Allan Guthrie was born in Orkney but has lived in Edinburgh for most of his adult life. His first novel, TWO-WAY SPLIT, was
shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger and went on to win the 2007 Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel Of The Year. His second novel, KISS HER GOODBYE, was
nominated for Edgar, Anthony and Gumshoe awards. Three other novels followed: HARD MAN, SAVAGE NIGHT, and the forthcoming SLAMMER. Learn more at his official
site:http://www.allanguthrie.co.uk/
PIC: SLAMMER follows a new prison guard as he gets blackmailed by a group of vicious convicts to do a bit of dirty work for them. How much research did
you do on the prison system? Would you say you represented it accurately on the whole or did you take a good deal of dramatic license?
AG: I'm not big on research, but if you're writing a prison novel, it's crucial to be able to convince the reader you have some kind of an idea of what prison life might be like. As a result, SLAMMER's by far my most heavily researched novel. I hope that doesn't come across though. My approach to using research is very much of the 'less is more' school, and I'd rather scatter a few key details around to create a sense of authenticity than spend page after page describing the inside of a prison cell just to prove I've seen one. Much of the book takes place in 1992, and it's presented reasonably accurately for that period, I think. Everything's filtered through the mind of Nick Glass, the prison officer, of course, so there's a curious subjectivity at work in this instance that renders 'accuracy' a complex word to define.
PIC: I think you may torture your protagonists more than just about any other writer out there. Why can't you cut these poor guys a break?
AG: There's that old saying: it's not enough to have your protagonist stuck up a tree, you need to throw stones at him while he's up there. I'm a firm believer that throwing stones is not enough. Character is revealed through duress, so I like to put my characters in extreme situations and see how they react. It's the best way to get to know them, stripped down, raw, exposed, up a tree with someone building a bonfire around the trunk.
PIC: SLAMMER has plenty of twists but there's essentially one major turn that takes the story in a whole new direction. Without giving too much away, what made you decide to follow that particular course?
AG: The first draft of the book followed a different path, but it didn't feel right. It really wanted to go in the direction I eventually went in, but was reluctant to do so because that was my instinctive reaction and as such I distrusted it as something I must have seen before. My editor, Stacia Decker, encouraged me to go for it, though, and so, in the end, I did.
PIC: What is it that propels you to follow a particular storyline?
AG: It varies. Sometimes it's a desire to reveal the emotions of the characters, other times it's simply because I've spotted the potential for some situational humour (if I'm very lucky, it's both of these). Often I just follow the characters in the hope that they're interesting enough to take me (and by extension the reader) to some interesting places. Where they lead, I follow. Although Nick didn't work like that. He kept trying to fool me, lead me away from the dangerous emotions I was about to uncover. I cornered him in the end though. Stuck him up a tree. Threw stones at him. Set the tree on fire.
PIC: Your work really transcends noir and enters the realm of the horrific. Are we ever going to see a flat-out horror novel from you?
AG: Someone recently said that I hadn't written a crime novel since KISS HER GOODBYE back in '05. They have a point. I'd love to write a balls-out horror novel, absolutely, but I don't -- at the moment -- have a horror story that's begging to be told. I do, however, have a science fiction novel I'm very keen to write. Unusually for me, I know the story from start to finish and I think it might have legs. I fancy writing it sooner rather than later, but we'll see how things go.
PIC: How about another novel featuring Pearce (TWO-WAY SPLIT and HARD MAN), your iconic tough guy?
AG: Don't you think I've tortured the poor guy enough! Pearce was never meant to be a series character, but he's the kind of guy who won't stay down, no matter what you throw at him. Yes, I've a feeling that I'm not done with him yet. There's at least one more book I'd like to write which will feature Pearce along with most of the surviving characters from my previous novels (there aren't that many!), the working title of which is REVELATIONS.
PIC: You've got quite a bit of notice for your novella-length pieces KILL CLOCK and the upcoming KILLING MUM. What is it about the length that draws you? Distracts you?
AG: The biggest draw in terms of length is the fact that the end is always in sight, even when you're on the first page. Starting a novel's entirely different, much more daunting. I can't really think of any distractions. KILL CLOCK had a built-in distraction if you like in that it was commissioned for a reluctant reader series and so the language had to be of a level that an eight-year-old could understand (not the content, just the language). I don't think that interferes with the final book, and some people have said that it's actually beneficial, but it was at the back of my mind all the time I was writing it.
