johnbarlow.net/blog/#home
Facebook page: facebook.com/john.barlow.319
Goodreads Author page:
http://www.goodreads.com/JohnBarlow
Twitter: @John_Barlow_LS9
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