Interview

An Interview with ALISON GAYLIN

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GaylinA-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Alison Gaylin?

Hmm, I’m still trying to figure that one out.  For the purposes of this blog, I am a suspense writer and reader of all sorts of things.

Your next novel, Stay With Me, the third in your Brenna Spector Trilogy, is due to be published in June by Harper. How would you introduce the novel to a new reader? What can fans of the series expect?

Stay With Me is the third book in the Brenna Spector suspense series, and the culmination of what readers of the series would know as the “Clea Trilogy.” Brenna is a private investigator blessed – and cursed – with hyperthymesia (perfect autobiographical memory.) It makes her pretty great at her job, but it wreaks havoc on her relationships with others. (How can you forgive and forget when you can never forget?) She specializes in missing persons cases, but the one missing person she’s never been able to find is her older sister Clea, who got into a blue car 28 years ago when she was 17, never to appear again. That event triggered Brenna’s hyperthymesia at the age of 11 and has haunted her ever since. In Stay With Me, Brenna’s life is turned upside down when her 13-year-old daughter, Maya, disappears. Also in the book, the mystery of Clea – which plays a major role in the first two books, And She Was and Into the Dark – is finally solved. Continue reading →

An Interview with KENDRA LEIGHTON

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LeightonK-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Kendra Leighton?

I’m a YA writer and chocolatier living in Cambridge. I run an organic chocolate company called Rawr Chocolate with my partner during the day, and the rest of the time I’m either reading or writing YA (usually whilst eating chocolate).

Your debut novel, Glimpse, is due to be published tomorrow by Much-In-Little. How would you introduce the novel to a new reader?

Glimpse is a YA paranormal novel inspired by Alfred Noyes’ classic poem “The Highwayman”. It isn’t a retelling, but relies on the events of the poem to tell a whole new story. The main character, Liz, is a seventeen year old girl with numerous problems, the biggest being the ability to see things that shouldn’t exist. When her grandfather dies, she inherits his home – the five-hundred year old Highwayman Inn – and moves there with her dad, hoping for a fresh start. Her problems only get worse…

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What inspired you to write the novel? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

I’ve always loved gothic fiction, from the classic novels I studied at university to modern-day paranormal. It was a given that my first book would be somewhat gothic in tone. When I decided I wanted to write a ghostly love story, I thought instantly of the “The Highwayman” poem – it’s already the perfect romantic ghost story – and from there the idea for Glimpse was born.

Classic poems are my current favourite source of inspiration, but ideas can come to me from anywhere – documentaries, books, the news, you name it.

How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

I’d always been a big reader, but after university I fell off the reading-wagon. I struggled to find modern books I enjoyed as much as the classic gothic fiction I’d studied. Then my teenage sister persuaded me to read some of her YA paranormal novels, and I fell in love – they had a similar combined darkness and innocence as gothic novels, but updated to the present day. Since then, I’ve read almost solely YA, and branched out into every possible genre within it.

How do you enjoy being a writer? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

I love writing, it’s my absolute passion. As for specific practices, I’m not too fussy about how I write since my days are pretty unpredictable! The main constants are that I need it to be quiet, I always start by rereading what I wrote the time before, and I write better in the mornings.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

Unlike a lot of authors, I didn’t always want to be a writer – it was only after discovering YA that the desire sparked. As for my first foray into writing, Glimpse is it! I’ve re-written it so many times in the last five years, however, that it feels more like my fourth novel than my first.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

YA paranormal romance as a lot of people think of it – vampires, werewolves, angels, love triangles – seems to be have passed its peak. There’s still a readership for dark romantic fiction, though, it just needs to be a bit more creative, which is something I strove for with Glimpse.

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

That would be telling! I’ve completed another novel and a half since finishing Glimpse – one a sci-fi and one based on another classic poem – so we’ll see what happens with them.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

I’m reading Raging Star, the final novel in Moira Young’s Dustlands trilogy. I don’t read much non-fiction other than writing books, but I am trudging through one book at the moment for research purposes: Merchant Seamen, Pirates and the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1700-1750 by Marcus Rediker.

