Tag: romance

Rod Reynolds

Rod Reynolds is the author of four novels, including the Charlie Yates series. His 2015 debut, The Dark Inside, was long-listed for the CWA New Blood Dagger, and was followed by Black Night Falling (2016) and Cold Desert Sky (2018); the Guardian has called the books “Pitch-perfect American noir”. A lifelong Londoner, in 2020 Orenda Books published his first novel set in his hometown, Blood Red City. Rod previously worked in advertising as a media buyer, and holds an MA in novel writing from City University London. Rod lives with his wife and spends most of his time trying to keep up with his two young daughters.

Hi Rod how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?

R: If it’s cocktails it has to be a mojito, please!

A popular choice here. So where did we first meet in real life?

R: Oh no, you’ve got me there – at a book event, maybe someone’s launch? I do remember we then were thrown together for a panel at CrimeFest shortly after, which was great fun.

Yes I think it was an Orenda book event at Waterstones and since then we’ve done two CrimeFest panels together. What were your first impressions?

R: Bubbly, lively, chatty, fun.

Any points in common?

R: Writing, writing and writing. Also, my old job was to buy advertising space in some of the magazines you used to write for.

I’ve enjoyed your Charlie Yates series. Tell me about your latest book?

R: My latest book, Blood Red City, has just been published and is my first standalone. Set in my hometown of London, it sees a crusading journalist sent a video of an apparent murder on a London Tube train. When she begins to investigate, she’s drawn into a terrifying web of money, politics and power, where information is the only thing more dangerous than a bullet.

Sounds my perfect type of book. What are you working on now?

R: I’m working on a standalone that’s a bit more of a psychological thriller – but I haven’t discussed it with my publisher yet, so I can’t say too much more about that!

What would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?

R: I’d love to interview my big writing hero James Ellroy. I’m a huge fan so I’d like to ask him loads of in-depth questions about his work – the kind of thing authors hate, because I’d be asking him about some minor plot point in a twenty-five year old book that he probably barely remembers writing. He’d most likely just call me names and berate me for the duration.

Well if you’re reading this Mr Ellroy… What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?

R: Being able to go to gigs again. I don’t get to go to that many these days anyway, and lockdown has made me miss and appreciate seeing live music even more.

Is there anything lockdown has made you think about/want to do?

R: Do some of the trips I’ve had in mind for years, such as travelling across Canada. It’s too easy to put these things off but lockdown and the pandemic have reminded me that there’s no time like the present.

I wonder what your daughters will make of travelling across Canada? Thank you so much for joining me, Rod and I hope we meet up at some book events soon.

You can contact Rod Reynolds rodreynoldsauthor@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @Rod_WR

From Romance to Crime

cropped-dancersinthewind.jpgMy last staff job was as Assistant Fiction Editor on Woman’s Weekly and Woman & Home – many years ago now. For a year before that I’d worked on a confessions magazine where I had my very first short story accepted and published. Strangely enough, that story involved a crime: blackmail with the perpetrator – the “I” of the confessional – ending up losing her job. Moral retribution.

Some of the serials we published in WW and W&H were written specifically for those magazines. Others were novels about to be published and serialised beforehand. Most were romances – although W&H allowed a wider remit and we had thrillers as well but always with a romantic perspective.

Most novels had to be abridged and each episode had to end with a cliff-hanger  – some novels lent themselves to this easily. Others had to be worked on. I also had to learn the art of the synopsis as each week or month we began with “The story so far…” And even though I became adept at this I still find it difficult to write synopses for my own work!

Romantic stories tend to be predictable ­– the skill is to keep the reader hooked regardless. So many people (not authors) have told me that writing a romance is easy. I’d like to see them try. They are really difficult to get right. And if you’re not sincere, this will be exposed in your writing.

During this time, I tried my hand at short stories but without success. It took me some time to find my “voice” although I was given some encouragement along the way. By the time I left IPC magazines, I had some good contacts and translated two books from French for WH Allen (one under a pseudonym as it was an erotic novel for which I had to learn a lot of new words!).

While freelancing as a journalist, I started writing tales with a twist for Bella and also wrote longer stories. A lot of the twist stories had an element of crime – from bigamy to murder – involved. I also wrote an historical crime story linked to Sherlock Holmes, which was published in Candis.

Then came the commission to interview a police officer and a prostitute at King’s Cross and the knock on the door in the middle of the night which started a trail of “what ifs” that eventually became Dancers in the Wind.

 I’ve always had a passion for reading crime fiction from Dickens and Wilkie Collins to Edgar Allan Poe and, of course, Arthur Conan Doyle. Patricia Highsmith,  Minette Walters and Sara Paretsky all feature in my list of favourites. There are some great crime writers around now – each one with different skills and perspectives ­– and I love reading them especially the police procedurals that I’d never attempt myself.

In my novels the police investigation is in the background while Hannah investigates from a journalist’s point of view although there is always a personal connection which leads her into harrowing situations. And just with a nod to my past editorial roles, there’s also just an element of romance.

Dancers in the Wind is on sale in Foyles and other bookshops and can be ordered from Amazon UK or Hive Stores with free delivery.