Interview - Guy Adams

I recently reviewed The World House by Guy Adams (published by Angry Robot) and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also rather enjoyed tormenting the poor neurotic author on twitter the night before the review went up. I enjoyed it so much in fact that I asked if he'd come and talk to us properly over on Un:Bound. He said yes and here it is.

HR: Hiya, ok i'm going to launch straight in with this. Your previous books have been tie in's, how different was writing The World House from your previous work?

GA: Okay...

Making the leap to original fiction wasn't so hard as that's what most writers are naturally inclined to write. Besides, everything that I'd written 'for fun' up until now had been original work. I'd also had a few short books published in the small press.

Obviously you have a much greater scope when dealing with your own characters and situations. It's like having the manacles removed.

The biggest relief though was being able to attack a big fictional project, I'd spent so much time writing non-fiction over the last couple of years that I'd been climbing up the wall. I'm really much, much better as a fiction writer than non-fiction. Earning a living in a medium that doesn't actually -- in my opinion -- play to my strengths was quite frustrating.

HR: Hmm, talking of playing to your strengths, the House itself is an unusual piece of worldbuilding, how did you come to create a world, inside a house, inside a box?

GA: The book started off in that little phrase quoted by Chester (and paraphrased on the cover). "There is a box. Inside that box is a door and beyond that door..."

At the time I thought it was probably a kid's book, that little line just had the feel of children's fiction about it... maybe it was the memory of Camberwick Green!

I had just written a Torchwood novel that put a spin on haunted house stories and I think an element of that was still clinging to me too.

What swung it for me in the end was the idea of approaching elements of standard fantasy stories -- shifting environments and the ubiquitous quest -- and dumping them all in an enclosed space. That appealed to me hugely, it has a subversive quality that was too good to leave alone.

I've always been a lover of Victorian houses, and the attitudes and affectation that goes with them... opulence draped over something dark and vaguely unsavoury. Deep paint contrasted against white cornices, stained floorboards, thick rugs, the ghosts of smoked cigars and the sweet reek of port. My old flat in the UK was a living shrine to that atmosphere. If it were to be set in a house it had to be that sort of house...

The image that came first -- and guaranteed that the book would be written -- was a man waking in a darkened room only to find that the taxidermy had come to life. I then realised that this sort of thing happened all the time, especially at 'night' when the gas lamps grew dim.

That's all it takes usually, get a strong enough flavour on your tongue and you're away.

From there on in it was easy really, just having fun with what you could put in some of the rooms, mountain ranges, oceans, jungles... as long as you never let people forget that it's still a house, that's the key I think, otherwise it would lose its charm. Keep showing them the wooden paneling, the ceiling roses and bathroom tiles.

HR: I don't think i'm going to be recommending this to any children. It's difficult to talk about the characters without giving too much away, but was it hard to work with what seemed to me quite a large cast for the setting?

GA: I think some of the book if lifted and offered out of context -- I'm thinking about the scenes in the bathroom on the good ship Intrepid -- actually reads like a kid's book. But then I go and spoil it elsewhere with all the cannibalism and paintings rutting in their canvases.

I didn't find the cast tricky really. Because the setting is only small when thought of in our terms of a 'house'. As you know the book goes on to explain that we have only been following this handful of characters because they are the ones that will wind up important in the narrative (which is always the case in a novel of course, you don't follow the minor characters around it's not their story... I just make a plot point of it here rather than taking it as read). There are lots of people trapped in this impossible building... most of whom don't last past the first day.

They were all suitably different too, speaking in broad strokes you have: the gentleman explorer, the society girl, the middle aged white collar guy, the girl with special needs, the alcoholic piano player/beat poet... There's a lot of variety there and they're defined not only by their personalities but also the eras in which they come from. I break them down into three distinct groups, ensuring they have a dynamic together and can riff well off each other (I need that from my characters, I need their dialogue to bounce around) then you have these manageable threads to follow, weaving your way towards a climax.

