Thursday 10 October 2013

Luke Walker's " Mirror Of The Nameless"

Today I'd like welcome Luke Walker, author of "Mirror Of The Nameless" to the Thursday interview. Before we get started, a quick intro!

 

Luke Walker has been writing horror and fantasy fiction for most of his life. His novella Mirror Of The Nameless is available from Dark Fuse while his first two novels, the horror The Red Girl and the dark fantasy 'Set, are published by Musa Publishing. Bear, a short piece, features in Serial Killers Tres Tria from JWKFiction. One of his short stories will feature in Vol 4 of Postscripts To Darkness in October 2013. A number of his short stories have been published online at Dark Fire Fiction, in the emag Penumbra and at Death Throes webzine.
 
 
 

OK - Here we go !.



No.1  Would you break the law to save a loved one? .. why?

Ha. Can this be used against me in a court of law? Either way, yes, I would. I’d take the consequences, obviously, but my first concern would not be any possible punishment. It’d be whatever the situation is and the danger my loved one is in. I think however rational and law-abiding a person considers themselves, you put them in a life-or-death situation, than a lot of that rationality goes out the window. You threaten their loved one and all bets are off. I find that interesting. Which is probably why I write the stuff I do.

No.2  What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

One answer might be that the person who truly lives makes a difference to their world and does something with it, but I’m not sure if I believe that. Everybody has their own standards and guidelines, conscious or not, on what impact they want to have on their world. For one person, it’ll be doing something creative like writing or singing. For another person, it’ll be raising their kids. For another, it’ll be simply being with family and friends as much as possible. I’ve never considered whether or not my writing makes me truly alive. I don’t get that deep about it. I just write and I love my family and friends.

No.3  What motivates you to write?

To be honest, it’s not something I’ve ever really considered. I think the simple answer is I like to tell stories. I always have. I love words and stories and people who don’t exist. Plus I don’t appear to be too bad at it and I enjoy it as much now as I did years ago so why not? The slightly more pretentious answer is I think people are designed or built to do different things. For example, I’m terrible with numbers. Give me a long, involved mathematical equation and I’ll probably cry. Give me a long, involved book and I’ll eat it up. That’s just the way I’m built. The determination and perseverance someone needs to be a writer has never been a problem for me.

No.4  Why do humans want children?

Holy shit. A tough one. Can’t you ask me where I get my ideas from instead? OK. I don’t think there’s a reason for it that can be nailed down. It’s one of those things that makes us human – the imperative to keep our lives going in a purely biological way, and the desire to give love and receive it in an unquestioning way. Either all that or we secretly like kids’ party games and cake and we know we’d look stupid playing Pass The Parcel without a loads of children around.

No.5  What was the biggest challenge in creating your book "Mirror Of The Nameless" ?

To stay focused on the story and not take any side roads into smaller plotlines. My wordcount target was 30,000 and I went over that by a couple of thousand which was fine in the end. With such a low wordcount, I didn’t have room to take the story into any unexplored avenues. Stephen King said that his book ‘The Running Man’ was all story, and that’s what I tried to focus upon when writing my book. All story and no messing about. Start fast right from the beginning and don’t slow down.

No.6 What is the most important thing you have learned in life so far?
To listen. Whether that’s to a critique on one of my books or to the other side of an argument, listening to someone is underrated. That doesn’t mean I do it as often as I should, but I try to.

No.7  How did you come up with the title "Mirror Of The Nameless" ?
I can’t say too much as it gives away a big part of the story. What I can say is I wanted something Lovecraftian for reasons that will be clear pretty early on. ‘Nameless’ is quite a Lovecraftian word and it fit the story perfectly. As there’s a very important mirror as part of the plot, the whole thing fell into place shortly after I started writing the first draft.

No.8  How do you handle personal criticism?

Quite well, I think. Say it comes from a reader who thinks I failed on a particular aspect (or the whole book), then that’s perfectly fine with me. They paid their money; they bought my book and it goes without saying that they’re entitled to their opinion. If they bring up an issue I think I can improve on for the next book, then I will. My wife is my first reader and she’s got a fine eye for detail. If I mess up, she tells me. It’s my job to listen and fix whatever I’ve done wrong. There’s no point in me, or any other writer, getting stroppy or precious over our words. Yes, the finished result is ultimately down to the writer – it’s their name on the front cover, after all – but the writer who thinks everyone’s wrong about their stuff and there’s no room for improvement isn’t going to get very far.

No.9  Why should people read your book?

Because, at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. My editor described it as ‘Mad Max meets HP Lovecraft’, and as that was what I aimed for before I’d written the first word, I think I succeeded.

No.10 Why is there something rather than nothing?
A better question is why is there everything rather than just something? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a lay down in a dark room.


 

Thanks Luke for taking the time to answer my questions & the best of luck with your new book!Check out her new book "Mirror Of The Nameless" on
 
In a world controlled by three monstrous gods ready to destroy everything at any point they choose, Dave Anderson knows the only way he can survive is to do the same as everybody else – keep his head down, question nothing and hope he doesn't end up sacrificed to the gods. That's his plan until he discovers his teenage daughter is risking her life in an attempt to rid the world of its rulers.




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