Interview With Simon Williams
I am an
author of what most people like to label as dark fantasy although my work also
incorporates elements of horror and science fiction. I'm based in the UK.
Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?
Could you tell us a bit about your latest book?
Salvation's
Door is the fifth and final book in the Aona series, and brings down the
curtain on a saga which I've been writing most of my adult life (the first book
took many years due to considerable re-writing). Salvation's Door is epic in
plot but is a chronicle of characters as much as events, focusing on the
trials and struggles of a varied cast against the background of an end to days.
How long have you been writing, and how many books have you published to date?
I've been
a writer since I was old enough to write (certainly that's when I started
making up and writing down stories). Six books in total have been published so
far and I have several further projects ongoing.
Who is your intended readership?
I don't
focus on particular people to write for when I write- but my readers tend to
appreciate gritty, character-driven fantasy and sci-fi without the cliches and
tropes that infect the genres in which I write. No one can avoid such things
entirely, but I do my best.
What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
What is your greatest challenge as a writer?
This may
sound like an odd answer but often it feels as if the inevitable loneliness of
this kind of profession (not that I can really call it a profession) is a tough
challenge. It also doesn't get easier with age- in fact it gets worse as the
years take their toll and you realise you may in the not too distant future
have to contend with diminishing physical and mental faculties.
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
During my
childhood to an extent, but more seriously as an adult- I never had much talent
for anything else and it was really all I wanted to do. Thinking about it that
way, it was inevitable.
Can you tell us about your writing process? Where do your ideas originate? Do you have a certain writing routine?
I have
tried to have a routine, but it tends to be quite haphazard. I scribble down
ideas, scenarios and conversations, often write the end of a book before
completing the bulk of it, and tend to end up looking at it as a vast jigsaw
whose pieces I have to slot together (or sometimes discard or replace). I
certainly never write in a linear way or meticulously outline a plot before
writing the story or building the characters. Often I build the characters and
then thread the plot around them. It often feels like chaos but it eventually
falls in to place (or if it doesn't, then the project is shelved).
Do you have a favourite author, or writing inspiration?
I have a number of favourite authors rather than just one- where to start? Alan Garner, Clive Barker, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Ian Irvine...
I have a number of favourite authors rather than just one- where to start? Alan Garner, Clive Barker, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, George R R Martin, Neil Gaiman, Ian Irvine...
What’s your next project? Any upcoming book secrets you care to reveal?
The sequel to my YA sci-fi / fantasy
novel Summer’s Dark Waters, currently titled The Light From Far Below, will
probably be next. This is a challenge of a quite different sort for me- it’s
become a pre-apocalyptic tale of urban paranoia which makes uneasy reading even
for me, so it needs to be shaped appropriately for its intended readership-
those poor folks who will have to contend with what remains of this world in
the decades ahead.
I'm also writing a standalone novel
which may (or may not) be futuristic / post-industrial in tone, and which
probably won't be strictly fantasy or indeed any other genre as such. I'm
enjoying this as I haven't written a standalone book in a while.
You can find our more about Simon Williams and his books at these sites:
Twitter: @SWilliamsAuthor
You can find the first book in the Aona series on Amazon:
Oblivion’s Forge (Book I in the Aona series):
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