Who has been or is your mentor in the writing community? How have they guided or helped your writing career?
Friday again, eh. We’ve almost made it to the end of another working week.
This week’s topic is a good one, because none of us make it in this industry without the wisdom and generous help of others. Of course, there are always certain people who stand out, without whose guidance we would be nowhere, so let’s start with them.
I wouldn’t be a writer today if it hadn’t been for my first ever editor, Alison Hennessey. I think it’s fair to say that Alison is one of the finest and most respected editors in the world of British crime fiction. She has championed and honed the work of some of the most talented writers and exciting British writers such as Ruth Ware, Eva Dolan, Denise Mina, Stu Turton and Imran Mahmood, to name but a few.
It was Alison who ‘discovered’ me. Back in 2013, she launched a competition for new crime writers, and out of all the submissions, picked my entry (a mere 5,000 words) as the winner and committed to publishing my novel. It was a huge gamble. I’d never written much before. I certainly had never submitted any of my work to anyone before. I only had about 10,000 words of this draft and suddenly she’d given me a publishing contract. But she believed in me and between she guided me, teaching me how to write a crime fiction novel: how to weave theme with plot; how to say more with fewer words; how to maintain pace and tension. It was a long process. It took two years to write that first novel (A Rising Man) and to get it right, and none of it would have happened without her. Alison would then go on to bigger things – starting the Raven crime imprint at Bloomsbury, but I’ll always be indebted to her for the opportunity and the guidance she gave me,
I always say that my writing career has two parents. If Alison is one of them, then the other is my agent, and self-proclaimed handsomest man in publishing, Sam Copeland. Sam was one of the judges of the competition which Alison ran, and immediately offered to represent me. If my relationship with Alison and later editors has been one of hard work, learning and growth, the ‘micro’ of being a writer, then the one with Sam has been more about the ‘macro’ the bigger picture. It’s also been rather alcohol fuelled. Sam is like my writing dad. He guides the trajectory of my career and tells me to stay off Twitter. He, like Alison, took a gamble. He signed me up on the back of 5,000 words and never saw a penny in revenue for at least three years. In that time though, and ever since, he has always been there, through the tough times and the successes. He’s guided me and changed my fortunes in ways that I never imagined. The fact that I can be a full-time writer today is in no small measure down to him.
Alison and Sam are my writing parents, but there are others who have guided me, principally my later editors: Jade Chandler, who helped finesse my work and gave me the opportunity to take my work into new areas, backing me to write my first standalone novel; Katie Ellis-Brown, who’s hands-on approach gave me the kick up the arse I needed to push my writing further, and Kate Fogg, who’s taken over that role.
I also need to make special mention of Josh Kendall. Josh is the editor at Hachette in New York who, three years ago had a conversation with me about trying my hand at something other than historical crime fiction. Since then, every conversation with him has felt like a masterclass in the art of crime fiction writing. He’s one of those people whose brains are so big that it encompasses every thought that I might have, and then some. His insight into the American market is invaluable and, like Alison in the UK, I will always be indebted to him.
But it’s not just industry professionals that I owe a lot to. As mentioned earlier in the week, the world of crime fiction writing is an amazingly open, welcoming and friendly place. It almost feels like a family – a large, strange and often drunk family, but a family nonetheless. A bunch of people who will guide and help you without any expectation of benefit on their part. From day one I was made to feel welcome by so many people, including some of the biggest names in the business; people ready to go out of their way to help a struggling, not very talented author like me. People like Ann Cleeves and Lee Child, Ian Rankin and Mark Billingham. But there is one person that stands out, who gave a debut writer a break, who has championed my work ever since, and in the meantime has become a dear friend. That person is Val McDermid, or Auntie Val as I call her.
Auntie Val needs no introduction. She is one of the greatest, most successful crime fiction writers of all time. She is one of the leading lights of British crime fiction, one of the pioneers of tartan noir, a national institution and a force of nature. She is a founder of the Theakston’s Crime Festival, the UK’s biggest crime fiction festival, and every year hosts her New Blood panel, picking four debut authors she sees as ones to watch. For a debut author, being picked by Val is one of the best things that can happen to you. It can turbo-charge your career. Back in 2016, she picked me as one of her debuts. But it didn’t end there. Ever since, she has championed my work and offered me so much advice. I have lost count of the number of people who’ve come up to me and said they’ve read my books after a recommendation from Auntie Val.
The generosity of spirit of these writers and many, many others has created a wonderful environment where so many established authors try and help new and emerging writers. I hope I’ve helped others and that I’ll continue to do so. Being a writer is a tough, often lonely discipline, but the kindness and support of so many fantastic people is one of the things that makes it worth it.
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