{"id":287,"date":"2011-11-14T22:44:46","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T22:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crimeculture.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=287"},"modified":"2012-01-06T17:30:59","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T17:30:59","slug":"nigel-bird-and-dave-white-interview-each-other","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.crimeculture.com\/?page_id=287","title":{"rendered":"Nigel Bird & Dave White"},"content":{"rendered":"

interview each other\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"White\"<\/a>David White<\/a>\u00a0is the Derringer Award winning author of the\u00a0Jackson Donne stories. His works have appeared in\u00a0The\u00a0Thrilling Detective, Hardluck Stories, SHOTS UK, <\/em>and\u00a0Handheldcrime<\/em>. \u00a0David is a Rutgers University\u00a0graduate, current Montclair State graduate student, and\u00a0middle school teacher. \u00a0He is\u00a0the the\u00a0author of two Jackson Donne crime novels,\u00a0When One Man Dies<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Evil That Men Do<\/em>, and of a collection of Jackson Doane stories,\u00a0More Sinned Against<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Bird\"<\/a>Nigel Bird<\/a>\u00a0is a Support For Learning teacher in a primary school\u00a0near Edinburgh. Co-Producer of the Rue Bella magazine between\u00a01998 and 2003, he has had short work published in such places as\u00a0The Reader,\u00a0Crimespree,\u00a0Needle\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Dark Valentine Magazine<\/em>\u00a0and was interviewed by\u00a0Spinetingler\u00a0for their\u00a0\u2018Conversations With\u00a0The Bookless\u2019\u00a0series last year. He is bookless no more as his e-collection\u00a0Dirty Old Town<\/em> (And Other Stories)\u00a0<\/em>was recently released\u00a0to critical acclaim.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

David White interviewing Nigel Bird:<\/h4>\n

<\/em>One of the first things that\u00a0strikes\u00a0in your stories is how the voice changes with each character.\u00a0\u00a0Is that you challenging yourself as a writer?\u00a0\u00a0Or is it less conscious, and instead you\u2019re just following a character?<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Into<\/a>That\u2019s a really good question.<\/p>\n

Getting to grips with the beginning of a story can be very challenging.\u00a0\u00a0I tend to have an idea and then work out who\u2019s involved.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I can\u2019t start writing until the voice comes to me.\u00a0\u00a0Once it\u2019s in my head, I can put it into words and bring things to life \u2013 it moulds the characters and then shapes the way the story turns out.\u00a0Because of that, it\u2019s probably one of the biggest ingredients of my work, certainly in the drafting stages.<\/p>\n

Is Skye from \u201cSea Minor\u201d a real place?\u00a0\u00a0Why did you find it compelling enough to use as a setting for a story?<\/em><\/p>\n

Skye\u2019s a beautiful island off the West Coast of Scotland.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s attached to the mainland by a bridge, which gives it an unusual character \u2013 being joined to something yet clearly separated from it.\u00a0\u00a0I guess I feel a bit like Skye much of the time.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not an expert on the place, but like many rural areas, things move on slowly.\u00a0\u00a0Tradition is important and so is sticking together.\u00a0\u00a0For those reasons, I felt a young girl taken from a big city would find such a place to be a huge contrast to her routine.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019 s what I wanted.\u00a0\u00a0Contrast and connection, things that would allow her to understand what was about to happen and to help her through it.<\/p>\n

It also allows for that sense of the traditional tale, the\u00a0story-telling, which was also important to me in this piece.\u00a0\u00a0Her grandmother\u2019s interpretations come from an almost mystical perspective and, hopefully, tapped into that heritage.<\/p>\n

Funny thing about that one is that I\u2019m frequently asked about the ending and what happened.\u00a0\u00a0To me it\u2019s as clear as spring-water, but then for this one the ending was my beginning.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m going to drop the hint that \u2018A Perfect Day For Banana Fish\u2019 was a big clue.<\/p>\n

Where did the idea for \u201cTaking a Line for a Walk\u201d\u00a0come from?\u00a0\u00a0Anytime shoveling puke is the high point of the day for a character, I want to know more about him.<\/em><\/p>\n