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What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

Despite loving paranormal and gothic novels, I have a low threshold for horror. I easily wimp out when faced with scary films and books!

What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?

The obvious answer is Glimpse’s release, but since that’s happening this week I’ll pick something else too! I’m really looking forward to next month’s YA Literature Convention at London Film and Comic Con. It’s the UK’s first YA convention, and I can’t wait to geek out with other YA authors, bloggers and readers.

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For more on her writing and thoughts, be sure to follow Kendra on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

Glimpse is published tomorrow in the UK by Much-In-Little.

An Interview with BEN PEEK

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ben peekLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Ben Peek?

I’m an author who lives in Sydney, Australia with my partner, Nikilyn Nevins, who is a photographer.

THE GODLESS – the first book in my Children Trilogy – is my fifth book. My previous books are Black Sheep, Twenty-Six Lies/One Truth, and Above/Below, with Stephanie Campisi. My collection, Dead Americans and Other Stories, was released earlier this year. In addition to that, I’ve done a few other things, such as a psychogeography pamphlet, an autobiographical comic, and lectured and taught at various places.

I also may, or may not, be listening to the Velvet Underground as I reply to this.

Your next novel, The Godless, is published in July by Tor UK and St. Martin’s Press in the US. How would you introduce the novel to a new reader?

The book is the first in a fantasy trilogy, and takes place in a world where, fifteen thousand years ago, a war between the gods took place. In its aftermath, the sun was broken into three, the ocean turned black with blood and rose, and the bodies of the gods fell to the ground, where they lay in a state best described as both dead and dying. In the centuries that followed, their powers seeped into the world, altering it, and altering some of the people who lived there. Continue reading →

Interview with GRAEME SHIMMIN

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ShimminG-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Graeme Shimmin?

I’m spy thriller novelist, and the author of the award-winning novel A Kill in the Morning. I also run a website where I review spy thrillers and advise aspiring authors about writing and getting published.

Your debut novel, A Kill in the Morning, is due to be published in June by Transworld. How would you introduce the novel to a new reader?

A Kill in the Morning is an action-packed, fun spy thriller that has been compared to Robert Harris’s Fatherland and Ian Fleming’s Thunderball – if you like classic spy thrillers, you’ll love it.

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What inspired you to write the novel? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

Specifically, I’d had an image in my head for years of hanger doors grinding open to reveal an amazing super-weapon that I could never quite see. Generally, all the classic spy novels I’d read inspired me. When I started writing A Kill in the Morning, all those ideas just seemed to flood out. About halfway through, I suddenly realised how the story had to end and that it was really going to work. I sat back and just thought, “This is the story I was born to write.” It was an amazing moment. I felt like a sculptor, chipping away and finding the sculpture was already there inside the marble.

How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

I was brought up reading classic spy thrillers like From Russia With Love, Ice Station Zebra, and The Ipcress File: fast-paced, action-packed and fun. My mum used to take me to the library every Thursday and I worked my way through practically every thriller and sci-fi novel they had, reading two or three a week.

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How do you enjoy being a writer? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

Being a writer gives me the opportunity to write exactly the sort of thing I like to read, and that’s massively enjoyable – almost like a choose-your-own-adventure!

I try to write first thing in the morning. Get up, have a cup of tea and write for a couple of hours. Writing first thing in the morning whilst still half asleep is good for imagining things. I write at home, mostly, although I have done some good work on long train journeys.

My strategy for research is to have ‘research days’ and ‘writing days’. That avoids getting sidetracked. On a ‘writing day’, if I’m unsure of a fact I just make a note to check it later.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I worked in IT for fifteen years. It was very lucrative, but practically everything I ever worked on was cancelled. I realised I wanted to create something lasting. I’d always written a bit, but I resigned in order to write full time. The first page I wrote is still in the novel, but it has been edited a lot.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I’m aware that “Nazi victory” had been used as a setting for several novels, notably Fatherland and that some people feel it “has been done before”, but I think there’s plenty of room for more stories in what is becoming a sub-genre. After all, every story has been done before, and no one criticises a new crime novel because it’s not the first story with a detective in it!

