Five Quick Questions…
Q. Were Alt Truths to become a film, who would be your ideal actors to play Sarah and Richard?
A. I can see Karen Gillan relishing the chance to play the part of our pagan, mother-earth worshipping, anti-establishment heroine (Think Disney’s Merida and her single-minded determination – red hair too!) whereas Richard would have to be played by someone who couldn’t be more conservative if he tried. I don’t know why, but a young Harrison Ford comes to mind. How about Alden Ehrenreich?
Q. Do you have plans for a sequel?
A. I didn’t, but now Alt Truths’ reviews are starting to come in, it’s clear I’m either rubbish at endings or readers just want more! My next novel was going to be about a man unable to have children, but who then meets a teenage girl who insists she’s his daughter. Needless to say, the ‘futurist sci-fi’ nature of my genre means that would lead to all sorts of dystopian adventures while they seek the ‘truth’ and as that fits neatly in with ‘Alt Truths’, it looks as if they might have to gate-crash Sarah and Richard’s wedding along the way (or something like that!)
Q. Would you have Alt Truths become an audiobook?
A. Already in the pipeline and should be out before Christmas. The producers are currently scouting for someone who can do male/female Cornish, American southern, Mid-Atlantic, Posh, and West African accents. A walk in the park for the likes of Jonathan Keeble (if I can get him) – check out The Condition Trilogy in the meantime – he’s awesome!
Q Have you got any other unpublished works or any underway?
A. Other than the (probable) sequel to Alt Truths mentioned earlier, I’m hoping to make a start on my first non-fiction book. Actually, it might turn out to be little more than a paper at this stage, but I’m thinking big! If you’ve read Condition’s The Final Correction, you’ll know the main antagonist mentions a chap called ‘Glubb Pasha’. He’s a real-life hero of mine, and not just because he served as a soldier during both world wars. He wrote a paper that likened the birth and death of nations to the cradle to grave existence of we human beings, i.e. they’re born, they grow up, pick fights with the kid next door, grow up a bit more, find someone to settle down with, before having kids of their own who go on to make the same mistakes. If anything, his paper The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival is more apt today than it was when he wrote it back in 1976. Although Glubb was celebrated after WW2 (he helped make Jordan the stable Middle Eastern country it is today) his philosophy on life is underrated and I’d like to fix that.
Q. Do you ever experience writer’s block? If so how do you counter it?
A. Nope – next question! My problem is not writer’s block, but the rapid pace at which I write – stuff often gets left out by mistake. Here’s a typical example:
Richard opened the door.
‘What did you do that for?’ said Sarah.
‘I don’t know.’ Richard stared into the gloom. ‘I’m sure Alec meant for me to do something.’
‘Is it dark?’
‘Blank more than dark.’
Sarah tutted. ‘He’s done it again.’
‘Done what?’
‘Forgotten to finish the scene. A pound to a penny you’re currently fighting a robot in the next chapter.’
‘Oh,’ said Richard. ‘Should I put some clothes on in case he comes back?’
Sarah sighed. ‘Just get back into bed.’
Many thanks to bookwormscornerblogspot.com