Hello, Andy: many thanks for giving us some time here. Welcome to SFFWorld.
The Dragon Engine, the first book in your new series is being released on September 1st. Can you tell us a bit about it?
It’s about a group of Vagandrak heroes who get drunk and sign a contract to go on a treasure hunt in some ancient, abandoned dwarf mines. They also believe there are jewels hidden there which give everlasting life. Only when they arrive, the mines are far from abandoned, and our heroes learn of three huge dragons held in captivity, enslaved by the dwarves, particularly Skalg, First Cardinal of the Church of Hate… things go downhill fast for everybody.
This new series is set in the same world as your Rage of Kings series. How similar and different would you say it is and would readers benefit from having read Rage of Kings before starting on this new series?
It’s similar in that it’s a hardcore dark fantasy with lots of adventure and action. It also name-checks quite a few characters from the Rage of Kings series. However, The Dragon Engine is completely standalone and can be read independently.
Six noble war heroes on a quest to get filthy rich. Can you tell us a bit about your main characters and what is important for you when you create your characters?
There’s Beetrax the Axeman, loud and brash and vulgar; Lillith, his ex-lover, a woman in love with books and peace and white magick; Dakeroth, an expert swordsman, his wife, Jonti Tal, expert with a blade, Talon the archer and Sakora, refined in unarmed combat.
Importance in creating characters? Creating strong back stories, making each character believable and interesting, making sure there’s conflict so I can add in some black humour and insults. ☺
Thrill-riding action with gritty violence and plenty of fighting is a somewhat common theme in much of your writing and also in The Dragon Engine. What is it you find fascinating by these rather grim and violent settings?
I simply write the kind of worlds and characters I love to read. I don’t read stories about loving sisters on a farm in Austria collecting flowers. I was brought up on Tolkien and Conan and Iain M. Banks and David Gemmell. Men and women with axes hitting each other. Heroes doing the right thing. Or sometimes the wrong thing.
Vampires, Science Fiction, Fantasy… Your writing spans many genres, which do you enjoy the most to write?
I enjoy them all for different reasons, to be honest. As a writer, it’s nice to write in a different genre once in a while – I believe it helps keep you fresh. I am particularly enjoying heroic fantasy at the moment, but I feel the need to write a near-future thriller coming real soon.
You have also directed a movie, Impurity. Can you tell us a bit about that project?
Ha! It stemmed from making short films to promote some of my earlier books. This was so much fun that me and a group of friends decided to make something longer and Impurity is the result. It might not be Spielberg, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to make! You can see more at www.impuritythemovie.com
The synopsis runs:
Shotgun Jimmy is a nasty piece of work. Ripping off drug dealers, killing policemen, he’d decapitate his own grandmother for a sack of loot. Tomas Sorescu’s been a bad man. He likes his whiskey, brandy and vodka. Only now he’s crashed his car – and killed his wife and daughter in the process. And there’s Sophie Scott – successful journalist. But she hides a secret… she killed her husband, stabbed him in the guts and buried him in the woods.
They awake, shackled in a cellar dungeon. At first they squabble, but soon realise their abductor is far from sane. However, Chemical Man doesn’t want to kill them. He wants to purify them… and this cleansing process promises to be a lot more painful…
I’m currently working on a documentary about the ZX Spectrum (geek, I know) and then after that will be a post-apocalyptic war movie.
There is also a teaser video for The Dragon Engine and I’ve seen more and more of these related to book promotions. Why did you want to have a video and what are your expectations from this type of marketing?
I just made that for fun, because I love making films. I’m not sure of my expectations – if it gives people a bit of entertainment and gets them interested in my novel, that’s all good by me.
While we’re on the subject of marketing. How do you go about the marketing aspect and especially related to your online presence? Anything you’ve seen work better than other things?
I’ve always been a bit nonplussed about Twitter, but I’ve seen its power over the last couple of weeks with my Spectrum film. I’m enjoying Instagram at the moment, and Facebook disappoints now by being over-controlling. So Twitter is very powerful. I still believe word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool. And maybe sign-writing on the moon.
Thinking back, how did you start writing? Was there a particular book or moment in your life that spurred you on?
My primary school teacher, Mrs Buono, used to read Roald Dahl books to our class. That got me interested in reading. I then devoured all the Famous Five and Secret Seven books. I started writing little books in primary school. My love of reading continued and I started my first novel at 14 – which I abandoned. I wrote my first comedy fantasy novel at 17, spurred on at the time by Pratchett’s early Discworld novels.
Generally, do you tend to work from one key idea that you then refine, or do you spend a long time maturing ideas and mixing them together until you find something that works?
I start with a key concept – in this case, three imprisoned dragons and evil dwarves. Then I decide on setting and plan out characters. The rest all seems to fall neatly into place.
You also write shorter fiction. How different do you find writing short stories and shorter fiction rather than novels? Do you have a preference?
I definitely prefer novels, so I have time to stretch out characters and do some proper world-building and character development. Shorter fiction has its attractions, the twists and impact, but my love has always been the novel.
What has been most surprising to you in your writing and publishing career?
Learning the business side of the publishing industry. And I was also quite naive when my first book Spiral came out. I got some good reviews. Then I got savaged by a critic. That was hard!! And I found it hard for a long time…. now I understand the way the system works, critics are just doing their jobs, and I take the good and the bad with a shrug (although I secretly love the good, ha!).
What books inspired your career as an author, and what authors do you enjoy now?
Tolkien was a big influence early on. I was also inspired by Pratchett, Iain M. Banks, Phil Dick, Dave Gemmell, Peter Morwood, Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl. I don’t have much time to read, although I do read every night. I’m, currently re-reading the amazing fantasy novel The Demon Lord by Peter Morwood, and J. G. Ballard’s The Miracle of Life.
Most writers have some other thing they’re passionate about, what’s yours?
My kids, film making, mountain climbing, mountain biking, motorbikes, ooooh I could go on.
What’s next? What other projects are you working on?
I’m working on the follow up to The Dragon Engine, Twilight of the Dragons, plus three novellas for TOR US, beginning with A Song for No Man’s Land, a dark fantasy set in the trenches of WWI. That’s out early 2016. Then I’m about to make my ZX Spectrum film. If you’re an old Speccy geek like me you can see more at www.spectrumaddict.co.uk
Once again, thank you very much for your time, Andy.
My pleasure ☺
