Not long to go now before INSIDER hits the shelves. Putting a novel together is always an interesting experience. I start with a basic understanding of the story and take it from there. The hope is, that as the tale unfolds, characters, events, sub-plots, details, etc, will magically appear and end up in the book. I thought I’d tell you the thinking behind it and where I got some of the ideas from.
As book #2 in the hugely successful Glass series, a couple of things were important to me: first, I was determined that INSIDER wouldn’t simply be a re-write of FAMILY; it had to take the saga of the gangster family forward, had to be able to stand on its own. Second, it needed to have an enormous energy, as much as I could generate on the page, to draw a reader in and hold them until it finally shook them free, breathless and satisfied, at the other end.
I really hope I’ve managed to do that.
FAMILY was easy – a London gangland thriller was something I was always going to write. The possibilities were almost endless: the canvas was blank; all I had to do was show up every day and get it down. The follow up was more challenging but, as usual, once I actually got in front of the PC inspiration came. And, boy, was I relieved.
They say write what you know so the series draws on my own experiences of London: pubs for instance are all the ones I used – often while waiting to be picked up for a gig with the band. The characters are an amalgam of people I’ve known; a blend of memory and imagination: Bridie O’Shea is based on an Irish lady who ran a pub I played a couple of times in the Edgeware Road. Jonas Small is drawn from a guy I did some recordings for in Glasgow – I looked at the screen one afternoon and there he was.
My path very briefly crossed the infamous Kray brothers on two occasions. Once with the elder brother Charlie in the Mason’s Arms in Devonshire Street, and once with Reggie and Ronnie’s cousin at the Speakeasy in Margaret Street.
Did I wonder what it was like to walk in their shoes? I honestly don’t remember, except those fleeting moments stayed with me and surfaced when the writing process started. The Speakeasy, where you tripped over famous and soon-to-be-famous actors and musicians every night, and where Ginger Baker greeted me like an old pal even though we’d never met, laid the groundwork for LBC: the club that cleans the Glass family’s dirty money and paves for Luke to become a legitimate businessman.
LBC – The Lucky Bastards Club – was the original name for FAMILY and I was delighted to find it a new home when it was put aside in favour of a new title.
And then, of course, there’s Charley.
To find out about her, you’ll have to read the book.
I hope you do and I hope enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If so, why not stop by on social media and say hi. Now, on to the next one for me.
Has anybody seen where I put my memory? I had it a minute ago.
Start reading Insider by Owen Mullen!