Deadly tales ... from small town New Zealand
Cambridge writer Nikki Crutchley’s first crime novel is a finalist for the Ngaio Marsh book awards, writes Mike Mather.
‘‘I essentially wrote Nothing Bad to see if I could actually do it. [The Ngaio nomination] is a really nice validation of that effort. I don’t have a publisher to sing my praises, but when things like this happen it ... does the singing for me.’’ Nikki Crutchley
Nikki Crutchley has developed a taste for murder. And, as the Cambridge mother-of-two has found, once you try your hand at it, you rapidly gain in confidence and want to try another.
Crutchley, 40, self-published her first novel Nothing Bad Happens
Here in August last year. The tale of a young tourist whose body is discovered in the fictional Coromandel town of Castle Bay – and the journalist sent to investigate her grisly demise – has been named a finalist in the Ngaio Marsh Award for best first novel.
The nod for the Ngaios has proved a timely confidence boost for Crutchley, who, like many a writer, has been wracked with self-doubt about her chosen mode of expression.
But it is already too late to turn back now.
‘‘It’s like a muscle that you exercise,’’ Crutchley says. ‘‘Once you get into it, then you are into it. And I have found that it is something that can’t really be turned off once it has been turned on.’’
The addiction of penning crime and mystery thrillers is something she has fully embraced, and it won’t be long before her next novel, the ominously-titled No One Can Hear
You, hits the shelves of a select few bookstores.
‘‘I don’t think New Zealand’s crime writers are particularly widely known, certainly not in New Zealand. I’d like to become known as a crime writer.
‘‘I essentially wrote Nothing Bad to see if I could actually do it. [The Ngaio nomination] is a really nice validation of that effort. I don’t have a publisher to sing my praises, but when things like this happen it sort of does the singing for me.’’
After she wrote the first book, Crutchley sent it off to a couple of publishers and was twice rejected.
‘‘Every writer is filled with selfdoubt and that didn’t help. The manuscript sat in my laptop for the next nine months and then I decided to throw caution to the wind and take the self-publishing route. I just dived in to it.
‘‘I made up my mind that I wanted to write a book when I was 10. Once I had kids, I ended up writing fairy stories for them. Then I tried my hand at writing flash fiction – condensed stories of about 300 words – and had them published, which got me more confidence. And then I wrote a novel.’’
Crutchley’s first long-form work was always going to be a crime thriller, having been a lifelong fan of genre scribes such as Patricia Cornwell and her ilk. It is subject matter she sees herself staying with
for the foreseeable future, although she wants to one day try her hand at historical fiction, having been inspired by top-selling Waikato writer Deborah Challinor.
Nothing Bad Happens Here was lengthy in its creation – three years from the first word typed until the publication of the final product – but
No One Can Hear You had a much shorter gestation of eight to nine months.
The sophomore story is sent in another fictional small, idyllic community, the lakeside town of Crawton, with the central character a woman who returns to the town following the death of her mother and uncovers a web of intrigue relating to the disappearances of women.
Getting people to buy her books is a challenge when you are selfpublished and self-marketed, but Crutchley seems to have found a formula for self-raising her profile. The first step is to give the book an attractive and professional-looking packaging, which will help make the product palatable for bookstore owners.
It was a tactic that earned support from Waikato Paper Plus stores and it is the start of what she hopes will be a long and mutually beneficial relationship.
‘‘The Paper Plus guys are amazing, particularly at Rototuna and Te Awa.’’
As for marketing, ‘‘social media is awesome, particularly Facebook and Twitter. I also took part in a virtual blog tour that was a week long, and I got three reviews and numerous shout-outs each day, and it really helps.’’
Crutchley is among the authors taking part the Hamilton Book Month series of events in August. She can be seen at the Local Authors forum at the Lido Cinema on Saturday, August 11.
As for the future, Crutchley is continuing to write as much as her busy life as a mum and vocation as a freelance proofreader will allow.
She hopes to one day have her works adapted for the screen.
‘‘I really think Nothing Bad would make such a cool series. I would love to see it on television one day.’’