Have you ever been curious to know what writers from other countries are like? I certainly am, so this week we are delighted to interview Scott McGowan, a fabulous scribe from Scotland. He has a bit of a thing for Dwarves, and a fantastically precise style (just look at this layout here, entirely his work), and I loved reading every word. I think you will too!
Hope Woods' Author Interview
With
Scott McGowan
Question 1: What are your top 3 favourite foods?
Answer: If the opportunity arises, I will always go for a nice juicy rump steak (Cooked
Blue) with onion rings and mashed potato. Dianne sauce is a must.
Second on my list would have to be Viennese whirls. They are the
world’s best shortbread based biscuit and I can go through a couple boxes of these all by myself.
Thirdly, I think I have to go for Thornton’s mini caramel slices. They are divine and everyone should get in there quick, if they’re at afternoon tea in my house.
Question 2: What are your top 3 Movies or Tv shows?
Answer: My favourite movie, of all time, has to be “Withnail & I”. Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann are exceptional as the two out of work actors and, guest starring the roadie from Wayne’s world, they topped it off nicely.
Secondly, I did rather enjoy “In Bruges”, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and, Voldemort himself, Harry Watters. It’s a black comedy and not everyone will see the humour in it but I loved every last second of it.
For my third, I have to say “The Princess Bride”. It is a classic and always will be, I hope. The, “My name is Indigo Montoya…” line will always be lovingly stuck in my memory. Bit parts for Billy Crystal, Peter Falk and the kid from “Wonder Years” made perfect castings, alongside Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant and Robin Wright, the cocky blonde.
Television wise, I cannot miss a single episode of Supernatural. I live in Scotland (Uk) and I still make sure that I see the new episodes, within twenty-four hours of it being released in The States. It is the best show on television at the moment and the cast, crew and writers all have my upmost respect.
For my second, I have to go with “Doctor Who”. I have been watching it since I was a child, my first Doctor being Colin baker, and still love it to this day.
Thirdly, I have to stick to another little Moffat themed programme called “Sherlock”. The work that Steven Moffat, Stephen Thompson and Mark Gatiss have put into building the show; the perfect castings of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman; and the introduction and demise of Andrew Scott’s rendition of Moriarty have been incomparable and there is nobody who could have done a better job.
This list only lasts as long as “Firefly” is off the air. It ended all too soon.
Question 3: Who are your top 3 Authors and Why?
Answer: My first and foremost has to be the late great, Sir Terry Pratchett. His books were a great influence to me and my writing and is, no small part, the reason for me entering the literary profession. His books and worlds are full bodied and show humanity at its best and worse, through these worlds. He was a genius and I will always have the sad feeling that I never got to meet him.
Secondly, I must go for the king himself, JRR Tolkien. What can you say about the man who gave us “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”? He, along with his friends, CS Lewis (“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”) and Lewis Carroll (“Alice in Wonderland” & “Through the Looking Glass”), led the way for many a thousand fantasy novelists and they will always be legends in their field.
For my third, I think I have to say Douglas Adams. His, five book, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” trilogy was superbly imagined and, again, he spurred on the imaginations of many, many other writers. The fact that it all started as a small funded BBC Radio show and rose to be one of the best loved stories in the world, is amazing and should give us all hope. He never stopped there, bringing us also, “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency”, “Starship Titanic” and even wrote for “Doctor Who” (Tom Baker’s incarnation, I believe).
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| Never has a book cover experienced a beard so epic. |
Question 4: Where can we find your previous work?
Question 5: What have you been working on more recently?
Answer: In November, I completed, “The Guild Rally” for NaNoWriMo and, after editing, will be offering it to St Andrews Press for possible publication. If they feel that it isn’t for them, I will be self-publishing it in the middle of 2016.
At present, however, I am about 25% of the way through completing the third and final book of the Bjorn Trilogy, “Bjorn Again”. I will have the writing part done and dusted before June and, again after editing, I will be self-publishing at the start of November 2016. There will also be a one-off spinoff novella to be released, hopefully in November 2017.
Question 7: How long have you been writing things that you let others read?
Answer: The first real stories I wrote were in my last couple of years in High School (1996/1997). They were a collection of horror stories that were from the viewpoint of the reader. I liked this style of writing as it gave the reader more of a part in the story and helped to draw them into it; everything was happening to YOU.
Question 8: What was the first book that you really enjoyed reading and why?
Answer: The first book that really spoke to me was Sir Terry Pratchett’s “Reaper Man”. It was dark and humours, both at the same time, and dealt with the theme in a way that I had never read before. The world that he had created was so elaborate and fully thought out, that he was able to bring me into that world and, metaphorically, wander around.
Question 9: What sort of Audience do you write for? YA, Adult, Both..?
Answer: I tend not to write for any particular age group. Come one, come all. I want my work to be enjoyed by as many different people as possible, from many different creeds and cultures, and try not to limit my work to any particular group. I feel that a good book is one that can be read and loved by anyone who picks it up. That being my premise, I write essentially for myself. If I’m not enjoying a scene then I have to change it or cut it altogether. If I’m reading it through again and find myself smiling at something I’ve written then I know it’s a winner.
