As this is your second outing do you find yourself discovering elements to McNee that you hadn't initially planned?

Absolutely. And not just McNee - the "supporting cast" threw up a few surprises of their own, too, which was interesting to explore. I like to think McNee has evolved over the course of these two books. I hope so. I don't like my characters to remain entirely static, and certainly at the end of The Good Son, there was this idea that maybe he had reached a turning point.

There is a definite emphasis on dialogue in your novels. Was this always planned or did it just develop as your characters interacted?

I love dialogue. Always have. I guess it's why one of the first crime writers I ever really dug with a passion was Elmore Leonard. I mean, sure, there were writers I'd liked before that, but there was something in the way Leonard exposed his characters through dialogue that really captured me. So there was never any question that any book I wrote was going to have an emphasis on dialogue. I loved writing, for example, the scenes between McNee and "ageing hard man" David Burns. Doing the back and forth between them was great fun. And it's always as much about what you don't say as what you do. Dialogue is not exposition, although it always moves a scene forward. But through dialogue - and through the reader's understanding of how it works - you can often drop in some real important information that moves the novel forwards without having to explicitly come out and explain whole relationships or histories.

The novels are shorter than the usual 'doorstoppers' we see on the shelves. This works very well but do you consciously finish when the story is done or is there a temptation to add more for appearances?

I have always had a preference for shorter novels. I feel that too many books waste time on extraneous description and explanation. So I tell a story in as many or as few words as it needs. What's that Elmore Leonard rule for writing? Leave out the parts the readers tend to skip. So, yeah, whenever I'm writing, I'm writing for me as a reader and leaving out the stuff I know I would find extraneous, the words I would be skipping. Add to that I love the pacing that comes in short novels. Richard Stark's Parker novels are a prime example of short novels that don't leave you short-changed.

I won't rule out doing a longer novel, but it would need to be justified. Don Winslow's Power of the Dog is a perfect example of a long novel that is completely justified. There is nothing you could take away from that one without lessening the impact.

How do you write? Do you have a ritual, do you plan out every detail or do you see where the story leads?

I'm not a planner. I love exploring characters through dialogue and seeing where they take me. That said, I always have an end point in mind. Two things I tend to know from the start is where I am and where I'm pretty sure I'll wind up. This means that my first drafts are often incomprehensible and it's the second draft where the real work begins.

If you were given one paragraph to convince people to buy your novel what would it say?

I hate persuading people to buy my books - my advice is always, pick it up, read, see what you think.

But going on the reactions the book has had, maybe something like...

If you dig hardboiled private eye stories, gritty street-level violence, moral ambiguity and guys like Ross McDonald or Ted Lewis or even if you just read my debut novel,The Good Son, chances are you'll get a kick out of The Lost Sister .

When you're not writing do you read much and who do you enjoy most?

I read a lot. My life revolves around books, as my day job is in bookselling. So I am rarely without a book - and I admit, it's generally a crime novel. I can't pin down who I love most, although I am still continuously suckered by Leonard, Ellroy, Block, Pelecanos and Connelly. And then there's the new kids on the block, writers like Tony Black, Ray Banks, Megan Abbott, Duane Swierczynski. And I love good SF from the likes of China Mieville, Philip K Dick, Neil Gaiman and Scotland's own Iain M Banks. Of course, if I wasn't pressed for space, I could just keep going on... It's that old advice of anyone who wants to write has to read. I have that second half down cold.

Will you write full-time now or is it still a matter of writing when you have free time?

I would love to be earning the money to write full time. As it is, I'm still a bookseller, so I'm still getting next to no sleep balancing both of these gigs. Not that it matters, because I'm loving what I do.

What's next? Will you continue with J McNee for now or will you try something new?

I am currently between contracts, so with the next book... there are some pitches floating around but I'm saying nothing until I know whether anyone's gonna bite. And If anyone allows me, I do have plans for some more McNee novels. I'm not quite finished with him yet...

The Lost Sister comes out on October 1st from Five Leaves Publications and you can visit http://www.russeldmclean.com/ for more details about Russel and his first novel.

Derek Gunn lives in Dublin, Ireland with his wife and three children and is the author of the post-apocalyptic thriller series, VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE, widely praised on both sides of the Atlantic. The first two books in the series are; A WORLD TORN ASUNDER (2006) and DECENT INTO CHAOS (2008). The third Vampire Apocalypse book, FALLOUT, is due out in 2009. An adaptation of Derek's first book is under option and is currently in active development as a major movie.