I feel I should confess -- though you didn't ask -- that I never plan. I think perhaps I should, it would make life easier. But for me half the pleasure is working myself into a corner and seeing what I can creatively come up with in order to work my way back out again. I remember Hustle creator Tony Jordan saying that when he wrote his scripts for the series he didn't work backwards as most would. He didn't come up with a method for perpetrating a con and then tell a story about it, he told a story, painted himself in a corner with the team of hustlers pulling off some miraculous stunt and then tried to figure out how the hell they could have done it. I relate to that terribly. Most of the big set pieces in the book are where I've thrown everything into chaos and then... screaming in panic... tried to figure out how the hell I can make things work out okay.

It's not a sane way to work...

HR: They are a mixed bunch and very entertaining, I found myself getting particularly fond of the special needs girl Sophie and her unique way of dealing with this impossible situation. Well, since we don't want to risk spoilers let's talk about you for a bit. What do you look for in the books you read and what books or authors do you keep coming back to? (feel free to ramble)

GA: Sophie's my favourite character too (though you would imagine it would be Miles as he's a very thinly veiled cipher of myself). Her sections were such fun to write. Her thought patterns hugely addictive.

What do I look for in the books I read? Hmm... a real mixture really. It's that elusive spark you get from writers that resonate. My reading's pretty diverse. I love the wit and ingenuity of Jasper Fforde -- a man that throws the most stunning ideas away in a single paragraph, he has so many of them he can afford to be casual about it. Douglas Adams is a genius in that regard too, and a huge hero of mine.

I love earthy, rolling prose. Stuff like Joe R. Lansdale or Ed Gorman (Ed's probably the best short story writer in the business, the man's a bloody genius and not enough people read him). It's prose that you could fry and eat then wash down with some ice-cold beer.

Then there's the writers you go to be thrilled by the scopes of their imagination, for the pleasure of the big canvas or the great idea, people like Michael Marshall Smith, Garry Kilworth (another hugely underrated writer) or Clive Barker... hmm... this is the ideal time to lapse into an embarrassing anecdote, we'll get back to cool books in a minute...

Clive Barker was a huge hero when I was in my late teens, his books just blew me away, the breadth of them, the sexiness of them... imaginative literature to get a real hard-on for. I met him a couple of times at books signings, always so starry-eyed at how lovely he was, how gracious and enthusiastic. I even gave him some stories to read once -- terrible terrible shite written and offered by a naive fool -- of course I got the predictable letter a few months later saying he was returning them unread for 'legal reasons'. I cherished that letter... how simpering of me.

Then, a couple of years ago he was a guest at FantasyCon, the annual convention of the British Fantasy Society. I was strolling around all 'too cool for school' but underneath I kept thinking: must try and say 'hi', just acknowledge him... maybe joke about the time I'd sent him some work. Our paths never crossed.

Then I got food poisoning. Really nasty, debilitating stuff... I'd been out of the hotel when all of a sudden it hit me, and it felt like being hit, a punch to the guts that warned of very bad things to come. My head was swimming, cold sweats... I dashed back to the hotel, got in the lift and... there he is. On his own. In the lift. He smiles at me, all lovely and friendly, I give him the sort of grin that only a man that's about to vacate his lungs anally can manage. I imagine it was quite disturbing to see. I couldn't speak. My teeth were gritted, knowing that it was going to take every ounce of concentration and clenching not to throw up or shit myself right there... I was convinced I was going to... stomach bubbling like a boiled kettle. I don't know how I managed to hold it together. The journey felt endless... me convinced I was going to explode in waste matter, him thinking 'there's always one fucking fruitcake at these conventions... hope he doesn't try and bite me before I can get out and lock myself in my room.'

He was right at the top floor, I was one below, barging past him, running to my room and then settling in the bathroom to weep for an hour. I then fell into bed and missed about 24 hours all told, fevers and delirium, really nasty... I didn't feel right for about six months after.

What a lovely story... still at least I'll be able to break the ice if we bump into one another again. 'Hi Clive, you may not remember me but I'm the guy that nearly shit all over in a hotel lift." How we'll laugh...

Okay... back to cool books. Quickly, while I have some pride left.

There are those writers that just write the most beautiful prose. Christopher Fowler's one, really graceful, pitch perfect stuff. He was kind enough to read The World House in its first draft and I was quaking throughout... knowing how he must be wincing at my sloppy phrasing. He didn't, lovely, lovely man...

