Author Interview With Adam Croft

So, what exactly do you write?
Principally, crime fiction. My two main series are the Knight & Culverhouse crime thrillers and the Kempston Hardwick Mysteries.

How would you describe yourself in a short third person bio?
Wow, a tricky one. The shortest one I’ve ever used was my Twitter bio for a little while: “Reads, writes, drinks.” I think that just about covers most of it.
 
What made you initially want to write? Has your motivation changed since then?
I’ve always been entranced by books. The fact that an entire set of lives and an epic story can be contained within a few paper pages which you can hold in your hand is something which has always fascinated me. To be the creator of those stories is really something quite special, and that sense of awe is something which only grows with time. To say I’m not driven by all the nice emails and messages I get from readers would be a lie – anyone would be lying if they said they didn’t get a huge amount of pleasure from that.

What do you think is the most important part of writing?
Most importantly, write for yourself. I always write the books I want to read and feel incredibly lucky if someone else wants to read them too. Writing’s a therapeutic process for a lot of people but I’ve never really written anything to help me deal with any aspect of my life – I write to entertain; both myself and my readers.

What is your favourite part of writing?
Two bits: the beginning and the end! Coming up with that idea or spark of inspiration can give you a massive kick. Those frantic early days of scribbling notes and forming plots and characters – fantastic fun. After that, the best bit is finishing the book and preparing it for launch. A lot of writers don’t enjoy the admin and PR side of things, but I love it.

Tell us an interesting fact about you.
I’ve never drunk Coca-Cola. In fact, I’ve never drunk any type of cola. I don’t even know what it tastes like, but I know it smells foul. When I was very young my parents didn’t tend to feed us fizzy drinks, for obvious reasons. I was about twelve before I began drinking fizzy drinks (of my own choice by then, of course) and never bothered with Coke as I didn’t like the smell. After that, I became acutely aware that I was probably the only person on earth who had never drunk it and it became more of a pride/stubbornness thing. It’s hardly something that makes me feel as though I’m missing out!

Do you have a day-job, (other than writing)?
No, I’m very lucky to be able to write for a living.
 
Are you an indie author, or did you get your work published the ‘traditional’ way?
To be completely honest, I’ve never once approached a publisher. After the huge success I had with self-publishing I’ve been contacted by a few, but I see no reason to enter into any negotiations. I make 70% on every book I sell and can write what I want, when I want. I’ve also outsold the vast majority of ‘traditionally’ published authors over the past year or two, so why would I want someone else to take a cut of that?

How long did it take you to write ‘Exit Stage Left’, from start to finish?
‘Exit’ was quite quick, actually. I worked pretty much solidly on that from early October until early December 2011. My previous book, Guilty as Sin, took me about three or four months, and Too Close for Comfort was almost three years. Then again, I wasn’t a full-time writer when I was working on that one.

Would you like to tell us a little about your novel, ‘Too Close For Comfort’?
Mmmm… ‘the’ book. This is an interesting one, as I tend to get grilled about it quite often. Mainly because I’m quite open about the fact that I really don’t like the book at all. It was the first book I ever wrote and I really had no idea it was going to be so successful. I put it onto Amazon through their Kindle publishing outlet and only wanted someone I didn’t know to read it and offer me some feedback in the form of reviews. It then went on to sell 180,000 copies and top the Amazon bestseller list for over a week (the list is updated hourly). Of course I’m proud of it, but looking back now I can see how far my writing has come. It makes me cringe more than a little to read the first book. I get a lot of emails saying ”How can you expect someone to spend money on your books when you publicly state that even you don’t think they’re good? Have some pride!” and the fact of the matter is that I was never expecting anyone to spend their money on them – that all happened completely by accident.

Which projects are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on the second Kempston Hardwick mystery as well as a couple of half-formed ideas for standalone novels. I’m also involved with a theatre project which has had West End interest for 2013. That aside, I’m trying to do a lot to help support charities at the moment. I’m involved with a couple of organisations, including KAPSA (kapsa.co.uk), a charity which looks after and re-homes street animals in Turkey.

How do you come up with the titles for your books? And do you have the final title before completing your book, or after?
I suppose it’s a crime thing, but I like things which drop hints and clues, whilst at the same time being huge clichés – I don’t tend to take many things too seriously, least of all myself. All of the titles allude to the plot or denouement in some way as well as being recognisable clichés (which I don’t see as a negative thing). I do often have the title before the book is finished, but not usually before I’ve started writing it. It tends to come along somewhere in the middle.

How has writing changed your life?
An easier question might be to ask how it hasn’t changed my life! It’s not something which I can even verbalise, to be honest, as it’s changed my life in so many ways. Other than being able to spend my life doing what I love most, it’s given me the freedom to enjoy life in general. It really is lovely when complete strangers email you or come up to you in the street to tell you how much they’ve enjoyed your books. It makes all the hard work seem so worthwhile. It’s given me that boost to move forward with my life and in the space of a year I’ve managed to buy my first house and get married – all at the same time as writing and releasing two more books. All I can say is that the honeymoon was much needed…

Where do you get inspiration for writing from? Do you listen to music whilst writing or have a ‘writing cave’?
I’m often asked this question but don’t really know the answer, if I’m honest. I get a lot of inspiration from people. Writing tends to begin with the characters. Either that, or I tend to pick up on writers’ thought processes through reading books or watching films and television programmes and think “why didn’t they run with that idea? Why didn’t they do that/this?” and come up with a whole new plot and story on the back of that. I also spend a lot of time speaking to police officers and reading case studies for research which tends to spark off a lot of ideas.

Is there a particular form, style or genre that you’d like to have a go at writing? Why?
I would love to write a ‘proper’ literary novel. A lot of people assume that because I write crime, I’m not a ‘proper’ author for some reason. I guess it’s often looked down on by many people because it’s mainstream entertainment as opposed to some sort of representation of the higher echelons of literary talent. That’s nonsense, though. I have a lot of friends who write literary fiction and look down on what I do, yet they’re sat scrabbling for 500-word magazine serialisations or short story awards. Everyone has their niche and does what they enjoy, which is fantastic, but I’m very much in agreement with Lee Child when he says that it is far, far harder to write successful genre fiction than it is to write literary fiction. The fact of the matter is that I write around hooks and plots – something which isn’t always conducive to literary fiction.

Favourite book and/or author(s)?
Oh, there are far too many! Again, it depends on the genre. My crime influences are mostly Agatha Christie, Colin Dexter, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Peter James and Simon Brett but some of my favourite books include To Kill a Mockingbird, The Towers of Trebizond and, more recently, Sarah Winman’s stunning When God Was a Rabbit.

Do you think it’s necessary to have a degree (of any sort) in order to be a successful author?
Absolutely not. I don’t have one! In fact, I think the best thing I ever did was to not go to university. I did so much growing up in those years and despair when I see the outlook some of my university-going friends have on life. Being held in that institutionalised bubble for four years can have a real impact. The best thing for your writing is to get out and experience life, and I wholeheartedly believe that. Aside from that aspect, studying literature in particular can be a big disadvantage. Everyone should follow their own path of writing and not try to emulate or be too heavily influenced by what someone else has done before them. Break down boundaries and try new things – that’s the only way any art can flourish.
 
What would you say to those who want to become a writer? Any advice?
Write!