Author Q&A with David Arrowsmith

Author Q&A with David Arrowsmith

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David Arrowsmith is a TV Executive, husband, and father to a 2 year old human dynamo of a daughter. Born and raised in London, England he has also lived in Hong Kong and Manchester. He is half Colombian and half British. Nevada Noir is his first published work of fiction.

In February 2017 he travelled to Nevada (and through parts of Utah and a large swathe of California) on a road trip with his wife, and was struck by the beauty and contrasts of the natural and man-made environments. The photograph used on the cover was taken while on this vacation by his wife – a professional photographer. These stories began life as frantically typed notes on his smartphone in the shower and then on his morning commute to work in central London. These lines turned out to be the first paragraphs of the first story in what would become the Nevada Noir trilogy. He decided to share these stories as a response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown.

He was inspired to write this trilogy by his love for authors such as Cormac McCarthy, Elmore Leonard, James Ellroy, Raymond Chandler, Martin Cruz Smith, John Le Carre, Chester Himes and Lee Child – and by films such as Hell or High Water; Pulp Fiction; True Romance; Paris, Texas and Fargo.

 

1. Tells us about your writing/ published book(s)

Nevada Noir is my debut work of fiction and is a dark, atmospheric trilogy of intertwined tales of greed and temptation in the Nevada badlands. In the three dark and brooding short stories, set in and around the US state of Nevada, a cast of disparate characters struggle with greed and temptation, and the cursed lure of easy money. An old man goes in search of his son in the aftermath of a terrible storm, a couple down on their luck make a life-changing discovery and an ex-cop has one last impossible decision to make…

 

2.  How do you approach starting a new book?

An image normally just invades my brain, often as I wake. I have to write it down, typically on my phone, before it goes. If I love it enough I’ll try and think where the story might go from there and whether or or not to carry on writing it. With Nevada Noir that image was the old man in the shack, and the storm breaking over the land. This formed the opening of The Last Storm, the first of the three tales in Nevada Noir.

 

3. What’s your favourite genre to read?

I like to vary it. Noir, and detective and spy fiction, are particular favourites but I also love Sci fi, fantasy, historical fiction and all kinds of literary fiction.

 

4. Have you always wanted to write?

I think so, yes. I think I just forgot that dream temporarily, but now it’s back with a vengeance! I remember in primary school getting a detention for laughing in assembly, and my best friend and I were ‘forced’ to spend a break time writing our own choice of story. It was the best punishment ever.

 

5. How do you fit writing into your everyday life?

With difficulty! At the moment we have very little space and even less time. With lockdown and a toddler it’s a real challenge. But the response to Nevada Noir has been incredible, and has really motivated me to find a way to overcome these obstacles. I make notes on my phone if I have new ideas or thoughts that come to me at inopportune moments, and my main writing comes when my daughter is at nursery on Mondays and Tuesdays, and in lunchtimes and evenings when she is asleep.

 

6. Tell me about your current work

I’m currently finishing the first draft of my first full length novel – a dark, dystopian tale set in South East London in 2021. It has the working title Corona and it’s heavily inspired by JG Ballard (High Rise, Concrete Island, The Drowned World, The Drought, The Crystal World) and Cormac McCarthy (The Road). I’m also preparing to dive back into Nevada for a prequel, and possibly a postquel, trilogy – which could mean a Nevada Noir novel combining all three in the not too distant future. And I have some other exotic, location-based noir trilogy ideas set in places that mean something to me. On top of that I’ve written the first chapter of a ‘Scandi noir’ novel that I have entered into a competition to co-write with a Swedish crime author. So watch this space!

 

You can find David Arrowsmith on Twitter.