RJ Dark interview: Meet the Leeds crime novelist who left behind rockstar dreams to become an award-winning author

The 44-year-old, who grew up in a working class neighbourhood in Leeds, never imagined he could turn his love for writing into a stable career.

Although he excelled in English, RJ left school with few qualifications and intended to pursue his dream of becoming a musician.

"I got bored of school and towards my fifth year I stopped going much," he added.

"I played in bands for a long time but I was a terrible musician. I had great hair, but I was never going to make it in music.”

RJ has been a professional author for five years, releasing his first novel under the RJ Dark alias in 2021.

He tackles challenging themes, such as social class, poverty and prejudice, with a humorous twist - drawing on his experiences growing up, as well as influences from American crime novelists.

RJ said: “I’ve always been creative and I’ve always had a book open, I loved to read.

"But it never occurred to me that as a working class kid, writing could be a career.

“I’ve always been a bit odd, I never quite fit in. So books were a place where I could go and escape to.

"When I finally decided I was going to commit to writing, a lot of it was already there and I just had to teach myself about grammar - enough that I could ignore the things you’re told you have to do.

"It was a long journey; it took 12 years of writing before I got paid for anything.”

RJ began writing around 17 years ago when he was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.

He became seriously ill, battling with chronic pain and unable to leave his home much, but an unexpected blessing of time came his way.

RJ said: "It became apparent that I was never going to be able to hold down a 9-5 job again.

"I got down to about six stone and I was in constant pain.

“But if that hadn't happened to me, I’m not sure I would have ever found the time to write properly. Every cloud has a silver lining."

RJ is now a multi award-winning novelist and his debut crime novel, A Numbers Game, could soon be adapted for TV.

He said: "Eventually I got an agent and that was the first time I thought I could make a career out of it.

“Even for writers who are fantastically successful, doubt is part of it. It’s the engine that drives you.

"Writing is a process of going through things and always trying to make it better.

“These books are dark and gritty but they’re also funny and I find loads of joy in writing them."

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The sequel to A Numbers Game, Incy Wincy, was released on Wavesback Publishing this week.

The hilarious detective story is set in Leeds and the surrounding areas and follows protagonist Mal Jones, a conman and troublemaker who pretends to be a psychic medium.

“But he has a really good heart,” RJ added.

“And he uses that to try and help people.”

The complexity of his characters has earned RJ high praise; Mal's friend Jackie is equally as layered, a "borderline sociopath" who still "wants to do the right thing".

Incy Wincy follows the pair as they become unwilling detectives, trying to crack the cases of two missing people.

RJ said: “They’re not good detectives and they get themselves into more and more trouble, until it reaches an explosive ending where they’re trying to get themselves out of it.

“They’re working class and we very rarely see working class detectives.

“It's important for me to tackle issues like poverty and prejudice as I grew up around it.

"You see how terrible some people are and you know they’re caught in a trap. Mal and Jackie live in that trap and you see that even terrible people can do good things.

"Poverty is awful and crushing and so is the way we look at people in poverty.

"I don’t agree with the brutal way that people who have genuine problems are used for entertainment.

“Mal and Jackie are people in that world. And they’re just people.”

'Absolutely Northern'

RJ still lives in Leeds with his wife, son and an interesting collection of taxidermy and art.

He said his books are "very English" and his readers agree - author Steven Savile called A Numbers Game "wonderfully gritty and absolutely Northern."

Incy Wincy takes readers on another rollercoaster ride through the fictional Blades Edge estate.

RJ said: "I take a lot of inspiration for Mal and Jackie from American crime writers and I wanted to do a British version of that.

"I’ve had some American readers who are just straight up-confused by it. And one of the nicest things about it is getting emails from people who think they know the Blades Edge estate.

"It's made up, it doesn't exist, but people from all over the country think they know it as the place they grew up in."

RJ's advice for aspiring writers

When writing a novel, RJ finds that the character's voice begins to flow through him, becoming more effortless as the story unfolds on the page.

"I can hear Mal's voice," he said.

"I know the end and I know who did what and why, because you can’t write a crime novel without knowing that.

"I’ll just meander on and usually by the half-way point of the novel, I’ve written things that have just occurred to me as I’ve gone along.

“I have friends that plan everything and I wish I had the patience to do that. But I just write the novel, then at the end I go back and make it better.”

RJ has lacked confidence in his ability in the past, but urged other writers to keep persevering - letting go of perfectionism.

“You don’t need any qualifications," he said.

"The best advice is - don’t quit. Keep doing it.

"Find a writers group, there’s plenty in Leeds like Leeds Writers Circle. Being around other people who are doing the same thing you’re doing is really helpful.

"I’m not sure that writing advice is that useful for people, just because somebody is doing something, it doesn’t mean it will work for you.

But the groups help to give you the confidence to sit down and just do it.”

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