Happy 2012:
All those lovely blank pages to fill...
Photo credit: Danielmoyles
Monday, January 02, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Interview with Mike French
This month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike French, Senior Editor of The View From Here literary magazine and debut novelist, about his extraordinary novel, The Ascent of Isaac Steward published by Cauliay Books earlier this year. To read my review of the novel, please visit this Amazon link.
How did you conceive The Ascent of Isaac Steward?
I think it started off as a very small grain of sand conceived after my mind kept niggling away at me until I had to get to the keyboard and work it out of my head. That grain of sand was more about the desire to write rather than an idea and I had to find the story, form, tone, style – in fact everything as I went along as I had no experience of writing fiction before - unless you go back to my school days when I used to enjoy writing short stories. The whole experience was like finding and exploring a hidden room in your house that’s been bricked up for hundreds of years.
The book has been described as 'insanely ambitious, startlingly odd... One of the most extraordinary novels I have ever read' by R. N. Morris. That's quite an accolade, isn't it? I'm interested to know whether you set out to write something very clever or very weird or whether the book just took on a life of its own?!
It took on a life of its own and I had to reign it in and bring definition to the shape in the editing process. I wasn’t trying to be particularly clever or obtuse, I was just enjoying myself and writing what entertained me. In a sense it is a very honest novel where I allowed the book to breathe and to grow organically and I was careful that my own sensitivities didn’t get in the way. I think it’s fresh and different because of that.
This month, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike French, Senior Editor of The View From Here literary magazine and debut novelist, about his extraordinary novel, The Ascent of Isaac Steward published by Cauliay Books earlier this year. To read my review of the novel, please visit this Amazon link.
How did you conceive The Ascent of Isaac Steward?
I think it started off as a very small grain of sand conceived after my mind kept niggling away at me until I had to get to the keyboard and work it out of my head. That grain of sand was more about the desire to write rather than an idea and I had to find the story, form, tone, style – in fact everything as I went along as I had no experience of writing fiction before - unless you go back to my school days when I used to enjoy writing short stories. The whole experience was like finding and exploring a hidden room in your house that’s been bricked up for hundreds of years.
The book has been described as 'insanely ambitious, startlingly odd... One of the most extraordinary novels I have ever read' by R. N. Morris. That's quite an accolade, isn't it? I'm interested to know whether you set out to write something very clever or very weird or whether the book just took on a life of its own?!
It took on a life of its own and I had to reign it in and bring definition to the shape in the editing process. I wasn’t trying to be particularly clever or obtuse, I was just enjoying myself and writing what entertained me. In a sense it is a very honest novel where I allowed the book to breathe and to grow organically and I was careful that my own sensitivities didn’t get in the way. I think it’s fresh and different because of that.
How would you define the book's genre? Is it magical realism? Can a narrative that mixes memories of a fatal car accident and a Punch and Judy show with temporal prostitutes and custodians not to mention religious references even be defined?!
I’d say it was a literary novel but really it’s hard to box it in and I suspect that however you define it, it would find a way of escaping and popping up unexpectedly at some party where it would embarrass you in front of the host by ripping of its cover and jumping into the fountain.
I was moved by Isaac and felt the need to come away with a clear vision of what happened to him and so I did. But perhaps we all read our own stories into the same text... Did you have one interpretation in mind when you wrote it or do you see multiple meanings?
There is one central story but as to if that is actually happening or just Isaac’s mind reconstructing a version of reality around him or a mix of the two is left open for the reader to decide. But certainly yes there is one interpretation in my mind and I was just writing it in a way that seemed natural for me and mixing in layers much like adding fine detail into a painting. I think because I decided not to do a guided tour of what was happening all the time then people who want signposts all over the place with short attention spans get fed up and assume it’s just so abstract that any meaning goes. I think some people want books to have post it notes labelling everything like: this is Isaac … this is the field that Isaac is in. Isaac is sad. Poor Isaac.
What would you like your readers to take from the book?
I really have no specific thoughts on this other than a desire that you take away a sense of being immersed in something that connected and resonated in a personal way. I guess I’d like you to feel you’ve just spent an afternoon in an art gallery where you were surprised to see bits of your own life woven into the exhibits. Part of you wants to go back in and have another look and part of you wants to get some brown paper and cover it all up. Move along … nothing to see here.
What are your influences as a writer? What drives you?
Comics have been a huge influence on me. Stuff from Frank Miller like Sin City, Alan Moore’s Watchmen, Peter Milligan’s Shade the Changing Man from Vertigo comics. The strong visuals and storytelling and the way you can control the pace of a scene in comics and cause a reader to slow down at key moments all have been put in the melting pot of how I approach writing. I’m driven by the need to create something, as long as I’m creating I’m happy.