In A Kill in the Morning, the Nazis haven’t achieved “victory”, anyway. Britain and the Soviet Union are still opposing them, but not in open warfare – instead there’s a three-way Cold War. That gave me a lot of scope to write the kind of classic spy story that was written during the Cold War, but with the Nazis as antagonists, and after all the Nazis are the ultimate bad guys!

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

I’m editing a novel called Angel in Amber at the moment, and hoping to bring that out next year. Angel in Amber is a thriller set in the near future, with Britain trapped between a feuding USA and Europe. It’s written in the same all-action style as A Kill in the Morning.

After that, there will be sequels to A Kill in the Morning. I’ve worked out how the series will continue and I’ve already written the first chapter of the next book.

Also, every month I write a free short story for my friends and the people who like my writing. You can sign up for it on my website.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

The novel I’m reading is Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene. I’m rereading all his spy-related novels to review them on my website. A non-fiction book I’ve been reading is Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer, as part of my research for the sequel to A Kill in the Morning.

ShimminG-Reading

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I have never been a spy! People ask me this all the time, which I think has to be a compliment to the amount of research I’ve done.

What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?

Seeing A Kill in the Morning on the shelves in bookshops, and talking to people who have read it.

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A Kill in the Morning will be published in the UK on June 19th, 2014.

An Interview with CRAIG CORMICK

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CormickC-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Craig Cormick?

To misquote Miley Cyrus, “I’m just a guy.” Well, my kids think I’m just a guy, but they don’t know that I actually live a secret life creating wild new worlds, and sword-fighting evil villains and saving them from catastrophic harm.

Otherwise, I’m an author and science communicator. I’ve published over 20 books and over 100 short stories and about 20 academic journal papers and I love playing with genres, mixing fiction and non-fiction, playing with history and creating new things out of it.

I have several different lives and I know some people have Googled me and then asked, “Hey do you know this other Craig Cormick guy who has been to Antarctica/writes about biotechnology/is a social scientist/won this prize/etc.?” They are all me.

Your novel, The Shadow Master, is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in July 2014. How would you introduce the novel to a prospective reader? Is it part of a series?

I’d tell them that it’s a kick-arse tale of alternative history, love and conflict, madness and magic.

Yes, it is going to be part of a series, and I’m just completing book two right now.

For a bit more info on the book, imagine a city something like Florence. A walled city, to protect it from the plague that is ravaging the countryside. Then imagine two warring houses, the Medicis and the Lorraines. Both are battling for control of the city. And next imagine each House has in its employ a learned man – Galileo and Leonardo, who are versed in the arcane arts of science, that can control time and space and the very laws of nature. So science works like magic in this world.

Then imagine two lovers – Lorenzo and Lucia, who discover that together they too can change the natural laws of the world. But each belongs to a different warring house that refuse to let them be together.

And amongst all this there is a mysterious stranger – the Shadow Master. He is a hooded man that carries technologies not known in this world. He seems to understand all the mysteries of the Walled City, and even the long-lost secrets of the ancients, who built the walled city. And he possesses the knowledge as to how Lorenzo can save Lucia – and save all of civilisation while he is at it.

It’s got sword fights and mad clerics and bombs and magical shape-changing people and an army of plague victims and fire and water and a wise-arse mystery figure. It has everything except a car chase!

Gee – I’d read it.

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What inspired you to write the series? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

I have been lucky enough to have travelled a lot in my work as a Science Communicator, and I was a conference in Florence a few years back, and while walking around the Galileo museum that I got this idea – what if science behaved like magic. So what if when Galileo invented the telescope it actually transported you across to what you were looking at – and what if the early chronometers actually slowed down time? And it all started forming out of that magical moment.

GalileoMuseumFlorence

How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

For most of my life I’ve been what might be described as a writer of ‘Literary Fiction’ – but I crossed over from the dark side after meeting people who were writing SF, and attending some of their conferences – and I have to tell you the SF or genre fiction community is a lot less bitchy and more supportive than the literary crowd (oops – did I say that out loud?)

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry?

