Thursday 12 February 2015

Imperfect Strangers by David Staniforth

Keith works as a night security guard at an office.  Sally has caught his eye and shown him kindness by smiling at him.  Keith thinks the next step is love.  Sally doesn't want to know.  At first.

This story is told in both first person perspective, so we get Keith's version in his head and Sally's version to the same thing.  As a story-telling method this is very effective for this story as we understand just how non-normal Keith is.

Some people reviewed that they read this in one sitting.  I actually put this book down to read another half way through as I found Keith's character to be one of the creepiest I've read.  He made me feel a bit grubby.  But I knew I'd go back to him.  I thought this story was an uncomfortable one as I'm the sort of person who wouldn't like to be nasty to anyone.  I sit through boring conversations so as not to be rude.  After reading this, I think I'll try to get out of things a bit more just in case I become a Sally.

I didn't particularly like Sally in this story.  I didn't really like anyone.  But I don't need to like characters to like a story and as a whole, this was a great story.  The tension built up, slowly at first with hints here and there.  I read the end at my lunch break and was late back as that bit was certainly unputdownable. 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00JXOVKE4/?tag=jookuf-21


Wednesday 11 February 2015

Interrogating Anna Faversham

Anna Faversham prefers living in the past with smugglers and highwaymen.


How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

I write what I’d like to read myself. There’s a quotation with over 12,000 likes on Goodreads and it is “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” Toni Morrison.

‘One Dark Night’ fell into my head one sleepless night and I began what has now become an absorbing hobby. I joined an online writing site and I received the discipline of criticism. That soon made me aware that I needed to pay attention to other readers unless I just wanted piles of papers stacked away in a cupboard or a rarely opened laptop folder labelled ‘books I have written’!


What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre(s) you write in.

I’m one of those people who is interested in more than my head can carry and therefore I’m not sure I can stick to one genre. I love the idea of time travel. The very thought of being able to go back and see how people really lived appeals, as does the concept of what might have happened if just a few actions were changed. So ‘Hide in Time’ was the second book I wrote but the first I published. I was not very interested in history at school but now I love it.
I reckon that love, in its many forms, drives so much of what goes on in the world so romance is, thus far, my main genre.


Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

I started writing many years ago, long before I seriously thought of publishing a book, and so I have an entire drawer of a big filing cabinet stuffed with folders for such things as plot ideas and characters. If I live and write until I am one hundred, I’ll not be able to use them all.

I remember driving along the shoreline and seeing a huge moon. My husband was doing the driving so I was free to grab a notebook and scribble down a description of one of the most fabulous moons I’ve ever seen. I was writing ‘One Dark Night’ at the time and so the post-it note was plonked into the A4 book I keep for each book and now it appears in the book as “A paper-lace moon, the size of a dinner plate, hung in the pink-flecked eastern sky.” The description doesn’t do it justice.


How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like...er...bunnies)?

Plot bunnies breed so mine are stuffed in a cage at the bottom of whatever I’m writing and occasionally I get around to taking a look at them if I’m wondering how to shape the next chapter. Then the poor leftover bunnies get transferred to that big filing cabinet – just in case!


How much of you is in your characters?

Some of my characters are inspired by real people, often historical characters. I refer to them as the coathangers! I wrap them in colourful coats and then they probably hardly resemble the original person at all. One of the reasons is because bits of me, or the me I would be in certain situations, creep into characters. Not telling you which bits!


Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with?

Fortunately, I’m happy being myself, so that is not a problem and quite frankly, I’m not at all sure I’d like to live in the nineteenth century. But your question about who I would like to be with is going to set me thinking for years to come. My initial answer has to be that I quite like my heroes and my heroines would be good company too. I could more easily answer a question of who I would not like to be with.


Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they're married to you or one of your characters?

I have so much going on in my life that writing has to be compartmentalised. I’m definitely me when my husband is around otherwise he’d start taking notes for a visit to the doctor.


What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

I enjoy a good crime thriller and a historical crime thriller is often top of the list for me. I had thought that I couldn’t write anything other than romance but the sequel to ‘One Dark Night’ is currently more crime thriller than romance.
I’m not sure I know enough about modern day crime to write in that genre – practical research could prove unwise.


