Claire Wilson: Five by Five

What inspired you to write Five by Five?

I have always wanted to write – since I was around eight years old. But I never thought I was clever enough to write a police procedural. Of course, the crime genre has evolved over the years. I worked for the Prison Service for 11 years before I got a promotion into the intelligence unit. As soon as I began to understand the role, I realised there was an opportunity to write a crime novel based on the job. However, I didn’t know how to execute it. If I hadn’t got the promotion, the book wouldn’t exist, because the intelligence role isn’t one that I’d understood or appreciated prior to being appointed the role.

What came first for you – plot, character, setting, or something completely different, and what does a typical writing day look like for you – if there is such a thing!

The plot and the setting came to me immediately – what would you do if you were in love with someone and then started receiving intelligence that they were corrupt? Would you stand by them? Cover for them? Or would your integrity win over your heart?

I am someone who must write every day. If it’s a weekday, I will wake up and write a minimum of 1,000 words before I go to work. At the weekends, I normally start around 11am. If I’m editing, I aim for around 20-25 pages a day. I like to get the editing over as soon as I can, as I hate it.

Five by Five is a tightly-constructed, jittery read, full of suspense, with the threat of violence never far away. Are you a meticulous plot planner, and do you share your work with other writers as you go along?

I have never seen myself as a planner – I’m very much camp pantser. But having worked with my editor, I do see the benefit of basic planning. I don’t share my work, but that’s about confidence and self-doubt. It doesn’t disappear when you get an agent and a book deal. In some ways, it becomes worse. But I would strongly encourage writers to find other writers they can trust to share their work with, as it does help. I was so close to my novel I couldn’t see the mistakes. Having someone else go over it told me what was working, what I had to elaborate on and what needed immediate attention.

Your day job within a prison gives huge authenticity to Five by Five in terms of setting, daily routines and characters. Why did you decide to draw so directly from your personal experience, and how tricky did you find it?

My decision was twofold: all the writing advice I had ever received was to ‘write what you know’. It also gives the novel a USP – only I can tell this story because I live it for 40 hours every week. Secondly, it’s different to any other crime novel but not too different.

It wasn’t tricky writing the novel, I had so many ideas that were reluctantly cut from the novel (but might appear in future books). I did find it tricky to get an agent – I think I was too close to the book and I wasn’t selling the full potential of it. I was pitching it from the wrong angle and it took me a long time to understand this.

Another tricky thing was permission. As soon as I was offered the contract, I had to disclose this to my day job. There were certain criteria I had to adhere to in order for me to be allowed to publish the book, as well as ensuring I wasn’t inadvertently breaching security or the Official Secrets Act. I’m grateful that the management were so supportive or I might have been left with choosing between my day job and my dreams.

You are a vocal supporter of Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre – we’d love to hear how it has been so instrumental in your writing career to date!

I try to have one week a year at Moniack. It was somewhere I’d always wanted to go and went for the first time in November, 2017. But it was attending the crime week in June, 2018 that changed my life. As a huge fan of Val McDermid, I was nervous to be spending the week with her. My aim for the week was to have her tell me direct if she thought I was wasting my time or not. But both Val and Louise Welsh gave me the encouragement to keep going, as well as taking the time to show me where I was going wrong.

I also keep in regular contact with the rest of the crime writers on the group. We meet up at festivals and have zoom chats and lunches. I trust them with my life and owe them so much for believing in me when I couldn’t believe in myself. It is so important to find your writing tribe and at Moniack you will definitely find that.

I’m going for a week in December and I’m just as excited about that as I am about my publication day! Moniack Mhor is my second home.

You are the inaugural winner of the Penguin Michael Joseph Undiscovered Writers’ Prize, and went on to sign with David Headley at DHH Literary Agency – can you tell us a bit about how this all played out?

Every January, I set myself a goal of what I want to achieve by the following Hogmanay. One of them is to enter 52 writing competitions – sending a little something out there into the world every Sunday. Naturally, I try to aim for free competitions due to the expense. When I saw the competition advertised in Writing Magazine – they were looking specifically for crime and thriller writers – I put it in my diary. I’d already been working on my novel a lot and only had to send the first three chapters and the dreaded synopsis.

In January, 2023, I was advised I’d made the longlist. I was delighted! It meant that my first three chapters were good – and that’s all you need to pique an agent’s interest. But this time they wanted the next 15,000 words or the full manuscript. I sent in the full novel and hoped for the best. In March, I discovered I was on the shortlist – all shortlisted writers were being given an hour's one-to-one with the editor. In early July, I received an email from the editor asking for a number to call me on. This was new, I thought – getting a phone call rejection. But I assumed he wanted to set up the one-to-one. I was stunned when he offered me the prize and could only giggle down the phone to him. I hope I have since made a better impression!

Signing with David was part of the prize, as well as an advance. The contacts were signed within the week, but it was another six weeks before the news was announced. It was so hard to keep the secret. Attending the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate this year was amazing – they had proofs of the novel being handed out and people were asking for signatures and photos. Taking the time to enter the competition has changed my life.

Which crime writers have influenced your writing, and do you have any go-to recommendations?

I devoured anything written by Val McDermid. I also love Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers. There are so many amazing crime writers out there who are writing brilliant books, it’s hard to narrow them down. I’ve recently been getting into historical crime and love S J Parris, S G MacLean and Laura Shepherd-Robinson.

And looking ahead, what are you working on now? We are very much hoping that it'll be the next novel in the series!

Yes! I am working on the next book, which is half prequel/half sequel. It’s a bit ambitious, but I want the book to be as good as Five by Five. It doesn’t have a title yet but I’m excited by it and enjoying writing it.

And finally, what words of encouragement would you give to anyone thinking of entering the Caledonia Novel Award 2025?

My life changed by entering a competition. Who says yours can’t too? You never know what doors it can open for you! Find a trusted reader and keep going.