Message Board

You have a flare for the brutal.

- AKD, USA.

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I just got through reading God’s Soldiers. What a brilliant way to use this final book as the climax to the preceding three stories in the series. Each book was a compelling story, building up to a shocking and powerful finale. What an incredible journey these characters take through these books. Especially Jack Parrish. I am so happy to have all four books in this quartet on my bookshelf and I’m only sorry that the story had to end here. The inclusion of real-life events set an effective backdrop to the lives of the characters. Reading these in your books brought back my own memories of what I had been doing during those years.
I look forward to reading the new books you publish.

- TF, USA.

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Q. I liked how in Wrath and Remembrance, at the end of each year, particularly during the 1980s, Jack and Tony discussed the movies and music they liked and some of the events that happened around the world. Is that your favorite decade? Also, if someone makes a movie of your book, do you hope they'll keep those details in?

I was born in 1968, was a child through the 70s and a teenager through the 80s and writing about that decade reminded me of my own youth. There were so many styles around then, both in music and fashion, that I hated. I've never followed fashion at all, not even during my teens. I was a metal-head, wearing a biker's jacket, T-shirt and jeans. For years now I've kept my head completely shaved and thrown on anything black to wear. In the story, it felt natural for Jack to pay closer attention to those details in his life because his amnesia had erased his childhood. If a movie version did come around, I'd like it if they included as much detail as possible, but I think that would depend on the director and some things work better on the page than they do on screen. Movie adaptations are often trimmed down because of time constraints.

Q. Have you written many short stories?

I did while I was at school, but I stopped when I got into writing novels. I have incorporated two of my favourite short stories, called Burning Rage and Dicing With Death, into my first novel Wrath and Remembrance.

Q. How would you describe your fiction? What genre?

Wrath and Remembrance, Comparing Scars, Hitting Back and God's Soldiers run sequentially to form my "Dark Retribution" quartet. Blood and Water is a separate story, but linked to Comparing Scars through one of the characters. The stories deal with the themes of murder, revenge, sin, temptation, love, absolution and salvation. I want people to be entertained by my stories ... but, at the same time, I want my stories to make the reader think about what is going on around them and ask themselves questions like: Am I in control of my own life? Would I know if someone else was trying to manipulate me? If I lost my soul, would I know it? Just because you can't see or hear some things ... it doesn't mean that they don't exist!
One reader described my stories as "revenge thrillers with a supernatural twist". I think that's accurate enough.

Q. Do you write more than one book at a time?

I try not to, because it can get a little mind-warping at times, but somehow I always end up scribbling notes for other projects. Case in point is the Dark Retribution quartet. Wrath and Remembrance is the first book in the quartet, but not the first book I completed. I actually began writing God's Soldiers before the other three, under the title Wrath and Remembrance. As I was working on it, the book was constantly being rewritten as fresh ideas came to me. I began to see the characters going in different directions, with new plot threads emerging, and one story became four linked ones. In the end, God's Soldiers, my first book, became the final section in that quartet. Now, as I am working on one book, I am constantly getting ideas and scribbling notes for another. I tuck them away in separate files for when I'll need them.

Q. Do you feel it's important to give your characters memories?

Absolutely. By investing the characters with a past history you enable the reader to feel that they have got to know the character on a more intimate level. It also makes the story multi-layered. I structured Wrath and Remembrance the way I did because I want the reader to feel that they have got to know Jack Parrish completely, to grow with Jack as he grew during the course of the story, to know him fully as he matures and to experience the world as he does. I've had a lot of feedback on this. One was from a woman who said that reading my work, especially in the first-person narrative, gave her a great insight into the way a man thinks. I liked that.

Q. Do you always write in first-person narrative?

Now I do. I started off writing third-person, but it never felt comfortable. I tended to over-state and over-describe things. As a result, my narrative became flat and ponderous. First-person enables me to be more direct with my writing. It also suits me better as I like to write as the central character thinks and speaks. I doubt that people think in long stretches of flowery narrative, as I've sometimes read in third-person-narrated stories. Well ... some people might, but I don't.

Q. How many rejections have you had from other publishers in the past?

A few, but not that many considering the length of time I've been writing, not in comparison with some writers I have talked with. The hardest thing was waiting for replies. Sometimes it took best part of a year and then I had to make telephone calls to chase up my proposals. I think one of the hardest tasks for any aspiring writer to achieve is just to get someone to even read your work. I didn't waste time waiting for the mail, though. While I was waiting for replies, I got busy writing. Now I'm happy that it all led me to take the step towards going into publishing.

Q. How did you handle rejection?

I was always pretty indifferent to the rejection letters. The photocopied mass-produced rejections that read: "we really liked your work but ..." I just ignored. I believe that any writer with enough dedication ignores them, too. I'm older now, more cynical and a lot more savvy to the reality of the publishing world.

Q. Do you use anything physical, like models or pictures to help inspire you?

Physical objects help a writer get into the "zone". There are some days when the blank page just stares at you and you can feel that dreaded "block" forming again. It helps me to have something physical on my desk near me as I write, that is appropriate to the story I am working on. Looking at the object or holding it in my hand helps me get into the mind-set of whichever character I’m writing about. This is a simple but effective method to stimulate the imagination.

