Nikki Crutchley
“I was watching Dark Tourist. Onscreen, David Farrier was on a Jeffrey Dahmer tour…
He was visiting some of the places where the Milwaukee serial killer murdered people. The episode was fascinating and at the same time deeply disturbing and it got me wondering how small town New Zealand would respond to a murder tour. I was also thinking about violent crime and celebrity and the way trials unfold in the public eye. So, with these morsels of ideas in mind, I began researching and writing my third book, The Murder Club. I’m a one woman band. I write, publish, market and distribute my books myself. I work with an ex-undercover detective who helps with police procedural questions and with a pathologist on cause of death. I wrote numerous drafts of The Murder Club. Then, I put on my publisher’s hat. As publisher, it’s my job to get my manuscript assessed, edited and proofread. After layout and cover design, the book was printed and I focused on distribution: getting the books into bricks and mortar bookshops and online stores. I think this is one of the hardest parts. Next, I sent copies to bloggers and reviewers and did everything I could to make sure it was out there and visible.
I’ve only ever published my books myself so I don’t know how I would feel about the ownership of my work if I was traditionally published, but I think I’d feel the same. A huge amount of work goes into creating a book — even before it gets to the assessor, editor, proofreader and designer. My books, to me, are things of value. So much blood, sweat and, literally, tears go into them. The Murder Club released at the end of August and it’s selling a lot more at this early stage than my first two. I also had my first ‘proper’ book launch at my local Paper Plus. The store dedicated a whole window display to my book! Reviews have started coming in, which is always nerve-wracking, and… people actually like it. More than that, they get it. While I write commercial fiction and I aim to entertain, I also want to explore some of the serious, underlying issues and when reviewers pick up on this, I feel like I’ve done a good job. And now, knowing the book is being read, enjoyed and understood, I can’t help but think of the first draft, that stage where the story hadn’t yet found its shape and I wasn’t quite sure whether it was going to make it to printed pages on bookshop shelves.”
Nikki Crutchley is the author of The Murder Club, No One Can Hear You and Nothing Bad Happens Here.