Last week Susan Murray tagged me for The Next Big Thing.
This is a tag chain which, if it remains unbroken, will swiftly fill the
web-o-verse with everything you wanted to know about the latest projects of
writers (which is preferable to a lot else that can be found swilling around
out there).
The idea is simple. There are ten questions about the latest
project you are working on. You answer them, tag five people who will answer
them, and so on. No money changes hands (damn!), but it is a good way of
letting writers talk about what they are doing at the moment (between sessions
of Angry Birds).
So, away we go...
What is the working title of your next book?
I’m actually three books ahead of my next book, if you see
what I mean. The next one to see print (I hope) will be called Exile and
Pilgrim and is the first sequel to Stealing into Winter which was
published in September of this year (and which would make an excellent
Christmas present for anyone you know who enjoys fantasy). The third book (Players
of the Game) has also been drafted and I am currently drafting the fourth
book in the series. So the other answer to this question is Retorsion,
which is the fourth book about Jeniche of Antar. There may be more, but that’s
as far as I’ve travelled.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
I have my ideas shipped in from Fortnum & Mason –
nothing but the best. They come in hampers...
If only it was that easy. In a sense it is about logical
progression. After I had finished the first book, there were so many characters
and events that needed exploring and expanding, that I simply let them loose,
asked for reports, and created a narrative from the letters they sent back to
me.
The series began life with the desire to write a
straightforward fantasy that had pace and a central character whose only desire
was to stay alive, have enough to eat, and somewhere safe to sleep. No great
house to restore to the throne, no magic quest to complete, no elves or dwarfs,
no dragons.
What genre does your book fall under?
I hope it doesn’t fall. I have bills to pay. If it keeps on
its feet, it will be found on the fantasy shelf of the book store. If you are
interested in sub-genres, this one is future fantasy (post apocalyptic).
What actors would you choose to play the part of your
characters in a movie rendition?
Sharifah Amani has exactly the look for Jeniche...
...and Rufus Sewell would be just right for Alltud.
What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
A young thief discovers that you don’t always get what you
want.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an
agency?
That depends on sales of the first in the series. So why are
you still here? Shouldn’t you be looking for it on an online bookstore?
How long did it take you to write the first draft of the
manuscript?
Each of the books has taken just over a month to draft –
that’s a chapter a day (about 2,200 words)
What other books would you compare this story to within
your genre?
This harks back to the days when typewriters roamed the
earth and fantasy meant Michael Moorcock; the days before a fantasy novel had
to be in twelve volumes and have a prologue longer than most of my novels. Most
mainstream publishers don’t touch anything this short (70,000 words) any more.
Apparently people don’t read it. Which makes me wonder who the hell is buying
my books.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Michael Moorcock. Fritz Leiber. I wanted to get back to
those basics. Well-written, pacy, lively, character-driven works that didn’t
rely on a conservative view of the world in which everything would be well if
we could just get the right sort of ruler back on the throne. It doesn’t
happen. Yeah, I know this is fantasy, but that doesn’t mean it can’t reflect
the real world.
What else about the book might pique the reader’s
interest?
Well, it concludes a four book arc, but leaves the way open
for more stories. And, like the others, it won’t give you a hernia carrying it
around, you can read it in a fairly short time, and there is absolutely no
guff, waffle, or padding of any kind.
So, there you go. And now all that's left is for me to tag some writers who will
answer the same questions next week - over to you chaps:
Rachel Green (who was tagged by someone else first, but is
worth visiting twice)
