Lorraine Mace: Getting to know … John Hudspith

What genre would you say your novels fall into, or do they defy classification?

Erm, lemme see; there’s crows, UFOs, floating clowns, imploding toads, brain-sucking greylians, time-travel, paranormal powers, angst, love, and a weird otherworld – so I’d say that’s `Paranormal Sci-Fantasy`. But, what’s a genre, ay?

What made you choose that genre?

I made it up to suit my epic and multi-faceted story.

How long does it take you to write a book?

The first book in the Kimi series was a five year slog of learning what not to do. The sequel took five days to scribble in shorthand and six months to transcribe into something readable.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

Birds and drugs. That’s songbirds in the garden along with my muse’s favoured drug: double strength black tea. Give me those simple things and the muse will play all day.

Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Way down deep where a million dodgy `what-ifs` lay like a jumble of jackstraws. I dig and trawl, examine each painstakingly and discard until I find The One that sparkles.

When did you write your first book and how old were you?

Probably around fourteen, at High School; I’d make comic strip books featuring the lewd or horrific, or sometimes a mixture of both, and they would get passed around and laughed and gasped at and gossiped about (and nicked by the teachers).

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I do like to think, stare, wonder, deconstruct mind circuits, dissect writerly knowledge to discover new, and maybe make the occasional case of wine disappear.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

That good writing takes more than dedication.

How many books have you written?

Two in the Kimi series, with another fifty or so in my head arguing over who gets to birth first.

Which is your favourite and why?

The first, Kimi’s Secret - because it was done my way, and it’s not perfect, but you always love your firstborn more, don’t you?

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I wanted to be a special-FX wizard creating the amazing movie props and effects such as the staked vampires in Hammer Horrors or the transformation in American Werewolf, all done without CGI. That or a milkman. I liked the rattle of the bottles and thought Benny Hill was the man.

What are you working on now?

A supernatural chiller, for grown up children.

Bio

In the northernmost spire of his black-brick chateau, John Hudspith edits novels by day and scrawls scary stories by night. Kimi’s Secret won a highly coveted youwriteon book of the year award and has had huge acclaim in every room in John’s home. John may look handsomely ancient but he’s really only 30. Five years to write a first novel takes it out of one’s mojo – that and the time-travel.