Leading into tomorrow’s e-book release of the brilliant (and to be reviewed on Friday) Lost In Nashville, a slight departure for the enigmatically clever (that’s £50 he owes me) Mr White, now seemed like a good time to throw 20 Questions at him. As you do…
So your next crime book is the start of a new trilogy. Tell us about it. Don’t bang on though we haven’t got all day…
Firstly, it’s not a trilogy but a whole series. Pay attention. It’s about a defence lawyer and a private detective, the private detective being a former client of the defence lawyer when she was accused of murder but acquitted. They work together to fight injustice, dodgy clients, dark deeds and their own unrequited feelings for each other.
When you last got drunk did you do anything stupid?
I was wild and crazy, drinking until the early hours and falling asleep in front of the television. Yes, I stayed up very, very late.
I’ve read all your books and it is the worst kept secret in the world that I’m a fan. So which is your favourite and why? No you can’t say the new one to plug it a bit more, it has to be one of the others.
Dead Silent. The pace is slightly slower, and it was the first book where the characters determined the plot, rather than coming up with an idea and then moulding it around the characters. As a character was a freelance journalist, the plot involved a Lord Lucan type character who would come out of hiding if the character proved his innocence first. The character’s occupation determined the plot.
You are some kind of legal genius (so I’ve heard) – do you think you could plan, execute and get away with the perfect murder?
Well, they haven’t caught me for the three I’ve done so far, so I guess so.
You are a rugby league fan. Why is that? Is it the rugged handsome players or what?
Rugby league is brutality and grace all in one game. Tough and uncompromising but with so much beauty as the ball sweeps between the players, everyone in motion, decoy runners, like watching a dance, fluid and poetic.
What would your wife say is your worst habit?
Watching rugby league and drinking too much. And killing people, although I tend to be quite sketchy on the details, just to protect her. She does like the constant replenishment of spades and saws though. Good to see shiny things in the garage.
There is another book on the horizon. Non crime. I of course know nothing about it so give us a clue. Again though no banging on. We are not even halfway there yet…
Lost In Nashville, it’s about a man approaching his fortieth birthday who takes his father on a road trip, to try and reconnect with him. They travel Johnny Cash’s life, starting at his birthplace and visiting the places important to Johnny Cash’s story and places he sang about. They discover a lot about Johnny Cash and a little bit about each other.
I self-published it because it is very much a personal project and I was impatient about it.
If you are at a party and there are people you would really like to avoid (don’t pretend that never happens it comes upon us all) are you willing to hide under a table? Or are you endlessly polite? (I’ll pretend I didn’t see you diving behind the bar when you saw me coming at Crimefest)
I tend to be polite, although I have been known to walk the other way at times. I’m big though, so I don’t change direction easily. Like a cargo ship.
I don’t tend to approach people to talk, I’m too shy and not gregarious enough for that (I assume that people think I’m an idiot, and I hate to see it confirmed in their expressions). I will always chat back though.
Talking of festivals which is your favourite?
Harrogate, just because so many people go. But Crimefest and Bloody Scotland are great too.
How much do you love Corrie Jackson and would you two like to have another chat for the blog? (I’m asking her this in her 20 Q’s too just so you don’t think I’m picking on you…)
Corrie is great, very talented and cool, but she needs more gravy in her life. You can never have enough gravy.
Talking of interviewing people for me (I’m glad you’ve learned its safer just to do what I ask) is there anyone you would like to ask many questions of that I haven’t yet annoyed you into doing?
If you could sort out that Grisham chap, I’d be most obliged.
One thing you can’t live without.
Tea
One thing you’d rather live without.
My weakness in front of a sweet rack.
If you and Rod Reynolds were stuck on a desert island and the only way to survive was cannibalism do you think you’d emerge victorious or would he?
It’s a moot point as to whether being compelled to munch your way through my glutinous mass is a victory. The answer is, therefore, that we are both losers.
The cheese question – everyone is struggling with the cheese question – but what IS your favourite kind of cheese?
Mature cheddar. Mmmmmmmm.
If you were going to a fancy dress party with Murder and Mayhem as the theme what costume would you choose?
The quiet man you suspect the least.
Your favourite read of the year so far (no you can actually only have one for this interview. I’m strict. If you pick more than one I edit you down to your first answer)
The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis
Name something that irrationally irritates you.
People who say “Can I get” in coffee shops, as opposed to “have”. I want to stamp on their feet when I hear it.
Your top writing tip for those who need them…
Keep going. It won’t write itself.
How much do you hate me right now?
Immeasurably.
Hmmm..
About Lost in Nashville:
A father and son, the open road, and Johnny Cash. Number one bestselling ebook author Neil White has penned an emotional journey through the life and songs of Johnny Cash, told through the eyes of James Gray, a lawyer whose life is a success. Or, at least he thinks it is, but it has something missing: a bond with his father, Bruce. Bruce Gray is old, tired and estranged from his family. He spends his time drinking and drifting in the small seaside town in England that James once called home. James decides to take Bruce on a road trip, to try to connect with his father through the one thing that has always united them: a love for Johnny Cash and his music. Together, they travel through Johnny Cash’s life; where he grew up, the places he sang about – A Journey of discovery about Johnny, the South, and each other. Always fascinating, an evocative and emotional personal road trip, Lost In Nashville will captivate you, inform you, and along the way may even break your heart.
You can Purchase Lost in Nashville HERE
Visit Neil at his website HERE
Try some of his top crime fiction
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Happy Reading!
