A Q&A WITH C.J. GRAYSON
Where does the inspiration come from to write your books?
Often it comes from real life scenarios. Prime example is the creation of my debut novel, Someone’s There. My wife has a daily habit of losing her phone and often asks me to ring it. When ringing it one day, I thought what would happen if someone other than the people in this house answered it? What if there was ‘someone there’. Other scenarios are often a random idea that popped into my head while driving around. The start of The Tees Valley Killings has an abduction in my home town of Darlington, and I went under that bridge hundreds of times and imagined it happening before writing it. Luckily, the bloody crime scenes in my novels are completely fictitious.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
A little of both. I start as a pantser and write roughly 10,000 words of a novel, consisting of a few chapters that build on the first scene or event. This often includes introductions to characters and the way they are drawn into the action (the event or crime scene). Then I create a word document and title it ‘chapter to chapter’ and write a few lines about what happens of each of the chapters I’ve written so far, then using that document, plan out further chapters. I then refer to this as I write my novels as a guide, making adjustments to both as I progress through them. Perhaps unusual, but seems to work for me and keeps my head in order.
How has April’s character changed since the first book and what’s the biggest personal challenge that she faces this time?
I think one of the hardest things as a writer is to develop a character and maintain a solid character arc in the numbers of books you write them in. When I started writing April, she was merely an idea, a distant cousin that I barely knew, but as the novels have progressed, she feels weirdly like a sister I now know inside out. In terms of the way she’s changed from Chapter 1 of the first book compared to now, I’d say the biggest thing is that she’s matured over that time and is changing her perspective on life a little. Although she’s a dedicated detective who is improving her social life, she still is, however, a little unhinged at times and often gets carried away — but I think this keeps the reader on their toes because they don’t know what she’ll do next.
How do you find the time (and the quiet) to write with three boys?
With huge difficulty. I’ve recently started aiming to write 1000 words a day (or 7k a week). I find I push myself when I have a minor deadline. Some days, especially on a late shift, I can find the time to write for three or four hours, and I can write a thousand words an hour (on a good day) so I enjoy that wee, writing wise. The other two weeks are earlies and nights, and those 2 weeks can be difficult fitting work and everything else in, which hinders that writing time. I need Bernard’s watch and be able to stop time.
When you’re writing how do you make your villains feel real instead of just ‘bad guys’ and have you ever ended up liking one more than the ‘hero’?
This is an interesting question. I think the most important thing when creating a bad guy, is that they’re not just a bad guy for no reason. Don’t get me wrong, there is evil in the world and people — or characters — can be plain evil for no reason, but in novels, it needs to be justified. The reader, in my opinion, must take a step back and think, ‘Yeah, I understand why they are doing that / why they are like that’ (and I’m kind of rooting for them etc). I think the only villain I’ve liked more than the MC’s is Alexander Hunt in my debut, Someone’s There. He’s a bit of a powerful gangster that reminds me of the old mafia bosses (from earlier films I've watched), and the house where he lives makes me massively envious.
How do you balance big plot twists with real character emotion, and has a character ever surprised you and changed the story you planned?
Great question! I think the balance between the plot and characters is a tough one to manage in terms of the characters behaving in a certain way in response to the plot changes, and getting it right and for it to feel real can be challenging. I like bad things to happen in my books, I like shocking crime scenes that make your stomachs twist and for the characters to feel a certain type of fear. And in doing so, they can act in a certain way, which can often suggest something new or an avenue I hadn’t thought of. Even just something they say in reaction to something small might trigger a new thought, which has actually changed the direction of a novel before. So yeah, even though I think I’m in charge and doing the typing, a few of the ideas have come from character personalities. Great question that. Thank you.