Then there's Ramsey Campbell, a man that writes in a language of his very own. Or Conrad Williams... his book London Revenant made me sick. It was too good, the writing too brilliant. It's an effort not to punch him in the throat whenever we meet.

Then there's perhaps the most important group of all: the great storytellers. There's King of course, but also people like Mark Morris, Stephen Gallagher, Tim Lebbon, John Connolly, Sarah Pinborough... They all share an ability to bury big ideas, disturbing or awe-inspiring, usually both beneath wonderfully simple prose. And I mean 'simple' in an extremely complimentary sense... it's writing that doesn't try and impress with bells and whistles, just punches the story into you in a manner that creeps up on you wonderfully. Like a little old lady hoisting up her tartan skirt to reveal a suspenders and a strap-on. They can use that on their next cover quote... I hereby give permission.

We come to books for different things, depending on our mood. Be it humour or poetry of language, bravura scope or just exemplary story telling. I'm a man of moods... I flit between genres and styles all the time.

HR:I am convinced that it is not possible to be cool around Clive Barker (He is a benevolent god of awesome) but that takes it to extremes *snigger*. I could happily back and forth for hours but no doubt everyone else would have us move on. Since you mentioned it in what ways are you and Miles alike?

GA: Miles and I share a personality. We both hide behind humour, smoke too much and are no strangers to depression.

I don't have a gambling problem though, thankfully. His flat in Stratford-upon-Avon is the same one I used to live in. I didn't use to own an antiques shop but I did work in one. So on so forth...

Other than the gambling he's basically me.

HR: So how did you end up moving to Spain?

GA: My partner and I both needed to move at the same time so we agreed to move in together, the only question became where. I had just gone full time at the writing and she works as a massage therapist so the idea of going somewhere where it might be a bit cheaper to live appealed!

It was a very spontaneous decision, we just did it really... I imagine that if we'd thought about it particularly we would both have got cold feet and backed out.

It's a lovely place to live of course, mountains behind me the sea in front... The irony has been that there's no other work out here so it's meant I have to keep getting the writing contracts in as I have nothing else to fall back on. If I had been in England I would have been sorely tempted to get some part-time work (anything, I'm clearly not proud) as nobody relishes the starving author lifestyle... without that though I have been forced to really push hard at anything that comes my way... maybe that's been a good thing.

Let you know when I'm not starving any more!

HR: But surely a starving artist should be stuck in a cold tower not hanging out on the beach? So what have you got lined up next to keep you from starving?

GA: If I hang out on the beach I might catch a fish, there's only spiders to eat in a cold tower.

I'm writing a biography of comic actor Leonard Rossiter which comes out in the Autumn. I'm also writing a little book based on the 'bar bets' seen in The Real Hustle -- you know the sort of thing, "You can only move the pint glass using two spent matches and your arse..."

At the moment I'm finishing off the sequel to The World House. A very different book. Obviously it's a continuation of the first but the gear change between the two is very pronounced. The characters are the same but the structure, the story, the atmosphere of the book... all very different. People will see why it has to be a separate book.

It's driving me mad right now, of course, I'm at that point where it's like nailing soup to a table... trying to get it all to mesh together the way I want it. It'll get there though, it always does...

HR: So you'll be demonstrating the pint glass thing on you tube soon right? And how long are we expecting to wait for book two?

They've actually asked me to fly over and do some of the tricks and cons at a book launch which will be fun... I've always been into magic -- which this is a bastard cousin of in many ways -- just never had the patience to get really good at it.

Book two comes out in August so not too long... I am more than usually excited to see what people will think of it. Of course by then I'll be up to my eyes in something else.

I have plans for two children's books, both of which are pretty much written, just need beating into shape a little before letting the agent loose on them. I also have a thriller that I want to get back to... it's all about finding the time to pursue those things you really want to balanced against the things people are already paying you for!

HR: August, ok I can wait till August, probably. What's your favourite Con then? and tell us more about the kids books?