Like many authors I think it fair to say that I love writing a whole lot more than she loves me back. I’ve had some good successes, publishing over 20 books, but I’ve had a few spectacular failures too. The publishing industry itself is an arcane beast, I find, that is best kept on a chain, for you need to keep an eye on it, but if you get too close you’ll not only see the ugly side up close, but you might even get gobbled up and spat out.

Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

Good question, though I find that each different book I’m writing seem to have a different path to completion. Some I’ve just sat down and started toying with ideas and seen where they take me, and others I’ve meticulously planned and plotted out. I had a rough idea where I was going with the Shadow Master and let it take me on a bit of a voyage, but the sequel has been more carefully plotted out.

My general writing plan is to just get the words down first. (Novels are written by doing a few pages a day.) And then, when I’ve got those words down I can look at them and start reworking them. My general claim is that I’m not a great writer – but I’m a really great rewriter!

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I still have my first book – it was called The End of the Second Eon and was a hand-written fantasy book, that I wrote and illustrated when I was about ten-years old. It had knights and ravens and magic and… hmmm, I’d better go and dig it out and look it over and see if it was truly atrocious as I fear, or whether there might actually be the gem of a good idea in there.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I actually don’t spend too much time dwelling on the genre, nor the sub-genres and where things fit into it, as I think that can get in the way a bit of what you’re working on – striving to fit a genre rather than let the story wander a bit.

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

There’s always quite a bit in my pipeline and I’ll probably need to call a plumber around to clear it out – but there’s Shadow Master and the Floating City (the sequel), a novel about Adolf Hitler having been found hiding in a small fishing village in Australia during the Falkland’s War, and I’m also finishing up a book on the science of the Australian Bushranger Ned Kelly. I’m editing a collection of pieces from all the different scientists who have worked on identifying Ned Kelly’s bones and remains that were recently located at a prison cemetery. It involves forensic pathology and DNA testing and archaeology and detective work through the records and is absolutely fascinating story. Watch this space!

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

Next to my bed are several books calling out to me, “Read me! Read me! Please read me!” Those calling the loudest are Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, Robin Hobb’s The Royal Assassin, and a Smurf comic book.

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What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I have a twin brother (“My Evil Twin” we both describe the other as). He’s a medical doctor, I’m a PhD doctor. We both have fairly similar tastes, though like many twins – when we’re living close to each other we tend to be buying different clothes and books and things – but when we aren’t in close contact it is like we revert to type rather than try and assert our differences, and start buying the same types of things as each other.

I’m sometimes asked, what’s it like to be a twin – but I have to ask, “What’s it like not to be?” (And it’s nice to have someone who will NEVER forget your birthday!)

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The Shadow Master will be published in North America and in eBook on June 24th 2014, and in the UK on July 3rd 2014, by Angry Robot Books.

An Interview with JAMES A. MOORE

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Photographs of my brother, author James A. Moore, taken 16 November 2012 at his home in Marietta, Georgia.Let’s start with an introduction: Who is James A. Moore?

I’ve been a professional writer for a little over 20 years. I started in comic books worked my way over to role playing games and then decided to try my luck with horror fiction. I’ve also written some science fiction and a few fantasy pieces. I’m currently working on a weird western, a fantasy series, a crime novel and a few other projects, including a science fiction apocalyptic piece.

Your next novel, The Blasted Land, is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in July 2014. It is the sequel to Seven Forges. How would you introduce the series to a new reader, and what can fans of the first expect?

Good question. I’d like to say it’s something different, and maybe that’s true but I imagine almost everyone makes that claim. It’s a sword and sorcery series. But one where I’ve set aside the legends and creatures I’ve read about before to come up with new dangers and, hopefully, a unique setting. I like to think of the series as a clash of cultures and a clash of theologies. Ultimately, however, it’s a story about an aging empire facing a threat that seems absolutely relentless and unstoppable.

I have always believed that every book should be able to stand alone. That said, I love a good cliffhanger. So the story starts off in this case EXACTLY where Seven Forges left off. I fill in the gaps, but I also try to do that without burying the previous readers in older details. It’s a bit of an interesting challenge as I haven’t really worked on a direct series before though I’ve had a few occasions where the characters I’ve written about in the past have shown up in new adventures.

