When Dreda Say Mitchell published her first novel Running Hot in 2004, she was widely acclaimed as a fresh new voice on the largely male crime-writing scene. So much so that she won the Crime Writers Association’s John Creasey Dagger Award for best debut novel. Mitchell has gone on to publish four other crime novels, including Killer Tune and her latest book Hit Girls.
Also a broadcaster, journalist and education consultant, Mitchell is particularly passionate about improving the life chances of black and working class children. Andrea Enisuoh talks to her about her writing, educational projects and why collaborating with her partner, also a writer, is an organic process.
Your latest book Hit Girls is part of a series I have really enjoyed. I also spotted that you have published a short story, The Hotline, in America?
Yes, I wrote that for the Mystery Writers of America. Every year they produce an anthology which they get a big author to edit, then they ask writers they quite like to contribute. Lee Child, best-selling author of the Jack Reacher novels, edited the anthology [title Vengeance]. I was very flattered that he asked me to contribute.
When you were first published you were marketed as a black writer. Now your appeal is much wider and you are not being pigeonholed. Do you think you will continue with the crime writing genre?
Certainly. I find crime writing so exciting and, as a reader, I am a crime addict. There are such possibilities in crime writing. It allows me to write entertainingly, write great characters and even address topical issues. Crime writing allows me to do that in a way that straight literary fiction wouldn’t, or at least not in such an interesting way.
Your most recent style of crime writing – the gangland series – has led to a lot of comparisons with best selling author Martina Cole. How do you feel about that?
I can only say wow. I think I am coming to the end of my gangland writing now but still it’s a wow being compared to one of the top selling writers in the country. Actually Martina has been a great help to me and she has been very generous with her time. She gave me a quote for the cover of my book and I’ve also met her. It’s a great place to be because I think her readers will want to buy my books as well.
Is the crime writing community particularly supportive?
It’s a very generous genre. Everyone really does help each other out. I’m sure there is competition, but there is also a sense that there is room for each of us. The more we plug each other the better it is for the genre, the more the public will want to read it. I don’t think it is like that in all genres. I think there is a bit more competition going on in some others.
I first interviewed you after the publication of Running Hot and remember you hinted that your partner had quite a lot of input into the book.
Yes Tony and I have always collaborated, though we are much more open about it now. I remember writing Running Hot but I was nowhere near finished. He was writing as well so we though okay, let’s put our heads together.
I’ve always been quite intrigued about how such collaborative projects work.
For us it happened organically. We discovered that we had different kinds of strengths as writers. For example, I am really strong on characterisation while he is much better at plotting the twists and turns. He is also good at dialogue. I had to write most of it because it is clearly a very Dreda style book.
Will you be working together on other projects?
Most definitely. We have new ventures and new characters. I have changed agents too so I guess we feel there is everything to play for. It’s like we have turned a corner. The partnership has changed though because now we will write 50/50, though the name on the front of the books isn’t going to change because “Dreda” has the profile.
When we first met you also worked in education. I know you are particularly concerned about what is happening to young black men in Britain today.
I still am. I now have a consultancy. I work in schools and I have also been doing a lot of work in prisons. I did some work in Belmarsh Prison recently, which worked so well. I had three guys who just wrote and wrote and wrote. When one of the guys read his stuff aloud, my mouth just dropped it was so good.
What next?
There is so much going on that I have to step back and think about what is the priority. As well as the work I do with young people, I want us to do our own e-books. I have also been in discussions about turning Killer Tunes into a play. There is so much going on at the moment, which is just the way I like it.
Pictures and podcasts of Dreda from the launch of Literary Bites on Wednesday 5 December 2012 will be live soon.