What is on your near horizon?

I’m a third of the way through the first draft of a sequel to ‘One Dark Night’. Then I want to write another time travel story which is sitting patiently waiting. Then I want to write about the… better stop there as I have a long queue. If anyone could donate some time to me, I’d use it for writing.


Where can we find you for more information?

There’s a little bit more info on www.annafaversham.com There’s also a contact page where you can email me.

Friday 6 February 2015

Beneath The Boards by David Haynes

David Haynes is the master of the macabre, but this time his scary story is set in the present.  Jim is recovering from a violent attack, but his problems are just starting.

If I could have read this from behind a cushion, I'm sure I would have.  I found this to be a very creepy story.  As I spiralled into Jim's madness, I felt myself physically tensing up, only relaxing my shoulders at the end of a chapter.  David Haynes writes his stories effectively without too much waffle, yet building up all the information you need.  The terrors are implied which makes them all too real without the need for graphic gore.  Scretch will stick in my mind for some time.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00T55085S?tag=jookuf-21


Sunday 1 February 2015

Love, death and tea by Will Once

Patti told me to try this book.  I'd not noticed this author, but as soon as I read the blurb, I had to try it.  And I'm so glad I listened to Patti.

I've recently been reading a lot of zombie / plague stories.  I've not read one from a pacifist zombie point of view before.  

This book was a delight to read.  It's hard to explain the plot, but everything, no matter how silly it might have been, just slotted into place and was believable in its surreality.  














http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DF7G1T4/?tag=jookuf-21

Interrogating Will Once

This week I get to interview Will Once. I've just discovered his writing (thanks Patti) and am now a big fan.  Who knew zombies could have a gentle side?


How do you strike the balance between writing something you want to write and writing something that people want to read, in terms of the compromises you make, if any?

For me the reader is king.

I see writing as a contract between the reader and the author. The author says: "Cross my palm with silver and give me some of your time, and in return I'll take you on an adventure."

The deal is a success if the reader feels that that their money and time has been well spent. Did they get the adventure they were promised? Was it an emotional roller coaster ride where they were thrilled, scared, elated, saddened?

But in order to tell a good story, the author needs to write about something that he is interested in, or the writing will come across as fake. The best writing has a good deal of passion in it. The author grabs you by the lapels and just has to tell you this story that is boiling inside him. The author might explode if he can't get that story out.

Authors also need to give readers something new, something they haven’t seen or experienced before. And that means that the author has to put a big chunk of themselves into the book. Because the new stuff isn't going to come from anywhere else.

So I try to write stories that excite both me and the reader. And if in doubt, I always default to trying to give the reader what I think they want.


What excites, attracts or appeals to you about the genre(s) you write in?

I tend to skip around the genres quite a lot. My first published novel was "Love, Death and Tea" – a comedy fantasy.

I followed that with "Global Domination" – a comedy spy spoof.

Then "Hero" – a comedy science-fiction story about a superhero.

I'm currently working on a non-comedy which is somewhere between fantasy and science fiction.

And the next novel on the list is a cross between science fiction and a political farce.

A common theme for me is exploring the difference between a good character and a villain. All of my books have main characters who aren't quite sure if they are good or bad. A pacifist zombie. A megalomaniac who wants to take over the world because he wants to fix it. A superhero who casually breaks the law while he is fighting crime.

I get bored with cartoon stereotypes of good and bad - the too-good to be true hero and the boo-hiss baddie. I get really excited when the readers don't know whether a character is on the side of the saints or the sinners, and maybe it's a bit of both.


Do you have a box, drawer, folder etc where you keep thoughts and ideas for future stories? Such as names you have come across, bits of dialogue, ideas, characters - even if you have no idea when you might use them?

Nothing so organised! But I do have a head that is stuffed full of ideas, half remembered stories and plans. And at least half a dozen novels on my to do list.


How do you manage plot bunnies (ideas that invade your mind that aren’t usually helpful to the story you’re writing but breed like...er...bunnies)?

I shoot them. They're very good when pan fried with some shallots and a jus made from red wine and garlic.

Actually, that's not quite true. Plot bunnies can be useful when you are writing comedy. You can take a situation and then make it a little more absurd. Just when the reader thinks it can't get any sillier, you stretch it out a bit more. And then a bit more. Plot bunnies tend to breed more plot bunnies.