The stimulus was a \u2018sad janitor\u2019 competition.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a teacher in a primary school and so I\u2019ve seen my share of vomit piles over the years.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve also seen it from the kid\u2019s perspective, when you\u2019re the one sitting next to the puke.\u00a0\u00a0Either way it\u2019s gross.<\/p>\n

As a male teacher, and a rather scruffy one at that, I\u2019ve often been taken for the janitor and that\u2019s always made me smile.\u00a0\u00a0There are plenty of people out there making schools work and things wouldn\u2019t function without the back-up staff, so I value the services they provide and the character they add to a place.<\/p>\n

One janitor I knew well had his finger bitten off in the line of duty.\u00a0\u00a0Strangely that didn\u2019t end up in the story.<\/p>\n

I saw my janitor as an observer and, as an old man, a measure of change.<\/p>\n

I also wanted to bring in some social conscience.\u00a0\u00a0When companies and projects merge they often do a little spring-cleaning with their staff, a little pruning here and there.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s in the name of rationalization (cost-cutting and profit) and the lay-offs often hit hard.\u00a0\u00a0One little story is unlikely to achieve any changes, but I like the idea of using my craft to offer food for thought.<\/p>\n

Which of your stories is your personal favorite?\u00a0\u00a0Why?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s really tough.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to pick ‘Drinking Wine’ (Spo-Dee-Oh-Dee).<\/p>\n

It was lots of fun to write.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I love the opening \u2013 \u201cGirl like you\u2019s the kind I roll the red carpet out for.\u201d Her tongue fell from her mouth and rippled from side to side. \u201cIf you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s playful and very much out of character for me.<\/p>\n

It also brings the song to mind every time I think of it, which is no bad thing.\u00a0http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g0lmX06odhw<\/a>\u00a0if you need a treat or want to tap your toes.<\/p>\n

\"Bird\"<\/a>Was \u201cDirty Old Town\u201d inspired by the Human Growth Hormone culture of pro sports these days?\u00a0\u00a0Or did the idea come from somewhere darker?<\/em><\/p>\n

The idea was inspired by drugs use in sport.\u00a0\u00a0If it\u2019s darker than that, it\u2019s where the characters took it.<\/p>\n

I find the idea of legality and legitimacy really interesting.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s often such a fine line dividing them that it\u2019s easy to cross either way.<\/p>\n

With the London Olympics around the corner, it seemed like a good way to think about how the pressures might have people stretching themselves in ways that they might not otherwise consider.\u00a0\u00a0Here we have a kid who wants to be the best in his field, driven to pushing at the boundaries and hoping to get away with it.<\/p>\n

It was the gymnastics aspect that appealed, too; the image of the crucifixion on the rings was hard to resist.<\/p>\n

The darkness that swallows the light comes in the form of revenge and I hope it was a fitting retribution.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best novel you\u2019ve read in the past year?\u00a0\u00a0Why?<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m plumping for 3.<\/p>\n

Savages\u00a0by Don Winslow.\u00a0\u00a0Because it was like\u00a0I was being slapped around by soft hands, the hands of a poet with a dark mind.<\/p>\n

Pike\u00a0by Benjamin Whitmer.\u00a0\u00a0Because it was like\u00a0I was being slapped around by knuckle-dusters\u00a0after a good water boarding.\u00a0\u00a0Prose tight as a fist.<\/p>\n

Katja From The Punk Band\u00a0by Simon Logan.\u00a0\u00a0Because of the world created, the immediacy of the plot and the pure energy of it all.\u00a0\u00a0Particularly good at point of view, too.<\/p>\n

In all three, there are characters\u00a0who\u00a0are so well drawn it\u2019s impossible not to feel completely involved and they carry no extra weight at all.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also going to have to mention Donald Ray Pollock\u2019s\u00a0Knockemstiff\u00a0which\u00a0was my favourite of all.\u00a0\u00a0As it\u2019s a collection of shorts it\u2019s not strictly a novel, but it\u2019s outstanding.\u00a0\u00a0I wrote a review of it that was entitled \u2018Carver Meets The Devil\u2019 which I thought summed it up.\u00a0\u00a0A rare combination of rich and spare, something that\u2019s almost impossible to achieve.\u00a0\u00a0Outstanding.<\/p>\n

What are you currently working on?<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m working on a novel of teacher noir, working title currently \u2018A New Dawn Fades\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0In it a teacher\u2019s life spirals out of control with pretty severe consequences (very familiar ground).\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m half way through and looking forward to giving that a lot of attention soon.<\/p>\n

There are some short stories rattling around inside me, too.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m hoping that I can find their voices and get them down in the\u00a0time-frame\u00a0I have for them.<\/p>\n

Then I have\u00a0Pulp Ink.\u00a0\u00a0Chris Rhatigan (of\u00a0Death By Killing) and I have assembled a team of all-stars to produce stories inspired by the\u00a0Pulp Fiction\u00a0soundtrack.\u00a0\u00a0Chris is a joy to work with \u2013 he\u2019s easy going, but knows what he\u2019s about.\u00a0\u00a0We are both new to this kind of project and it\u2019s certainly been a steep\u00a0learning-curve.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So far we have almost half the stories and they are absolutely outstanding.\u00a0\u00a0The deadline for the others is June 1st<\/sup>, so you can expect to see it out by late summer all being well.\u00a0\u00a0Without a shadow of a doubt it will be one of the finest anthologies of this year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nigel Bird interviewing David White:<\/h4>\n

\"More<\/a>You have a story in the\u00a0Do Some Damage<\/em>\u00a0anthology \u2018Terminal Damage\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0Can you tell me a little bit about the way the team found each other and how the anthology came about?<\/p>\n

Basically, I got an email.\u00a0\u00a0Steve Weddle and Jay Stringer wanted to start a blog that got posts from people at different stages of their writing career.\u00a0\u00a0Newly published, cagey vets, unpublished with a book on the market, that sort of thing.\u00a0So they asked me if I wanted in.\u00a0\u00a0My own blog was starting to slow down a bit because I was running out of post ideas, and I figured it\u2019d be easier to write about writing only once a week.\u00a0\u00a0So I took the gig.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cTerminal Damage\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m not exactly sure who came up with the idea.\u00a0\u00a0I think I came to that late in the process.\u00a0\u00a0Again, an idea where I got an email saying \u201cHey, this is what we\u2019re going to do\u2026\u201d\u00a0\u00a0I like writing and I hadn\u2019t written a short story in a while so I was definitely game.<\/em><\/p>\n

In that anthology, you tell us about a planned suicide that doesn\u2019t pan out.\u00a0\u00a0The central character is a very unbalanced young man who is responding in a very extreme way to a minor rejection.\u00a0\u00a0His state of mind rings so true that I wonder if there\u2019s any of your teenage self in there.<\/p>\n

There probably is.\u00a0\u00a0I wasn\u2019t that unhinged when I was a kid.\u00a0\u00a0I was your typical teen:\u00a0\u00a0shy, awkward, lots of friends.\u00a0\u00a0I never considered suicide, even though\u00a0I\u2019d been rejected by girls plenty of times.\u00a0\u00a0That story came out of the opening line.\u00a0\u00a0The more and more I\u00a0wrote,\u00a0the more I realized that the main character was a teen.\u00a0\u00a0Had to be.\u00a0\u00a0And while every character has a little bit of me in it, this one was pretty far from the source.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ray Banks writes a brilliant introduction to your collection to\u00a0No Way Out.\u00a0\u00a0He says \u2018I love Dave White like a fat kid loves cake.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0How do you like Ray\u2019s baking?<\/p>\n

Ah, if only he was as good a baker as he is a wordsmith.\u00a0\u00a0Imagine he could put out DONKEY PUNCH cookies and SATURDAY\u2019S CHILD pies.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019d be brilliant.\u00a0\u00a0He is one of my favorite writers.\u00a0\u00a0What he does with point of view in SC and BEAST OF BURDEN is fantastic.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"White\"<\/a>Ray also mentions that your protagonist, Jackson Donne, marries \u2018the traditional PI stories with a fresh and thoroughly modern perspective\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s one of the things I really enjoyed about the collection.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m not sure I\u2019d have the guts to try a PI story.\u00a0\u00a0There are so many great characters out there, there\u2019s a certain amount of baggage they have to carry and you also have to bring something new.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s something you seem to achieve effortlessly.\u00a0\u00a0How conscious were you of including the PI standards in Jackson Donne and how did you manage to make him stand out of the crowd so clearly without upsetting the\u00a0apple-cart?<\/p>\n

