Welcome to the final instalment of the RM Gurnhill author interview!
If you'd like to know more about myself or my work, please don't hesitate to contact me through the contact form on the site.
Questions posed by Paul Grant & Zak Peat
Pencil drawing by Jo Lanta
Q: What kind of genre do you enjoy writing about the most & why?
Bearing in mind I have nine novels in the fantasy genre planned for the Corlandian Ballads series, it may come as a surprise to learn that my favourite genre is what could be classed as 'post-modernism', although that is probably a defunct term by now. I love writing about people and their connections, experiences, troubles and such, but I also enjoy playing with the construction of the novels. Anachronism, point-of-view shifts, inserting poetry, experimenting with style and form; anything goes, if it doesn't deflect from the storytelling. Character and plot are still the most important aspects, whatever I write.
Q: Writing Fact or writing Fiction?
Fiction all day long. It is a free form that allows you to take people anywhere; & I mean anywhere. But it also needs control & diligence, otherwise you lose people's attention. For instance, the best sci-fi is grounded in 'fact' & reasoning, even if the fact & reasoning is worked out in the writer's mind. Readers do not like to feel cheated. It's like the old A-Team TV series & such like from the '80s - millions of bullets get fired, but none ever hit the good guys. The Big Bang Theory is so funny because so much of the humour comes from scientific fact; the writers have done their research & it shows. Greg Bear's sci-fi is so well thought-out that you believe the tech, however far-fetched & unfamiliar it may seem.
Q: Final question: which writers do you enjoy the work of?
Too many to name but let me try. Tolkien, Pratchett, Ian (M) Banks, Greg Bear, David Gemmell, Voltaire, Poe, Lovecraft, Martin Amis, Twain, Hugh Cook, David Eddings, Wilde, Jeremy Clarkson (honest), Stephen Fry, Kate Atkinson. That’s the tip of the literary iceberg!
Genre-wise, my favourite authors of the following are:
· Sci-fi - Asimov - genius. Read him if you haven't.
· Humour - Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's is the funniest book ever written (although the 5th instalment was a little disappointing & too dark).
· High Fantasy - Jack Vance - the Lyonesse trilogy is the greatest series ever written bar none. And I thought his Dying Earth series was before I read Lyonesse !
That concludes the RM Gurnhill author interview. Thank you for joining us & I hope you enjoyed learning a little more about my writing life!
Next week I will be looking at some of the many books I have enjoyed in the craziness that has been 2020, including those by writers discussing the craft. I hope you will join me again!
Have a wonderful Christmas, and stay safe!
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