The Next Big Thing Interview with Nick Quantrill

Following his interview with Peter Guttridge at www.crimetime.co.uk, Howard Linskey talks to Nick Quantrill for the ‘Next Big Thing’ series:

 

What is the working title of your next book?

It’s called “The Crooked Beat” and will be the third Joe Geraghty novel. Geraghty is a small-time Private Investigator working from my home city of Hull.

Where did the idea come from the book?

Like with the two previous Geraghty novels, I was looking for something interesting happening in in and around the city and it had to be the Docks. With big investment in green technology hopefully imminent, the area will change massively, both physically and in character. Either way, as a writer, I can’t really lose. Once I had the location, the idea of someone smuggling some cigarettes into the country and then promptly losing them seemed like fun…

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a crime novel.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

If your brother’s life was put in danger, would you take his place?

Will you will be self-published or represented by an agency?

Like my first two Joe Geraghty novels, it’ll be published by Caffeine Nights, a small press who specialise in publishing crime fiction.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I started background reading for it during the summer 2009, so two years, but it was very much a stop-start process, as I worked on other projects during that time.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Fear. I combine writing with looking after my young daughter, so if I don’t look busy, I would probably have to get a real job again. And I’d rather not.

And your commissioning editor?

Darren Laws is the man behind Caffeine Nights, so he makes the decisions directly.

What else about your book might pique the readers' interest?

I think it’s the location. Hull and the East Riding is still a largely unmapped part of the country, its relative isolation giving it a feel of ‘otherness.’ I hope the Joe Geraghty novels capture something of what it’s like living in a battered and possibly unfairly maligned northern city.

For more information – www.hullcrimefiction.co.uk

For the next in the series of interviews, I'm passing the baton on to three excellent writers of crime fiction:

Neil White : www.neilwhite.net

Eric Beetner : www.ericbeetner.blogspot.com

Martin Stanley : www.thegamblesnovel.com