Question 10: From what I’ve seen, your latest series is a bit Norse-y. What is your favourite part of writing for that type of setting? What is the best thing that you can do in that setting that you can’t in other realities?
Answer: When I first started writing the Bjorn Trilogy, I started the whole thing off with the idea that a high number of Dwarves, who have moved down south to the big city, have gone missing and a military unit would be sent out of the Dwarf King’s mines to discover what happened.
I have always believed that, in fantasy, a Dwarf should have either a very Norse name or something Norse-esk. From there, I built the whole world around Norse, Scottish, Irish and Native American mythology. These are four nations that have incredibly in-depth mythologies and a long history of Folklore.
I have always loved writing about the odd beings and creatures that you used to find in all the best fantasy stories, “The Grimm Brothers” for example, and so I include Dwarves, Trolls, Leprechauns; Elves, Witches, Wizards, Evil Lords, Heroes and so much more. They may all be strange characters but I try to use them in such a way that they mirror real life. I may, one day, write some urban fantasy. It’s not out with the realm of possibility. I enjoy all genres and, for instance, my NaNoWriMo entry for 2015, “The Guild Rally” was women’s fiction and when I write short stories, I delve into as many genres as possible. The only other person I can think of who has published a multi-genre collection would be Neil Gaiman with “Trigger Warning”. Everyone should read that book!
Question 11: I know that all your books on Amazon are available in paperback. Do you think it is important for readers to have a physical copy?
Answer: I do. eReaders are all good and well but there is nothing like holding a good paperback book. Turning the pages yourself; the smell of the paper; being able to turn the corner of the page; and, most importantly, the book doesn’t break when someone accidently sits on it.
I appreciate that people like eReaders because they can have hundreds of books at their fingertips but I would much rather stand in the middle of a room and have all my books around me, perfectly filed on old mahogany shelves. If you check the stats, I think that the popularity of eReaders is actually dropping, too. There are many readers deciding that, yes, they do prefer holding a nice paperback in their hands, instead of the impersonal eReader.
I appreciate that people like eReaders because they can have hundreds of books at their fingertips but I would much rather stand in the middle of a room and have all my books around me, perfectly filed on old mahogany shelves. If you check the stats, I think that the popularity of eReaders is actually dropping, too. There are many readers deciding that, yes, they do prefer holding a nice paperback in their hands, instead of the impersonal eReader.
Question 12: On one of your books, “Bjorn Free”, you feature a large bushy beard, title, author’s name and nothing else. Can you tell us what the significance is?
Answer: I design all the covers myself (some are better than others) and I like simple covers. The only real exception to this rule would be Paul Kidby who drew Sir Terry Pratchett’s. He’s an artitsè without compare. However, because I like a nice modest book cover, with the first book I used a white background and, since the book was staged in the year of the disabled wasp, the image used was a wasp. For the second book, I wanted a black background (Red for the third). As the book is all about Dwarves and the finding of their kin in a city that noticed their arrival straight away, I felt that a big beard would do the trick. The cover as a whole is simple but the beard is very detailed and, if you look at it from the right angle, an evil witch queen can be seen. It seems to work and people do tell me they like it. The cover for “Bjorn Again”, the third in the trilogy, will be designed and drawn by a real artist, all things going the direction they are.
Question 13: Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Answer: Definitely a night owl. I tend to write when everyone else has gone to their beds and can still be at it in the late hours of the morning, depending on the next day’s schedule. I find that it helps that the world is asleep and there are no distractions. I open my laptop, load up Spotify and away I go. I am totally unable to work, if there is anything else going on in the room. I get distracted too easily and so I lock myself away in my own wee writing room and shut the world out.
Question 14: What would you say your week looks like?
Answer: I am, at present, one of these struggling artists you hear about. Due to this, I have to have another job in order to make sure the heating doesn’t get cut off and that I can enjoy other luxuries such as food.
Because I have another “real” job, I try to make sure that, when I get home at night, I get as much writing in as possible. The next time I get to write may not be as fruitful.
Question 15: Do you have a website or social media, for anyone who would like to find out more?
Answer: I am mostly on Twitter, updating and sharing tips and tweets. My blog can also be viewed on Wordpress and there you will find snippets from some of my books as well as info on when new releases are due. I post the links to the blog on Twitter each and every time so, if you follow me there and set the notifications to ‘on’, then you will not be left out when the new blog entries are released…
eMail Address:
scott.blake.mcgowan@gmail.com
Wordpress
Blog:
https://authormcgowanblog.wordpress.com/
Twitter
Account: https://twitter.com/authormcgowan
Question 16: Are there any upcoming events that you are excited about?
Answer: At present, I am still excited about the release of “Bjorn Free”, second in the Bjorn Trilogy, which was released in November. It is a book that I put my whole self into and I am immensely proud of the result. Just remember to read “Bjorn & Bread”, first in the trilogy, as well.
