Jules Grant and her debut novel, published by Myriad Editions

Lesbian gangsters – love honour and vengeance on the mean streets of Manchester

This Wednesday’s Polari-on-Sea features a fantastic array of writers including author Jules Grant. Jules is from Manchester but now lives in Brighton. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Birkbeck College, University of London. She worked as a barrister for over twenty years. Her debut novel is called We Go Around In The Night and Are Consumed By Fire. It is about a posse of Mancunian, lesbian gangsters with a taste for street poetry and revenge. Edmund Flyte interviewed the author for Hastings Online Times.

I loved how outspokenly gay many of the characters are. From the beginning we are made blatantly aware that these women are lesbians and you seem to spend no time quibbling or attempting to cater to a heterosexual audience. This was certainly refreshing, but it must have been a risk, especially for your first published novel – were you concerned at the sort of reception your book might receive?
Not really, you can’t get caught up in that as a writer. The publishing business is conservative so I knew it would be difficult but I can’t limit what or how I write for the vagaries of a ‘current market’; that would mean death for myself as a writer. For me the satisfaction is in the creation itself, the excitement of hearing a voice and seeing story unfold, of making it work in story terms; not in whether it sells today or tomorrow. Selling books is a bonus. That’s not as honourable as it sounds – if I could deliberately write in a way that made millions maybe I would, but it just doesn’t work that way for me. I need to write my own truth, about my own people, and I’m happy that I did that. And as Father Tom might say, the market will catch up.

Sections of the story are narrated by the ten-year-old Aurora. Were these chapters particularly difficult to write in terms of getting into the mind-set of a modern ten-year-old?
I think the process of characterisation comes easiest if you write about what you know or have seen first hand. I’d love to have a clever philosophical answer but the truth is she was easy to write, chattering on in my ear, telling me where to go and how she felt. I think most of us have experienced powerlessness as a child, and many of us have also struggled with grief as a child or adult. I don’t think those emotions change. The modern bit was easy – I just looked around me and there they all were with their sense of entitlement – texting!

Do you have a favourite character?
I’m in love with them all! I think I intuitively understand Donna best; her anger, her false bravado, her fears – I didn’t like her at first; now I do. I respect her sense of responsibility. But then there’s Lise, who makes me laugh, who is ditsy and loving and sweet – I feel protective towards her. Weirdly I feel drawn again and again to Father Tom, his wisdom, his gentleness, his struggle with the harness of faith. I’m not sure I did him justice, but one day I will. Oh, and I love Nan! Aurora is my achilles heel, I feel her terror, her vulnerability, her pain.

How much did you research for this book and what was the strangest or most interesting thing you ended up researching?
Having had – mostly indirect – experience of both the care and criminal justice systems as well as the Manchester criminal underworld, much of my research was about checking what I really knew and what I didn’t. Exactly how many bullets a second did a Mac10 machine gun spray? Some of it was depressing work to be honest. Almost everything written about the criminal underworld focuses on the male experience – whether from a law enforcement or criminal perspective, so it only took me so far.

Can we expect any more novels in the near future?
Absolutely. Donna won’t be in prison for long, I promise.

You can hear Jules Grant read from her novel this Wednesday, 29 June at Polari-on-Sea at The Printworks, Claremont, Hastings TN34 1HA.
Doors are 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Tickets are £8 / £6 concessions on the door or online.
Polari is hosted by author Paul Burston and will also feature performances from Paula Varjack, Will Davis, Ginny Dougary and Antony Mair.

We Go Around In The Night And Are Consumed By Fire is published by Myriad Editions and costs £8.99. You can order it from your local bookshop or online.
The ISBN number is: 978-1-908434-86-9

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