Someone Else's Skin / Books on the Underground

I'm at home in Bath today, but Marnie Rome and Noah Jake are travelling around London by Tube courtesy of Books on the Underground. You can follow their travels here on Tumblr or via Twitter @BooksUndergrnd. Better yet, if you're in London and you spy Someone Else's Skin languishing on a seat, pick it up and take a snap of it (and you). Best snap wins a prize. Ready? Go!

Tweet

In conversation with Susan Wilkins

Today I'm welcoming new crime writer, Susan Wilkins, to Crawl Space to chat about her debut novel, THE INFORMANT, and what makes us tick as writers. Welcome to Crawl Space, Susan.

SW: Hi Sarah, thanks for having me here. SOMEONE ELSE'S SKIN has had a great reception and I can see why. It's inspiring to read a page turner that's so well written. DI Marnie Rome is the cop we'd all want on our case – intelligent and feisty – I can’t wait to read more. I've come to crime novels after a long career as a television scriptwriter. I wrote for many continuing drama series (posh term for soap!), including Coronation Street, Eastenders, Casualty, Holby City, Heartbeat. I also created and wrote a detective series for the BBC, South of the Border, which was a bit groundbreaking in its day – the first mainstream BBC1 series to have a black female lead. Scriptwriting taught me a lot about story and structure. How about you? Where did it all begin?

SH: Fascinating that you came to crime novels after a career in scriptwriting. I'm quite envious, as that was always my earliest writing ambition. (After my parents told me I was "too nice" to be a journalist; if only they'd known...) I'm also very envious of your grounding in story and structure, which I still struggle with. I always loved writing dialogue, though, so I guess we have that in common. THE INFORMANT has been praised for its 'faultless plotting and attention to detail' (Mari Hannah). It crosses two genres, which is increasingly popular.

Susan Wilkins

SW: Yes, gangster crime and the police procedural. There are many excellent examples of both. Martina Cole I admire for portraying women, who are struggling in their lives, in their relationships and find themselves embroiled with crime and criminals. In many of her books it is the attraction to the bad boy that is central. I know some crime aficionados are a bit sniffy about Martina. But she has spawned a whole sub-genre – Mandasue Heller, Kimberly Chambers. But I particularly admire Jessie Keane for her focus on the tough female heroine. A woman who fights back. What about you? I know that you turned to various non-fiction sources, which you acknowledge at the end of SOMEONE ELSE'S SKIN. Were they more of an influence for you than fiction writers?

SH: I do love non-fiction, it's true, but would never underestimate the impact of certain novels on my love of reading - and writing. So Thomas Harris, Patricia Highsmith, Jonathan Kellerman, Helen Dunmore. All very different, all brilliant in different ways. Tell me about how book two is going?

SW: THE MOURNER is finished. I'm waiting to do the copy edit, but all being well it should publish next year. I'm running two protagonists in book two. One is the main character from THE INFORMANT – Kaz Phelps, reformed villain – the other is the cop, now ex-cop, who was chasing her. So it's a complicated structure. I only hope it works for the reader. I've got my fingers crossed! I'm currently sitting down to write book three, which is probably why it's much more fun to avoid the blank screen and write emails to you!

SH: I know that feeling well..! The books sound great, and your background in TV drama must give you clout in terms of grit and realism. I don't think that sort of story will ever go out of fashion. I also think it's great how crime can straddle genres now (not so long ago it would have been resisted, I'm sure). Look at Lauren Beukes, for example, who manages to make sci-fi and crime work so well without ever compromising the emotional impact that makes crime my favourite genre. And I'm with you all the way on the portrayal of women (or indeed anyone) struggling in their lives. It's something else crime does so well: opening all those different doors into stories that ring true. Not being afraid to look into the dark corners, reminding us of the things we've chosen to forget or overlook. Now I'm going to ask you about your main characters. In my series, DS Noah Jake is openly and happily gay. In fact he's about the only character with an entirely happy home life. How about your cast?

SW: Sexuality is an interesting subject. Gay and lesbian characters (or perhaps we should say LGBT) are cropping up more and more in fiction, a reflection of how much times have changed. And I can tell you, as a lesbian, that I'm still always extremely heartened when I read a character like Noah, who is openly gay and happy about it. So thank you for that. When I started my television writing career most producers, including the gay ones, were still responding to ideas involving lesbian and gay characters with a very cautious 'we don't want to frighten the horses' attitude. There was then a brief spate of dramas in the 90's (written by men) in which a character was revealed (shock horror) to be a lesbian and her butch girlfriend would turn up driving an articulated lorry! Like you I'm a Patricia Highsmith fan. She was by all accounts a difficult woman and an alcoholic with ambiguous feelings about her own sexuality – being a lesbian in the 50s was a hard road. I've spoken to many women about those times and turning to booze was common. Still, whatever Highsmith felt about herself and her life, she used it to fuel some fantastic writing. But now watching a younger generation growing up, without the pressures and judgements I suffered, I wonder how sexuality will figure in individual lives if it really does become an open choice. I've encountered many young women who have a fluid and changing attitude to the sexual partners they choose. And they don't necessarily feel the need to call themselves anything. My protagonist, Kaz Phelps, is released from jail and her main motive for changing her criminal behaviour is to impress her lawyer, Helen, who she's fallen in love with. But Helen has political ambitions and though she is very drawn to Kaz she doesn't think a relationship with an ex-con, released on licence, is going to help her career. I'm interested in following Kaz as she discovers her own emotions and how to deal with her sexual feelings. I'm also interested in doing this in the gangster crime sub-genre so that it will reach the widest audience.

SH: I love what you say about Kaz and the plans you have for her character arc, which sounds fascinating. Yes, I guess what I was trying to do with Noah was to have a gay, half-black DS and it not be remarkable, or the cause of lengthy angst/soul-searching. Which is not to say that I imagine it's an easy gig; I'm sure it's not. But I wanted it be normal, unremarkable even. I'm sure you're right about the generational experience/struggle. And the tendency for the media to focus on aspects of the struggle, often heavy-handedly. Everyone struggles; it's how we respond to those struggles that makes us unique. And, as you said earlier, Struggle is Story. I've really enjoyed our chat, thank you.

SW: It was great, Sarah. Thank you!

Set in London and Essex THE INFORMANT is a story of ruthless criminals, corrupt cops, obsessive love and the villainy that operates on both sides of the law. Published 20 November by Macmillan, you can pre-order it here.

Tweet

No Other Darkness, exclusive extract for Richard and Judy Book Club

Someone Else's Skin is the Book of the Week over at the Richard and Judy Book Club, where they have just put this exclusive extract live online. The first two chapters of No Other Darkness, the second Marnie Rome book. If you're really cunning, you can put these two chapters together with the third chapter, which is part of the extra material at the back of the paperback of Someone Else's Skin which has the Good Housekeeping Reader's Choice tick on the cover.

Five years ago 

Fred’s crying again, a snotty noise with a whine in it, like the puppy when she’s shut outside. Archie’s the oldest, it’s his job to take care of Fred when Mum and Dad aren’t around, but he’s fed up of drying Fred’s tears and wiping Fred’s nose. Most of all, he’s fed up of telling Fred it’s going to be okay. Archie doesn’t like telling lies, especially not to his little brother.

Tweet

An exclusive interview with Marnie Rome

Written for the Richard & Judy Book Club. Click on the text to be taken to the full interview. Commander Tim Welland questions Marnie in the wake of her parents' brutal murder by her step brother. This one was tough to write, not least because it takes place five years before Marnie becomes DI Rome.

TW: We need to talk about what happened at the house yesterday, but we don’t need to do it now. It can wait until you’re feeling less . . . 

MR: I want to do it now. Please, sir. I’d rather get it done and if it helps you to make sense of what he . . . I want to get it done. 

TW: All right, detective. In that case, let’s start with how long you’ve known the suspect, Stephen Keele. 

MR: Six years. October 12th 2003. That’s when they invited me over to meet him. They’d told me they were planning to foster someone. A boy. But that’s when I met him. October 12th.

Tweet

My Fictional Heroines (for the Richard & Judy Book Club)

Featuring Violette Retancourt, Connie James, Clarice Starling, Flea Marley and more. These are my top girl crushes of all time.

Marnie Rome walked fully formed into a story I was writing two years ago. She was undercover, in biker boots and a black wig, but she was unquestionably Marnie. I recognised her at once. Later, I came to realise how many secrets she was hiding. And I came to realise that she owed a debt, in part at least, to my fictional heroines from page and TV. Not everyone on this list shares a character trait with Marnie Rome, but they are all women who’ve stayed in my head (and my heart) long after I’ve stopped reading and watching.

Tweet

Someone Else's Skin is the Featured Book in the Richard & Judy Book Club

For one week only! With exclusive material, a podcast and more! Excuse me while I go all starry-eyed and chuck confetti at passers-by.

In all seriousness, to everyone who ever told me to never give up, or nudged me to sub a story or asked me what I was writing (or bought me a coffee or gave me a hug or told me to stick at it) - Thank You. To everyone who read and reviewed the proof copies of Someone Else's Skin, and tweeted and blogged - Thank You. And if you bought a book, or recommended it to a friend, or put a nice review online - Thank You. You're the reason I got this far.

Someone Else's Skin

If you haven't already bought it, this is the perfect week to do so as there are special offers galore, especially at WH Smith where it's less than £4 a pop. I won't go as far as the lovely people at the Heswall Bookshop who instructed all their customers to give it as a Christmas present to everyone they know, but hey. For one week only, go wild.

Tweet

Richard & Judy Book Club: my Podcast for Someone Else's Skin

Here it is! What a relief to find I didn't waffle half as much as I'd feared. Even if I did confess a bit too cheerfully to having a dark mind... Lovely Richard and Judy were so enthusiastic and supportive. I loved every minute of this.
Sarah Hilary - Someone Else's Skin - Richard & Judy Book Club Podcast

Tweet