GA: I don't do many conventions though I always make time for FantasyCon -- even more so this year as I'm running it! It's just the perfect balance between entertainment and socialising. Writers are solitary creatures, you see and we need letting out once or twice a year to gather in the name of beer and curry. FantasyCon has been my excuse to do that for the last few years and the atmosphere is always brilliant.

The kid's books are very different. The first to go out will be a book called -- probably -- Ondassa. It's set here in Spain and is about a sunken town that is still peopled with the townsfolk that lived there before the waves consumed it. Of course they're a little different now, semi-aquatic, brutal creatures that steal children to work as a labour force. It's good fun, lots of monsters and action.

The other is actually a series that I prepared for a publisher that ended up going nowhere as their plans to push into the YA market collapsed. It's al set in a post-apocalyptic London, a city where reality has taken a nose dive. We follow a handful of kids as they make their way into the city, getting caught up in a lot of nastiness on the way. It's very routed in the iconic nature of the city so the famed landmarks have become subverted and turned into places of horror. The West End is a gangland of human/cat hybrids and roller-booted thugs, fat worms chase through the underground tunnels where they are milked by Roman deities, monstrous plants grow in the hot house at Kew, time is ever-fluctuating at Greenwich.... That sort of thing. It was originally planned as a long series of short books, I now need to repackage it as a short series of longer books! Basically I was working to a brief that's now not an issue and it would work better if reshuffled a bit. Very very excited by it though, it works well and I just hope it sells as I can't wait to get my teeth stuck into it.

HR: I loved fantasycon last year, look forward to seeing you there this year. The kids books sound fascinating and creepy, which I guess shouldn't surprise us. Ok, through you work with Hustle what is your favourite hustle?

GA: I didn't know you were there last year! Hope you didn't see me make an arse of myself interviewing Jasper Fforde, or during the awards, or hosting the version of I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue we did or... well, there were a few opportunities to be honest...

I don't really have a favourite Hustle episode. I just love con stories in general, they're great puzzles, even more so than murder mysteries really.

It's always made me sad that I've never managed to get a Hustle book off the ground. I wrote an annual for the show last year but the publisher found they'd bitten off a bit more than they could chew I think -- I did a Spooks one too -- and they've been put back to come out this year. It was all new ground for them, annuals designed to appeal to adults as well as kids... the image clearances alone were a nightmare. I had to write both of them in a fortnight... 90,000 words all told... never been so tired!

I pitched a series of fiction books once -- with Mark Morris and Sarah Pinborough onboard as two of the writers! -- but we couldn't find a publisher. Great shame... the books were designed to be stored in a box set that looked like a wad of cash... great stuff.

One day of course I'd like to write an episode... If I had the time I'd camp outside Tony Jordan's house until he either caved in or called the police.

HR: Ok when we interviewed Dave Devereux, he demonstrated his other super power by sharing a recipe. Do you have any secret talents you could share in public?

GA: The man fights demons AND cooks? Hateful bastard...

Super powers? ... erm... I can't pick a recipe now, Devereux's queered my patch for that... Nothing I can share over an internet connection! I used to tour comedy sketches which might count. I made people laugh in Swanage and that's bloody amazing. I eat a whole packet of Fisherman's Friends in a single mouthful once... that was quiet awe-inspiring... I can fire breathe! How brilliant is that? I'll cook Devereux's namby pamby meal using my mouth!!

Sod all use via email though...

HR: Ok I think making people in Swanage laugh and fire breathing are pretty cool super powers. Just to wrap it up then, if you could be any fictional character who would you choose to be?

GA: Any fictional character... hmm... I actually find questions like that really really difficult. I'm pretty comfortable in my own skin, you see -- as ridiculous as it clearly is. But... if I have to choose...

(and this question's taken me the longest to answer of all of them, how silly is that?)

When I was an actor there were three parts I really wanted to play: Ebeneezer Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes and The Doctor... I managed the first two (which was a surprise as I was far too young and fat for either) and we can safely say I'll never manage the last so I guess I'll go for it here. Who wouldn't want that lifestyle? The universe open to you, any time and place at your fingertips and all the time in the world.

HR: honestly? I think i'd prefer to be The Doctor's assistant. Lest angst and responsibility. Thanks for joining us on Un:Bound and best of luck with The World House.