{"id":3063,"date":"2023-04-04T13:34:22","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T13:34:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wroteabook.org\/?p=3063"},"modified":"2024-03-31T19:16:47","modified_gmt":"2024-03-31T19:16:47","slug":"qa-with-alec-charles-author-of-our-shadows-will-remain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wroteabook.org\/qa-with-alec-charles-author-of-our-shadows-will-remain\/","title":{"rendered":"Alec Charles About ‘Big City Secrets’ and More"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today I had a wonderful interview with Alec Charles, author of Big City Secrets<\/a>, Days of Surrender<\/a>, Every Open Eye<\/a>, and The Demon Joke<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alec was born and still resides in Merseyside. He graduated from university with a BA (Hons) degree in English Literature back in 2012. He lives with his pets and told us he could never imagine living with another person now, due to the freedoms he would inevitably lose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big City Secrets<\/a> was his first published piece of notable length back in 2015, although he had much shorter pieces- horror and sci-fi- appearing before then in different publications, with some under pseudonyms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alec choose to stay anonymous for this interview, so we will not be showing his real photo.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hope you will enjoy this interview with Alec!✨<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>What inspired you to become an author?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I had enjoyed numerous stories in varying mediums- comic books, TV and film come to mind- at an early age and began to write my own stories because of that. I started dreaming of working for either Marvel or DC Comics, getting paid to actually tell stories, when I was still at that impressionable age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I can’t help but feel I went wrong somewhere, because I’m getting closer to another age milestone and was never even given the chance of a one-shot for either of the big two or received critical acclaim for my writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please tell us more about the book in a few short sentences.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I was in love with the idea of America from a young age, because it was the home of so much I admired. As I grew older, I started to see it as being quite a scary place, and I decided to focus on its underbelly and its darkness. The UK isn’t great, but I’m pretty certain the chances of me passing someone on the street with a concealed weapon in their possession is pretty minimal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describe a typical writing day.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Plenty of typical writing days for me will see me deleting something I had been working on, certain it was what I should have been spending time on, because my view on it has suddenly changed. Or I will spend a day meaning to continue or start something, but waste the hours away without really approaching my laptop or even grabbing a pen with a piece of paper. I am terrible at settling into things, I am the first to admit that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If I’m not in work or writing, I’ll be streaming something despite previously swearing to myself I won’t start anything new until a writing project is underway. Unfortunately I also have a talent for falling asleep as soon as I decide to, so sleeping is also something I waste my time on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the most challenging thing about writing this book?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Quite a few years go by in quick succession during Big City Secrets<\/a>, so I was keeping track of what people were using to listen to music, and who the president was and whether Afghanistan was the big focus, or Iraq, and the clear dumbing down in television and popular culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few years back, I thought it could prove difficult to write something based in America for a while because, if Donald Trump was the president during the setting, it just wouldn’t seem believable to some extent within a couple of years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now I look to how different the series would have been if it had ended with something like MeToo or Black Lives Matter movements getting underway, because it would have given the reader such hope for the future, certain that things were now going to change for the best, and at long last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In love with literature?<\/strong> Try audio books<\/a> or writing classes<\/a>
for free for 30 days.✨<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which part of the book is your favorite?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I like a lot of the parts focusing on Lee and Doyle- just the way they talk with one another- but I look back now and think I probably prefer the follow up to this, because it spends much more time within the same point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you think makes a good story? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I hope for a little recognition. Every creative industry nowadays seems to have been claimed by the big names, the big players, and the big money. You hope to slip through and have a little word of mouth see people become interested in what you have to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you develop your plot and characters?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I tend to have an idea for something and the crucial characters, but the whole thing is fluid. The importance of someone can suddenly increase or decrease to how it was originally planned. The story can go off on its own route, too. Sometimes it works for the better, sometimes you’re forced to go back and make a lot of edits, but I’m not big on solid plotting. I tend to have a list of key characters and their ages kept handy, but that’s about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you do research for your books?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I research very little. I believe if the characters are interesting enough, and if the same is said about the story, people will be happy to accept the world you have given them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell us more about the publishing process behind the book. Have you reached out to anyone?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Oxford eBooks<\/a> were gracious enough to put the work into print and see to the cover and everything else. I recently threw a little money onto advertising on things like Twitter, because it’s coming up to being ten years old, but the promotion has been pretty non-existent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know when you go into a bookstore and they have a table loaded with books they want to personally recommend? The big publishing houses spend a fortune getting their books displayed like that- that’s what the indie publishers are competing against. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seriously, if you read something by a small author and enjoy it, you need to review it. If you decide you’re too busy to do that, that author you enjoyed is unlikely to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are some tools you used to write this book from start to end?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Google is great for finding things out without having to go trawling through books. A pen and notepad is my key for avoiding continuity errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What authors inspired you into becoming an author yourself, if any?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The first people that had me wanting to tell stories were writing for Marvel Comics<\/a> or working in TV and film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now if you’re interested in writing, I’d say Chuck Palahniuk<\/a> is the one to aspire to, because he hasn’t written himself into a corner. He’s free to write any genre he wants and finds a publisher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A writer should read as many genres as possible, and write as many, if they want to remain sharp. But, then again, I’m skint and unknown and writers that haven’t ventured out of one corner of the market for decades are household names and rich, so maybe I’m going about this all wrong?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your future plans and where can our readers find you?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I’m trying to settle into another minimalist\/speculative piece, but this one is set in my home country. If there are any developments to be heard about that, it’s sure to come out via sci-fi-cafe Twitter<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social networking sites can be heart breaking if you follow someone you have long admired. The mystery is gone and replaced with their mentions of what they are cooking for breakfast. You want them to be a genius from the moment they wake to the moment they go to sleep, not posting pictures of the eggs they just cracked into a frying pan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Have you enjoyed this Q&A with Alec? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong> ❤️<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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