Q&A Interview with John Nicholl
Today I would like to welcome John Nicholl to take part with my Q&A interview. John is author of White Is The Coldest Colour and When Evil Calls Your Name. Vicki Hobbs my guest reviewer has kindly reviewed them, which I am very excited to share with you at the end of this interview.
Morning, thank you for joining me
Hello and thank you for inviting me
Can you tell us a little about yourself and background?
I’ve worked as a police officer, child protection social worker, manager and trainer. I’ve also lectured on child protection matters at various colleges and universities.
When did you know that you wanted to become a writer? and how did you go about it?
Even as a child I enjoyed writing. I wrote a child protection textbook and articles for magazines and newspapers during my career, but White Is The Coldest Colour was my first novel. I just started writing it one day to see if I could, and went from there.
Can you tell us what genre your books are and the audience you write for?
Both my books are dark psychological thrillers which draw heavily on my professional experiences.
What is your writing process? and how long does it take?
Some days I write for hours, whilst others are far less productive. If I’m not in the mood to write, I do something else instead
Are your characters based on anyone you know or are they just fictional?
My books are entirely fictional, but it’s inevitable that people you’ve met over the years bleed into your fictional characters to varying degrees.
Have you written about a personal experience in your novels?
I do draw on personal experiences and places to bring an air of reality the text.
What research do you do?
I spent over twenty years working in child protection. That was research enough.
Who would you like to co-write with and why?
No, I can’t imagine writing with anyone else.
What's your favourite book?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; a wonderful and uplifting book.
What's your favourite food?
Mediterranean
What's your favourite film?
The English patient… a great book and a great film.
What's your favourite song?
Gimme shelter by the Rolling Stones
How can readers find out more information about yourself and your books?
I have a Facebook page:
http://www.johnnicholl.com/
and can be followed on Twitter: nicholl06.
Thank you John for joining me today and Thank you Vicki for sharing your thoughts with us. These are definitely books not to be missed.
Vicki’s thoughts
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White is the coldest colour by John Nicholl (4.5 out of 5)
This book totally blew me away, from the dark first chapter right to the end. There are sociopaths out there in the real world and after reading this one, you might start wondering how many you know! Warning - this book caused an extra long lunch break and a nearly burned dinner (time just escaped me)!
I knew from the book blurb that this book would deal with some uncomfortable subjects, but I knew I couldn't leave this one unread. Although this book deals with the subject of predatory child abuse, it does not sexualise this or graphically describe it - it handles the subject with considerably more sensitivity than the daily papers do. The first chapter is quite dark, to set the scene and introduce some of the main characters. From there on you don't get to take a breath, there is no fluff filling.
John Nicholl comes from a social work and police background, which gives him significant insight into the things that happen behind closed doors. He shows readers that although the "system" has its flaws, the people working in it are generally trying to do their best, often under extreme circumstances. I was amazed to discover that this is a debut novel, this is an author that is going to have to be on my watch list.
When Evil Calls Your Name (4 out of 5)
This is the sequel to White is the coldest colour, and I strongly recommend reading them in order, though not necessarily together. This is a thoughtful book, well written and well worded. It is a slower paced story, not as twisty as the first book, it is almost a different genre, maybe domestic noir? Again, John Nicholl handles some emotive situations with sensitivity and skill.
This is Cynthia's side of the story, from her innocent naivety through her manipulation to her moment of realisation and her response to it. Cynthia is in prison, writing the story of her life as part of her therapy whilst dealing with the day-to-day prison stuff too. Sometimes you want to comfort her, other times you want to shout at the book!
Often when seeing news stories involving evil men, I wonder how much the wife knew about the man she was married to - this book sheds some light on that. There is a big difference between being innocent and being not guilty, some people are both.
John has created some interesting Police characters in these books, which I hope he carries forward into other stories, with or without the Galbraiths
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