Let’s talk about the
first book Undreamed. A psychological thriller about a girl, Alice, who lives
two different lives. One in a dream and one in reality, but she is confused
between what is real and what is not. Have you lived a life that is in comparison
to this story? If not, what inspired you to write something with so many
twists?
Hi Lacey, and thanks for the opportunity to chat.
It’s hard to say what exactly was the inspiration for
Undreamed. I do know a large part came from that classic, lurking paranoid
question of: What if none of this was real? How would I ever know? For me,
anyway, that question is a mind-bender. We can only ever trust the evidence of
our senses, but what if they were somehow fooled? It’s a classic setup and used
in many different genres, but just like Alice mentions in the book, the
question of what’s real has existed as long as there have been people around to
think about it.
I was intrigued not only by the question, but what it would
mean to someone living inside that insanity, where they absolutely knew one
version of their lives was a fake, but not which one. What would it do to them?
How would they cope? How could you exist, knowing that one half of your life
was lie?
I actually set out to write it as simply as I could, with
chapters roughly ping-ponging between her dream life and her real one, but in
the end it does get crazy as it all unravels for her.
Movies like ‘The Game’ ‘The Cell’ and even ‘Fight Club’ have
helped flavour it, along with books like ‘The Magus’ and a lot of writing by
Lovecraft.
Now your other book
Jan and the Spooky Periscope Incident (The Chronicles of Jan). Which is a book
of short stories. It seems like a book of science fiction, completely different
from Undreamed. Is there any science fiction films or books that inspired these
short stories?
I’ve had a couple of people mention that the Jan stories
remind them a little of Douglas Adams, and whilst I never set out to write a
story in that style, his ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ series is a big favourite
of mine. I guess I must be channeling some of that.
The Jan series is on the other end of the spectrum from
Undreamed. It’s geeky absurdist sci-fi comedy and a nerd-fest of badly used
science concepts. It’s a blast to write to this stuff because it’s such an
opposite and believe it or not, a sanity check from some of the darker things
I’m working on.
On your website
cerullean.net, you have a blog series The Barefoot Goddess. And I just want to
say that the illustrations are down right adorable. The first one is “The
Well-Taker”, you described the girl as “a creature of wishes”, collecting money
from a well and collecting the people’s
money. And you also described her as a “dream”. Is she a paranormal creature,
or a figment of everyone’s imagination?
Thank you. All the artwork on that series was created by
Wayne Bryant (@Wayneartist) on Twitter. We go back forever and the Barefoot
Goddess is an evolution of project we’ve been working on for a while.
Is the girl a dream or figment of someone’s imagination?
Well, that’s the question, isn’t it? The series (it’s very short) follows her
on a journey as she discovers her nature and the truth of her existence. It
isn’t at all what she first thinks it is. She is definitely real, through I’m
not entirely sure I’d want to meet her by the end of the series.
What inspired you to
write in this genre of books and short stories? Dreams from when you were a
child? Real life incidents that you transform into a fantasy?
I’m not drawn to a specific genre as such, but I love
stories that question identity and shake down the hero’s understanding of
what’s real. Stories that break the real world or hero’s world in some way.
As to what inspires it? I’ve seen things in real life that I
can’t explain, met people who seem to be connected in ways even harder to
explain. I love it when my assumptions about things turn out to be completely
wrong - because then I have to go back to square one and figure it all out
again. It’s this unsettled or liquid nature of truth that inspires me, I think.
What is your favorite
paranormal author or book?
Tough question. I’ve always enjoyed H.P Lovecraft, William
Hope Hodgson, Stephen King. I think I’d have to say Lovecraft, for his vast
worlds and (again) that sense of reality vs dream world.
I have asked this
question before, and I want your take on it as well. There has been many
paranormal books made into movies. What is your favorite movie based on a
paranormal book?
It would have to be ‘The Others’ (2001) It’s not so much
about the twist at the end as the whole build of fear and paranoia. It’s
different enough from ‘The Turn of the Screw’ on which it was based, but I
think as a film, it captures that psychological horror and sense of dread in
the book. In my opinion, scary isn’t about gore, it’s about staring at your
face in a mirror and seeing stranger.
Do you have anything
works in the making? If so, how about a little teaser?
Yes, a couple of things. The first is a serialised Urban
Fantasy novel called ‘The Transcedents’ which tells the story of Nick Lejune,
who discovers he’s at the centre of war between two rival groups of powerful
magic users. They both need him to stop a sickness that is ripping apart
reality and unmaking more and more of the world.
And ‘Godless’, a psychological horror novel set in a mining
town in the Australian desert. Tara Lakin, a reporter has been sent to cover
the anniversary of the mysterious disappearance of the town’s population thirty
years ago. Her report uncovers more than she could ever have imagined, and somewhere
in the desert, ghosts begin to stir, seeking revenge.
Last one, I have many
friends who are fans of the paranormal, and they are also aspiring writers.
What advice would you give them to make that spark into a flame?
Finish what you start. Learn from your mistakes and do the
next story better. Ideas are worth nothing unless they’re expressed, and
there’s no sense in tinkering with one thing for years until it’s ‘perfect’. It
never will be, so follow your passion, practice your craft, keep writing and
keep getting better.
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