Good Samaritans: Top Fives by Will Carver

My reading taste has changed over the years and the writers that once influenced me have been superseded by others I have discovered along the way. But, when I first wanted to write, Nick Hornby was the man. And the TOP FIVES thing in High Fidelity was a perfect tool for getting across a lot of information in a small space. 

So, here are a few top fives about me and my new book, GOOD SAMARITANS, that may help to understand a little more about my latest creation and how it came to be. 

Top 5 writers that influenced a young Will Carver

1 - Nick Hornby

2 - Julian Barnes

3 - Stephen King 

4 - David Mamet

5 - Chuck Palahniuk

* I’m aware of the fact that there is a paucity of crime writers here.

Top 5 things that influenced the story of Good Samaritans:

1 - My own on going battle with insomnia

2 - My interest in psychology/mental health/suicide

3 - Nobody wanted to publish the last book I wrote - it’s wasn’t crime.

4 - The fact that I think the world is completely fucked up

5 - Reaching an age where relationships all around me are in a state of flux and, often, dysfunction. 

* Seth’s project was an idea that had been floating around in my head for a while. It was the right time to finish it.

Top 5 albums I listen to when I write

1 - Cinema Paradiso Soundtrack. I can’t listen to too many words while I am starting out with a book and Ennio Morricone transports me to a place that allows me to listen to something while writing and feel like I am part of the magic that is created with this film I love so much. 

2 - Ultimate George Gershwin (Disc 1) Feels a little bit Alan Partridge to use a ‘best of’ album but it is what it is. I bought this as a four-disc set but the first disc has a lot of the songs from the movie Manhattan. Again, it’s lyricless so doesn’t distract me from the words but also gives me a feeling that I get when I am in New York. Like I’m doing what I should be doing. 

3 - Bon Iver by Bon Iver. This is their second album and has a very different feel to the first. I listen to this when I’m editing. I can let lyrics in at this point but the album has the calming effect I need at this part of the process. (Because I hate editing.) The first few notes of Perth always set me on my way and I know I’m only about 6 minutes from hearing Holocene. Feels like a reward. 

4 - My Favourite Faded Fantasy by Damien Rice. This was the soundtrack to my life for a year. It is a heart wrenching album. Beautiful, but sad and bleak and dark in places. A lot of GOOD SAMARITANS came out of listening to this. It fuelled the characters’ despair. 

5 - Kamikaze by Eminem - Anyone who saw my performance at Bloody Scotland will know I have a fondness for rap/Hip-Hop. This is his latest album and it is so angry. He’s at his best when he’s angry, I think. I listen to this a lot at the moment before I write because the main voice in my new book is completely beset by the things he sees in the world. The music builds something up within me that I can translate to my voice when I write this character/story. 

Top 5 fuels for writing

1 - Coffee

2 - Whisky

3 - Hummus with toasted pitta bread. (Wholemeal.) 

4 - Anger

5 - Self-loathing

I tend to start writing late at night so the coffee is only for daytime. The self-loathing can be used at any time of day. 

Top 5 chapters in Good Samaritans

1 - Prologue. If you are going to write one, you have to hit it out the park. Drag that reader in. It wasn’t the first chapter I wrote but everything came together after I had.

2 - Chapter 3. The first chapter I wrote. It’s the premise of the story and I was still uncertain about whether it was going to work. 

3 - Chapter 45/Chapter 52. Both of them are a little dirty, a little sexy. Always fun to write because there’s a pressure to not make it comical or uncomfortable or unbelievable. (Though I love to make a reader feel uncomfortable, just not with laughable sex.) 

4 - Chapter 82. DO NOT SKIP TO THIS CHAPTER. Felt uncomfortable to write, and rightly so. 

5 - Chapter 72/Chapter 140. Dysfunction and this crappy, crappy world. 

It’s been so long since I wrote this and I’m deeply entrenched in the new one that I can’t really remember what happens. This is a thing. It’s not just me, honestly.

Top 5 writing tips

1 - Don’t be afraid to stop writing in the middle of a chapter. It will be easier to get started the next day if you are leading into something. 

2 - People always say that you need to read a lot to be a good writer. I think that reading a lot makes you a good reader. Write a lot. Write poetry and stuff for kids. Write anything you want. Experiment and don’t be afraid to get things wrong. 

3 - Read. I know. Looks like I’m going back on what I just said. I’m not. You should read. Everybody should read. Reading is cool. Read the right books. Read different books. Read books you know you are not going to like. How can you learn anything by reading something you know you’ll enjoy. (I know it’s not always about learning, we need to escape, sometimes.) But it’s like watching a film you’ve seen before because there’s that certainty that you know the outcome. Get a fucking life. 

4 - Don’t drink the Kool Aid. Going to a party and saying you are a writer is great fun but you are going to need a strong stomach and thick skin for the amount of horse shit that comes with it. If you’re in it for any other reason than the fact you want to write books, maybe do something else.   

5 - Ignore writing tips. Especially from me. I’m just making it up as I go along. If there was a secret to it, whoever knows is keeping it a secret. Find what works for you. But you only find out by trying things. 

* Take what you do seriously but don’t take yourself too seriously. And certainly don’t take what I say too seriously. 

Top 5 things I’ve been doing since my last book came out in 2013

1 - Crying.

2 - Practising spellings with the kids. 

3 - Going vegan. 

4 - Writing. 

5 - None of your business.

* I’ve written lot. If I don’t screw it up again, you could be hearing a lot more from me. Though hopefully it will be more books than uninformative top five lists. 

Good Samaritans by Will Carver published by Orenda Books (£8.99)

One crossed wire, three dead bodies and six bottles of bleach.  Seth Beauman can't sleep. He stays up late, calling strangers from his phonebook, hoping to make a connection, while his wife, Maeve, sleeps upstairs. A crossed wire finds a suicidal Hadley Serf on the phone to Seth, thinking she is talking to The Samaritans.  But a seemingly harmless, late-night hobby turns into something more for Seth and for Hadley, and soon their late-night talks are turning into day-time meet-ups. And then this dysfunctional love story turns into something altogether darker, when Seth brings Hadley home...  And someone is watching...