Noir Journal 17: Leigh Russell, Sam Millar, Libby Hellman

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1. NOIR JOURNAL exclusive interview with Leigh Russell

2. Guest review of Sam Millar's The Redemption Factory

3. Announcement about Libby Hellman's Nice Girl Does Noir 

NJ Interviews Leigh Russell
Hi Leigh. Congratulations on the great success of your first mystery, CUT SHORT. What's the latest news about CUT SHORT?

CUT SHORT has just been reprinted for the third time in its first year, so my publishers are very pleased.

ROAD CLOSED has already been printed, slightly ahead of schedule as WH Smith’s Travel wanted to do a promotion of my new book in June. 

 How does it feel to suddenly be a best-selling author? Does it change your way of thinking or of writing?

I suppose I feel more confident about my writing, after receiving so many excellent reviews for my debut novel, but I’m not aware that I’ve really changed.

Where do you get your ideas? Your material?

 I have no problem finding ideas. I wrote in an article once that I can see dead bodies anywhere. It sounds ghoulish, but it isn’t. Writing crime thrillers is like problem solving, fitting the pieces of a jigsaw together. I find my stories almost write themselves. I start with a body and then the questions follow fast. Who is the victim? What was he or she doing before they were killed? Has anyone noticed the victim is missing? Perhaps there is someone at home the police might suspect of committing the murder? Then I move on to the next part of the puzzle. Who is the killer and what is their story? What led them to kill? Finally, I bring in my detective conducting the investigation into the murder, and her story. And there you have it – a book!

Does DI Gerandine Steel represent parts of your own personality and character? If not, where does this character come from?

I write psychological thrillers because people fascinate me endlessly. Although plot drives my narrative, it is my characters who interest me most, but I can’t tell you where they come from. I’m not hedging here, I genuinely have no idea where they come from when they appear on the page through the medium of words. I suppose my characters must be an amalgam of disparate ideas of people I’ve met or observed, but they are never based on anyone I know. Many of them, such as my killer in CUT SHORT, are a complete flight of imagination. I’ve no idea how he came to be so convincing, but that’s the magic of imagination!

Time really flies. It seems like CUT SHORT just came out, and now the second Geraldine Steel novel, ROAD CLOSED, is set to appear in June. Were you able to write ROAD CLOSED in less time than CUT SHORT? 

I write very fast. When I wrote the first draft of CUT SHORT I had no idea anyone else would ever read it, let alone publish it, so I was very self indulgent and finished the draft in six weeks, writing in my spare time. I was lucky enough to be accepted by a publisher just two weeks after I’d sent out the manuscript. The manuscript then went through a fairly extensive editing process. The edit for ROAD CLOSED was much lighter touch, so the process was a lot faster.

What can you tell us about ROAD CLOSED? About the development of Geraldine Steel's character?

I really enjoyed writing ROAD CLOSED. As in CUT SHORT, I explore my killer’s motivation, and there is something of a puzzle for the reader to try and unravel, complete with a clue. Geraldine’s story begins to unfold when she makes a shocking discovery… but I’m not going to tell you any more! You’ll have to read ROAD CLOSED and find out.

Have you been or will you be doing any book tours? Any chance you might come to the US ?

I am continuously travelling around the UK as bookstores contact my publisher asking for visits, and I am out signing in bookstores almost every weekend. I would LOVE to visit the US to book sign but I have limited time – and funds! I have been to the US . We spent our honeymoon on the Florida Keys, and visited New York in October 2001. That was a sad time, but we were pleased to demonstrate our solidarity with the people of America by flying to New York a month after the tragedy of 9/11. I would love to return on a happier mission – I really fancy a Grand Tour of the States!  

Who are your own favorite mystery writers--writers who have influenced your own work?

Mystery writers I admire include Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Michael Connolly, Val McDermid, Simon Beckett, Ruth Rendell, PD James… there are so many! 

 And, actually, who are your favorite writers in general? What are your favorite books?

My own reading tastes are very eclectic. I read all sorts. Some of my favourite authors are F Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Dickens, Shakespeare...  but I can’t pick out particular books.

Noir Journal readers tell me they like book recommendations. What classic mysteries would you recommend? What contemporary mysteries (besides your own)? Please explain why.

This is a hard question! The iconic Conan Doyle is my first choice of classic mystery writers. I admire how the reader is given all the clues necessary to solve a Sherlock Holmes mystery, and how there is never any information kept back until the end. Another classic mystery worth reading is The 39 Steps by John Buchan because it is so exciting.

Contemporary mysteries could be any by Val McDermid, Simon Beckett, or the devilishly clever Jeffery Deaver who took the trouble to write and tell me how much he “loved” CUT SHORT.

What advice would you give to aspiring mystery writers?

