Jul 18, 2024 | Editors' Blog, Interviews, Sci-fi
Today, we’re talking with Alastair Bowman about his book,
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
I love living in France – and I will get my European passport back in a couple of years!
Why do you write?
To share. And to make people think.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
My passion for economics and social justice.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
Scifi gives lots of possibilities to explore new worlds and see ourselves in them.
How would you describe your writing process?
I generally start early. If nothing feels right, then I read and re-write what I've previously written or go and do something else. It has to feel right in the moment even though it will likely be re-written.
What do you think authors have to gain from participating in social media?
Community.
What advice would you have for other writers?
Keep going, as long as you enjoy it.
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
The title is whatever feels right. I held a competition for the cover, with the brief to convey jeopardy using the world, a drop of water and barbed wire. The winner added the eye to make a tear, which I think is very effective.
What's your next step?
I am writing the sequel to ‘Creative Destruction' – ‘Icarus Falls'.
What book do you wish you'd written?
I owe a lot to John Steinbeck's ‘The Grapes of Wrath', but for the writing, either Kazuo Ishiguru's ‘The Remains of the Day' or Sebastian Faulk's ‘Birdsong'.
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
It's always flattering to have a reader, and even better if they give feedback.
FIND ALASTAIR'S BOOK ON AMAZON
Jul 9, 2024 | Editors' Blog, Crime, Interviews, Mystery, Sci-fi
Today, we’re talking with James Lance about his book,
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
I once woke up in a hospital in Spain. I had no idea how I got there.
Why do you write?
To entertain, to help give someone that necessary escape we all need at times. If I can inform and educate on top of that, that's even better.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
All around me; everything I've read, heard people say, seen with my eyes. Many great authors, including Huxley and Pullman, helped along the way.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
It allows you to fully utilise your imagination as long as you follow the rules.
How would you describe your writing process?
Partly hyper-organised and strict, partly chaotic and mad. My sleep pattern agrees!
What do you think authors have to gain from participating in social media?
You can reach new fans and establish a following. You'll find people that like your style and the way you write.
What advice would you have for other writers?
Trite but true: never give up. This is a long game, and you improve every day. Keep going, keep writing. Find an author who inspires you, someone with experience. In my case: Anthony Horowitz, who once told me to be ‘persistent to the point of annoyance'.
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
Both the title and cover have to quickly summarise the mood and feel that readers can expect—the story they're getting involved with before turning a single page. We've all seen a book title and cover before, and instinctively, thought: ‘I think this was made for me'.
What's your next step?
I haven't taken a holiday in over six years. It's time to recharge! After that, it's on to the second book.
What book do you wish you'd written?
The Great Gatsby.
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
I think: ‘Someone actually read me?'
FIND JAMES'S BOOK ON AMAZON
Jul 4, 2024 | Editors' Blog, Interviews, Mystery, Sci-fi
Today, we’re talking with Nathan Gregory about his book,
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
I make things up. That's what we writers do, make things up.
Why do you write?
After the crash of the 2000s I became depressed. As an outlet, self-therapy, I started writing. I never wrote for any audience but myself, and never had any intention of publishing. But a good friend persuaded me to put that first story, ‘Chromosome Quest,' on Amazon, and to my shock and surprise, it sold. It keeps selling, a steady trickle, but sales nonetheless, and spawned two sequels and a prequel. This new book is a sequel to the prequel. But old CQ outsells all the other books combined, to my constant amazement.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
The current book flows naturally from the ones before it in the series. The series, the entire story arc, is deeply rooted in various mythologies around UFOs, extraterrestrial life, and ancient aliens. The story arc represents my original ideas about how Aliens might exist on Earth. I borrow equally from Erich Von Daniken and E.E. “Doc” Smith. I used so much of Smith's fictional world in ‘Chromosome Conspiracy' that I asked the author's estate, in the person of his grandson, for permission, which he kindly granted.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
As an engineer, one might assume my interest lies with the technological innovations and fantastical worlds depicted in sci-fi. There is truth in that, but I equally enjoy exploring the ways in which these speculative futures reflect and critique our present-day societal structures and norms. Science fiction serves as a lens through which complex issues such as power, identity, and morality can be explored in imaginative and thought-provoking ways.
How would you describe your writing process?
Three cups (at least) of strong coffee, NIFOC, and total silence. I usually start sometime between 3 AM and 4 AM, and stop when the coming day refuses to accept “go away.”
What advice would you have for other writers?
Illegitimi non carborundum. Scribe ut tibi ipsi placere primum. (Don't let the bastards grind you down. Write to please yourself first.)
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
I consult the stars, deciphering their cryptic dance, for in their celestial choreography lies the truth of my decisions. If that doesn't work, I often find I must kill a chicken for the blood and entrails to use in an obscure little ritual that was handed down from my distant Scots-Irish ancestors.
What's your next step?
I think I may step back from fiction for a while. I have two non-fiction works I'd like to complete. But before I get to work on those, I want to take a road trip. A long road trip.
What book do you wish you'd written?
I won't say I exactly wish I had written it, but a book which I love, which I can deeply relate to due to having grown up in the “Bible Belt,” and which I feel is vastly underrated, is Heinlein's “JOB: A Comedy of Justice”
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
trepidation. fear. And sometimes, a sigh of blessed relief.
FIND NATHAN'S BOOK ON AMAZON
