HIT THE NORTH! NEIL WHITE INTERVIEW.

HIT THE NORTH!  NEIL  WHITE  INTERVIEW.

Neil White is a rugby league fan who was born in South Yorkshire and is the author of the popular crime novels DEAD SILENT,LAST RITES, LOST SOULS & FALLEN IDOLS

We got into a scrum and had a chat.

Q1: Has working as a lawyer provided lots of inspiration for your novels?

A1: Being a lawyer hasn't been a direct inspiration, but it has been a help. I became a criminal lawyer for the same reason I chose to write crime fiction, because I have always found crime fascinating, from reading mysteries as a child to listening to my father's Johnny Cash prison concert albums. 

Where being a criminal lawyer has helped, because I am exposed to bizarre human behaviour on a daily basis, and never cease to be fascinated and appalled. Also, I feel comfortable in the genre, because I am used to dealing with forensic and police issues.

So I wasn't inspired to write crime because I'm a lawyer, as I was inspired to become a lawyer because I like crime and crime fiction.

Q2: Do your clients and the people that you work with know about your writing ? If so, what's their reaction been?

A2: My work colleagues know about my writing and the response has always been supportive. It can be a slight drawback still being in employment as a prosecutor, as I have to be careful not to write anything that could be taken as a direct criticism of my employers, but my bosses have read my books and I haven't been sacked yet.

As a prosecutor, I do not have clients, but I do meet many witnesses and victims of crime. I never mention my writing, because when I am prosecuting, the writing takes a back seat, but I do write under my own name and so it's not a secret.

Perhaps the main thing that could be questioned would be the issue of priorities, and that is the harder question to answer.

Q3: Do you think that you would write differently if you hadn't been born in the North of England?

A3: That's a tough one, and the answer is probably that I would be a different person if I hadn't been born and raised in Yorkshire. Maybe a little less direct in how I expect things to be, perhaps a little more generous of spirit. The North has given me an accent and an outlook, I suppose. How much that translates into my writing is something I'll never know, because I've never had the chance to try writing from a southerner's perspective.
If I assume that something of me is reflected in my writing, then I suppose the answer has to be yes, I would write differently if I wasn't from the north. I feel like a northern man, and so I must write like one.
Perhaps one area that is perhaps northern is that I want the books to really bop you on the nose. No frills. No fancy stuff.

Q4: How do the Americans take your writing?

A4: So far, they haven't taken it at all. I haven't sold the American rights to any of my books, and the reason given is that they are too American in style, and their preference for British books is to fit more into their idea of what is so essentially British.

I think I write the books I do because I tend to read more American thrillers than British ones, because I can suspend my disbelief easier. If any homegrown thriller has anything legal in it, it is to easy to say, "that wouldn't happen," and it spoils the book. The American ones could be just as inaccurate, but I don't know that.

Q5: Does lawyer & novelist John Grisham float your boat?

A5: It depends on my mood.

If I'm in ultra chillout mode, like on holiday, then I don't mind a Grisham. I really enjoyed The Last Juror, although it did feel like another version of To Kill A Mockingbird, which A Time To Kill blatantly ripped off. I prefer writers like James Lee Burke.
What I do like about Grisham is that I can start one, and then soon realise that I'm on page 200 and I'm still turning the page, which can't be a bad thing.

I have to confess to not being a real crime fiction nerd, as I tend to pick up stuff of the tabletops and charts, and so I gravitate towards the bestsellers, which I know is lazy, and missing out on some great stuff.

Q6: Do you listen to music while you write?

A6: Sometimes. If it's during the day, I confess to switching on a Country and Western station from Kansas City called The Wolf. It's good background, because no song makes me stop writing and start listening, but there are enough guitars to make it interesting. If it's in the evening, then it's BBC Radio 6. I love the Gideon Coe show from 9pm, although I have the same problem I have if I put something inspirational, like Morrissey or Weller, in that I stop writing and start listening.

Q7:The Last Supper, The Last Poets or The Last Of The Summer Wine? 

A7: The Last Supper, mainly so I could ask, "have you and Mary Mag, you know?" (taps nose and winks knowingly). "And by the way, can I have that old cup?"

 

Cheers Neil!

NEIL WHITE's WEBSITE is HERE