Sunday, September 25, 2011

Author Interview - David Gatward



For a while now I've wanted to do a series of Q&As with my favourite authors of the macabre, those fiendish ones who see it as their duty to warp the minds of the young and innocent.

And now, thanks to a pact I may or may not have made with certain otherworldly entities, I present you the first in my Famous Last Words: Author Interview series!

The first body on the slab is David Gatward, author of the brilliant The Dead series (The Dead, The Dark and The Damned), and more recently the wonderful adventure e-books Booksurfers.

Let the interrogation begin!

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Can you tell us a bit about your latest book?
It's my Booksurfers thing. Having done Treasure Island and Wizard of Oz it was very exciting to this time approach the legend that is Robin Hood. Why? Because I got to write not just the Booksurfers adventure, but my very own version of the Robin Hood legend! How ace is that? Er... very, actually! It's just come out this week, so seriously exciting. Next is A Christmas Carol, where I send the Booksurfers in to Dickens' great story. And, fingers crossed, there'll be more to come next year!

Why do you write horror?
I seem unable to escape the darker side of things! I can't dream up happy, nice stories. I like putting characters in a bad place and seeing how they react given their circumstances, views, beliefs. I also like monsters that bite your head off.

Have you ever had your own spooky experience?
Two ghosts seen! One was a man in a black suit under a large tree who appeared one sunny afternoon while I was mowing a lawn. The other was a woman in a blue dress who appeared in a caravan I was living in. Nice!

What would be written on your main character’s gravestone?
Don't give up your free will to Fate.


What is your favourite book of the past month? The past year? All time?
Past month = Swamp Foetus (Poppy Z Brite)
Past year = Let The Right One In (John Ajvide Lindqvist)
All time = Impossible to even begin to approach such a question!

What does your writing space look like?
I share an office with my wife, so in all honesty it's a little space I clear amongst her paperwork so I can put my laptop down on a desk! I dream of having my own little office, but space and £ are key factors! One day... oh yes...

What’s the scariest book you’ve ever read?
The Woman in Black (Susan Hill)

What are you working on right now? Or, if you’d prefer not to say, please tell me what’s going on in the Rorschach test:


I'm doing the edits for my next Hodder book, out next summer, working on a ghost-writing project due out next summer and which has to be finished for end December, working up a number of ideas I've got, and creating an entirely new breed of evil dog. Rorschach = a giant rat staring down at me hungrily...

David Gatward, thanks for spending a little time on the slab at Spinechills!

Find out more about David's books at www.davidgatward.com or check out his facebook page here.


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