For Wrath and Remembrance I used a 10mm spanner, same as Jack Parrish uses during his job at the furniture factory:

A silver crucifix attached to a metal key ring, along with a steel disc, on which I had the words “In God I Trust” engraved. In the story, this belongs to Miriam Walsh and then later Jack comes to own it:

A paperback copy of Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem:

The poster for the 1972 version of Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. During the time I wrote Wrath and Remembrance this movie was in my video collection. I later replaced it with the DVD when it became available:

For Comparing Scars I used a leather bag similar to the one Jake Callan carries his belongings in:

For Hitting Back I used a cigar tin of the brand Lenny Durning smoked:

A Descent Recorder, also shown in the cover image, on which Lenny played Gabriel’s Oboe:

For God’s Soldiers I used a fake ornamental bullet. This one I bought from a goth store and it was originally attached to a black leather necklace. I don’t like wearing necklaces so I switched it to my key chain. The bullet was appropriate as there are so many shootings and gun fights during the course of the story:

The time-scale during God’s Soldiers also took in the release of the 2002 movie version of Solaris, directed by Steven Soderbergh. This movie came at just the right time and I was happy to include it in the narrative as it is Jack Parrish's favorite story (and one of mine). I also have this 2002 version in my DVD collection:

For Hank Shank VIII, I used a page-sized copy of the portrait by Hans Holbein. As my fictional character, Hank Troud, was based on Henry VIII, it was easy to draw on this for inspiration:

For Blood and Water I used a varnished stone I bought from a "new age" store that sold all kinds of quirky gadgets, alternative jewelry and ornaments. In the story, this is the "blood stone" Vincent and Barney use as a prize for winning games of backgammon:

For Backlash I used a map that charts Darryl Brewer's journey across eight states of America:

Also, as Darryl Brewer is a musician, I used a blues harmonica. I have always loved music and writing this book has inspired me to take the step and make the time to learn to play this instrument. To date, I can play Red River Valley, Amazing Grace, Silent Night and Beethoven's Ode To Joy. I have a stack of other tunes I'll learn when I eventually get the hang of these. Learning the harmonica has always been on my "bucket list" of things to do. Whenever I practice, I try to ignore the pack of dogs that show up howling outside:

Q. Lenny Durning, the central character in Hitting Back, the third book of your Dark Retribution Quartet, has no redeeming qualities. What inspired you to base a book on such a bad character?

Call him Lenny … for he is many.
I can’t resist the reference to scripture (Mark 5: 9) whenever I’m asked about how I came to write about the evil little bastard Lenny Durning. He first raises his ugly head in Wrath and Remembrance, where he breaks into the wrong home and gets the beating he deserves.
In Hitting Back, he retells that incident, along with many others, from his own perspective.
In many stories, the antagonist is generally the secondary character. But I thought it would be interesting to give the antagonist the foreground in Hitting Back and tell the story from his perspective.
Inspiration for the character came from many individuals I have known and observed since my teens. Lenny Durning is a composite of all of them. During my late-twenties to mid-thirties, I lived in an area where a group of guys my age always hung around at the top end of the street. They dressed the same, spoke and acted the same, and seemingly made a life-career out of avoiding conventional employment. However else they made their money, I didn’t know because I wasn’t a part of their group and I didn’t want to know. I lived in the same area and was on nodding acquaintance, but that was all. They didn't seem to have any long-term goals, dreams or ambitions. I found myself asking the same questions over the years: I wonder how their minds work? I wonder what they think about and hope for? They just seemed to live in the moment, content simply to make it through the day. I wouldn’t have trusted any of them as far as I could have picked them up and thrown them. I was content to keep my distance, observe, collate notes as I passed by on my way and caught snatches of their conversations. People inspire me and for that reason I’ve always been a compulsive “people-watcher”, taking mental note of the way people relate to each other, along with their mannerisms, gestures, traits and characterists.
Six minutes into Shane Meadows’ 1997 movie 24 7: TwentyFourSeven, Bob Hoskins, narrating as the character Darcy, makes this sadly only-too-topical point:
"The lads and the people in this town have been living in the same day their whole lives. None of them is singularly strong enough to break away and say: Wait a minute, there must be something more than this! No one. That’s why nothing ever changes."
The character Darcy, along with his real-life counterparts, are the die-hards of society: they stand up, often ignoring cynicism, scorn and derision, and they try to make a difference. Some fall short of achieving what they set out to do … but at least they get off their ass and try!
The dialogue I’ve quoted from TwentyFourSeven is so apt for the guys who I used to see every day. They sat around on walls near their homes, drank and smoked long into the night. These weren’t kids, but they still acted the same way they did when they were twelve-years-old, hanging around the streets, sitting on walls, peddling around the streets on their bicycles and making ramps out of loose planks and bricks to jump over, just like they probably remember seeing the stunt riders Evel Knievel and Eddie Kidd do on TV.
My guess is that if I went back to that street … they’d probably still be there … doing the exact same things … talking about the same stuff … admiring and comparing their Anti-Social Behavior Orders (ASBOs) … living the same day since their early teens. Where I grew up, they’re called “charvers”. Other parts of Britain would call them “chavs” or “chavas”, but it all means the same. Other countries will no doubt have their own derogatory terms.
Like everyone else, they had their dark side. Get on the wrong side of them and they would hold a grudge against you for the rest of their life. There was no forgiveness in them.
My inspiration for the character came when I suddenly thought: what if a guy like that came back to the city holding an almighty grudge against a group who’d wronged him ...
From that single idea, Lenny Durning came to life in my imagination.

