Irvine Welsh

First published on 4 Apr 2010. Updated on 6 Apr 2010.

Ah've bin talking about a Trainspotting prequel called Skag Boys fa oer a decade bit it's oanly n the last couple ay years ah've stopped muckin aboot n got doan tae it. Noo the publisher's forced ma hand n it's got tae be done by September.

Mibbe it's mortality. Jist lately ah've had a fear of falling under a bus. Thirs a gene that explodes n the Welsh men when we hit 40. That's no tae say ah bin researchin ma bloodline. Thirs nowt o that in Scotland - too depressin. Thir's nae aristocracy, tae much tragedy n we repeat the same shite oer n oer. Aye, Australians wir convicts bit yir fuckin civilised cunts noo. Scotland's still a swamp n ah see it n the faces staring back at me every fuckin day.

Trainspotting wis the first thing ah'd written. When it hit 300,000 words ah stoaped, chopped oot a middle section aboot Renton n Sick Boy goan tae London tae see thir pal Nicksy n tacked oan a heist tae end it. Then, a few years back ah wis goan through boxes n foond a first draft. It wis the missing link bit it wis oan this auld obsolete Amstrad disk. Noo ah've had it converted n reformatted. So the material is thir. Noo ah've jist goat tae organise myself n no fuck it up.

Writin a screenplay is cave-paintin compared wi writin a novel. Some novels leap out of ye - that's Trainspottin. Bit there are other books I've wanted to write so bad ah've wrenched ‘em up from within, ideas thit git shelved n have tae be kicked aroond yir subconscious fa a while befir emerged fully realised - that's Skag Boys.

"Skag" is my favourite word for heroin. Skag Boys starts formally - it's basically aboot family n the anxieties oav young lads. It shows Renton and Sick Boy goan from being daft young cunts jist oot fa the buzz o the drug tae total fuckin junkies. The story descends intae chaos as the heroin gits a hold of ‘em.

Bit it's a prequel tae Trainspotting so it's goat tae read like one n have the same voice as win ah wis 20. N thit's wir the danger is eh? Ah'm a different writer n a different person noo. Back thin ah wis intae heroin. Noo I'm back tae what ah wis before smack - all sporty n marathon runnin n boxin n soccer trainin.

Confrontin yir 20-yir-old self when yir 50 is uncomfortable bit enlightening. N a weird way Skag Boys is two novels n two writers converging. The trick is ah've goat tae find n old sensibility n a new way if the book's goan tae stand up n it's oan. So fir the next few months the two Irvines are locked in combat!

Side effects? Aye! Ah wis working late oan it one night n, as if by fuckin osmosis, ah foond ah'd wafted doonstairs ootma door n intae a bar! Thir ah was oan ma third fuckin martini! Ah'd bin led astray n corrupted by this young cunt version o myself!

Tell yis one thing for nowt: the subconscious is thir fir a reason. N it's goat tae be respected.
As told to Angus Fontaine

Reheated Cabbage by Irvine Welsh (Random House, $32.95)