What I’m working in, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to explore it in greater depth, is the differences between the two cultures and the dangers of dealing with a tide of fanatical warriors on a holy quest.

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What inspired you to write the series? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

Honestly, I normally don’t know what sort of story I want to write until I have an idea that won’t leave me alone. That was very much the case here. I wanted to write something different and in this case the only setting that really seemed to work was a fantasy setting.

I’ve always loved a good fantasy novel but one of the things I wanted to do was avoid a lot of the tropes I’ve seen pop up over the years. So I decided to start up a fantasy series after taking a pretty long hiatus from reading any fantasy.

Most of my inspiration comes from the news. The world is a fascinating and terrifying place, I let it inspire me whenever possible.

How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

I’ve always been a voracious reader. When I was younger it was mostly comic books, and later I expanded into fantasy, then science fiction and then horror. I sort of worked in the reverse order when it came to writing.

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How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry?

I love being a writer. It’s really very much my dream job. It’s always a strange challenge because the industry is changing in so many ways and because no matter how much time I spend writing, I would like to have more time.

Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

I have a full time job in addition to writing. I work in retail because the hours are flexible and can accommodate my often chaotic writing schedules. My first rule is that I write every day. The only exception is if I am at a convention, then I TRY to write every day and I normally fail. When it comes to research, I tend to study whatever strikes my fancy and let it percolate in the back of my brain. At least half of my ideas come from articles I’ve run across in magazines or online.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

Well, I originally wanted to draw comic books. I wanted to be an illustrator. Turns out that you actually have to know how to draw for that to happen. After I’d spent a good amount of time working up several comics from beginnig to end I showed them to an editor from Marvel Comics who told me that my artwork was lousy, but that he could see the story I was telling despite the bad anatomy and weak backgrounds. He’s the one who suggested I try writing and as he was the editor for Clive Barker’s Hellraiser comic book (out from Epic comics, which was a branch of Marvel) I tried my luck with a Hellraiser story. He bought it a few months later. That was my very first sale, a story called “Of Love, Cats and Curiosity” That showed up in the 15th issue I believe.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

My firm belief is that genre is what publishers make of it. I’ve worked horror, science fiction, crime and fantasy but to me they are ultimately all just different places where I try to sell my stories. I write the stories I want to write and worry about where to sell them afterward. I think that’s really the best way to go with it. First and foremost I have to love the story I’m writing or I can’t very well expect anyone else to like it.

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

Well, I’m going to pitch the next couple of books in the SEVEN FORGES series soon. But I’m also working on two novellas with the character Jonathan Crowley, who is one of my recurring characters. Both of the stories I’m working on with him are supernatural westerns. I’m working on a straight crime novel with a frequent co-author named Charles R. Rutledge. I’m working on a horror-fantasy novella called Bloodstained Wonderland with Christopher Golden. I’m working on a science fiction/apocalyptic novel for Earthling Publications. I have a mostly finished Jonathan Crowley novel called Boomtown that I intend to finish by year’s end. I’m also currently outlining a dark fantasy trilogy with Charles R. Rutledge that we intend to try to write this year as well. I tend toward the prolific side. Or at least the ambitious side.

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

I just finished reading Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. It’s a phenomenal book. I also just finished reading White Knight a novella by Bracken MacLeod that I would recommend very highly. And I’m researching away on both the Old West and Mushrooms for entirely unrelated stories.

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What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I’m a widower. I lost my wife of 20 years a few years ago. In fact I’ve got a very long series of essays about that very subject (decidedly nonfiction) available at my website.

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The Blasted Land is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in June 2014. Seven Forges is available now. For more on Moore’s writing and novels, be sure to follow him on Twitter and visit his website.

An Interview with STEPHEN HUNT

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HuntStephen-AuthorPicLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Stephen Hunt?

Him? He’s me, he is! Professionally, I was usually found knocking around the publishing world (albeit with side-ventures into pharmaceuticals, banking and the computing industry at Apple). I set up one of the first websites for a magazine, Nature.com, back when nobody apart from scientists knew what the Web was. I worked for the Financial Times as an editor and publisher and ran a swathe of their online operations for a while. Now, I guess I’m just the geek with seven genre novels behind him.