I always give the same advice to aspiring writers: work hard, be brave, and be lucky.

In my review of CUT SHORT, I referred to it as a police procedural with noirish elements. Will ROAD CLOSED have that same balance?

I think so. My agent has told me I should “unleash my dark side” so my third book, DEAD END, is a little darker…

You've told me that you've been watching film noir lately. What films have you especially liked? Do you think these films might influence your writing?

There was a season of film noir on UK television recently and I watched quite a few, including The Woman in the Window – a brilliant film with a weak ending, I thought – Niagara , and Leave Her to Heaven. I think the atmosphere created in film noir could transfer very well to a contemporary story, although I’m not sure I’d be the author to carry that off. I often visit the Noir Journal site just to look at the book covers which are far more expressive and atmospheric than contemporary covers where commercial considerations seem to outweigh any other goals.

What's coming after ROAD CLOSED? I've heard that you already have a third Geraldine Steel book in the works and a fourth being planned. Can you tell us about those and what exciting things we might expect? 

I am currently finishing the first draft of my third book in the series, DEAD END, and have already had an offer for a fourth one. The plot for book 4 is just a vague thought floating around in my head which I plan to research over the summer. I am very keen to follow the advice of my agent who has plans to appeal to a mass US market. Not only is that a wildly exciting idea, it would give me the excuse I need to visit the States again. I need a fan base in the US as well as in the UK !

Thanks for so graciously taking the time to do this interview. Please keep us posted on ROAD CLOSED and the Geraldine Steel novel to follow.  

Thank you very much, Michael. I will certainly keep in touch as I am frequently drop by Noir Journal to see what’s happening in the world of film noir. I look forward to meeting you when I finally make it to the US .

Leigh Russell

Related sites

No Exit Publishing

Leigh Russell's Blog

'top-of-the-line crime tale' (Jeffery Deaver) 'sure to win fans!' (Publishers Weekly) 'great start for new mystery author' (New York Journal of Books) 'excellent' (CrimeTime) 'Simply awesome' (Eurocrime – a Top Read for 2009) 'Whatever you do, read it' (Crime King

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 Guest Review: Chris Wood

The Redemption Factory, by Sam Millar

"Feast your eyes on the beauty of death and you will know this place has no equal …"

The Redemption Factory begins with a bleak presentation of the ending of life. It does this twice – the torture murder of a man accused of betraying a hard line political group, and then a job interview in a slaughterhouse. Trying to be impressive and employable in such a position can scarcely be easy at the best of times, but with a feared loan shark presiding, a combination of threat and dread sweeps over the reader.

The book’s events are themed around a small, unnamed town. The characters know of each other by reputation, by their haunts and in some cases, by the terror or revulsion induced by their deeds. Goodman, the main character, a former boxer who lives for snooker, finds himself embroiled in matters he cannot control or even fully understand. His life has the void of never knowing his father, and the surrogate family he is drawn to at the slaughterhouse unnerves him.

Millar has great skill in maintaining unease. The Redemption Factory is a book woven around grotesques, but stays away from becoming any kind of freakshow. All of the characters are physically or psychologically unusual, and this is used as both an explanation for their behaviour as well as a means of preventing the reader from predicting their actions.

These characters are held in position beautifully by a precise, finely controlled prose that spins ideas past the reader with a deft hand. There is a deliberate art in reeling through the most unsavoury things and presenting them to the reader with honed language. Here the writer’s eye settles on details that bring each scene potently alive.

The book’s final act accelerates deceptively. Laying out the ground in question while avoiding melodrama is quite a feat. The Redemption Factory is a powerful slice of a rare kind of noir – believable, plausible, cliché free and difficult to forget.

(Chris Wood lives in Manchester, England, and is the author of The Ingredients of a Good Thriller.)

See Noir Journal reviews of Sam Millar's Karl Kane novels, Bloodstorm (Mar 28, 2010) and The Dark Place (Jan 9, 2010). Click on the month in the right hand column.

  
Sam Millar at his computer 

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Announcement from Libby Hellman: 

 

