Interview by Hereward L M Proops
Booksquawk: Tell us a little
bit about yourself.
G R
Jordan:
My name is Gary Ross-Jordan, writing under G R Jordan for my fantasy series,
and as well as putting pen to paper I’m also a Coastguard, an archer and a Dad
of four. This all keeps me extremely busy especially as at my age life has only
just begun. I live in the Northwest of Scotland on the Isle of Lewis, keeping
chickens amidst the marauding winds.
I’ve always written poetry and told
stories from very young but it has been the past few years when I have decided
to put things out there for public consumption with a dream that one day my
passion can also pay the bills. With that in mind I produced a poetry book,
“Four Life Emotions” to get to grips with self-publishing and followed this up
with “A Darker Shade of Light” a collection of short Christian allegories in
the style of H.P Lovecraft (Not sure anyone has had that sort of mix before!).
Having learnt a great deal from these
experiences, I set about putting together a full length novel and was
successfully crowdfunded. The fruits of the crowdfunding is “Crescendo!” of
which I am extremely proud but I haven’t sat back on my laurels with the second
Austerley and Kirkgordon novel “The Darkness at Dillingham” in its final
production stages. I also write slightly less weird material and hope to be
releasing the tentatively titled “Hook, Line and Sinker”, a tale about mermaids
coming to an island community which looks at exploring the variety of views and
lifestyles by the peoples’ reactions to these creatures. Of course there’s
plenty of action and fun on the way.
Like most of my counterparts, I’m no
expert on this writing journey but the experience of composing and then pulling
a book together has been fantastic and I am now immersing myself in
understanding how to share and promote a book and myself. This writing life
isn’t all easy but it is a lot of fun!
Booksquawk: Do you have a
particular routine for writing?
G R
Jordan:
I genuinely don’t which is contrary to most of the advice given on how to
write. But there is a good reason for it – life as a husband and Dad of four.
My wife has her own business, my kids age from aged ten to 6 months and I am a
shift worker, operating on quite diverse and non-routine shifts. So I will grab
whatever time I can throughout the day. Be it travelling, late at night, early
morning, meal breaks at work or whenever, I have developed the habit of just
sitting down and writing. That being said my favourite thing to do is to go to
a coffee shop and sit down with my tablet. Noise doesn’t bother me but I do
think a good latte is an appropriate partner for writing. I write at approx.
1000 – 1500 words an hour (pretty good but no express train) normally writing
novels of approximately 60,000 words. Once the first draft is written I print
it off and read it in a hard copy, pencilling any changes. After a second draft
I usually let my beta readers see it before giving it a third draft. After that
the editor gets involved. The book then gets knocked back and forward and we
end up with the final cut ready to be made into a book.
Booksquawk: What are the
Austerley and Kirkgordon novels about?
G R
Jordan:
I like to say the premise that the series is based on is “When you see the
Darkness, do you run to it or run from it?” Hence we have Austerley, university
professor, shambling oaf and complete genius when it comes to anything occult, weird
or otherworldly. Not only is he an expert in these matters but he is constantly
sucked into their world often risking others to know more.
Beside him is Kirkgordon, former
bodyguard, man with a questioning faith, wary of any danger and who has had his
life messed up by accompanying Austerley on an ill-fated trip to explore some
of the Darkness (after finishing “Crescendo!”, I wrote their back story in a
short story entitled “Footsteps” which is a tribute to Lovecraft’s “The
Statement of Randolph Carter” and available online and in the hardback version
of “Crescendo!). Because of his faith and belief in a form of decency,
Kirkgordon struggles with Austerley’s outlook and actions, whilst also feeling
compelled to protect him. This allows me to write some of the most fun dialogue
as they nip and pick at each other and also give some outright abuse. The
novels have many connections to myths or worlds both created and from our human
past and present. In “Crescendo!” Lovecraft’s mythos is used extensively but
there is also some Russian mythology. And sometimes I just throw in some of my
own, after all I need to let my mind go nuts too sometimes. But the novels are
also about action and adventure. I aim to provide an entertaining rollercoaster
of Austerley and Kirkgordon being put through the mill with good connections to
ideas and fantasies known and unknown.
Booksquawk: Austerley and
Kirkgordon are a great double-act. Did you take your inspiration any buddy-cop
/ unlikely partnership movies?
G R
Jordan:
I don’t remember ever thinking about a particular partnership but I have
watched / read about a lot of partnerships and seeing the dynamics. If you are
going to base your books around a duo you need to make sure that there is
plenty of internal conflict. With Austerley and Kirkgordon I write mainly from
Kirkgordon’s viewpoint because Austerley has to remain a curiosity.
Kirkgordon’s family troubles, job dissatisfaction and trouble with strange
people I think we can all understand. But Austerley is something else.
Discovering and understanding Austerley is a key component to the stories.
Booksquawk: “Crescendo”
moves at quite a frenetic pace. Do you have any good tips for authors
struggling with pacing in their stories?