Your next novel, In Dark Service, is due to be published by Gollancz in May 2014. It’s the first in a new series, no? How would you introduce the series to new readers?

The new series is called The Far-Called Sequence. The first novel, In Dark Service, has at its heart the tale of two families – the Carnehans and Landors – stuck in the nub-end of a backward, rural kingdom. Slavers attack the town they live in and carry away all the youngsters to sell. The town mounts a rescue expedition, hampered by the fact that the world, Pellas, is an amazingly large one, and their lost people could be anywhere in it. Those taken have to survive as slaves in a hellish environment. Those in the rescue expedition face their own kind of hell as they struggle to track down their missing loved ones.

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What inspired you to write the series? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

I often take a comic-book series called the Trigan Empire (which I grew up with) as my starting point for inspiration. It has gorgeous illustrations – each panel like an oil painting in its own right – by Don Lawrence, and stories by Mike Butterworth. Every issue they would go off to some distant, exotic land, and the characters would have marvellous adventures that blew my young impressionable mind. If I can achieve even half of that feeling for my readers with the new Far-Called series, then it’s ‘job done’ as far as I’m concerned.

How does this novel (in terms of story and approach) differ from your previous series, The Jackelian Novels?

The main difference between the Jackelian series and the Far-Called sequence is that the Jackelian books were structured in a similar way to Sir Terry’s Discworld novels – all set in the same world, but each novel’s plot standing alone on its own, with a motley crew of characters who would dip in an out of the books. The Far-Called sequence is closer to Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones – you’ll need to start with the first book, and move on through the books sequentially to get the most from it. Same characters and a single, coherent plot arc.

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How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

My father is a massive fantasy and science fiction reader, so I was very lucky in that I grew up with a library filled with all the post-war pulps and genre classics. Arthur C. Clarke, Clifford D. Simak, Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, E.E. Doc Smith, Fritz Leiber, Jack Williamson, Robert E. Howard, Tolkien, Harry Harrison. You name it, we had it, and I read it!

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry?

It’s better than working for a living!

What’s it like, being a professional author? Is it what you expected? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

Because I had twenty years of service in white collar open plan offices, I find I can write best somewhere like a museum or a coffee shop, where there are other people and a bit of a buzz to surround me as I write. The lack of human contact and interaction is the thing that gets to me the most, compared to my previous career(s). Of course, you have social networking, which you can kid yourself doubles as your ‘marketing’ – but the world of online distraction is a bit too disruptive to the task of writing a novel, so I try and resist being over-attached to the web, either by phone or laptop.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I actually started writing fiction in university, encouraged by actually being published in print in various eighties game magazines – computer and RPG, mainly. I thought: “Well, if they’ll pay for my articles, why not my fiction?” No training or academic background in the field. I just went out and did it.

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

It’s interesting times, with the many changes brought about by online book-selling, the failing real-world retail, and the advent of e-books. As far as the genre goes, I’d be happy if my work’s just slotted into whatever corner is labelled, “Fantasy – not many Elves, Halflings or Dragons.”

What are you reading at the moment (fiction, non-fiction)?

I always have about ten books on the go at any one point. I’ve just finished How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life by Scott Adams, which was very amusing. I’ve nearly finished One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson, and The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy, not to mention the thought-provoking Who Owns The Future? by Jaron Lanier.

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What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

That I’m a failed comic-book illustrator who once studied part-time at Saint Martins but dropped out when I changed employer, and the new bunch wouldn’t allow me the time off to continue my studies.

What are you most looking forward to in the next twelve months?

Why, starting the next novel of course!

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In Dark Service is published on May 15th 2014, by Gollancz. It is included as part of the Gollancz 2014 Debuts eBook promotion, and will be available for just £1.99 from now until the end of the first week of publication.

For more on Stephen Hunt’s writing, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his review website, SF Crowsnest.

Charles Cumming’s A COLDER WAR Mole Hunt

Civilian Reader Interview , , ,

CummingC-ColderWarMoleHuntBannerSo, Harper Collins are running a special competition to celebrate the release of Charles Cumming’s latest international spy thriller, A COLDER WAR. For those of you who don’t know who he is or haven’t read his work (shame on you!), he is an absolutely fantastic author, and one of my favourites (of any genre).

