Jim Winter interview: Road Rules

Road Rules by Jim Winter
86p/99c

Amazon UK, Amazon US, Nook

Jim Winter works in the medical industry as a jack of all cybertrades. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife, Nita, and stepson, AJ. His book, Road Rules, is out now on Amazon, BN, and Smashwords.

Can you sum up your book in no more than 25 words?

The road trip to Hell starts with a stolen car. And ends in the garden of good and evil.

What was your motivation for writing it?

It started on a dare, actually.

What's your favourite part of the writing process?

I love it when I finally get moving on a story and sometimes you have to tear yourself away from the keyboard. When you leave the computer grinning, you know the story’s coming along.

As a reader, how would you describe your taste in crime fiction?

I prefer two kinds: The bleak kind, like Ken Bruen writes, and the sheer smart-ass crime fiction, like Stuart MacBride. Ken has a way of making you want to slit your wrists when you’re done with him, and then you can’t wait to take the ride again. Not to mention you can’t really tear yourself away from the poetry of his writing.

MacBride is just completely subversive, kind of like Ed McBain locked in a room with Monty Python. And the brilliance of it is MacBride has all these horrific crimes as his backdrop.

What was the last good eBook you read?

The Caretaker of Lorne Field, which is a horror novel by Dave Zeltserman. I love the way he ends it. You still don’t know if the whole thing is real or just a delusion.

If you had to re-read a crime novel right now, what would you choose?

Mystic River. It’s just this big sprawling thing that squeezes everything out of its characters and setting.

What did you do before you became a writer?

I was an IT drone for an insurance company.

How old were you when you completed your first novel?

I finished the first draft of Northcoast Shakedown when I was 36. I got to call my mother about that a couple of months before she died, so that was a happy night.

What are your views on eBook pricing?

From an author standpoint, I’ve shifted into the 99 cent camp. A few writers I know have said they sold more and made more at that price than the equally popular $2.99 price. (Mind you, that might vary between countries.) As a reader, if it’s low enough, I’m likely to take advantage of Amazon’s one-click and make an impulse buy.

What are the biggest problems facing writers these days?

It wasn’t that long ago you knew what the rules were. You wrote a book, got an agent, and if you kept at it long enough, you got a contract. Now the rules seem to change almost weekly, and the big publishers haven’t got a clue. At least it’s not the recording industry. 12 years after Napster, and record companies still think everyone owes them a living. Publishing is at least trying. They’re falling down, but they’re trying.

What are the greatest opportunities facing writers these days?

For once, I think writers truly do own their own destinies. You don’t have this expensive middle man making your work too pricey to go independent. It’s no guarantee of success, but at least writers now have control.

Which author should be much better known?

Michael Lister

Do you read outside of the crime genre?

I read science fiction, history, some nonfiction. I avoid political screeds whenever possible.

Road Rules by Jim Winter
86p/99c

Amazon UK, Amazon US, Nook

Sample Sunday: Sonic Slammer

To mark my prison novel Slammer's release to Kindle for 99p, I thought I'd have a stab at something new. So here's me reading a wee section, with a bit of musical accompaniment ('As I Figure' by Kevin MacLeod).

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Ray "Beast of Burden" Banks has provided ten cracking reasons to buy the book. If links could blush, this one would be scarlet.

I've also had a series of very generous reviews, for which, many thanks! Here are some of the highlights:

"Clever and engaging" -- The Crime of it All
"Cracking stuff" -- Daz's Short Book Reviews
"Mind-blowing tale" -- Midnight (Top 100 Amazon reviewer)
"Masterpiece of modern noir" -- Jay Stringer
"One of the best noir novels ever" -- Chris Rhatigan
"an amazing book" -- Heath Lowrance
"The reach and scope of the book is immense" -- Nigel Bird
"a brilliantly written, claustrophobic classic" -- Paul D Brazill
 "top-notch noir from a favourite author"-- Lauren Winters
"tense, superbly written slice of desperate life" -- Dubin
"terrific Tartan noir" -- BookRambler

Hope you like the sound of it.

Slammer is available here for 99p.



Russel D McLean interview: The Death of Ronnie Sweets

The Death of Ronnie Sweets (and Other Stories) by Russel D McLean

£2.17/$2.99

Amazon UK, Amazon US

Russel D McLean has hung around the crime fiction scene for almost a decade now, working variously as an ezine editor, a reviewer, a bookseller and a general miscreant. He has written many short stories and more recently two PI novels set in the mean streets of Dundee, Scotland. Russel’s first novel, THE GOOD SON, was nominated for a Shamus award by the Private Eye writers of America.

