Sci-Fi / Dark Fantasy
Date Published:September 2014
Small Town, Dark Heart…
A long way from anywhere, on a road going nowhere, lays a small, unremarkable town. It seems a peaceable, prosperous little place, on the surface at least.
Away from prying eyes however, in the shadows and the forgotten corners, there is a web being weaved through the lives of its inhabitants by the town’s urbane and mysterious Mayor. A man prepared to make a deal for your heart's desire and, maybe, for your very soul…
Welcome to Hawker’s Drift, a town where nothing is quite as it seems…
Andy Monk
Andy Monk lives in London with his partner and their goldfish.
After a high-flying academic career and glittering success in professional sport, followed by a jet-set lifestyle of wild parties, exotic holidays and beautiful women, he settled down to write internationally acclaimed best-selling novels.
Andy Monk has a tendency to exaggerate and has an occasionally tenuous grip on reality.
He does, however, have a goldfish.
Interview:
What inspired you to write your first book?
Do you have a specific writing style?
How did you come up with the title?
The original title of my latest book was Upon a Distant Shore and it remained that until a few months ago,
but I finally decided it sounded a bit too much like a romance title so I
mulled over a few alternatives before settling on A Burden of Souls, which comes from a line of dialogue in the
story.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers
to grasp?
How much of the book is realistic?
I hope the character’s actions and motivations are realistic and the basic
setting is fairly every day, albeit in a different time. The book is set around
Hawker’s Drift, a remote little town that may, or may not, be in the 19th
Century American West. I’m deliberately ambiguous about the precise setting. There’s
a paranormal component to the book, I’m not someone who believes in that sort
of thing in the real world, but I try to make those elements seem as plausible
as possible, along with the character’s reactions to them.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events
in your own life?
What books have most influenced your
life most?
If you had to choose, which writer would
you consider a mentor?
What book are you reading now?
What would you like my readers to know?
If a man is
staring at you on the London Underground, he’s probably an author.
Sci-Fi / Dark Fantasy
Date Published:September 2014
Small Town, Dark Heart…
A long way from anywhere, on a road going nowhere, lays a small, unremarkable town. It seems a peaceable, prosperous little place, on the surface at least.
Away from prying eyes however, in the shadows and the forgotten corners, there is a web being weaved through the lives of its inhabitants by the town’s urbane and mysterious Mayor. A man prepared to make a deal for your heart's desire and, maybe, for your very soul…
Welcome to Hawker’s Drift, a town where nothing is quite as it seems…
Andy Monk lives in London with his partner and their goldfish.
After a high-flying academic career and glittering success in professional sport, followed by a jet-set lifestyle of wild parties, exotic holidays and beautiful women, he settled down to write internationally acclaimed best-selling novels.
Andy Monk has a tendency to exaggerate and has an occasionally tenuous grip on reality.
He does, however, have a goldfish.Interview:
What inspired you to write your first book?
When
I was younger I played a fair few role-playing/interactive fiction games by
post and later via e-mail, and even run my own for a few years. My first novel evolved from one of the
character’s I’d developed in an email game. The game folded after a couple of
months, but the character really intrigued me and I decided to build a novel
around him. That character turned into a four book series (In the Absence of Light) which took me the best part of 12 years to
finish.
Do you have a specific writing style?
Dark,
twisted and with occasional dollops of humour.
How did you come up with the title?
The original title of my latest book was Upon a Distant Shore and it remained that until a few months ago, but I finally decided it sounded a bit too much like a romance title so I mulled over a few alternatives before settling on A Burden of Souls, which comes from a line of dialogue in the story.
The original title of my latest book was Upon a Distant Shore and it remained that until a few months ago, but I finally decided it sounded a bit too much like a romance title so I mulled over a few alternatives before settling on A Burden of Souls, which comes from a line of dialogue in the story.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers
to grasp?
I
don’t claim to have any great insights into the human condition and preachy
writing is a bit of a turn off for me. I write to entertain. If I can help
someone escape from reality for a few hours and care about the characters
they’ve met, then I think it’s job done.
How much of the book is realistic?
I hope the character’s actions and motivations are realistic and the basic setting is fairly every day, albeit in a different time. The book is set around Hawker’s Drift, a remote little town that may, or may not, be in the 19th Century American West. I’m deliberately ambiguous about the precise setting. There’s a paranormal component to the book, I’m not someone who believes in that sort of thing in the real world, but I try to make those elements seem as plausible as possible, along with the character’s reactions to them.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events
in your own life?
I
think most writers take little things they see around them and weave them into
their stories, but I don’t cut any of my characters out complete from real
people. As an exercise I sometimes try and describe people I see on the train
or bus as if I were describing people in a book and some of those things have
made it into my writing. Obviously that’s something I just do in my head though
– some of the descriptions are pretty unflattering after all. You do seem some
odd looking people on public transport!
What books have most influenced your life most?
The Good Beer
Guide & How Not to Frighten Girls on a Date.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Probably
Stephen King, I just love the way he can create characters that are believable
and that you quickly care about. Iain Banks, who sadly died last year, is
another writer I’ve always admired deeply for the sheer breadth and audacity of
his imagination.
What book are you reading now?
Red Country by Joe
Abercrombie. I used to read a lot of fantasy, but I found it became a bit samey
and haven’t looked at one for years. I started with his First Law trilogy which is wonderfully dark, bloody and morally
ambiguous. After the trilogy he wrote another three books in the same world,
with many of the minor characters stepping forward to take centre stage. Red Country is the final (for now) of
his First Law books and I’d highly
recommend them to anyone who likes their fantasy dark.
What would you like my readers to know?
If a man is
staring at you on the London Underground, he’s probably an author.
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