Today's Author Spotlight is author Daniel James!
Read on for the full interview.
Publication date: October 27th, 2021
Beneath the streets of Liverpool lives a hunger. One bloody and insatiable. It skulks through the many secret tunnels and passageways that run like sandstone gullets to the domain of an ancient and horrifying madness: The Shelton Family. Good, honest, Christian, and monstrous in mind and body. The hunger is theirs, and it yearns for heathen blood. It yearns for salvation. It yearns for vengeance.
The Merseyside Druids, a sect decimated by the Sheltons and their terrible creatures over centuries of warfare, have one last chance at survival: Abigail Harwood, a young woman raised in ignorance of this long-standing holy war. She is about to learn the truth of her family roots, and the power of blood. She could be the Druid’s last hope.
What's your latest release?
Heathens. A novel about a decimated group of modern druids fighting a losing war against the mutant aristocratic Catholics dwelling under the city of Liverpool.
Can you start out by telling us a little about your latest work?
It's about a young woman raised by foster parents, who learns to her horror, that some suspicious friends of her biological parents need to take her into hiding before some very unpleasant creatures/people discover her. From then on its all guerilla druids and bloodshed and fighting for survival.
Where did you get the inspiration to write this story?
I had never written a novel set in my hometown, and felt it was something I should do for variety. Plus, it seemed to work out okay for Clive Barker and Ramsey Campbell.
When you developed the characters, did you already know who they were before you began writing or did they develop organically?
Sometimes I have characters pretty fleshed out beforehand, but just as often I have to develop them around a new story idea.
Which of your characters was your favorite to write and why?
The whole cast of Hourglass, because it's the beginning of a series, which allows me to pour so much into a growing world of supernatural arse-kicking and monsters. It's basically my passion project.
What was more important to you when you were writing: character development or plot?
Both are integral and compliment each other.
What was one of the most surprising things you learned (about your story, about yourself, etc.) while writing?
I learned how anti-social I am, ha-ha. Seriously, I learned how great it feels to purge your ideas onto the page. Like a colonic for the brain.
In your opinion what makes a good story?
Likable characters are paramount. Naturally, the story needs to be engaging, with a good pace and interesting stakes, but even with those elements, the characters have to be likable and memorable enough (villains too!) to carry the reader through.
How did publishing your first book change your process of writing?
I realised how bad my first effort was, and knew I had to practice, practice, PRACTICE.
I'd like to say I've improved some.
Do you read your book reviews? What do you consider "good" /"bad"?
Yes, I read them, only because I'm not exactly inundated with them. The first time you get a bad one sucks, but equally, when you get a good one you're floating on air. The most annoying ones are bad ones because the reader/reviewer was a dope e.g. penalising your work because they don't like that genre...? It's like, "Then why pick it up in the first place?"
What led you to start writing?
I had grown bored at university, and decided to put some of my ideas down on paper. Turned out I loved it, even though it was woefully amateurish. But time and experience are great teachers.
Do you have any writing superstitions?
Yes, I think that by being a stressed-out and moody ar#!hole it might somehow elevate my craft. Hope it's working!
What attracted you to the genre(s) you write in?
Robert McCammon, Dan Simmons, Clive Barker, and F. Paul Wilson. Pure imagination, with healthy doses of violence.What is one of your favorite words? OR Is there a word you find yourself using too often?
I swear under my breath too much. So much so I annoy myself sometimes.
What are you currently reading?
Broken Souls (Eric Carter #2) by Stephen Blackmoore, Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
A lot of authors have a soundtrack while writing. Are there are songs you had on repeat?
Whoops, touched on this earlier. Yes, too many too count. Normally fist-pumping rock anthems or super atmospheric 80's synthwave. It's better than caffeine.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Do it for the love of creating characters and worlds, because its a damn hard job, particularly the promotional side!
What are a couple of your favorite movies to kick back with to relax?
Anything by James Gunn (particularly Super), or Romero's Day of the Dead.
Would you rather live in a haunted mansion or a cottage surrounded by fairytale creatures?
Are the fairytale creatures ravenous carnivores or playful and whimsical? I'll take a gamble and hope the fairytale creatures aren't fresh from a Brothers Grimm story.
What is something about the genre that annoys you?
I'd rather not say for fear of inciting a torch and pitchfork mob.
What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I like to make my action set-pieces as cinematic as possible. I also like to emphasise on the antagonists almost as much as the protagonists. I didn't realise that was even a noteworthy thing, but a few reviewers have picked up on it.
Are you on social media and can your readers interact with you? What are your links?
I'm on Twitter @
DJauthor85
What advice would you like to pass on to aspiring writers that is unconventional but true?
Make some awesome playlists to help tune out and motivate you. Personally, I stick to hard 80's rock and synth wave, but you do you.
Do you have a WIP? If so, can you tell us anything about it?
Well, my next book, The Ferryman's Toll (Hourglass #2) is already finished, but I don't want to release it until I've wrung Heathens dry. So in the meantime I've been working on a horror screenplay, which makes a nice change of pace from writing novels. Some of it is based on my experience as a hospital domestic, but a bit more bizarre, Faustian, and body horror-ish.
Thanks so much for participating in the Author Spotlight! Anything you'd like to add?
Thanks for reading my waffle, Valerie. You're a legend!
Daniel James is a fantasy/thriller/horror author from Liverpool, England.
When not writing, he loves reading genre fiction and comic books, watching movies, listening to music, and playing guitar (he also used to play bass in a few local rock bands).
