Andy lives on the
north coast of Cornwall in the UK with his artist wife, teenage
daughter, three cats, and two ponies. He is contantly running out of
shelf space for the ever-increasing book collection.
Other books by Andy:
Me and the Monkey:
Chronicles of the Monkey God Vol 1 & 2
The Paddington
Incident
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GUEST POST
Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became
an author?
I’m a British-based author, a lifelong fan of sword and sorcery/fantasy/historical fiction, martial artist,
ex-bodybuilder, esoteric scholar, bad surfer, heavy metal lover, and motion graphics designer. I was
born in Birmingham, UK (if you are not from the UK, then it is the home of Peaky Blinders - everyone
seems to know that!). I now live in north Cornwall, UK, with my artist wife, teenage daughter, three
cats, and two ponies.
I have always loved to write, although, in my youth, it was song lyrics rather than prose. I worked in
an office during the 1990s and was asked to produce the internal company newsletter. It soon had
very short crazy stories appearing in it, and towards the end of the 90’s, I started writing for its own
sake: there are several WIPs that someday I will return to. I changed jobs for a graphic designer role in
a live events company and was so busy that writing took a very back seat. Then, around 2012, I
decided to try an experiment in writing daily blogs on Facebook to see how much interaction I got and
to give myself the discipline to write something every day. That’s how my first book - Me and The
Monkey: Chronicles of the Monkey God - was born. I edited all the blog posts together and found that
I had 100,000 plus words, so I put it out to a few publishers, and it was taken up by Bad Press Inc.,
who published it, the following volume 2, and a novella that is a prequel to the Me and The Monkey
stories. But my latest book – The Blade in the Angel’s Shadow – is what I have always wanted to write:
an old-school sword and sorcery tale that lives in a real-world setting that, through the actions of
those concerned, becomes something other.
Tell us something really interesting that's happened to you!
In the Ecuadorian Amazon, being woken in the middle of the night after an ayahuasca ceremony by
the locals shooting blowpipe darts at the vampire bats hanging in the hut rafters.
Where were you born/grew up at?
I was born and grew up in Birmingham, UK.
If you knew you'd die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?
With my wife and daughter, I would want to go somewhere beautiful, either by the sea or amongst
trees, and just breathe it in for the last time. Then, I would have some good food, listen to some great
music, and just see how it all plays out.
What kind of world ruler would you be?
Best not to go there, I think! I have always believed that those who seek power should be denied it at
all costs. As the saying goes, Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Besides, I get
bored easily, and I feel that wouldn’t be a good trait in a World leader!
What are you passionate about these days?
Mental health issues, particularly around ADHD and autism.
Animal rights: it would be great if people behaved compassionately and ethically towards all living
things.
Science denial: it shocks me how factual, provable research can be denied by those whose only claim
to scientific research is looking on Google and sharing social media posts with those who share their
beliefs. We could be the only species to go extinct because people choose to believe memes over
those who have dedicated their lives to science.
What do you do to unwind and relax?
Binge-watch movies and TV series!
How to find time to write as a parent?
You just need to write. If you can’t manage any more time, set aside an hour a day and just go for it. I
wrote the first draft of The Blade in the Angel’s Shadow, sitting in bed every evening in notebooks.
Sometimes, I only managed half an hour (a couple of hundred words is better than nothing), but I
made sure I wrote every night.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I finished The Blade in the Angel’s Shadow.
Do you have a favorite movie?
Fury Road. I have loved the Mad Max movies since I saw the first one in 1979. For me, Fury Road is
the perfect extension to the original three, and I am hugely excited to see Furiosa!
Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
I think that the Me and The Monkey novels would make a good TV series, but The Blade in the Angel’s
Shadow would make the best movie.
What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I have been to Whitby Abbey, the scene of Dracula’s arrival in England – but that could just be a goth
thing! I have attended the Hay-on-Wye book festival, but mostly my pilgrimages are just to the book
shop, returning with armfuls of lovely books!
What are your top 10 favorite books/authors?
BOOKS:
Circe
The Song of Achilles
Stormbringer
Blood Meridian
No Country for Old Men
Red Nails
The Religion
The Twelve Children of Paris
1984
Gates of Fire
AUTHORS:
Michael Moorcock
R. E. Howard
Madeline Miller
Mary Gentle
Bernard Cornwell
Conn Iggulden
C. J. Cherryh
Joe Abercrombie
David Gemmell
Cormac McCarthy
What book do you think everyone should read?
Twenty years ago, I would have said 1984, but now I think everyone should read Hannah Arendt's The
Origins of Totalitarianism. It’s not a work of fiction; it’s a sobering reminder that the world we live in
can be shaped by forces beyond our control that sweep away ordinary men and women.
How long have you been writing?
When I was in junior school I wrote a story about Vikings. I think it was inspired by a story in a
Christmas Annual and I took the idea and rewrote it (huge plagiarism undoubtedly!). But writing
properly since the late 1990’s.
Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
A bit of both.
What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
I read copious books, research articles on the Internet, and view any films or videos that might affect
my writing. I have a martial arts background and know a bit about edged weapons, but for this book, I
got some works on Renaissance sword fighting to round out my knowledge.
Do you see writing as a career?
We will have to see, but I would love that!
What do you think about the current publishing market?
It’s difficult! There seems to be too much interest in chasing fashionable story types, which means
that if your work doesn’t fit, then it gets rejected. This seems to me to be very short-sighted as it
takes, on average, twelve to eighteen months to write a book, another four to six months to edit, and
then if it goes through a traditional publisher, it will take up to two years before it is released. At that
time, the fashion for those particular stories will have changed, so even if you try to write to match
that fashion, what you write today will not be current by the time it is released. Maybe it is the fault
of the literary agents, who, after all, will promote what they see as profitable for themselves and their
current clients. I would imagine that they would seek to replicate that success, if possible, with similar
new authors. Maybe I am being cynical, but there does seem to be a dearth of one or two storylines
in the fantasy genre at the moment…
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