I did this in Love, Death and Tea. I started to wonder why only humans turn into zombies. What is the silliest thing I can turn into a zombie? How about a herd of cows?

Having invented a herd of cows, I had to think of something to do with them. So I wrote quite possibly the world's slowest ever car chase. A herd of zombie cows slowly shuffling after a VW camper van which was being pulled by a zombie.

What's the next silly thing that could be zombified? How about birds? Would zombie birds be able to fly? And that became the next challenge to throw at our hero.

Apart from that, I try to keep the plot bunnies under control. I tend to file them away as ideas for a future book.


How much of you is in your characters? Which of your characters is the you that you’d most like to be? Or be with ?

There is a little bit of me in all my main characters. I think that's true of most authors.

The character I would most like to be with is Lump. My second book "Global Domination for Beginners" tells the James Bond story from the perspective of the baddie. The main character is the Blofeld style megalomaniac who wants to take over the world. I wanted to make the point that no-one can achieve something massive without the help of their friends.

This meant that I had to surround my main character with supporters, colleagues, co-workers, friends. My main character's best friend from school becomes his personal bodyguard. He is known only as Lump, or when the story gets into top speed, OddLump. He is not very bright, but is very direct and unquestionably loyal. A real friend.

He would be a brilliant person to go to the pub with.


Do you become so wrapped up in your writing that your spouse wonders if they're married to you or one of your characters?

Sometimes.

The biggest issue for my wife is that she doesn't read the sort of genres that I write. She doesn't like fantasy or science fiction stories.  For her, everything has to be set in the real world, either now or in history. It helps if there is a dashing Mr Darcy climbing out of a lake in a wet shirt.

And that can get a bit tricky because she is also my proof reader … and very good at it, she is too. I'm not just saying that because she will be proof-reading this!


What type of book do you like reading? Is it the same genre as you write?

I don't read as much as I would like. I am trying to balance a day job, my writing and being  a husband and a father. I have a fairly broad tastes when I do get time to read.

What lengths do you go to to convince us readers that your book has the X factor?

Probably not enough.

I don't much care for the marketing side of writing. I can't rush up to someone and say "You must read my book! You must! It's brilliant!".

Instead I'm far more likely to be the shy one standing in the corner, coughing politely. What I would really like is for my readers to recommend the books to their friends.

So I don't do anywhere near as much marketing as I should. I focus on just writing the best books I can, and let's see what happens from there.


How do you feel when a reader points out the spelling mistake(s) you have made?

Enormously grateful.

As a reader I hate spelling mistakes in books. They jar you out of the fictional world. They remind you that these characters aren't real. They were made up by an author sitting at a computer.

As a writer you know that those mistakes do creep in, no matter how hard you try. It is a constant battle to find them and correct them. I love it when someone points out a mistake.

It’s always good to receive feedback. It is by far the best way to learn.


What do you like most about visiting KUF/GR/forums?

When I first came to Goodreads I thought it would be a way to sell my books. I didn't realise it would be such a place to make friends.

I have managed to do some book marketing on Goodreads, but I tend to keep it fairly low key. I don't like it when people ram their books down my throat, and so I won't do that myself.

Now it's mostly about making genuine friends and a lot less about the books.


What is on your near horizon?

I am about a month away from publishing a new novel. Unusually for me, it is not a comedy. It's a serious sci-fi/ fantasy story about a relatively small enclosed world. Around 100,000 people live in a medieval-ish landscape with a domed sky that walls them in. They don't question their world because they have known nothing else.
This world is governed by strict laws. The population can never exceed 100,000. The inhabitants are not allowed to go out at night or to travel to other parts of the world. They are not even allowed to be curious or to read and write.

Kori is a young girl with innate powers to know the truth. She senses that the world is starting to go wrong. She challenges the laws, but doesn't know whether she is making things better or worse.

If all goes to plan, this book should be published in March as the first of a series. It's currently written and is being edited and tested with a couple of utterly wonderful beta readers.


Where can we find you for more information?

Probably the best place is my blog:  Willonce.wordpress.com
Amazon author page Will-Once