Hit and Run (19 page)

Well there were a couple of starting points really, which kind of meshed together. I’ve long been a fan of James Dickey’s novel
Deliverance
, which I came to from the classic Burt Reynolds movie. I loved the contained tension created by the physical constraints on the action, and I thought that doing something similar on a Scottish island would be interesting. I’ve been a big fan of single malt whiskies for many years, specifically Islay ones, which have a very distinct style and personality. It struck me that you could have a kind of buddy movie thing similar to
Sideways
by Rex Pickett with whisky instead of wine, then flick a switch and turn it into
Deliverance
crossed with
The Wicker Man
. OK, that doesn’t exactly sound like rocket science or great art, but hopefully what I’ve created has some kind of merit, at least as a decent piece of storytelling. 

For me, songwriting is a lot more instinctive than novel writing. Of course, there is still a creative element to each, but a novel takes so much more planning – at least the way I do it. I write huge amounts of notes in preparation for writing a novel, as well as character profiles, scene sketches, loads of stuff, and then when I’m brimming over with material, I kind of just splurge it onto the page. The songs seem to come in a much less planned way, much more of a scattershot approach. You really can write a song in five minutes if you’re in the right mood, and often those are much better than the ones you slave away over for ages and spend weeks crafting and re-shaping. 

I’m working on the next novel, which I think will fit in stylistically with
Smokeheads
and
Hit and Run
, while hopefully having deeper psychology behind it and a wider social commentary. I don’t want to say too much about it at the moment, but it’s set in Edinburgh again, this time mostly in the area around Portobello beach, where I now live. It’s about a man whose wife goes missing, leaving him to look after their young son while also following the trail of her disappearance, a trail that unravels into something of a nightmare situation. It’s the most disturbing subject matter I’ve tackled so if I can pull it off, it’ll hopefully make for a powerful read. 

Preston Falls
by the massively underrated David Gates. 

Probably
Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot,
the first Sparklehorse album. 

Obvious, given the context of
Smokeheads
, but it has to be Laphroaig.

By the Same Author

Tombstoning
The Ossians
Smokeheads

About the Author

Doug Johnstone is the author of three previous novels,
Tombstoning,
The Ossians
and
Smokeheads
, and is currently writer in residence at the University of Strathclyde. He is also a freelance journalist, a songwriter and musician, and has a PhD in nuclear physics. He lives in Edinburgh.