(2002-12-12)Q: Can you tell us a bit about Night Seekers? A: Night Seekers was something of a departure for me novel-wise. Until that point I’d written mainly high fantasy, but my short stories were taking on a much darker aspect, and so I decided to follow this route and see where something novel-length would take me. I wanted Night Seekers to be more than just another dark fantasy tale, I wanted it to be about the most fundamental things, human emotion, dreams, time, love, life, death. I wanted it to move people, to challenge people, to make us all think about where we came from and where we are going. I wanted to write a new mythology, drawing on all the tales that have already been told. I hope I succeeded in this. Q: What was the most challenging aspect of writing the story? A: To achieve all that I wanted the tale to be was the most challenging aspect. To deal with so many issues, to deal with what it means to be human, it was a huge challenge, but I never really doubted I could do it, it wanted to be told, and so it was, but the writing itself was hard, it took a lot from me psychologically and emotionally and I think that’s what makes it such a good tale, that I had to feel so much to write it and so I know those who read it will gain from doing so. Q: Where do you get your inspiration from? A: My inspiration comes from my own subconscious and the way I react to the world around me. I work best when I don’t think, and a lot of my writing is done straight from an almost dreaming state. I read a lot of books on any and all subjects to feed my brain with images. Once those images and ideas are in my head they start mutating and come out onto the page as the work you read. Q: So many writers with unpublished manuscripts despair of ever getting that first book sale. What's your advice to aspiring authors? A: It’s very hard, and it never really stops being hard. There’s no such thing as an overnight success, everything you achieve you work at, and you work hard. You can never give up, even though you might feel like it, you have to keep going despite all the knocks, all the setbacks. Writing is something you have to love, something you want to do so badly you can’t not do it. Be determined and be your own best friend, even after the 100th rejection, keep going, because the next one may be the one that says yes. Q: What plans do you have for the future? A: I would love to eventually earn enough from my writing to concentrate on it to the exclusion of all else, but while I’m waiting for that to happen I’m writing a new novel that’s along the same lines as Night Seekers, but with a slightly more folk-tale aspect. I’m also working on a collection of short stories and am trying to gain some recognition for myself as an artist and photographer. Q: Who are your favourite authors, artists, movies, now? A: My favourites change over time, for those that have the most influence on me I would say Clive Barker, Douglas Adams, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, William Blake, Susan Seddon Boulet, John Atkinson Grimshaw, Van Gogh, Turner, Dali, Geiger, The Crow, & all Tim Burton’s movies. Q: What has the Internet meant for you as an author? A: It’s given me a means of promotion that hasn’t always been available. Especially, it’s given me a window to overseas markets that I would otherwise have been unable to reach. It’s also allowed me to communicate with other writers and exchange ideas, which is invaluable as writing can often be a very solitary experience. 
| 