PIC: What's next up for you?
AG: I'm working on something a little different. A proper crime novel, for once, with a cop protagonist. At the moment it's called BLOOD WILL OUT, but that may well change. I tend to change titles as often as I change character names. Always finding new ways to procrastinate...
[Allan Guthrie interviewed by Tom Piccirilli]
AG: I'm not big on research, but if you're writing a prison novel, it's crucial to be able to convince the reader you have some kind of an idea of what prison life might be like. As a result, SLAMMER's by far my most heavily researched novel. I hope that doesn't come across though. My approach to using research is very much of the 'less is more' school, and I'd rather scatter a few key details around to create a sense of authenticity than spend page after page describing the inside of a prison cell just to prove I've seen one. Much of the book takes place in 1992, and it's presented reasonably accurately for that period, I think. Everything's filtered through the mind of Nick Glass, the prison officer, of course, so there's a curious subjectivity at work in this instance that renders 'accuracy' a complex word to define.
PIC: I think you may torture your protagonists more than just about any other writer out there. Why can't you cut these poor guys a break?
AG: There's that old saying: it's not enough to have your protagonist stuck up a tree, you need to throw stones at him while he's up there. I'm a firm believer that throwing stones is not enough. Character is revealed through duress, so I like to put my characters in extreme situations and see how they react. It's the best way to get to know them, stripped down, raw, exposed, up a tree with someone building a bonfire around the trunk.
PIC: SLAMMER has plenty of twists but there's essentially one major turn that takes the story in a whole new direction. Without giving too much away, what made you decide to follow that particular course?
AG: The first draft of the book followed a different path, but it didn't feel right. It really wanted to go in the direction I eventually went in, but was reluctant to do so because that was my instinctive reaction and as such I distrusted it as something I must have seen before. My editor, Stacia Decker, encouraged me to go for it, though, and so, in the end, I did.
PIC: What is it that propels you to follow a particular storyline?
AG: It varies. Sometimes it's a desire to reveal the emotions of the characters, other times it's simply because I've spotted the potential for some situational humour (if I'm very lucky, it's both of these). Often I just follow the characters in the hope that they're interesting enough to take me (and by extension the reader) to some interesting places. Where they lead, I follow. Although Nick didn't work like that. He kept trying to fool me, lead me away from the dangerous emotions I was about to uncover. I cornered him in the end though. Stuck him up a tree. Threw stones at him. Set the tree on fire.
PIC: Your work really transcends noir and enters the realm of the horrific. Are we ever going to see a flat-out horror novel from you?
AG: Someone recently said that I hadn't written a crime novel since KISS HER GOODBYE back in '05. They have a point. I'd love to write a balls-out horror novel, absolutely, but I don't -- at the moment -- have a horror story that's begging to be told. I do, however, have a science fiction novel I'm very keen to write. Unusually for me, I know the story from start to finish and I think it might have legs. I fancy writing it sooner rather than later, but we'll see how things go.
PIC: How about another novel featuring Pearce (TWO-WAY SPLIT and HARD MAN), your iconic tough guy?
AG: Don't you think I've tortured the poor guy enough! Pearce was never meant to be a series character, but he's the kind of guy who won't stay down, no matter what you throw at him. Yes, I've a feeling that I'm not done with him yet. There's at least one more book I'd like to write which will feature Pearce along with most of the surviving characters from my previous novels (there aren't that many!), the working title of which is REVELATIONS.
PIC: You've got quite a bit of notice for your novella-length pieces KILL CLOCK and the upcoming KILLING MUM. What is it about the length that draws you? Distracts you?
AG: The biggest draw in terms of length is the fact that the end is always in sight, even when you're on the first page. Starting a novel's entirely different, much more daunting. I can't really think of any distractions. KILL CLOCK had a built-in distraction if you like in that it was commissioned for a reluctant reader series and so the language had to be of a level that an eight-year-old could understand (not the content, just the language). I don't think that interferes with the final book, and some people have said that it's actually beneficial, but it was at the back of my mind all the time I was writing it.
PIC: What's next up for you?
AG: I'm working on something a little different. A proper crime novel, for once, with a cop protagonist. At the moment it's called BLOOD WILL OUT, but that may well change. I tend to change titles as often as I change character names. Always finding new ways to procrastinate...
[Allan Guthrie interviewed by Tom Piccirilli]
