Author interview: James Henry talks about bringing DI Jack Frost back to life, writing partnerships and a new crime writing project set in Essex!

R:  Today’s interview is with James Henry, author of three Detective Frost novels, First Frost, Fatal Frost and the recently published Morning Frost.  Welcome James.

JH:  Thank you, Roman. A pleasure.

R: The first thing I wanted to ask you is about your career, which has been more about publishing than writing - I understand you’ve worked at Constable and Robinson, setting up their imprint Corsair.  Tell us more about your career.

JH:  Yes, I have worked in publishing for over twenty years. I was at Random House originally where I worked as an accountant for many years, but with the acquisition of Harvill I moved into Editorial and worked on translations, many of them Scandinavian crime, as well as publishing authors such as Gene Kerrigan.

R:  So, how did you end up writing rather than just publishing?

JH:  I’d written stuff in my 20s but hadn’t really thought about it for 20 years, as I had no reason to do it. But in 2009 I found myself between jobs and the opportunity to write presented itself, so I thought ‘why not?’ 

R:  Turning to the Frost series, I blogged previously about getting hooked on Frost and how I thought there would be no more Frost books after R D Wingfield’s death. How did you come to take Frost out of deep freeze? 

    

JH:  Phil Patterson, Wingfield’s agent, told me over lunch that Transworld wanted to resurrect Frost, but they’d not got as far as finding a writer. I suggested the idea to Henry Sutton, a journalist and novelist I’d worked with, who was thinking of writing a crime book. He said why don’t we do it together and I agreed.

R: I wondered about whether there was an issue about rights to the Frost character, particularly as the TV series had gone on for so long.  Was this an issue? 

JH: The Wingfield Estate controls the character rights for the book. I couldn’t say for the TV, although I know First Frost has been optioned…

R:  I’ve read about Wingfield’s family commenting positively about the way you’ve captured both the Frost character and Wingfield’s writing style.  What contact did you have with the family and did you deliberately choose to follow both style and character from the previous books?

JH:  The family were very supportive and commented helpfully on the first draft of First Frost – I remember a remark that Mullett was too prim to swear. The style and character of the prequels is, I hope, is somewhere between Wingfield’s and the TV portrayal: and amalgam of both. They are quite different.

R:  I think we’ve all been influenced by TV characterisations and how they compare to the ones in books.  Wingfield commented that the character portrayed in the TV series “just isn’t my Frost”.  How were did David Jason’s TV character influence you when you were writing?

JH:  I saw the TV Frost when it was first aired years ago and was instantly hooked. It was the ordinariness that struck me; police work was portrayed as unglamourous and just a job like any other. That’s what I liked about it. But I didn’t rewatch them – I preferred to recall David Jason’s portrayal as it first struck me then.

R:  Someone once described Frost as "the most unattractive cop in mainstream crime fiction", although I think that’s one of the most appealing things about the character.  Reading Wingfield’s books I was always rooting for him as he tried to dodge the traps set for him by Superintendent Mullet and laughed out loud as his luck always seemed to hold, despite the odds against him.  What were your thoughts about the character and plot when you started to write the prequels?

JH: This was difficult:  I wanted to maintain the tension – and humour - between Mullett and Frost, but was concerned I might find the potential scenarios limited. With circa 40 TV episodes most eventualities would be covered, another reason I didn’t re-watch them. Ditto the books – I’ve not looked at one since writing the first one. Introducing new characters for Frost to bounce off has helped. DS Waters is a favourite.

R:  There are aspects of Frost’s character and behaviour from later books such as his disregard of colleague’s need for sleep, complete disorganisation and lack of dress sense that come through well in the prequels, although I think he’s a little still a little toned down from his character in Frost at Christmas and the later books.  Are you building up his unpleasantness or have decided to make him a bit more likeable?

JH:  Yes he is toned down; there is a rawness in the originals that some might object to in today’s more PC environment.  

R:  Turning to the novels themselves, why did you choose to write prequels rather than continuing with the Frost story where Wingfield left it?  Do you think this approach has given you more or less freedom as a writer?

JH:  I thought writing prequels would give a new dimension to the character – in the first two Jack’s wife Mary is alive, for instance, and he’s still a DS. Portraying younger characters added a freshness to the series, I felt. I don’t know whether it gave more freedom; the restraints are the originals, given they’re set in the future – continuing where RDW left off, you could pretty much take it wherever; Frost leaving Denton for example…

R:  In terms of both character and plot, how much have you needed to go back to Wingfield’s books to get your novels to line up with the books in print and has this been restrictive in writing the prequels?

JH:  As said earlier, I’ve not gone back to them since First Frost, which was the base point. The main restriction is I’m unable to kill anyone off who appears in the originals.

R:  A lot of my questions have referenced back to Wingfield’s books.  How hard has it been for you to get readers to see the Frost books you’ve written as being your creations in their own right, rather than being seen through the perspective of Wingfield’s previous novels?

JH:  That’s a difficult question. I haven’t really thought of it in that context.  All I can think is people read the prequels out of a fondness for the character, and if they think I’ve done a fair job, that’s good enough for me. Frost is such a brand that it’s difficult to expect people to assess the books in their own right. On the other hand, friends of mine not touched by the books or TV series have read them and said how much they enjoyed them.

R:  You wrote the initial Frost prequel First Frost as a partnership with Henry Sutton.  Can you tell us about how you came to write the book “two handed” and how a writing partnership works?

JH:  The writing partnership was tougher than we both expected. It’s all well and good to say ‘you write one chapter, and I’ll do the next’ but in practice it’s hard. We had different views on practically everything, and fought tooth and claw all the way. 

R:  Maybe that kind of explains why you wrote the next two books Fatal frost and the newest, Morning Frost single-handed?  What did happen to the writing partnership?

JH:  We couldn’t go through the experience again. It was a two book deal, so a second was due  – Henry had has own career as novelist, so I did Fatal Frost solo. 

  

R:  Looking forward, I think that you’ve established the Frost character as yours as well as catching up with the previous Frost timeline, but I’m hoping that doesn’t mean that Frost is finished.  Are you able to tell us what’s next for Jack?

JH:  I want a break from Frost - having done three in three years, I think a pause is needed. I am taking time out to do something different.  But Jack will be back, yes – I have an opening in mind for the fourth book, which I cannot divulge without giving a spoiler to Morning Frost.

R:  So, in terms of other writing projects planned, are any of these crime novels?        

     

JH:  Yes, I’m working on something set in Essex, where I live.  Having written around a fictional town thus far, writing about a place I know is enjoyable - a relief, almost! But it will be set in the eighties; life before mobile phones is also something I like. 

R:  I think that may be true for many of us!  James, thank you again for being our guest on The Crime Warp.  I hope all goes well with Morning Frost and your future writing.         

     

JH:  Many thanks.