The competition involves a mole hunt. The name of the mole has been hidden amongst blog posts around the internet (see the banner, right).

In each post, there are a couple of questions (mine are below). The first letter in each answer is in the name of the mole. Collect all the answers, and email your answer to killerreads[at]harpercollins.com. The winner gets a Kindle!

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So, let us get on. Here are the two videos, and their corresponding questions…

1. Who does America have a so-called “Special Relationship” with?

An Interview with MARIANNE DE PIERRES

Civilian Reader Interview

dePierresM-AuthorPicSmallLet’s start with an introduction: Who is Marianne de Pierres?

I’m an Australian speculative fiction author who loves cake, sport and good stories. That’s the short version! But if you check out my websites you’ll find out a whole lot more!

www.mariannedepierres.com
www.burnbright.com.au
www.tarasharp.com.au

Your debut novel, Peacemaker, is due to be published by Angry Robot Books in May. How would you introduce the novel to a new reader? Is it part of a series?

Peacemaker is a genre blend Urban Fantasy, SF, Western set in Australia. The intimate story is about a woman (Virgin Jackson) who will do anything to save the last natural habitat in the world. The deeper level story is about the power of mythology in human social architecture. At the moment, I’m working on the sequel, but I’m hoping there might be more books after that.

DePierresM-Peacemaker2014

What inspired you to write the novel? And where do you draw your inspiration from in general?

I grew up on a diet of pulp Westerns, and I have an enduring love of the Australian landscape. Those two concepts collided and a novel was born. I also created an online comic version of the story which you can preview here. So far, only one issue is out, but the second issue is written, ready to be illustrated. I love this world and had to see it drawn. Brigitte Sutherland, the artist, did a wonderful job of capturing my vision.

DePierresM-Peacemaker-01Comic

How were you introduced to reading and genre fiction?

I didn’t start consciously reading genre fiction until I was in my early twenties when I discovered science fiction by way of Arthur C. Clarke. However, I was a Doctor Who and Avengers fan from the age of ten (I wasn’t allowed to watch the latter, but I managed to sneak peeks by pretending to be asleep in front of the TV – and, yes, it used to give me nightmares!).

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the publishing industry?

I love being a writer, but the truth is that the publishing industry is such a state of change at the moment that it’s hard to get my head around it. I try not to dwell too much on the future. Keep creating; keep trying to get better. That’s my mantra.

What’s it like, being a published author? Is it what you expected? Do you have any specific working, writing, researching practices?

This is my sixteenth novel – so I’m not totally new to the experience. I’m fairly disciplined in my approach and write daily, preferring mornings to evenings. I’m also not a quick writer, so I find that consistency is the key. Research tends to be on an as needs basis because I work in other jobs and am always budgeting time. I love the research side of writing, but I always feel guilty when I do it. It feels like stolen time.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

I wanted to be a writer from a very young age (ten), but, of course, the reality of that was something else. It took me until I was in my early thirties to learn the self-discipline required to finish a novel. Since then, I’ve been committed and … well … obsessed …

What’s your opinion of the genre today, and where do you see your work fitting into it?

I work across genres, and often write genre blend fiction, so I don’t know where I fit it in. My regular readers know to expect the unexpected from me! I particularly love where genre TV is going, and how so many more people are being wooed by it.

What other projects are you working on, and what do you have currently in the pipeline?

SO many things in the pipeline. Have a glance over this – two crime series, a YA series and a stand-alone, SF novel. Not. Enough. Hours.

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I coach junior basketball and I love hip hop.

Joël Dicker introduces THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIRS (Penguin US, MacLehose Press UK)

Civilian Reader Interview , , , , , ,

Last week, I published my review of Joël Dicker’s debut novel and international sensation, THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HARRY QUEBERT AFFAIR. A thoroughly enjoyable read, the novel was provided for review by Dicker’s UK publisher, MacLehose Press (an imprint of Quercus). This week, I have a video interview with the author to share, provided by his American publisher, Penguin: