Q&A with Steve Mosby author of the very dark thriller You Can Run

On 22nd April , after being scared rigid, I reviewed You Can Run by Steve Mosby (click here). I loved it and am now delighted to welcome this very talented, fellow Northern writer to The Crime Warp.  It's great to have you here, Steve


Liz: Tell us a bit about your current book release.

Steve: My latest book, You Can Run, is about the search for

Available on Amazon
Click here

a serial murderer called the Red River Killer. He’s been abducting women for nearly twenty years and sending letters to the police taunting them about the crimes, and the book begins when the police have finally identified him. The trouble is, even though they know who he is, they don’t know where he is. The main character, Will, is the detective in charge of the hunt, and he has a personal connection to the case that he has to keep secret from his colleagues. But as the investigation progresses, he comes to believe that not everything is as it seems.

Liz: Where did the inspiration for You Can Run come from?

Steve: The initial idea came from reading about a real life serial killer called Jerry Brudos, who killed a number of women in the US in the 60s and 70s. Brudos was married with a family, and one year he went away with them for a Thanksgiving weekend, and a car careered off the road and smashed a hole in the side of his garage. The police attended the scene, and even looked inside, but somehow missed the fact there was a dead woman hanging from a hook in the ceiling. They just left a card for Brudos to get in touch when he got home (which is what he did, and then went on to kill again). So you think: what if? And that’s basically how You Can Run begins, except in the book the woman is found alive, and the killer – John Blythe – knows he’s been identified and has to go on the run with the police in pursuit.  

Liz: Is there a subsidiary character you have created and are particularly fond of and why?

Steve: I’m usually fond of most of my characters, even the awful ones! Although I wouldn’t say that of John Blythe, or some of the other characters here. I would probably go for Emma Beck, Will’s partner. She’s mostly there as a foil for him, and she’s in control of one of the key scenes in the book. As well as a manhunt novel, You Can Run is also about stories and who has the right to tell them. Will’s obsession with the case is driven by a personal connection, and Emma gets to point out that it’s the dead women that should matter here, not his feelings or motivations. Hopefully, in her own small way, she ends up slightly subverting the story at that point and taking it where I was interested in going with it.

Liz: That was one of the aspects of You can run that I loved.  The idea that the victim's stories were crucial.  Do you have a particular writing routine you follow?

Steve: In general, my days are fairly formulaic. I have a seven year old son, so first thing in the morning in term times, I’ll be getting him ready and then dropping him off at

school. Then I go to the gym for an hour or so. I write in the afternoons, usually finding a pub or café in Leeds where I’ll try to get some words in the tank. Generally, that’s The Packhorse, which is the oldest pub in Leeds. Then home in time for school pick up. Of course, school holidays tend to be a bit more chaotic and random!

In terms of the writing itself, I’ll aim for a thousand words a day, but it really depends where I’m at with a book, and I don’t beat myself up over word counts. Sometimes I’ll write a lot more than that, but on other days I’ll be happy if I can just get some ideas or connections straight in my head. It’s like progress on the book is a dial in my head, and as long as the needle is flickering on the positive side then I’m happy. You can usually tell when it’s getting away from you.

Liz: Any tips for would-be writers seeking publication?

Steve: That’s a tricky one, as everybody writes – and indeed these days publishes – differently. On the writing side, there’s so much on the technical craft side of things that it’s almost impossible to say, so more broadly I’d say that, for me, turning up is always half the battle. Start writing; keep writing; finish what you start. It can feel like a war of attrition with the story at times (and that never changes), but keep ploughing on, and don’t be afraid of getting the first draft entirely wrong. You can edit a bad first draft; you can’t edit an empty page. I almost always have to write a full first draft before I figure out what the story should have been. Everybody’s different, but for me, there’s sadly no way around that.

On the publishing side, if you’re going the traditional route then learn to take rejection on the chin. Listen to feedback and criticism without ego; as hard as it might be, you really don’t want to go out in public with your trousers undone. Don’t expect the moon on a stick. Getting published is a huge achievement, but all the things you love and hate about writing now will still be there afterwards, so try to make sure you love it a lot.

If you’re thinking of the going down the self-publishing route, then don’t treat it as an easy option. There are loads of people now who you can look to for advice. Check out people like Joanna Penn, Chuck Wendig, Harry Bingham – loads more, of course. These are experts in how to do it right and how to do it well.    

Liz: If you weren’t a writer what would you like to do?

Steve: I’m really not sure. I don’t do much research, so maybe this is ironic, but a part of me would love to do investigative journalism in the true crime area – to get out in the field, talk to people, thoroughly research a particular crime and write about it. I suppose that still counts as being a writer, but in all honesty there’s probably not much else I’m qualified for at this point. My whole life, it’s all I’ve ever really wanted to do.

Liz: Who are your writing heroes and why?

Steve: I’m just going to go with some of my favourite writers for this. Michael Marshall Smith, for the genre-bending and the ideas, but mostly for the prose. Christopher Priest, for

Mo Hayder

tackling complicated ideas in really interesting ways – and, again, for some of the best writing out there. Mo Hayder, a superb author who is able to create chills at will. Graham Joyce, who seems to me one of the most natural and gifted storytellers we’ve had. Thomas H Cook, for beautiful writing and plots I can’t reverse-engineer to see how he did it. Sarah Pinborough, for so many excellent novels in so many different styles. Adam Roberts, for challenging stories across a range of subject matter.

I could go on for a long time. Apart from them, there are some of the usual suspects: Stephen King; Dean R Koontz (back when he had the R); Ramsey Campbell; Diana Wynne Jones. Probably hundreds more.

Liz: What is it about Crime fiction as a genre that turns you on?

Steve: I think for me it comes down to what you can do with it – that it’s such an incredibly broad church. I started out writing horror and cross-genre stuff that I guess was part-SF, part noir, part other things. I was published as crime, though, and so that’s where I’ve stayed, shelf-wise. But the great thing about crime is that every idea I’ve ever wanted to write about can be done as a crime novel, so I’ve never felt constrained by the classification. Genres are so porous anyway; it’s mostly bullshit. There are very few hard walls unless you want there to be, which you really shouldn’t.

The people deserve a mention too. The readers are enthusiastic and the writers are friendly and supportive. It’s a lovely community to be part of.

Liz: Could you describe the book you are working on at the moment using only 5 words?

Steve: The Shining with serial killers.

Liz: Okay, Note to self, Don't take Steve Mosby's next book on a solitary writing retreat. Do you have competing ideas for future projects and have you ever worked on more than one at the same time?

Steve: Not really. I often read interviews with writers where they say they have loads of ideas and not enough time to write them, and I secretly want to murder them. I find ideas really difficult to come by. When I get one, I’ll generally write about thirty thousand words exploring characters, possible scenes and where it can go – all long before I’m ready to start writing the thing. And then, over various drafts, the final book will slowly come into focus. When I’m done, I’m done, and at that point I’m usually pretty empty. There’s a scary time when I think nothing else will come along. But it always does. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway…

Liz:  Thanks so much for popping in today Steve.  It's been a real pleasure.  next time I'll buy you a pint in The Packhorse.

You can find out more about Steve here : 

stevemosby@yahoo.co.uk
www.theleftroom.co.uk
www.twitter.com/stevemosby
www.facebook.com/theleftroom