How much difference does an editor make?

I worked with many different editors over the course of these stories depending on the market. Some of them did light edits, some did heavy. I learned the most working with Gerald So at Thrilling Detective on the story that would become LIKE A MATTER OF HONOUR; lots of bad habits were reformed on that particular story. And Linda Landrigan of Alfred Hitchcock’s really helped bring out WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, a story that initially gave me great difficulty in writing. Basically, a good editor helps a writer refine what they’re doing. I don’t think any fiction is written in isolation. Although ultimately the voice has to be the authors, otherwise what’s the point?

Who designed your cover?

The brilliant JT Lindroos, who also designed the UK e-dition of THE GOOD SON. JT’s one of the best damn designers out there (as I’m sure you can testify, Mr Guthrie) and really seems to get to the essence of a brief, while delivering a few surprises along the way. With THE DEATH OF RONNIE SWEETS, we started with one idea and along the way JT threw this unexpected one into the mix that finally became my preferred design.

How important is a book's central character?

I like to tell very personal stories, so while my casts can be large, my protagonist is always the focal point. In this collection, we see a character evolve and change across multiple stories. Sam Bryson started as a bit of a cypher, an excuse to tell a Chandlerian story in Dundee, and across the stories he really developed a life and a voice all of his own.

What was the last good eBook you read?

I loved Gar Anthony Haywood’s short story collection, LYRICS FOR THE BLUES. The man can write, and of course we all know I’m a sucker for a good Eye story. The Aaron Gunner stories are lyrical, affecting and really do stay with you after you’ve finished reading them.

In fact, I’ve been reading a lot of collections digitally of late (call it research). Other favourites have been Steve Hockensmith’s DEAR MR HOLMES – he’s one of the funniest and most inventive crime writers I’ve read in a while – and Zoe Sharp’s FOX FIVE. Sharp is one of those writers who deserves to be doing far better; I adored her novels and loved these shorts.

In terms of full length novels, I’d have to say the most fun I’ve recently had, electronically speaking, was with Anthony Neil Smith’s twisted little e-xclusive, CHOKE ON YOUR LIES.

(Yeah, that was more than one book – so sue me, I read a hell of a lot!)

What makes you keep reading a book?

Voice. A plot that moves – ie, characters that actually do things rather than talk about doing them (a fast-moving plot doesn’t always mean gunplay and fisticuffs). Oh, and characters who are deeply, deeply flawed. I get very irritated with perfect people.

What's the best collection of short stories you've read?

An apropos question, considering I’m here to push a collection of shorts…

I only started reading collections in recent years, so I’m not an expert, but there are two that I always talk about when people mention short story collections.

There’s the Megan Abbott-edited HELL OF A WOMAN (from the magnificent Busted Flush Press) which contained some of the finest and most consistent writing I’d found in a multi-author volume.

And Vicki Hendricks’s FLORIDA GOTHIC STORIES was one of the most haunting and beautiful single author collections I think I’ve read in years.

What are your views on eBook pricing?

I think a balance needs to be struck. To charge over £10 or $10 for an ebook is insanity. But at the same time I think a blanket 99p/99c policy is maybe equally insane. I’m experimenting with pricing on those books I have control over (some of my ebooks are controlled by publishers, others I own the rights to) and seeing if I can find a comfortable middle ground but knowing that I want to keep the books affordable. Basically, they need to be cheaper than physical books, and yet they still need to be enough that the writer is paid. Right now, the thing to remember about ebooks is this:

No one knows anything.

Of course, in publishing it was always thus.

How do you feel about anyone being able to publish?

It’s great for authors who can bring deserving works back into print, or authors who are ready to be published (and everyone knows it) but for one reason or another have no other way to get out there. It’s also great for writers of short collections. It’s a fantastic opportunity to find and continue to promote talent that otherwise might have drifted into the forgotten places.

However, some people are going to be trying to run before they can walk (ouch, what a cliché!). Some people who should never be writing are going to be pushing crap down reader’s throats and believe they have every right to do so. And some people who could mature into great writers if only they had a few suggestions, edits and nudges, are going to be unable to learn from the ego-crushing experience that I believe all writers should experience.

Because, honestly, I believe that rejection made me a better writer. And I’d cringe if some of those early attempts at novels had made it out there (at least in the state they were in then).

All of which is a rambling way of saying that the current e-model free-for-all can be both a blessing and a curse. Which maybe isn’t much of an answer, but it’s the best I got.

The Death of Ronnie Sweets (and Other Stories) by Russel D McLean

£2.17/$2.99

Amazon UK, Amazon US