What attracts you to the genre in which you write?
Predominantly I write fantasy, it’s a genre I enjoy reading. Anything is possible in fantasy – magic, monsters, strange new worlds. I guess you could say that fantasy is the ultimate escapism. I love mythology too – I have a background in Classical Studies, and I’ve loved the Ancient Greek and Roman tales for years. Mythology is at the heart of many cultures – from the Graeco-Romano and Norse basis of European culture, to Japanese, Indian, Chinese and African societies. It’s at the heart of who we are.
Historical fantasy –
now that encompasses my love of history and the mythic storytelling of fantasy.
Occasionally I
venture into the realms of horror. I have a short story based on Jack the
Ripper – that case has fascinated me for years – who was this man (assuming it
was a man)? I also have a ghost story and a vampire story. I like gothic horror
– Dracula, Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera. These bring the thrill of
terror, but without the in your face violence of some modern horror.
My Legacy of the Mask
tales are based loosely on the Phantom of the Opera – a story I have loved for
35 years. The original tale by Gaston Leroux is superb – tragic, yet heroic,
mysterious and scary in places. Leroux wrote one of the first Locked Room
Mysteries (The Mystery of the Yellow Room) and several terrifying short
stories. There are at least a couple that will have you sleeping with the light
on for a week. Phantom is a tragic story of love, despair and mystery. I cried
when I read it, I still cry when I read it, and I worked on the stage tour for
a while, and I still cried every night.
Sometimes one finds a
story that touches your soul and becomes part of who you are.
What piece of writing
advice do you wish you’d known when you started your writing adventures?
Marketing is hard!
Being an indie author means not only do you have to hone the craft of
storytelling but you have to learn to do most of the other stuff yourself (or
find others to do so if you can afford it). Formatting, editing, cover design,
social media, marketing, and all the other things which you didn’t know about
in advance. I can write, I can edit and format and I can do a reasonable cover,
but convincing other people why they should buy my books – that bit I find a
challenge.
If you could have
dinner with any famous person or character who would you choose?
Not in any particular
order:
Gaston Leroux ** Mary Shelley ** Alexandre Dumas ** Homer ** Stephen Hawkin ** David Attenborough ** JRR Tolkien ** Terry Pratchett ** William Shakespeare ** Victor Hugo ** Bram Stoker ** HG Wells ** Jules Verne ** The Count of Monte Cristo ** The Phantom of the Opera ** Frodo Baggins ** Death from the Discworld ** Odysseus ** Sam Vimes ** Tempus
Gosh, many people. My
friend Diana, my parents, Janet Morris, my old English Teacher Miss Krombacher,
lots of authors (see above list).
Do you think the
e-book revolution will do away with print?
No, at least I hope not.
Lots of people don’t have, like or use e-readers and print books are still
popular. There is something wonderful about a physical book that is absent with
words just on a screen. E-readers are great, they can store an entire
library-worth of books, the books are generally cheaper and you can scroll the
text to the size you need. Some will read to you, which is great for people who
can’t see well. I find non-fiction harder to read on an e-reader, especially if
there are tables, illustrations etc. Reference books are far easier in print.
I think the e-book
revolution has given authors a chance to write a far more diverse pantheon of
books, there is a lot less cost involved in an e-book and it’s easier to
format. Short stories don’t work so well in print and are more likely to sell
as single stories as an ebook.
Which 3 books would
you take to a desert island and why?
Only 3? Erm… The Count of Monte Cristo, The Phantom of the Opera, I the Sun.
Or maybe… The War of the Worlds, Thud, The Lord of the Rings
Or The Odyssey, Watership Down, Dracula
EXCERPT
So Many Nights, So Many Sins – A Vampire’s Tale
© A L Butcher
Amber firelight flickered in the small grate, casting a
dancing pattern on the grubby walls of the cellar-bar known as The Cavern.
It was, some said, hypnotic; others said the fire heard and saw all – for even
in summer it was never truly out, merely banked to embers. Fire had been the
friend and enemy of man since Prometheus snatched it from the gods, and this
particular blaze had been smouldering for years. Some said decades, even
centuries, and that it watched all that went on. Whether this was true Wolfgang
had no idea, but it was not a normal fire and such tales served his purpose.
The Cavern had stood on this spot for at least
three hundred years, and before this, various structures from longhouse to army
tent to inn had been in the vicinity. This land was old, saturated with
history. And blood. Battles had been fought, lives taken, lost and even given
and through it, all the Cavern stood in one form or another, and its fire
burned. Creatures who lived in the twilight world of the undead were drawn to this
place. Perhaps it was the blood, perhaps there was something special here. Life
was a lure, to those who possessed a parody of it, but in truth, no one really
knew or dared to discover. It was the sort of place no one asked too many
questions or expected honest answers and so those patrons with things to hide
and enemies aplenty caroused in The Cavern in an uneasy truce. The fire
saw all, and so did its current keeper. For now, both the fire and The
Cavern had Wolfgang’s undead patronage, and both knew it.
Wolfgang Feuerleiben turned his bright hazel eyes
despondently towards the blaze and shivered; as usual, he could not seem to get
warm even close as he was to it. This place, generally, was cold, as old
buildings often were, even with the impressive blaze. Wolfgang had no internal
heat, nor did any of his kind; but habits are hard to shake and even a vampire
likes to be warm. Bodies with no inward heat found themselves stiff and slow
and it wasn’t like a vampire could bask in the sun. Wolfgang surmised it was a
throwback to his human past. Memories faded, became corrupted or were
forgotten; it was a curse and a blessing – an elder had told him. Wolfgang
considered this – ‘memories went with morality. One could not be haunted if one
had no memory of past sins and past transgressions’ the Elder had said. Yet
almost all his kind suffered nightmares – or rather daymares and the Vampire
Scholar who’d propounded his theory had died raving in a fire of his own
making. Driven mad by the guilt of split blood. It was hard to be a monster.
And much, much harder to be a monster pretending to be a man.
From the Q&A "session", I see that we have a lot in common, so I'm curious about your works. Nice to meet you :)
ReplyDeleteIcame across this recently and it sounds like a perfect fit for me.
ReplyDeleteGreat cover.
ReplyDelete