Al's the harried looking gent on the left who's wondering how the hell he's going to write 15 more pages for his next dark novel, along with copy editing, reading a stack of new submissions, plus squeezing in 20 minutes sleep for the night. I'm the joker on the right who's trying to look cool for my Point Blank picture. Question is, why the fuck am I wearing a leather jacket in my living room in the middle of the summer?

Hardluck had the distinct pleasure of interviewing this issue’s Guest Editor, Allan Guthrie. Al, like always, was forthcoming in almost all aspects (except on why the name for Hardluck Edinburgh was changed to Noir Originals, but we’ll leave that for another time), as we discussed his views on noir, his upcoming books, and his role with Point Blank Press. 

DZ: Last year and a half has been kind of busy for you, hasn't it?

AG: Some might say too busy, Dave. Yeah, I can't believe my first ever short story was published only a year and a half ago. Jesus. What was I doing for the previous thirty-odd years? Since I'M NO KILLER appeared in Hardluck Stories in Winter 2003 I've sold a couple of novels, just finished a third and I'm working pretty hard as Acquisitions Editor for Point Blank.

You're being a bit modest. I believe you also sold a number of short stories. And didn't you create a web-zine called Noir Originals?

Short stories are hard. I have a great deal of respect for good short story writers. Sometimes it feels as if writing a novel is easy in comparison! But getting short stories published is a much easier way to build up a CV.

Noir Originals was possibly the best idea I ever had. It's been a huge success, not just for me, but for several contributors. I was delighted recently to discover that Charlie Williams's debut novel DEADFOLK featured a quote from a review by Ray Banks for Noir Originals. Felt like the webzine had arrived and was being taken seriously. It helps that Ed Gorman likes it so much, too.

How did you prepare yourself as a writer?

Well, I wrote a couple of novels without having much of a clue what I was doing. After the second one, I realized I needed some help, so I started reading every book on writing I could get my hands on. And since I have a day job working in a bookstore, that was a lot! There are a number of basic 'how to' type books, which supply a grounding in the craft of novel writing. I read a lot of those, and they were helpful, certainly, to begin with, but — perhaps perversely — the vast majority of writing books I've found useful, are not directly about novel writing. To name a few: Sol Stein's SOLUTIONS FOR WRITERS, Theodore A. Rees Cheney's GETTING THE WORDS RIGHT, Elliot Grove's WRITE & SELL THE HOT SCREENPLAY and Lajos Egri's THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING. Each of those taught me something new. The Sol Stein book in particular is full of superb advice.

What else did I do? I read a lot of material on writing by pro writers. I read as many author interviews as I could. I dissected a few of my favorite novels to see how they were constructed. I stopped watching television. I wrote every day for at least an hour. No exceptions, no excuses.

How do you feel British and American noir differ, and where do you feel your writing fits?

I don't really know that there is any difference. To my mind, noir's the same, whether it's French, Italian, Greek, American, Irish, Scottish. It's all about life kicking the shit out of you, and something that’s that fundamental transcends geographical boundaries.

To me as an American, the Brit noir novels that I've read feel different to the American ones. They don't seem like the same beast. I can't put my finger on it - whether it's because they focus more on the crime, are more literary, or what, but I am left with a different feeling of their impression of what noir is. When I read TWO-WAY SPLIT, it struck me as being more of a cross between Brit noir and American. Dark, more psychological and character driven and more of a sense of doom - as my impression of American noir - but with the literary qualities and atmospheric feel that that some of the Brit-noir books had impressed on me.

Well, I’m a Scot, Dave. And I don’t have a UK publisher (my two publishers are American). So, in all fairness, I probably don’t have much of a clue as to what Brit-noir’s about. I certainly write noir that’s heavily influenced by mid-twentieth century American crime fiction. That’s what I read most. That’s what I enjoy. And that’s essentially what my writing strives to emulate.

Charlie Stella and others have remarked on a BLUE VELVET feel to your first novel, TWO-WAY SPLIT. I can see that also, but to me your writing also seems strongly influenced by David Goodis. Your thoughts?

I'd never considered any David Lynch (BLUE VELVET) influence until it was mentioned, but I confess I find the comparison hugely flattering, and it’s probably true enough. I must have watched MULHOLLAND DRIVE a dozen times! The other David, Goodis, is undoubtedly a major influence on TWO-WAY SPLIT. I was going through a Goodis binge — and loving every badly constructed sentence — when I first started work on the novel. My protagonist, Robin Greaves, is a typical Goodis character. He's even a failed pianist, like Eddie in DOWN THERE. But DARK PASSAGE was the book that most influenced TWS. There's a scene where the protag talks to his dead mother. I mean, what? DP is also where I first noticed Goodis's use of colour (he goes crazy with it in BEHOLD THIS WOMAN), a technique I borrowed for TWS.

My impression reading TWS was that not only was Robin Greaves a typical Goodis character, in many ways so is Pearce. There's a haplessness and sadness to the typical Goodis protagonist that both Greaves and Pearce in their own ways embody - which makes the final confrontation work so well.

Rightly or wrongly, I tend to think of the typical Goodis character as being passive. Often you'll hear a Goodis character muttering to himself, "I must do this. Yes, I must. I will. I'll do it now." And he doesn't. To me, that sums up a Goodis character. Pearce is far too decisive. What Pearce and Robin have in common is that neither has much control over his destiny. And that's certainly very Goodis-like.

Tell us about your upcoming book, KISS HER GOODBYE?

Sure. It's very different from TWO-WAY SPLIT. If you compare TWS to David Goodis, I guess you could compare KHG to Day Keene. The story is about Joe Hope, a debt collector in Edinburgh who works for Cooper (who appears first in TWS). Joe's teenage daughter commits suicide and Joe wants to find out why. In doing so, he discovers a whole bunch of stuff he might have preferred not to know. Needless to say, it goes into some pretty dark places.

Other crime fiction influences?

Far too many to mention. The three major influences on BLINDSIDED, the book I've just finished, are James M. Cain, Jason Starr and Ray Banks.

I got to ask about the James M. Cain and Jason Starr reference. In some ways you couldn't find two noir writers more dissimilar. There's a toughness to Cain's protagonists, and their motivations tend to be fairly simple: money, the woman, or simply to see if they can get away with it. Starr's protagonists are usually on the fringe, weak characters who are driven by ego or pressure. How did these two influence Blindsided? And Ray's influence?

I wish I could expand on that, Dave, but I'd be giving away far too much if I said anything remotely substantial. Let's say, your description is closer than you might imagine. I'll add that Jason Starr characters are always given hope. Hope adds to the effect of their downfall. And Ray's influence is most apparent in terms of how exposure to his writing has prompted me to write more emotionally.

Okay, you got to let us know what BLINDSIDED is about?

There's a peripheral character in TWO-WAY SPLIT, a young disillusioned PI called Kennedy. BLINDSIDED is his story. The novel takes place a few years after TWS concludes. Kennedy's now working in a bookshop and he's about to ask his girlfriend to marry him when something unexpected and inexplicable happens that threatens their future. It's not a pretty book. Really, it's not.

I keep swearing to my wife that there's nothing autobiographical in my writing, but the fact is, at some level it's all autobiographical. How about yourself?

I lifted some autobiographical facts for Robin's character in TWS. For example, like Robin, I attended music school. I like to reverse the information, though. Unlike Robin, I never wanted to be a pianist. Again, Robin's father is an alcoholic whereas my father doesn't drink, never has. I also use biographical facts. For example: the childhood scene where Robin and Don are spying in Mrs Strang's house is based on an event that happened to a friend of mine, not to me. A lot of the biography of ... um ... one of the characters is based on incidents recalled by a friend who attended school with a recently convicted serial killer. Another friend collected weasel bones as a kid. The water pistol hold-up, a friend of a friend. And so on.

In KHG, there's virtually nothing autobiographical. I did drop out of university after a year, like the protagonist Joe Hope, but it wasn't to become an enforcer for a loan shark. I've never experienced the grief Joe suffers. I don't have children. I had to stretch my imagination for this one.

Now for the million-dollar questions: What attracts you to noir and what elements make for a satisfying noir novel?

What attracts me to noir? People getting fucked. What makes for a satisfying noir novel? People getting well-fucked. I’ve always been fascinated by abnormal psychology. Noir’s a good place to go looking for it.

Your thoughts on the classic noir writers: David Goodis, Jim Thompson, Charles Willeford and James M. Cain?

I'd expand that list to include Cornell Woolrich, Horace McCoy and Gil Brewer. They're all geniuses. Woolrich, Goodis, Brewer and Thompson are prone to excess, but their best books pack a hell of a punch. Cain's a tight writer, does small-cast noir superbly well, great sense of the dramatic. McCoy and Willeford defy pithy description. Still, stunning would pretty much sum them up.

Noir Originals features a brilliant article by Russell James titled "So You Want To Write Noir?" which basically states publishers today won't touch noir and further makes the observation that Cornell Woolrich, David Goodis and Jim Thompson all died broke and out of favour. So why are we doing it? Why aren't we writing mysteries about chocolate and kittens? Or maybe chocolate-dipped kittens?

I dunno, Dave. Maybe we're masochists. I get Russell's point. You could make the opposite case, though. Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, Ian Rankin, Irvine Welsh, Chuck Palahniuk — they're all pretty successful and their writing could well be, and often is, described as noir. Bottom line, noir's been around forever. Life has a dark side. More people lose than win. If publishers wish to ignore this, fine, it'll pass. Ken Bruen's success with THE GUARDS, rightly earning him Edgar, Shamus, and Macavity nominations this year will hopefully help make it pass sooner rather than later.

