Ross Greenwood is the author of crime thrillers. Before becoming a full-time writer he was most recently a prison officer and so worked every day with murderers, rapists and thieves for four years. He lives in Peterborough.
Q. You’ve previously worked as a Prison Officer. Do you think this experience brings a sense of realism and authenticity to your writing?
Definitely. I thought I had an idea what prison life was like before I worked in one, and I didn’t really have a clue. They are such unnatural places, and very much not like Porridge or Shawshank. High concrete walls and a thousand men locked up at night, sometimes for years on end, is such a strange concept. Opening people’s eyes to this is shocking and interesting, even if I’m merely describing the reality.
HMP Peterborough also has 300 women next door, making it the only prison in the UK to have officers working both sides. That gave me the whole picture so to speak, and they were very different places. There were quite a few bad men, who thought they were above the law, or chose to ignore it, but surprisingly few women like that.
It’s painfully obvious after being in those places for any length of time that male murderers kill other men over money and power, and they also take the lives of their partners after years of abusing them. Female murderers tend to kill their partners after years of being abused.
“As a writer, you’re ostensibly a reader first, so I think of what I enjoy in books, and then try to repeat that in my own.”
Q. Your thrillers are usually tense with an explosive ending. Do you spend a lot of time planning the plot twists and turns in advance, or do you write freely?
I’ve done both. I think I would write more freely if I didn’t have young children, because I’m constantly getting distracted and you can lose weeks with school holidays or sickness, and then I struggle to remember what I’ve written so far. In that case, a detailed plan really helps.
For crime, the twist is super important and people expect one. You’d think after hundreds of years of fiction all the twists are done, but the best ones are often the ones that mess with our assumptions. Like making the killer someone weak earlier in the book. I usually know the twist before I start writing, and then write to that end, but the characters come alive over the 80,000 words, and the story moves.
The best twists I’ve found have often come while writing or editing the novels, so I haven’t planned them. That way, they come right out of left field (if you’ll excuse that phrase), and the reader will never forget your book, and hopefully recommend it to their friends.
Q. Your titles are narrated by David Thorpe. What do you feel David’s narration brings to your stories in audio?
I’m a recent convert to audio books, so in that respect I was so lucky because back in 2019 I hadn’t listened to an audio book before, so when Boldwood asked me to select the narrator for The Snow Killer, I chose the one I thought sounded like someone I could listen to for twelve hours. I didn’t realise he had such a large range of voices and accents.
Not only that, but he has a huge following, so I get lots of readers coming to try my books who listen to his other recordings and just love his style. It’s like free advertising.
The surprising thing I’ve found about audiobooks is that I seem to be more invested in the book. It’s a similar but different experience to reading, whereby the characters can seem more real. David has a unique ability to let you easily differentiate between the different protagonists, but his best talent is having you gasping out loud at the surprises.
Q. Would you like to see DI Barton adapted for the screen? If so, who would play him best?
Yes, if Netflix are keen, I could be persuaded. Barton is tall and a little plump, so he’s not the Hollywood norm. So, it’d be a breakout role for a retired rugby player like Lawrence Dallaglio or Joe Marler. It’s a shame I’m not taller 😊
Q. What do you enjoy about working with Boldwood?
It’s a tough business to be in with incredible amounts of very talented competition. Some publishers have a habit of not giving their newer authors a decent chance of success when books are released, but Boldwood only sign multiple book deals, and they really persist in finding readers even if they don’t materialise immediately, which is very reassuring as an author.
They have a lot of experience and use about eight streams for sales, including audio and libraries, which means that the authors get paid more and they also reach a bigger audience. As I said above, they are happy for the authors to have their say in a collaborative approach, which makes you feel a valued member of an ambitious team that really appear to be heading to the top.
“With great fiction, whatever’s going on in my life, I can still find great pleasure and peace in a cup of tea, a plate full of sandwiches, and a cracking story. Now I can listen, I don’t even need to turn the pages.”
Q. Is there a particular book that has changed your life?
Ender’s Game had an amazing twist which I’ve never forgotten, but I don’t read novels more than once. So, it’s just books themselves that have changed my life. As a writer, you’re ostensibly a reader first, so I think of what I enjoy in books, and then try to repeat that in my own.
I love fast action, great but plausible twists, and real characters. I want my good guys to be a little bad and my bad guys a little good, like real life, but most of all I want to be invested in the lives of the people I’m reading about, so I really care when something dramatic, either horrible or heavenly, happens to them.
With great fiction, whatever’s going on in my life, I can still find great pleasure and peace in a cup of tea, a plate full of sandwiches, and a cracking story. Now I can listen, I don’t even need to turn the pages.
Q. What are you listening to at the moment?
The Guv’nor. It’s the autobiography of Lennie McLean, a bare-knuckle fighter who starred in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. I often listen to audiobooks while doing odd jobs around the house, but I keep finding myself frozen in place, gormlessly gawping off into the distance, completely engrossed by the voice to my ear.
I’ve got a Peter James audiobook lined up next, to see what the competition are up to. 😉
Q. What is your favourite thing about being an author?
I guess I enjoy it all. It can be a lonely existence and it’s hard work. 80,000 words doesn’t write itself, so that’s many hours in a chair, and I’m not overjoyed with the editing process. They say your book is only ready for publication when you’re bored rigid with it, and I would agree with that.
Yet there are so many great things about it. Finishing your first book is such a buzz, seeing it in your hand, and then in Waterstones is hard to describe. There’s a lot of three steps forward, two back, but that means you really appreciate the highs.
I enjoy hearing from readers and I’ve made some good friends in the literary world through Facebook groups and literary festivals.
So even when, many years from now, Netflix do make me rich, I’ll probably still carry on.
Ross Greenwood books on xigxag