Hi all. I'm delighted to announce NICE GIRL DOES NOIR, a collection of 15  of my short stories. They're divided into two volumes, one with an introduction byWilliam Kent Krueger, the other introduced by Joe Konrath. Both are now available as e-books for the Kindle (here and here), Smashwords (here andhere), the iPad, and soon with other e-book retailers as well. All the stories have been previously published in print anthologies or magazines. Volume 1 includes 5 stories featuring  Ellie Foreman and Georgia Davis, the protagonists of my crime fiction series. Among them is the short story that became the "prequel" for all my books. Volume 2 includes 10 "stand-alones." Some are set in Chicago, some are not. Some are historicals, some are set in the here and now. Some are truly noir, others are darkly comic, and one doesn't include a murder at all. Several stories have been nominated for awards; some even won. I invite you to try them out. "Take it from a guy who knows her well: Libby is a nice girl. But she writes noir with a savvy edge honed on the hard, dark knowledge of the evil possible in us all. " WILLIAM KENT KRUEGER   "The stories in NICE GIRL DOES NOIR  offer a wide variety of styles, tones, and topics. Funny. Dark. Poignant. Exciting. Surprising. And yes, even hardboiled. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll have a terrific time with this fabulous collection." JOE KONRATH “Standouts include Libby Fischer Hellmann’s clever twist  on a redemption..."Publishers Weekly on THE    JADE ELEPHANT  “Her own contribution sets high standards…” Oline        Cogdill, Mystery Scene on YOUR SWEET MAN    “Hellmann’s story is remarkable…” Janielle Martin,         Eclectic Closet, on THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING   NICE GIRL DOES NOIR on Kindle Vol. 1 $2.99 Vol. 2 $3.99 NICE GIRL DOES NOIR on Smashwords Vol 1 $2.99 Vol 2 $3.99 You can read the first page of each story at my website (Click on the Short Stories tab). While you're there, feel free to check out my novels and other work. You'll find more than you probably ever wanted to know.   Btw, all my novels are available as ebooks on Kindle and Sony and B&N.In addition, DOUBLEBACK and EASY INNOCENCE are onSmashwords and the iPad.

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That's it for now.

Take care,

 ML 

  
  

Comments

[joe murray]

An excellent review of Millar's Redemption Factory, a terrific and underrated noir story. Chris Wood's review said it all.

[Susie Levin]

Hi Mike, Sam, Libby,

Noir Journal 17, great information.

The impression I got from reading comments about Libby's books on the threads led me to believe they were on the light side. Now that I know she's got a dark side, she's on my TBR list.

I'm very anxious to read Sam Millar's books. They sound so dark and intense, I can't wait to see what he's about.

I saw the Batman cartoon about Sam Millar. Is the comic book company doing it or is it something Sam is doing? I don't understand what's going on. :)

I really enjoy your blog, I'm always finding something I would have missed.

Thanks
Susie

[Mike L.]

Hi Susie,
Thanks for checking in again. While Sam did send me that cartoon, I don't know the answer to your question. I will ask him.
I just put up NJ #18 about a new indie neo-noir film called Greyscale.
All the best,
Mike L.

[Mary Mullan]

Dear NJ
very interesting article about Leigh Russell. I read her very first book, and she really is a writer to be watching for in the future. I intend to grab her second book after reading about it on the Noir Journal. I only hope it's as good as the first one. It looks like a promising series. I read The Redemption Factory, and think it's now one of Millar's best and very underrated works. Hopefully, one day it'll get the recognition it so richly deserves. Keep it dark, Mike! We badly need sites like yours.

[Mike L.]

Thanks Mary,
Great to hear from you again. Just received my copy of Leigh Russell's ROAD CLOSED. Read the first few pages and it seems excellent. And on the page of reviews for her earlier CUT SHORT is a quote from NOIR JOURNAL.
Did you get a chance to see the Sam Millar related art in the Noir Art Gallery? First piece. (Just click on Noir Art Gallery in the right hand column.)
All the best,
ML

[Mary Mullan]

Checked out the Batman/Millar cartoon. Hilarious.

[Mike L.]

Glad you liked the cartoon Mary,
I knew you would!
Mike L.

[Susie Levin]

Hi Mike,

I was fascinated by your interview with, I think his name Ryan Dunlap, GREYSCALE.

I'm so happy I found your blog.

I can not wait to start Bloodstorm by Sam Millar. I can tell by reading the first paragraph this book is going to be an intense experience.

I'll let you know when I finish and what I think of it.

All the best,
Susie

[Mike L.]

Susie,
Thanks again for being such a regular and perceptive reader and commentor. Glad you liked the Greyscale interview--it has since migrated to a few other publications. Interested to know how you like Sam Millar's Bloodstorm.
Mike L.

[Susie Levin]

Hi Mike,

BLOODSTORM by Sam Millar, OMG!

I just read from chapter 6 to the end in one sitting. I can't remember the last time I dropped everything I had to do to finish a book.

It's 2AM, I'll tell you more later.

Thanks,
Susie

[Susie Levin]

Hi Mike,

Just want to let you know I'm on my third Sam Millar book, The Darkness of Bones.

It's another hard book to put down, I flew through the first 100 pages before I knew it.

Talk to you soon.

Susie

[Mike L.]

Susie,
Thanks again for being such a loyal reader and so open to going beyond your usual reading tastes. I think you have just passed me up in knowledge of Sam Millar's work.
Cheers,
Mike