Hello Pete, thank you for taking time to chat with me (now that you’re famous and soon-to-be published by Angry Robot Books).
Pete: Hi Nila, thanks for having me.
SFFWorld: So what’s your SFFWorld.com’s forum alias and why did you pick it?
Pete: I’m PeteMC on the SFFWorld.com forum, and every other forum I’m on. I’ve had this handle since I was on Usenet groups (yes, I’m old!) as the very first newsgroup I subscribed to in the early nineties already had a Pete, so I just stuck the first two initials of my surname on the end.
SFFWorld: How did you discover SFFWorld.com and why did you decide to join?
Pete: My lovely wife Diane actually found the forum for me – I was struggling to find anywhere to share work with other writers and she spotted the monthly flash fiction competition and made me join in! I’ve entered a fair few times over the years and even won occasionally. It’s a great way for writers to share their work and receive honest feedback from a friendly audience.
SFFWorld: How long have you been a member and what keeps you coming back?
Pete: I’ve been a member since April 2010 so I have just passed my five year anniversary (did I get cake? I missed the cake.). I’ve made some good friends on here over the years and it’s a great way to keep in touch.
SFFWorld: Cake? Can I have some? Er, um, never mind…what’s your favorite book?
Pete: Oh my days, now you’re asking me! It really depends what sort of mood I’m in – I’m a sucker for a Big Fat Fantasy like ASOIAF (A Song of Ice and Fire) but I also read contemporary, horror, thrillers, and some SF.
If I really had to choose though I’d have to say my all time favourite book is When The Lights Go Out by Tanith Lee. It’s pretty old, long out of print I suspect, and I’ve read my copy so many times it’s held together by sticky tape and prayers. This book is a very strange Urban Fantasy in which not very much happens, and what does happen makes very little sense, but the atmosphere is so beautifully evocative I just keep coming back to it. I mainly write Urban Fantasy myself, and I suspect that is Tanith Lee’s fault.
SFFWorld: Who’s your favorite author?
Pete: I admire many authors but my all time favourite has to be the utterly wonderful Tanith Lee.
SFFWorld: What’s your favorite genre (science fiction, fantasy, horror, steampunk, etc)?
Pete: Fantasy, hands down, in all it’s flavours. I like anything from modern-day demon hunters to the classic knights-and-swords stuff.
SFFWorld: Where’s your favorite place to read?
Pete: I’m lucky enough to have my own library at home, with a big scruffy old leather armchair just for reading in. There is some debate between the cat and myself over who the chair actually belongs to but we usually manage to come to an arrangement in the end.
SFFWorld: Favorite con (convention)?
Pete: I have to confess to being a con virgin – I’ll be attending my very first in October this year, when we’ll be at FantasyCon in Nottingham, UK.
SFFWorld: What do you do when you are not reading or messing around on SFFWorld.com?
Pete: Write! My debut novel Drake, the first book in the Burned Man series, is being published by Angry Robot Books in January 2016. I’m currently working on the second book in the series.
SFFWorld: That’s awesome! We are so happy for you, Pete! For those who don’t know, the great novel Drake started out as a short story, first published in our The End – Visions of Apocalypse anthology. Check it out! Okay…back to the interview…Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Pete. Anything else you’d like to add?
Pete: If anyone is at FantasyCon in October, come and say hi. I’ll probably be in the bar.
© 2015 N. E. White / Pete McLean / SFFWorld.com