Q. Have you ever had "writer's block", and if so, how did you deal with it?

Writer’s Block!
There … I said it … I dared speak the name of the condition that every writer dreads!
Writers fear it the way amorous men fear a failed erection. It can strike at any time, unseen and without warning, like a virus.
On screen, I’ve watched David Duchovny bounce his laptop off the wall in Californication … Jack Nicholson bounce a ball off the walls, rant at his wife and prowl the hotel corridors in The Shining … a manic Nicolas Cage sweat an ocean over his typewriter in Adaptation … Johnny Depp take to the comfort zone of his couch in Secret Window … all because of writer’s block … and that’s just a few examples out of fiction. When it happens for real, it can be just as debilitating. The blank page has suddenly become a seemingly insurmountable obstacle that only gets more difficult with time.
It’s happened to me several times over the years, but my worst period with it came during the writing of God’s Soldiers. I have already written about how that final part of the quartet began as the first part, with large elements of the other three books in the narrative. Writer’s block struck when I was a third of the way through God’s Soldiers. Panic gripped me. This was the final part of the quartet and all of a sudden the story wasn’t gelling the way it should. Something was drastically wrong and it seemed like the house of cards I’d spent so long building was about to come tumbling down around me. I went through long nights, agonizing over it. Eventually, I got all the notes I had on the story and spread them out around the room. The place was a mess of loose papers, covering the furniture and floor space, with barely enough room left for me to walk between them. However, I was then at an advantage of being able to look at the problem in a different way and the answer came to me: I was attempting to write two stories in one. There was a subplot that didn’t fit with the rest of the narrative and it was tearing the story apart. So I got rid of it. At that time, the project was almost 160,000 words long and I ended up deleting just under 70,000 words. That’s a lot of work to dump, but it took an act of destruction to fix the problem. I had to tear it apart to rebuild it again the way it should be. It was what was needed and I'm now thankful for it happening because the story is better because of it.
I don’t often listen to music while working, but I listened to Evanescence almost constantly when I got through the block. Their Fallen album became the soundtrack to God’s Soldiers. Some music can work to clear the mind before beginning work and encourage a certain mood, putting a writer into the zone of their story.
Some writers procrastinate – even if they never admit to it - and look for things to distract them from their project(s), hoping for a knock at the door, a delivery, or a telephone call, even if it is a telemarketer, anything just to give them the excuse to get up out of the chair and walk away from the desk.
At other times, I have found that simply taking a break from it helps. A block can cause anxiety and even depression. Dwelling on the blank page and long, wasted hours can often serve to add to those negative feelings. So take a break. Put the work away and go out for the day. Just make sure you take a notepad and pen with you in the event that inspiration suddenly strikes and you need to scribble furiously. Ideas come from nowhere, so always be ready to catch them when they do. A change can be as good as a rest, so take a walk, get some exercise, read a book, do some word puzzles, watch a movie, have friends around for a meal … it’s better than brooding. You may need to take more than a day. It doesn’t matter. Take however long you need and you will return to the project with a mind that is rested and refreshed.
Another way I beat it was to simply write about how I felt at the time: I wrote about not being able to write. By doing so, the act of writing solved the problem of not being able to write! It sounds like a contradiction but, at the time, it worked.
I also moved to the window and wrote about what I saw going on in the street. This is a useful habit to get into, wherever you are, because sometimes you will note down something that later proves useful in a story.
Talking to other writers helps, sharing the pain and comparing notes on how to get through it.
Discipline also works for me. Making the time and creating an environment in which I can both relax into the mindset of writing and know I won’t be distracted.
Staying in good health is a necessity. Eat well, keep a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables and exercise every day. I recently took up yoga and I find that practicing my routine for an hour in the morning helps clear my mind and relax me.
The causes of writer’s block can be numerous and complex, but this I know for sure: it’s a temporary lull in the creative process. Sometimes it can even be a necessary part of the arc and can help a project the way it helped me during God’s Soldiers. It's all a matter of how you look at it. I say again: whatever the reason … it’s temporary! Sooner or later, it goes away, the fog lifts, the ideas flow again and productivity regains momentum. Relax. All writers, even the most famous and successful ones, have gone through it.
Breaking through that dreaded block is a problem that many writers have asked me about. I hope that by describing my own struggles and ways of conquering it I've helped others.
You’ll all have to excuse me now. I have to go back to working on my book.
I’ve just had an idea.

Photographs from my friend Thadeus, displaying my first 5 books at his own library: