A Conversation with Andrew James Greig
My first published book, Whirligig, was written in 2019 and was a finalist for the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime as well as being listed for the CWA New Blood Dagger Award. I’ve since written more books in the tartan noir category, with The Girl In The Loch just announced for the McIlvanney longlist for this year. I’ve also had a climate change fiction published – A Song of Winter – in which a young family face an ice age and have to survive against all the odds.
Prior to becoming a published writer I alternated between electronic and software engineering for major aerospace companies and providing the sound for acts as diverse as Ravi Shankar to The Fall.
Now living in Scotland, I spend my time writing and enjoying the wonderful mountains and islands of my home.
Which genre do you write in and what draws you to it?I mostly write tartan noir – fairly hard-hitting crime books set in Scotland, often with a hint of Celtic mythology woven through the storyline. Living in this wild and rugged landscape provides much of the inspiration for my stories and I can blame a literary agent at a book festival for encouraging me to write crime.
Are you an avid reader? Do you prefer books in your own genre or are you happy to explore others?I read like someone possessed from an early age, soon exhausting my local London library’s supply of junior Science fiction and I had to hit the harder stuff in the adult section. Only once did I suffer the indignity of the librarian censoring my pile and removing titles she considered too ‘mature’ for a sensitive young mind. Now I read across all genres although my read rate has dropped considerably since I’ve started writing myself.
Are you a self-published/traditional or hybrid author?Initially I self-published on the Amazon platform. When I’d completed my first attempt at writing in 2018 (One is One) I sent the MS to a batch of agents and waited patiently for a response. To be honest, it was probably overly ambitious to expect a story about 13th Century Thomas the Rhymer set in the modern day to be an instant best seller. Factor in that his mind is mostly gone and he could dance between dimensional worlds and I can see their reluctance. It did win a Silver Reader’s Award and when I have time I’ll edit it and write the next two in the series – whether the world’s ready for Fairy Tartan Noir or not!
Who has been the biggest influence on your writing?There are many authors who continue to inspire me. Classical writers such as Robert Louis Stevenson or Jane Austen; modern writers like Iain Banks and Margaret Atwood; more experimental authors such as Jess Kidd and Everett Percival. I’m always trying to improve my writing, hopeless though that task appears, but in the end I write for myself and try to create something of which I’m proud.
Has your country of origin/culture influenced your writing?Living in Scotland there is inspiration at every turn – from the gritty cities to the wild western islands. How can anyone not be inspired by such a beautiful landscape?
What part of the writing process do you find most difficult? How do you overcome it?I’m a pantser, I freely admit. More often than not I start writing with a mind as blank as the computer screen. Beginning is easy, the ending is tricky but manageable, the middle is hell. By the time I’m a third of the way in the doubts have started – is this absolute rubbish; how is this all meant to make sense; nobody will ever want to read this, will they? The struggle is real, each step is laborious, the slightest distraction is enough to encourage me away from the keyboard (social media a prime example)! It can only ever be overcome by forcing myself to write. When the words are on the page they can be dealt with – improved, re-written, deleted as needs be. If the words aren’t there, nothing can happen.
What was the best piece of writing advice you received when starting out?Write for yourself. Not for the critics, or to make money, or to appease reviewers. Write whatever makes you happy, words that mean something to you. You’ll never please everyone so please yourself.
Do you have a favourite time of day to write?Mornings are generally best. My mind has had a chance to dream up the next few chapters and I’m fresh enough to look at the previous chapters and edit as I go. There’s no hard and fast rule, sometimes I write at night – it’s a random process.
If you weren’t an author, what would you be up to?Travelling. I’ve worked hard my entire life and am fortunate not to need to work anymore. There’s a huge and wonderful world out there to explore – I’d love to see more of it before we destroy it altogether.
If a movie was made of one of your books, who would you like to play the lead roles?Any actors who can identify with the characters and portray them so they are believable.
If you could live the life of an historical figure for one day, who would you choose and what would you get up to?I’d like to live the life of a plains Indian before their way of life was destroyed forever. If I could see the herds of buffalo, the flowers and insects and be at one with nature instead of against it. Could I stay for some of the night as well? I can only imagine how the night sky would have appeared.
If you could travel back in time, what era would you go to? What draws you to this particular time?Sometime prior to the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs would be good – dangerous – but incredible to experience the world so long ago. It may be a short-lived trip but worth it.
You have been chosen as a member of the crew on the first one-way flight to Mars – you are allowed to bring 5 books with you. What would they be?This question is impossible to answer and I’d have already changed my mind 100 times since taking off. There’d definitely be at least one collection of poetry which would be essential when faced with such an arid and deadly planet.
Please tell us about your latest published work.
My latest book is Silent Ritual, released 28th June 2024.
An ear-shattering scream pierces the quiet Glasgow street as a mother stands frozen in her doorway, groceries strewn at her feet. Her son holds a bloodied knife while his father lies dead before him.
As Logan Martin begins his prison sentence for the brutal murder of his father, the eighteen-year-old’s aunt hires private investigator Teàrlach Paterson. She believes Logan is innocent and wants Teàrlach to uncover the truth.
Teàrlach’s visit to the Martin family home yields two disturbing discoveries: a pentagram etched under the carpet in Logan’s sister’s bedroom, and a link to the sinister deaths of their elderly neighbours—a journal with the same ominous symbol lies in the couple’s home.
While ritualistic murders plague the city, bodies placed precisely on an occult pentagram, bound in intricate knots, Teàrlach and his team unearth the sinister inspiration behind the killings in a mysterious ancient map.
Then, two young women are reported missing, and Teàrlach fears the worst. He’s inching closer to a killer who is weaving a complex web of murder rooted in Glasgow’s pagan past. But can Teàrlach stop the twisted soul from carrying out another cruel ritual? This time, one of his own is about to be in grave danger.
Buy Link: https://geni.us/488-po-fbo-am
If you’d like to know more about Andrew, check out his social media links below:
Andrew James Greig
CWA New Blood Dagger Longlist 2020
McIlvanney Best Scottish Crime Novel Finalist 2020
https://www.instagram.com/andrew_james_greig/
https://twitter.com/AndrewJamesGre3
https://andrewjgreig.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/
