Home time for top author Tony Black.

Oct 7 2011 by Lisa Boyle, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

CRIME writer Tony Black has returned to the place he calls home to pen his latest novel.

And the Ayr author can’t wait to set his latest murderous musings in the Auld Toun.

This will be the seventh novel Tony will have published – although he has five more stuffed under his bed.

Ayrshire Post readers will be the first in the world to read Tony’s new Ayr-based book, for it will be exclusively serialised in the paper over the coming months.

Burns fan Tony has already come up with a title for the book – The Storm Without, a reference to Tam O’Shanter – even though he’s not started writing it.

He explained: “It’ll be right up to the minute for Post readers as I’ll be writing it as I go, week to week.

“I’m really excited about doing this. I know what it’s about as I’ve had it all in my head for a while.

“It’s the first time I’ve written about Ayr, but there’s lots of great material, it’s a place I know so well.”

It’s clear that the 39-year-old is loving being home and spending time with old friends and family after 16 years away.

The former Doonfoot primary and Belmont Academy pupil always knew what he wanted to do.

“English was always my strongest subject,” he explained.

“But I was more into the imagination side of things rather than grammar and interpretation and that stuff.

“I went to uni to do an English degree but I couldn’t see myself being a teacher or a lecturer.

“So I contacted the Ayrshire Leader to see if there was any chance that I could get work experience.

“I stayed there for about six months before I got a job at the Highland News and off I went to Inverness.”

There, Tony quickly proved himself as a brilliant writer and top journalist, even bagging the Young Journalist of the Year award at the Scottish Press Awards when he was 24.

He continued: “I don’t remember having any particularly big scoops at the time, but I did a lot of feature writing and campaign stuff for homeless people.

“To be honest, journalism was just a stop gap for me. I just did it because I could write.

“At night I was going home and teaching myself how to write fiction. I had five books which were taken up by an agent but none were taken up by publishers.”

But Tony’s luck turned around when Paying For It, the first in his Gus Dury series and his sixth book, was published by Random House.

“The other five weren’t crime novels, they weren’t even genre novels.

“They are all under my bed now, I may try again to have them published some day.

“One of them is my mum’s favourite. It’s called The Last Tiger and is about the demise of the Tasmanian tiger.

“I don’t prefer one style over the other but the crime stuff feels like it’s in my blood now. I’m writing about two a year and can do it without really thinking.”

Over the years, Tony has spent time living in Australia and Dublin.

But two months ago he came back to Ayr and decided to settle here, for a while at least.

It’s the latest exciting development in Tony’s life.

He has laid the main character of his first four published novels, shambolic journalist turned PI Gus Dury, to rest.

More recently, in his latest two novels, Tony, who can boast Irvine Welsh as one of his biggest fans, has introduced fans to DI Rob Brennan, the polar opposite of Dury.

His second in this new Brennan series, Murder Mile, will be published next year.

Meanwhile, his final Dury novel is in the process of being turned into a move, with A lister Dougray Scott tipped to play the lead role.

Tony said: “Both characters are completely separate people. They live and breath in my mind. I was growing a bit tired of Gus, but Rob is totally different.

“I’ve grown up a bit since I started writing about Gus, I suppose Rob is slightly more in tune with who I am now.”

Now, in The Storm Without, Tony will focus on a whole new character, Doug Michie.

He explained: “Doug is an ex-cop who grew up and moved away from Ayr. But he’s back to lick his wounds after retiring early from the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary). He gets involved with some old friends and things go from there.”

Read the first installment of the The Storm Without in next week’s Post.