Let’s change gears and talk about Point Blank Press. How did you become their Acquisitions Editor?

TWO-WAY SPLIT was originally bought by JT Lindroos to be published by Wit's End. JT had approached me before about the possibility of collaborating on print versions of some of the books Lee Horsley and I were publishing electronically (on a very, very small scale) via Pulp Originals. At the time, lack of funding prevented the idea getting off the ground. Or so I thought. But then JT told me about Point Blank, where he'd just become Senior Editor, and he very kindly asked me if I'd care to help him out now that the funding was in place. He also offered me the opportunity to release TWS as the first Point Blank title. So, um, I wasn't going to say no!

You guys have built an impressive collection of titles from some giants in our industry, including Charles Willeford, James McKimmey, Russell James, Harry Whittington.

Yeah, and Ed Gorman and Bill Pronzini, James Sallis, Gary Phillips, Mark Timlin — and there are more contracts waiting to be signed. I look at the author list now and take a deep breath and wonder how it's possible. Last count we had 22 authors on board.

I know you're a fan of James McKimmey. That must have been something signing him up. Could you tell us a little about makes what McKimmey so special and about SQUEEZE PLAY?

Absolutely. Not so long ago, my ambition in life was to see a McKimmey novel and Day Keene's SLEEP WITH THE DEVIL back in print. You might not think that's hugely ambitious, but at the time I had no idea I'd be in a position to effect any such thing. Glad to say, McKimmey’s back in print and the Day Keene contract’s been signed and I can now rest easy and ambitionless (my natural state)!

As for what makes McKimmey special — it's a combination of factors but among them are these: his understanding of plot construction, his handling of tension, the emotional transitions of his characters, and their incredible depth and subtlety. SQUEEZE PLAY is a fine example of all the above. If you're fond of the kind of novel where you take a basically nice guy, then shovel grief on him, and then, when he can't take any more, you add another shovelful, you'll like this one.

You have also acquired books from a couple of first-time authors, Ray Banks and Duane Swiercynzski. Can you tell us about them?

Ah, you don't get off so lightly. I've acquired FOUR* books from first-time authors, including one by a certain Dave Zeltserman. Technically, you and Duane are first-time novelists, of course, not first-time authors — you both have author credits for non-fiction.

Your own novel, FAST LANE, was the very first book I commissioned. I'd read it some time ago under the original title IN HIS SHADOW and it blew me away. It's got a Jim Thompson/Mickey Spillane feel to it, but the reason I felt so strongly about it was because it delivers exactly what it promises. Johnny Lane's a terrific protagonist and the plot's incredibly strong.

Ray Banks's book, THE BIG BLIND, is set in Manchester and follows the fortunes of Alan Slater, a Scottish double glazing salesman, as his life starts rapidly going downhill after an accident with a dog on a rainy night. The writing is utterly compelling. Ray's a noir poet with a vicious sense of humour.

Duane Swierczynski's SECRET DEAD MEN is a work of unfettered imagination. It's about this guy who's actually dead, and has a hotel, where imprisoned souls are kept, inside his (borrowed) body. Yep. Insanity rules. This has some of the most hilarious moments I've ever read in a detective novel. Or any other kind of novel, come to think of it. Quite simply, I was stunned when I first read it. Couldn't believe something this good had landed in my lap.

And my most recent acquisition is something just a bit different …GO TO HELENA HANDBASKET is a spoof by Donna Moore, who Ken Bruen calls Scotland’s Dorothy Parker. This is one side-splittingly funny book, featuring every conceivable bad plot device known to crime writing. I defy anyone not to laugh out loud. Not only is it very, very funny, but it’s also exceptionally well written. She’s a massive talent.

Just a coincidence that three of those first-writers you signed up for Point Blank happened to contribute to Noir Originals?

Well, I'm drawn to the kind of writing I promote on my website, so it was the obvious place to look.

What's the best way for a new writer to attract your attention?

Write well. Send me a polite and informative email. Be professional. But writing well is the key. Everything else is incidental if the writing’s less than terrific.

Al, I know you got a stack of books to edit and an even larger stack of books to write. I’ve taken up too much of your time as it is, but as always it has been a pleasure!

The pleasure’s mine, Dave. Hardluck is where my first short story appeared. Makes perfect sense that it should be the home of my first interview. Thanks for having me back.

* since conducting this interview, Allan has commissioned a fifth original novel for PointBlank, THE BLUE CHEER by Ed Lynskey whose story THE PERFECT VICTIM appears in this issue of Hardluck Stories.

     Copyright(c) 2004 by Dave Zeltserman