What genre would you
say your books fall into, or do they defy classification?
Myopia is a
YA/adult crossover novel which explores bullying amongst teenagers. It’s
contemporary, gritty realism but also includes fantastical – or slipstream -
elements when Jerry starts daydreaming and imagining himself having
super-powers. Myopia becomes a state
of mind; something to give him the confidence to stand up to the vicious thugs
making his life so miserable.
My collection of short stories, A Glimpse of the Numinous, is a real mixture of genres: horror,
slipstream, psychological realism; romance and humour. And yet they all have a
strand of the numinous in common (go on ... look it up).
What made you choose
that genre?
I’d rather not be pigeon-holed as being a writer of just one
genre. Being classified as a horror, YA or romance author might then limit the
way I am perceived by my readers. Roald Dahl managed to be an adult and
children’s author. Michael Moorcock writes literary and fantasy novels. In
fact, his literary novels are arguably his best works and yet he is always
labelled as a fantasy author (or, ironically, a science fiction writer – even
though he’s written very little pure SF). I might well be a marketing nightmare
but why should business shape what I write?
How long does it take
you to write a book?
It’s pretty much a year’s worth of work when you include the
ideas, planning, drafts, changes, rewriting, editing and then months of trying
to find a publisher. As I’m not a full-time writer I find it takes about six
months to get a good draft of an 80,000 + word novel. That’s just to get to the
editing stage. I like to edit for structural changes first; secondly for
continuity and character development; thirdly for style and for adding
descriptions, before doing a proper detailed line edit. I prefer to have too
many words so that I can then hone it and cut out the many unnecessary bits.
This needs real objectivity.
What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?
I prefer to focus on one thing at a time, but this never
works out. At the moment I have at least four projects on the go and have to
juggle them (not always successfully). I have two days a week (between school
runs) for writing, but often find that my ‘other’ job interrupts and stops me
concentrating purely on the writing.
Where do you get your
ideas for your books?
My imagination.
When did you write
your first book and how old were you?
When I was about 10 I was determined to write a book about
birds. I got as far as describing avocets then gave up. As a student I wrote
some pretentious plays and terrible poetry. My first completed novel came late
in life at about the age of 35 (after many false starts and abandoned attempts).
That first one remains unpublished.
What do you like to
do when you're not writing?
Apart from spending time with my kids, I watch lots of
films, football and cricket. I love rock music – especially progressive rock –
and try to go to concerts when I can.
What was one of the
most surprising things you learned in creating your books?
How bloomin’ hard it is to get published! I have huge
respect now for published authors.
How many books have
you written?
Five novels; one work of non-fiction coming out later this
year, and lots of short stories, which can be found in various anthologies,
magazines and websites.
Which is your
favourite and why?
I’ve just completed a YA novel with stronger fantasy
elements which I’m very pleased with. It needs a bit more work, but it has
great potential.
As a child, what did
you want to do when you grew up?
Work with birds of prey or in a wildlife sanctuary looking
after animals – particularly owls and eagles. I missed my true vocation and
became a teacher instead.
What are you working
on now?
I’m trying to get publishers for my novels – particularly
the YA fantasy and an adult romance novel set in Nigeria during the Biafran
War. I’m also working on a screenplay, which is a bit different and
challenging. Another of my current projects involves working with a local
software company in developing children’s stories and other resources for
primary schools. I like to keep busy.
Author Bio
Jeff Gardiner is a UK writer whose collection of short
stories, A Glimpse of the Numinous,
was published last year by Eibonvale Press.
A.J. Kirby of The Short Review commented on: “Gardiner’s excellence as a
writer.”
His contemporary novel, Myopia,
explores bullying and prejudice – recently published by Crooked Cat Books. The
novel was described by The Little Reader Library as: “an intelligent, skilful
and well-written treatment of a serious subject.”
Both are available as paperbacks and e-books. Many of his
short stories have appeared in anthologies, journals and webzines. His non-fiction
work The Law of Chaos: the Multiverse of
Michael Moorcock is due to be published later this year by Headpress.
For more information please see his website at www.jeffgardiner.com and his blog: http://jeffgardiner.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeffGardiner1
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Enjoyable interview, Jeff. The timescale for writing a novel very much depends, as you say, what amount of time can be regularly devoted to it. More or less, so long as you get there is great - that's my current mantra anyway!
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