G R
Jordan:
Pacing really depends on what you are trying to do and is greatly affected by
how you write. What is it you want to have your reader do? In the A & K
world, Kirkgordon is always out of his depth, bemused by all this weirdness. As
it’s written from his point of view then my readers need to feel that. And so I
gallop along hoping that it will all make sense at some point.
If that’s what you want your readers to
feel then write like that. i.e. I actually didn’t have any plot when I started.
I knew some Lovecraftian mythology, had the idea we would end up on a Scottish
island and had a really good understanding of my two main characters. But until
I had gotten to writing chapter two I had no idea we were off to Russia, or
where in Russia. Similarly Calandra who appears in Russia suddenly developed
into a major character. The fun and games begins when you need to hold the
whole novel in your head as you get to end and have to pull everything
together.
So to sum up, write to what your
characters are doing. Are they panicked and confused, then write and plan that
way. Do they indulge slowly and take everything in, then put in the extra
description and nuances.
Booksquawk: “Crescendo”
exists in the same universe as the stories of H.P. Lovecraft. What are your
favourite Lovecraftian works?
G R
Jordan:
I love the “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” unsurprisingly. The whole decrepit feel
is amazing and the sense of horror without ever being gory or sick. For me it’s
Lovecraft’s best.
“Pickman’s Model” is another favourite, as
it has the best kicker I have ever read at the end. Lovecraft’s genius was the
punch to the mind at the end of a story. You sit back for just a second and
then the actual horror hits you as you put the pieces together.
I have plenty of other favourites but I
think “The Horror at Martin’s Beach” is a prime example of the mindless horror
that Lovecraft could write which was I think the most terrifying. People for no
good reason grab a rope and try to haul in a “something” in the water but get
pulled in, hypnotically hanging on until they are dragged to the depths below.
No reason given, no explanation. Sometimes when writing we try to explain
everything but Lovecraft teaches us that our own minds can dream up far worse
things than are ever put to paper.
Booksquawk: Did you find it
a challenge to write in someone else’s fictional world?
G R
Jordan:
Not really. I’m never bound by that world. You need to step yourself in it but
always remember it’s your story. I try to build on what went on before rather
than go back into it. As A & K is set some time after Lovecraft’s writings,
I get to play about with things a lot easier. And if any mythos is not fully
explained you can fill in the gaps!
Booksquawk: Although set in
the same world as Lovecraft’s works, “Crescendo” is a different sort of novel.
I found it leaned more towards the action-adventure than traditional cosmic
horror. Was this intentional?
G R
Jordan:
Totally. It is more Indiana Jones than Lovecraft and like Indiana Jones delves
into mythology. One of the main points about the Indiana Jones films (which are
fantastic!) is that while they do bring in archaeology and mythology, it is
basically a romp and you hold onto your hat while you do it. That’s the sort of
adventure I love but I also love mythology and history. Hence to combine them
together feels very natural. I am following the age old advice for a writer –
write the book you want to read!
Booksquawk: What next for
Austerley and Kirkgordon?
G R
Jordan:
We’re off to the English seaside to a place called Dillingham. Having
globetrotted, I decided to challenge myself to remaining in an obscure place
and staying there. But there’s still plenty of trouble and some new characters.
This time there’s a witch, some ghostly pirates and conglomerated creatures –
but scariest of all, a girl becoming a teenager. Dillingham further develops
our characters and starts looking at how “off-piste” they will go, Austerley
with the Dark arts and Kirkgordon with women. But there’s plenty of adventure,
DIY shopping, someone madder than Austerley and a cauldron pouring out revenge
and forgiveness. There’s also a third adventure in the pipeline where our
twosome go to another world with the stakes at their highest yet for
Kirkgordon. All three books come together as a trilogy and will set the guys up
for something totally new thereafter.
Booksquawk: A bit of fun -
let’s imagine for a second that the movie rights to “Crescendo” are bought by a
high-profile Hollywood studio. Who would be your first choices to play
Austerley and Kirkgordon, and who would you want to direct?
G R
Jordan:
I was actually asked by my artist Jake Clarke to tell him who Kirkgordon looked
like and I told him, Mark Strong as he has that brooding presence but can also
give the action run around a good go. He also seems to play the vulnerable
character well as his run in “A View From A Bridge” recently showed.
Austerley is much harder to cast. John
Candy playing it really dark would have been good or maybe Robbie Coltrane. If
the booming voice went a bit more evil then Brian Blessed might be an option.
But really I think Austerley would be better with an unknown actor.
To direct I would have to go with
Spielberg as he is a pure genius. I saw Tintin and was blown away by how he got
the film to really be an extension of the comic books. By letting someone
produce a film of the book I would get quite nervous (although the money would
be good!) as my baby would be being dressed by someone else. But I think
Spielberg could do it well and faithfully while making it a great movie.
Read the review of Crescendo! here.
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