Russ Thomas Q&A

Russ Thomas is a debut author who has shot out of nowhere with his impressive and brilliant novel, Firewatching. His is a name to watch and I predict big things for this Sheffield based author. As well as reviewing his debut for my blog (see here: https://bit.ly/2TmoO8R) he kindly agreed to answer some questions on the writing process and how he makes the magic happen.

Firewatching is your debut novel. Some writers get published with their first attempt at a novel (even if it takes years of changes) others have aborted previous attempts. Was Firewatching the first novel you tried to write? Do you have unpublished novels which have never seen the light of day?

No, it certainly wasn’t the first. I first started writing a book when I was about twelve – an epic SF romp across time and space with a cast of thousands. Up until fairly recently I had convinced myself I might even revisit it someday. Then I dug it out and read it and realised it was Star Wars. I have a more recent attempt at a fantasy novel set in the 1930s though, which I hope to do something with, eventually. But for now, Adam Tyler has my attention.

How many drafts did Firewatching go through? How long did it take you to write the book?

Erm… literally dozens. I changed the tense the story was told in from present to past and then back again. I changed the point of view characters more than once. I restructured it so many times I doubt you would recognise the original novel from the one published. Overall, it took about 10 years. I know that sounds like a long time but for much of that it was put away in a drawer, “lying fallow” as my University lecturer used to say. It took a long time for me to realise what I was trying to say and even longer to learn the skills needed to say it. I’ve always been a slow learner.

What was the inspiration, the first spark, for the plot of Firewatching? 

It started as a short story about an elderly woman suffering from some form of dementia who relives the past as though it’s happening seamlessly with the present. The way I wrote it originally was very confusing unless you were paying very close attention but the conceit of that stayed with me. Then I started an MA in Writing at Sheffield Hallam University and my tutor at the time, the fantastic novelist Lesley Glaister, told me that she liked my writing and characters but that she couldn’t see any plot. That’s because I didn’t really have one. So I threw a body in, and a crime novel was born.

Firewatching is set in Sheffield. How important to you is the city as a setting for the novel?

I actually find it quite hard to write about the place I’m living in, because it’s almost too familiar. It’s like the way you never really look at a picture hanging on your wall – it’s just there. So originally the story was set elsewhere. I tried a few anonymous places, the place where I grew up in Berkshire, and even Brighton at one point. But I kept coming back to Sheffield, as I always do. It’s such an important place for me that I felt I wanted to do my bit to put it back on the map. It always gets left off the weather map? Have you noticed that? They label every other major city in the country but never Sheffield! Well I’ve labelled it now, although perhaps not for the right reasons.

Have you always been attracted to the crime thriller genre? 

Yes, I grew up reading the Golden Age classics and I’ve usually got a crime novel on the go (although not exclusively, I read quite widely). I also watch a lot of crime dramas and thrillers. There’s something about death, I suppose. The ultimate question of life. 

What’s your process and how do you go from vague inspiration to fully fleshed out notion?

Good question. I wish I had a good answer. I guess just through trial and error. The inspiration usually comes from character, for me anyway, rather than the plot hook. I get an idea for a character, usually in a particular situation, and then I start writing that character, exploring who they are. Then I try to stitch that character into the idea I’ve got. 

When do you know if an idea isn’t working? Have you ever had to abort a story because it just isn’t “doing it”?

Oh yes, tons of times. But nothing is ever wasted. I keep everything and sometimes make it work in a different way, like Lily’s story which was the starting point for Firewatching. When do you know if it isn’t working? Is it the crippling angst you feel? The heart-rending self-doubt? When that all gets too much I put it down for a bit and walk away. The trick is to make that horrible little voice inside you think it’s won and go and do something else. Just keep going back. I guess I’m just a bit stubborn. Maybe I haven’t ever aborted a story, maybe they’re just all on hold. I guess I won’t know until I’m dead. And then I won’t know.

Tell me about the research that goes into your writing?