Can you tell me a bit about your life as a stay-at-home dad, writer and magazine editor? Are you living your dream life?
I’d say it was a literary novel but really it’s hard to box it in and I suspect that however you define it, it would find a way of escaping and popping up unexpectedly at some party where it would embarrass you in front of the host by ripping of its cover and jumping into the fountain.
I was moved by Isaac and felt the need to come away with a clear vision of what happened to him and so I did. But perhaps we all read our own stories into the same text... Did you have one interpretation in mind when you wrote it or do you see multiple meanings?
There is one central story but as to if that is actually happening or just Isaac’s mind reconstructing a version of reality around him or a mix of the two is left open for the reader to decide. But certainly yes there is one interpretation in my mind and I was just writing it in a way that seemed natural for me and mixing in layers much like adding fine detail into a painting. I think because I decided not to do a guided tour of what was happening all the time then people who want signposts all over the place with short attention spans get fed up and assume it’s just so abstract that any meaning goes. I think some people want books to have post it notes labelling everything like: this is Isaac … this is the field that Isaac is in. Isaac is sad. Poor Isaac.
What would you like your readers to take from the book?
I really have no specific thoughts on this other than a desire that you take away a sense of being immersed in something that connected and resonated in a personal way. I guess I’d like you to feel you’ve just spent an afternoon in an art gallery where you were surprised to see bits of your own life woven into the exhibits. Part of you wants to go back in and have another look and part of you wants to get some brown paper and cover it all up. Move along … nothing to see here.
What are your influences as a writer? What drives you?
Comics have been a huge influence on me. Stuff from Frank Miller like Sin City, Alan Moore’s Watchmen, Peter Milligan’s Shade the Changing Man from Vertigo comics. The strong visuals and storytelling and the way you can control the pace of a scene in comics and cause a reader to slow down at key moments all have been put in the melting pot of how I approach writing. I’m driven by the need to create something, as long as I’m creating I’m happy.
Can you tell me a bit about your life as a stay-at-home dad, writer and magazine editor? Are you living your dream life?
Well my life as a home dad has really moved onto school runs, washing and cooking, trips to the doctors etc. as my kids are all full time at school now and have been for years. I gave up my job as an optical engineer twelve years ago to become a stay at home dad and found the pre-school years very rewarding and very challenging! And am I living my dream? I think so, certainly as far as being published, but it feels more like I’ve been parachuted into the edge of it and I’ve yet to reach the centre where I’ll have to take a heavily fortified citadel. Who knows if I’ll survive that? I hope so!
I understand that you were looking for a publisher for Isaac for six years. Did you ever feel like giving up? What kept you going?
No I never felt like giving up although I had given up that it was going to happen soon and thought maybe it would be later in my life. What kept me going was the vision I kept in my mind of succeeding and reaching the top of what I knew was going to be a long hard climb. I can also be very stubborn and that helped! The whole experience was like having limbs hacked off you and then responding, Monty Python style, “it’s just a flesh wound,” before carrying on.
How much input did you have into the cover design, and why does it feel like rubber?!
My publisher kindly accepted my suggestion that Vicky Delfosse, the artist who works on The View From Here, be given the design brief. She came up with the most amazing cover and it’s really helped the book, especially in the shops where it looks great on the shelves. Vicky really ran with the whole thing and my only involvement was making choices when Vicky stuck different ideas or variations on the design in front of me. The rubber cover is so you can read the novel in the shower – have you tried that yet?
Er no! Moving swiftly on... so what's next for Mike French?
Well book 2 is finished. Called Blue Friday, it’s set in a dystopian society in the future where working hours are strictly controlled by the government and follows Leviticus, the leader of the Underground Overtime Network who fights for the right for people to choose when they can work. It really taps into the problems of using law to bring about social change. And book 3 is also done: it’s a children’s book called Dr Snouss Pouss about an inventor who makes things using cream cakes. I’m currently doing the artwork for it which at the moment involves concept sketches of one of the characters - a bear in a woollen spacesuit! After that it’s back to an adult novel again for book 4. Hopefully I’ll know more about when you’ll see these projects soon.
I understand that you were looking for a publisher for Isaac for six years. Did you ever feel like giving up? What kept you going?
No I never felt like giving up although I had given up that it was going to happen soon and thought maybe it would be later in my life. What kept me going was the vision I kept in my mind of succeeding and reaching the top of what I knew was going to be a long hard climb. I can also be very stubborn and that helped! The whole experience was like having limbs hacked off you and then responding, Monty Python style, “it’s just a flesh wound,” before carrying on.
