The gaffer wants to see me, probably to congratulate me on the top interviews I did for Byker Books last year and to tell me that I’ve served my apprenticeship in the shiteholes and now I’ll be off to interview the top stars in the swanky hotels. Aye, Ed knows the score, I’ll probably be off to Hollywood any minute now, I heard George Clooney had written a book...what’s that Ed? Hull?? Oh for fuc....*sigh* Yeah boss I’ll go to Hull to interview Nick Quantrill about his new book ‘Broken Dreams’
- So, Nick, the new book’s out - what’s it all about then?
It’s taken a bit time, but I’ve done it. ‘Broken Dreams’ is my first Joe Geraghty novel. Joe’s a small-time Private Investigator who’s asked to investigate a woman’s unauthorised absence from work - the kind of work he’s done a thousand times before. When she’s found murdered in her bed, things get a bit trickier, as the woman’s husband is a prominent businessman with plenty of enemies. As he digs deeper, Joe begins to understand that finding those responsible may hold the key to understanding the reasons for his own wife’s death in a house fire. As you’ve probably guessed, it’s set in the city of Hull, so I’ve tried to bring the city into focus, not unlike Rankin and Edinburgh. In my head, it’s also the story of a forgotten city’s past, present and maybe future.
- Who would you say inspired you to take up the pen initially?
To be frank, an utter lack of ability to master a musical instrument or be good enough to earn £100,000 a week playing football. A man’s got to do something to pass the time. I’ve always loved books, so I guess writing was the inevitable step once I got past the idea that blokes from Hull aren’t supposed to write books. The tipping point came about four years ago. I’d finished a part-time degree, so I suddenly had the time to do it properly. I also read a crime novel around that time which made me think I couldn’t do much worse. I wouldn’t want to name the book, though people may wish to avoid Peter Robinson’s ‘A Dedicated Man’... To be fair to Peter, his recent books are a lot better and I was wrong - it was much harder than it looked.
- It’s extremely difficult getting anywhere near either an agent or a publisher these days – how did you manage it? Any advice you could give the unpublished masses out there?
It all happened fairly quickly for me. I got ‘Broken Dreams’ to a stage to submit in about February 2009 and by April I’d signed contracts with Caffeine Nights. However, as some golfer (I think...) said, ‘the harder I work, the luckier I become.’ I spent the three years prior to that trying to get short stories published and networking with writers and publishers on the Internet. When it was time to submit, I’d done the hard graft of working out who I ideally wanted to work with, and then I was fortunate enough for it to fall into place. In terms of advice, I’d say just get your work out there. Sites like your good selves are great for encouraging new writing. If you get yourself on the Internet, there’s an increasing number of new publishers looking for writers – there’s Caffeine Nights, Tonto Books, Pulp Press, you lot, and that’s just off the top of my head. Don’t hide your work away in a drawer – use it to build a profile so people know you’re serious about what you’re doing.
- What are you reading at the minute then (apart from More Burglar Diaries and Radgepacket obviously)?
Yep – I thoroughly enjoyed ‘More Burglar Diaries’ and all the Radgepackets. I’m currently reading an account of Hull City’s glorious first season in the Premier League. It’s one fan’s account of the journey and it’s pretty impressive so far. Before that I’d read Tony Blacks’ ‘Gutted.’ He’s another of these great Scottish crime writers which keep appearing. ‘Gutted’ is the first Gus Drury novel, and although he seems to be a bit of cliché, it works really well. I’ll be reading more of Tony’s work. I always have a huge pile of books to read. It’s mainly crime, but I like my football and music books, too.
- ‘Broken Dreams’ claims on the cover that you are ‘Hull’s most accomplished crime fiction writer’ – surely that honour would belong to John Prescott and his many years of expenses claims?
That’s a very good point! Two Jags represents Hull East, which is where I grew up, so he’s always loomed large for me. To be fair, he’s not the worst out there, is he? You’ve got enjoy his little eccentricities, like punching members of the public. As I mentioned earlier, Hull’s largely a forgotten city. The way the fishing industry was ripped away from the city in the 1970's appalls me. It’s never received anything like the attention the plight of the miners did, even though it was just as devastating. For all his faults, Two Jags has made sure his constituency has had a fair crack and he’s nowhere near as offensive as the gruesome twosome, Alan and Dianne Johnson, who represent the worst kind of Labour Party careerists you’ll ever meet. We’ve had floods and massive job losses over the last couple of years in Hull and they’ve not lifted a finger for the city they’re supposed to represent.
- Grilled Sea Bream, Macdonalds or Yorkshire Puddings?
Have a word! Grilled sea bream?! I wouldn’t even know where to begin with such a dish. I have a friend who’s a posh chef in London, so I’ll ask him. The only fish I eat comes in batter or breadcrumbs. As for MacDonalds, I wouldn’t feed it to my cat. I live near a drive-thru MacDonalds and nothing depresses me more than seeing the ever present queue. The last fast food I ate was KFC when I was in Bolton on official Hull City business. I felt like I was going to vomit all the way through the match, and no, it wasn’t because of the football. However, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Yorkshire Puddings. You can’t beat a jumbo Yorkshire Pudding filled with mince and veg or sausages. The only Yorkshire Pudding crime is to serve up those horrible frozen ones - they’re rancid.
- We have a number of literary heroes here at BB towers – who would you say yours were and why?
I’ve only ever written crime and I mainly read it, so it’s tempting to list the crime writers I love. There’s plenty of them, but when I started picking books up again in my twenties, I was reading stuff like Irvine Welsh and Roddy Doyle. I like writers who have compassion and can see the bigger picture. The big one for me is John Steinbeck. I’ve read and re-read all his work and for me, some of themes he tackled you can detect in the likes of Doyle and the best crime writers.
- Do you fancy doing a bit of ‘Dancing on Ice’ with washed up soap ‘stars’ to raise your profile?
I don’t know about that. I survived fifteen years of Sunday League football with my body almost intact, so I wouldn’t want to push my luck. My wife’s a big fan of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, so she’d probably rather I made an arse of myself on there. I can’t abide any of the Z-list celebrities who ‘love a challenge/wouldn’t mind a permanent gig on BBC1, pretty please’. I find these types of programme even more cynical than the X-Factor. I can feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it! Could I go in the Big Brother house, instead? I could sit there quietly, minding my own business. Much like my normal life.
- Do you follow the old ‘write what you know’ adage or do you reckon that’s a load of nonsense?
It’s a load of old nonsense. If I wrote what I knew, my book’s synopsis would be ‘man stares at computer, looking busy, drinking coffee, waiting for the clock to strike home time.’ I think the best thing is learn what you need to, talk to who you need to, but don’t get bogged down with research. You just need enough to get a feel and an understanding for what you’re writing. Less is more.
- Who would play you in the film of your life?
It would have to be someone handsome, suave, sophisticated, popular, admired and loved in equal measure. My first choice would have to be Phil Brown, humble manager of Hull City. Men want to be him, women want to be with him. If he wasn’t available, Nicholas Lyndhurst maybe fits the physical bill.
- And what sort of soundtrack would you like playing?
If Phil was available, he could sing it himself, much like Dennis Waterman with his theme tunes. Did you not hear Phil leading the singing on the final day of last season at the KC Stadium? It’s worth seeking out on youtube. It certainly brought a tear to my eye. If not Phil, I’d like to think it’d be some ultra cool indie guitar stuff. I can almost hear my wife laughing at the thought of anything I like being described in such a way...
- What about the future – ‘Broken Dreams’ features a Private Eye named Joe Geraghty who appears to be a ‘stayer’ will you serialise him (like Ray Banks did with Callum Innes) or go off in a completely different direction altogether?
It feels like there’s a fair amount of mileage in Joe, so I’m quite happy to keep writing about him for the time being. I’m well on with the next Geraghty story, ‘The Late Greats’, and I have another one slowly coming into focus, but there’s also another idea which might be a goer. The reaction to ‘Broken Dreams’ will be a fair indication, I reckon. If people want to read more about him, I’d be stupid not to keep writing them. The trick is to know when enough is enough. Ray’s Callum Innes series is a prime example, as he’s taken a brave but understandable decision. Michael Connelly breaks up his long-running Harry Bosch series with great standalones, so there’s definitely ways of keeping things fresh.
- Actually while we’re on the subject of Joe Geraghty, how come he never wins a fight! Do you not like him?
I was quite certain from the start that Joe was going to be a fairly normal type of guy. He’s just a regular bloke trying to do a difficult job. Although Joe was a rugby league player in his youth, he was more a scrum-half than a front-rower. Joe can handle himself, but the reality is that given the circles he mixes in, the people he’s rubbing up against are a lot bigger and a lot meaner. I’m afraid he’s going to have to take a kicking every now and again.
- Finally, if any of your novels ever make it to the big screen do you think there’d be a part in there for a fifteen stone, shaven headed Geordie (I’m not being Joe G if he keeps getting chinned mind!)
I’m not feeling that, I’m afraid. For a start, you Geordies speak another language to the rest of us. I can’t understand a word you and that Cheryl Cole say. There might be a part going in ‘The Late Greats’, though. Basically, it’s an Eastern European gangster who grunts the odd word here and there. Get your people to talk to mine and if you’ll work for minimum wage, we might be able to sort something out.
The Radgepacket team and all at Byker Books would like to take this opportunity to thank Nick for his time and wish him further success with his writing career. Mainly because he’s a nice bloke and he’s appeared in ‘Radgepacket’ both online and off on more than one occasion - that means if he becomes a massive success we might shift some more copies heh heh...