All hail the Internet! How the hell writers managed back in the day, I’ll never know. You can pretty much guarantee that if you need the answer to a question, someone will already have asked it online. I’ve spoken to a few experts as well, mainly to try to get the police procedural stuff right. I end up taking a lot of the research out though. Less is more. I’m not very heavily into police procedure, most of it’s boring paperwork and painstaking examination of evidence. That doesn’t always make for an interesting read. No one wants to see PC Rabbani scrolling through twenty-seven hours of CCTV footage. But we do need to know she’s done it. Then we want to see her just after that process, tired and irritable, and about to say the worst possible thing at the worst possible time.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

A bit of both. Probably more pantser than plotter, if I’m honest, although I’ve had to plan a lot more on the second one as I haven’t had 10 years to write it this time.


When plotting, how do you go about plotting your stories? 

I don’t spend a lot of time on this at first because it always changes as I go along. A few days, a few weeks if I’m busy. I write a fairly detailed synopsis if I can, and revisit this again and again as I go along to check if I’m still on track (I’m usually not). Then I start writing.


With the pantsing, how do you make sure you don’t go off on wild tangents? 

I don’t. I go wildly off tangent all the time but that’s often when I discover what I’m really writing about. Then I go back to the drawing board and start plotting again.

Tell me about your writing, do you write full time?

I do now, or at least I have been for the past year or so. I also teach a little in Sheffield and do mentoring. I appreciate how lucky I am though. Most writers don’t have that luxury, nor did I for many years and may not do in the future depending how well Firewatching does! I’m taking full advantage and enjoying it while it lasts.

When is your most productive period of the day?

Always first thing in the morning. Usually the earlier the better but I’m not very good at getting up very early. In the afternoon, if I’m feeling decadent, I’ll go watch a film at the cinema. But usually I’m reading. Reading is so important. If you want to be a writer, you really need to read a lot. It’s part of the job. A very nice part. If I’m writing in the afternoon, it’s usually in coffee-shops and various places around the city. The one problem with writing full time (yes, there is one!) is that you have to find ways of interacting with the world. You need to observe people to write about them. I’ve been a bookseller for most of my life, and there is no better job in retail for interacting with people. But now I no longer have snarky customers to show me the uglier side of humanity. I miss them.

Is any part of your writing biographical or are any of the characters inspired by real people? 

Yes, Lily and Edna are very much inspired by two elderly Aunts I had as a child. The set-up, I should say, their mannerisms and idiosyncracies and so on, not their actions! But there are little bits of real people in all the characters I write. That’s why I spend so much time in coffee shops.

What writing projects are you working on now? 

Nighthawking is the second in the Adam Tyler series and is pretty much in the bag. And I’ll be starting work on book 3 very shortly.

Tell me a little about your journey to success, how did you secure that all important agent and first publishing deal? 

I starting submitting my work to agents a few years ago and I got the usual mix of polite, encouraging refusals and no response whatsoever. It was after that I put my book away for the longest period and moved onto something else. It was well over a year when I realised it wasn’t going to leave me alone and I had to go back for one last try. Two or three rewrites after that I started sending it out again and the difference was astonishing. I heard back immediately from two agents and, after a bit of a nudge, from a third as well. I ended up choosing my current agent, Sarah Hornsley of the Bent Agency. She was the first to express interest and by far the most passionate. I just felt like she really got the book and her editorial input made it so much better than it was. I rewrote it again and a few months later Sarah sent it out to fifteen editors. We heard back from two of them the very next day. In the end, the book went to auction and we had four offers to choose from. It was literally a dream come true and it all felt like it was happening overnight at that point. Of course, that was a year and a half ago, so it’s been a long night.

Finally, I’m going to shamelessly poach two questions the author Mark Hill (author of His First Lie and It Was Her) used to put to writers on his blog. Like me, Mark was a book blogger before he became a successful author and I like to think that the answers to these questions helped him glean valuable help for his own writing. Certainly, reading them on his blog is helping me. So here goes:

What’s the hardest lesson you ever had to learn about writing?

That it really isn’t as easy as it looks. We all put pen to paper at some point, we all have the ability to write. What’s that saying about everyone having a book in them? I think that’s true. But the hard bit is learning your craft, practicing and getting better. Just like a musician or a sculptor or anyone else who gets good at something over a long period of time. You just have to keep persevering long after any sane person would give up. It’s really, really hard at times and because you spend a lot of time in your own head, overthinking, it can become pretty overwhelming. But don’t worry, if it feels like that – you’re doing it right!

Give me some advice about writing?

Don’t listen to the voice in your head. Sit down and do it!