How much input did you have into the cover design, and why does it feel like rubber?!
My publisher kindly accepted my suggestion that Vicky Delfosse, the artist who works on The View From Here, be given the design brief. She came up with the most amazing cover and it’s really helped the book, especially in the shops where it looks great on the shelves. Vicky really ran with the whole thing and my only involvement was making choices when Vicky stuck different ideas or variations on the design in front of me. The rubber cover is so you can read the novel in the shower – have you tried that yet?
Er no! Moving swiftly on... so what's next for Mike French?
Well book 2 is finished. Called Blue Friday, it’s set in a dystopian society in the future where working hours are strictly controlled by the government and follows Leviticus, the leader of the Underground Overtime Network who fights for the right for people to choose when they can work. It really taps into the problems of using law to bring about social change. And book 3 is also done: it’s a children’s book called Dr Snouss Pouss about an inventor who makes things using cream cakes. I’m currently doing the artwork for it which at the moment involves concept sketches of one of the characters - a bear in a woollen spacesuit! After that it’s back to an adult novel again for book 4. Hopefully I’ll know more about when you’ll see these projects soon.
Thank you, Mike, and the best of luck with all your writing.
To find out more about Mike, visit http://www.mikefrenchuk.com/.
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Read all about it!
The first review of Unthology number 2, including a little bit on my story, Hang Up, has been published at Sabotage Reviews. It's always a curious experience reading someone else's interpretation of your work. My intentions for the characters in Hang Up were actually somewhat different from the reviewer's interpretation. But that's the beauty of the written word - all readers bring their own meaning.
Oh, and if you want to know how the Luton Book Festival thingy went, you can read all about that at The View From Here.
I can't get that Professor Green track out of my head now...
The first review of Unthology number 2, including a little bit on my story, Hang Up, has been published at Sabotage Reviews. It's always a curious experience reading someone else's interpretation of your work. My intentions for the characters in Hang Up were actually somewhat different from the reviewer's interpretation. But that's the beauty of the written word - all readers bring their own meaning.
Oh, and if you want to know how the Luton Book Festival thingy went, you can read all about that at The View From Here.
I can't get that Professor Green track out of my head now...
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
OUT TODAY!
Unthology No.2 (featuring my short story, Hang Up) is published today with Unthank Books.
Available from the Unthank Bookshop, Amazon and from iTunes.
Available from the Unthank Bookshop, Amazon and from iTunes.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Violent PossibilityEighteen years ago, I was twenty-one years’ old and on my way to London’s Leicester Square to meet my new boyfriend when I knocked a pedestrian down. I was driving alone. The stereo would have been blaring R&B but I don’t recall the soundtrack; when I replay that night in my mind, there is no sound at all. I drive my dad’s red Sierra past the train station, the rush of people spilling out, shouting silently [...]
Read my life writing piece in full in issue 3 of Friction Magazine here.
Photo credit: Paramedix
Friday, September 30, 2011
The View From Here ... Soldiers, ASBOs and Luton Book Festival NEWS
Some very exciting stuff going on at The View From Here literary magazine.
First up, I had the honour of interviewing the very talented Danny Rhodes, author of Soldier Boy and Asboville, who also happens to be a creative writing colleague at The Open University. Find out what Danny has to say about his inspiration, eureka moment and latest venture into e-publishing right here.
Secondly, I will be joining the master, Mike French, Senior Editor of The View From Here and author of The Ascent of Isaac Steward, to co-facilitate a workshop on Editing Your Book at the Luton Book Festival on Thursday 20 October at Luton library, 11.30am to 1.30pm. Written your novel, but don’t know where to start with editing it for publication? If so, come and join us! Tickets cost £3.00/person. Booking Essential. To book, contact the Box office 01582 547474 or book online.
Some very exciting stuff going on at The View From Here literary magazine.
First up, I had the honour of interviewing the very talented Danny Rhodes, author of Soldier Boy and Asboville, who also happens to be a creative writing colleague at The Open University. Find out what Danny has to say about his inspiration, eureka moment and latest venture into e-publishing right here.
Secondly, I will be joining the master, Mike French, Senior Editor of The View From Here and author of The Ascent of Isaac Steward, to co-facilitate a workshop on Editing Your Book at the Luton Book Festival on Thursday 20 October at Luton library, 11.30am to 1.30pm. Written your novel, but don’t know where to start with editing it for publication? If so, come and join us! Tickets cost £3.00/person. Booking Essential. To book, contact the Box office 01582 547474 or book online.
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