I think Donne starts out very traditional.\u00a0\u00a0I wrote \u201cGod Bless the Child\u201d when I was in college reading every PI author I could find.\u00a0\u00a0So, even if I tried to be horribly different, it wasn\u2019t going to happen as I internalized as much about the PI as possible.\u00a0\u00a0But as I wrote more stories, I think Donne grew naturally.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s younger, so that helps him stand out from the pack.\u00a0\u00a0As a younger guy, he\u2019s going to make younger decisions.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s going to be rash.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s not always going to think things through.\u00a0\u00a0Plus, he\u2019s seen a lot of shit in\u00a0his\u00a0twenty-eight years.\u00a0\u00a0Most PIs don\u2019t see that much until they\u2019re in their late 30s.\u00a0\u00a0So that affects him.\u00a0\u00a0The more a character grows the more that character is going to separate himself from the pack.<\/em><\/p>\n

Your third story in the collection concerns the aftermath of the Twin Towers\u2019 demise.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not something I think about often, but nor is it something that\u2019s likely to go away from my mind.\u00a0\u00a0The story is very powerful indeed, even now.\u00a0\u00a0Without wishing to dredge up difficult or predictable memories, how did you feel about writing that story and how do you feel about it now there\u2019s a distance between then and now?<\/p>\n

I wrote that story to deal with the tragedy.\u00a0\u00a0Living only 15 miles from Ground Zero, it impacted my life a lot.\u00a0\u00a0I didn\u2019t know anyone who was lost in the tragedy, but I knew people who lost people.\u00a0\u00a0My uncle, a local fire fighter, got to the site as soon as he could to try and help with the\u00a0clean-up.\u00a0\u00a0I knew people who wanted to join the military to help as well.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know how to deal with what I saw.\u00a0\u00a0The only thing I knew was writing.\u00a0\u00a0I actually never intended the story to be published, I was just writing it for myself.\u00a0\u00a0But after it set on my computer for a few months, I showed it to my parents.\u00a0\u00a0They loved it and encouraged me to submit it.\u00a0\u00a0The way I felt about writing it is encapsulated in that.\u00a0\u00a0It was written for me.\u00a0\u00a0No one else.\u00a0\u00a0But it got out there.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now?\u00a0\u00a0I still like the story a lot.\u00a0\u00a0There\u2019s a lot of words in there I\u2019d like to change, but I still love the idea of it.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a story that pushed my limits as a writer at the time.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s also the first story where I think Donne starts to separate himself as more than just another PI.\u00a0\u00a0He doesn\u2019t interfere in the case.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s just a spectator\u2026 just like we all were on 9\/11.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

You published the collection with the rather exciting Needle Publishing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Any dirt to dish?<\/p>\n

Steve Weddle smears nacho cheese on his face before he edits anything.\u00a0\u00a0I have no idea why.\u00a0\u00a0And I hate Nacho Cheese, so I wish he wouldn\u2019t send me pictures of him editing.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"White<\/a>Otherwise, they\u2019re just a quality bunch of folks over there.\u00a0\u00a0They have a great eye for talent (Hell, Weddle published a Chris F. Holm story that\u2019s going to be in a BAMS anthology), great cover art, and everything\u2019s professionally done.\u00a0\u00a0Keep an eye on\u00a0them,\u00a0they\u2019re going to keep putting out great stuff.<\/em><\/p>\n

I really loved\u00a0More Sinned Against.\u00a0\u00a0What can I look forward to from you in the future?<\/p>\n

My two novels WHEN ONE MAN DIES and THE EVIL\u00a0THAT MEN\u00a0DO are available stateside right now.\u00a0\u00a0In the coming weeks, I\u2019m going to be e-publishing my novel WITNESS TO DEATH.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s a standalone about a teacher who gets mixed up with spies and terrorists.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m really looking forward to the reaction it gets when it\u2019s available.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

interview each other\u00a0 David White\u00a0is the Derringer Award winning author of the\u00a0Jackson Donne stories. His works have appeared in\u00a0The\u00a0Thrilling Detective,<\/p>\n

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