This is the full transcript of the interview I did earlier this year with Live Magazine

Mary Lee-Slade speaks to local author, Nick Oldham, about his latest release – a novelisation of the Danny Dyer film, Vendetta

Preston based former police inspector, Nick Oldham, has turned from fighting a life of crime to writing about it with his DCI Henry Christie novels. Now, Nick has found inspiration from the big screen. Working with Richwater Films, he has written the official novelisation to their latest British film, Vendetta, which stars Danny Dyer and Vincent Regan.
The novel follows Dyer’s character Jimmy Vickers, an SAS operative back from Afghanistan in mysterious circumstances, following the brutal murder of his father and mother by a feral group of criminals playing havoc in his home town.
How did you get the job of writing the novelisation of Vendetta?
Like most book writers, I am always interested in the possibility of seeing my work transferred to a screen, large or small. To that end I sent one of my early novels to the CEO of Richwater Films, Jonathan Sothcott. I’d done some research on the company and saw they were interested in producing gangster-style films and I thought that my book, ‘The Last Big Job’ might be something that would interest them.
As it happened, Jonathan liked the book, but didn’t feel it was something he could take on as a project. He was good enough to reply to me and I asked him if I could meet up with him and pick his brains about film production, thinking I might be able to become a film producer myself. Again he was good enough to say yes and subsequently we met for a chat in London in June last year.
During the course of our meeting we discussed the film and also novelisations of films and that they seemed to be a dying art form. At one point in the meeting Jonathan gave me a sidelong glance and asked if I would be interested in writing the book of the film Vendetta. I replied, “It would be a thought, wouldn’t it?”
I returned home that evening to find an email waiting for me saying that he’d discussed the idea with Darren Laws of Caffeine Nights Publishing and they were both up for it. The next day I had a call from Darren to discuss it further, then the screenplay for Vendetta was sent to me, the day after that I signed a contract to write the book and the week after I began to do just that!
How did the writing process differ from writing an original book from scratch?
When I write a novel it usually takes me six or seven months to complete. I usually write a draft in longhand, then transfer this to the word processor, editing as I go along. For Vendetta I decided that I would write the novel in the same way, because that’s just how I work.
The big difference with writing a book from a screenplay is that the story is already laid out for you and the writer’s job is to then translate that into a novel that works on its own merit. So as a writer you are tied to the storyline, but within that constraint you can expand and fill in gaps within the story.
One of the things that was alluded to in the screenplay of Vendetta was the main character’s time spent as a special ops soldier in Afghanistan and this is something I took and used as a prologue for the book. I also expanded the backstory of the main character – Jimmy Vickers, played by Danny Dyer – as well as his family, who, without giving anything away, are brutally murdered early in the story. So, though there are constraints, there is also a lot of room to be creative.
How long did it take?
As I said, I usually write a book in six or seven months, but I only had six weeks to complete Vendetta! This was to ensure the novelisation could be published in synch with the film in November. So that was a major challenge!
I planned my approach very carefully and kept to a very tight schedule and did nothing else for that period of time. That said, I had a holiday booked for two weeks at a villa in Menorca on what would be weeks four and five of that period, so I completed the handwritten draft before going on holiday, then packed up the laptop, went on holiday and got up at 8am each morning. While the rest of the villa slept, I typed for more than four hours every day, and by the time the holiday was over, I had the typed draft complete.
It was a great experience and who can really complain about typing by a pool in the sun each day? I spent a further week correcting and editing the draft when I returned home and then had a week in Ibiza to recover!
What input did the film company have on the end product?
None is the short answer to that. They were very pleased with the end result – as was I. Jonathan wrote a very nice foreword and, other than some minor editorial queries, the book that was published was the book I submitted.
From a personal point of view, did you enjoy the story of Vendetta?
The story of Vendetta is right up my street – it’s the kind of tale I love and could read or watch all day long. The screenplay, written by Stephen Reynolds, who also directed the film, was very slick and told the story brilliantly.
A screenplay is completely different than a book and because of that I don’t really think I would have changed the story in any way, because it worked so well and was a joy to read and then novelise.
Was it a challenge not to stray from the film’s plot?
I was asked to write about 60,000 words for the novel (my usual length is about 80,000 words), which does sound like a lot, but it actually isn’t. Because of that there is not much room to stray from the film’s plot, but it was such a well-structured story anyway, there wasn’t really any need to. All I did really was bulk up the characters, rearrange some of the scenes, fill in some gaps and have a real ball with the killings!
Did you meet Danny Dyer and did you write Danny’s character with him in mind?
I haven’t met Danny, although I have had the opportunity to do so, but unfortunately could not make it. It was useful to know a bit about Danny and I was fortunate enough to be able to see a rough-cut of the film, which did help. I imagined him saying the words that were firstly in the screenplay, and secondly, the ones I wrote that were extra.
With the success of Vendetta, will you write any more novelisations in the future?
I have just finished the novelisation of the next Danny Dyer film, which is called Assassin. The film will be released later this year and hopefully the novelisation will accompany it. This is a great hit man story with a bit of a twist by JK Amalou, who also directs the film. It’s another great part for Danny, whose star is very much in the ascendant with his role on Eastenders.
With that complete, have you got any other projects in the pipeline?
I’m just about to start the next Henry Christie novel due for delivery to the publisher, Severn House, at the end of June and I’ve just copy-edited the 21st DCI Henry Christie novel, Low Profile, which will be published at the end of April 2014. I’m contracted to write one more after that, so my year is pretty booked up already.
I know that Vendetta 2 has been announced by Richwater Films and filming will start later this year. Fingers crossed I may be asked to write the novel for that one, and if so, I’ll make time in my already busy schedule.
Nick Oldham’s books are available to purchase at all good bookstores and online