A.S. Chambers is one of those authors that makes other authors question their own ability to write and is as I have told him, 'Irritatingly brilliant'. I was lucky enough to share the stage with him at a Doncaster comic convention several weeks back for an author interview, and he talks with effortless ease about his craft while also making quips about Bulgarian typewriters and the like. Ladies and gentlefolk...its the man from Lancaster, A.S. Chambers!
Something Wicked This Way Comes - When did you know you wanted to be an author?
A.S Chambers - Probably when I was a teenager. I remember having this really weird dream when I was about thirteen when I was a ninja fighting the antichrist in my home church of All Hallows in Wellingborough. I woke up the next morning and just started writing. I started by scribbling down everything I could remember about the dream, then tried to work out what had led to the that climactic scene. Over time, the ninja and the antichrist were replaced by fallen angels Asmodeus and Abaddon and the rest, as they say, was history. My very first draft of Fallen Angel was born and that led into creating a whole universe that would lead up to that pivotal moment.
SW - What has your life been like so far?
ASC - Quite a mixed bag, I guess. I’m grateful that I have a roof over my head, loved ones and pennies in my pocket, but there have been times when life hasn’t been so great and that has, from time to time, edged its way into my storytelling. It would turn out that my childhood wasn’t exactly brilliant (my father was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, putting a hell of a strain on my mum and me), although I didn't actually realise this fact until much later. To me it was just a normal childhood. Then in adult life, I have battled with Meniere's Disease, which affects not only my hearing but also my balance and my memory.
SW - Where are you from and where are you now?
ASC - I grew up in the flatlands of Northamptonshire, England. It was great for cycling, but not a lot else…
When I hit university age I flew as far away as possible, up to Lancaster in the much hillier Northwest of England. I’ve been here ever since as I fell in love with the place and now actually set most of my Sam Spallucci stories here. It has an incredible history and is in possession of one of the world’s best-preserved castles.
SW - What other jobs have you had?
ASC - Numerous! When I was a kid, I held down about six paper rounds at one point, as well as working Saturdays in the local Burton’s menswear and two evenings a week at the local restaurant. As a family, we had very little money, so if I wanted anything, I had to save up myself, plus I was aware that there was no way that my parents were going to be able to support me when I went to university.
As an adult, I started out as a retail jeweller and, as much as I loved the pretty things that I got to play with, I detested the greed that they brought out in people, so I only stuck that until I was 30. Since then, I’ve been a genealogist and a private tutor. The bulk of my time, though, is spent writing.
SW - Tell us about your personal favourite novel of yours. Brag a little.
ASC - Hmmm… tricky one. If I’m having to choose a published novel, then it will probably be Sam Spallucci’s fourth outing - Dark Justice. I dealt quite extensively with vampires in that one, a genre that has fascinated me since I was a kid. It was really nice to put my own spin on it. However, if I can include unpublished, then it has to be Sam Spallucci: Fury of the Fallen, which I’ve just finished and is due out this autumn. It sees poor Sam get romantically entangled with the fallen angel Asherah who, quite frankly, is an utter piece of work. The two characters are polar opposites but work exceedingly well as a dysfunctional couple. Ash has always been one of my favourite side characters and it was great fun to be able to go to town with her.
SW - Does writing energize or exhaust you?
ASC - It can do both. I’m a huge multitasker. I always have one novel, a novella and an anthology of shorts on the go. Alongside that, I am always planning out the future of the Spallucciverse, making sure that everything ties in nice and tight. As a result, I am a constant ball of creative energy when I am in the zone. However, Meniere’s Disease can cause chronic fatigue and there will be days when, after I’ve had a huge writing splurge, I am just fit for nothing.
SW - What are common traps for aspiring writers?
ASC - I think the biggest pitfall for any new writer is that they don’t give themselves enough time. This can be time for sitting down and writing, time for planning, time for formatting, time for publicising, time for themselves. Time is such a precious commodity these days and we are encouraged by the likes of advertising and Social Media that we should just spend it willy nilly. Every second we have is one that we will not get back. We need to plan out how to use our creative time effectively but also be prepared to not stress if things don't go according to plan.
SW - What is your writing Kryptonite?
ASC - I think if I was asked to write a sex scene, it would end up being like the Hokey-Cokey: in out, in out, shake it all about. I just would not be able to take it seriously and I would probably get hammered before I started. So, yeah, that’s something that I seriously avoid. (Pans away to roaring fire…)
Another thing that I’m working on at the moment is writing actions scenes, especially fight scenes. They’re something that I’ve never really played with until recently. In Bobby Normal and the Virtuous Man, I have a scene where a band of constructs slaughter some humans and that went okay, so in the third Bobby Normal book, I’ve had a full-scale battle between vampires and constructs. It’s a case of constantly working on one’s craft and pushing oneself to learn new techniques.
SW - Do you believe in writer’s block?
ASC - Okay, so controversial opinion here. When I was 19, I went to a writer’s circle where the head writer there was asked about writer’s block, and what he said has stuck with me. Basically, it doesn't exist. What we call WB is just us writing the wrong thing. We creative types can be very angsty and flighty about our craft and there are times when we constantly pursue that which does not wish to be caught. We need to recognise that and say, “Sod it! Off you f**k! I’m going to play with something else now.” We need a good deal of flexibility in our work. This is probably why I always have so many projects on the go: they give me many outlets to play with and then they feed new ideas into each other. Consequently, in forty years of writing, I have never had writer’s block.
SW - What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer?
ASC - I’ve been trawling the convention circuit more or less since I published my first book The Casebook of Sam Spallucci back in 2012. As a result, I’ve met and befriended so many lovely people, far too many to list here because my memory is shocking and I just know I’ll miss some out.
If I’m going to give one person a special mention, it has to be a chap by the name of Douglas Lindsay. He’s a Scottish author living down near Bath and he wrote the Barney Thomson books, the first of which was turned into a film starring Robert Carlyle in the titular role. I’ve found Douglas’ books to be quite inspirational as his style encouraged me to write what I wanted to write and not to worry about conforming. On top of that, he kindly agreed to be interviewed for my blog and also provided some nice cover quotes for my books.
SW - What authors did you dislike at first but grew into?
ASC - That’s a hard one. I tend to be one who gets stuck in their ways very easily. If I don’t like something at first then I tend not to go back. Case in point is, as a teenager, I tried some Agatha Christie and hated it. Got a few pages in and gave up. As a result, I’ve never gone back. Now, I keep telling myself that I really ought to as almost 45 years have passed, however those books keep sitting there begging me to read them.
SW - What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
ASC - Probably studying History at school. We had a whole module on source analysis and looking at how texts could be trustworthy or untrustworthy. It was fascinating looking at how political entities can warp the truth to make Joe Public swing round to just about any view, no matter how nefarious.
SW - What’s your favourite under-appreciated novel?
ASC - Probably A Clockwork Orange. Most people you talk to will ramble on about the film, as to whether they like it or not and its portrayal of violence etc. etc. However, the novel is an absolute masterpiece of social observation. Kubrick, like he always does, took the bits that he thought would make a blockbuster and over-inflated them. The book is far more thoughtful, looking at the protagonist’s journey and how then, at the end, seeing how he has been left behind as his former friends outgrew him. Everyone should read it.
SW - As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
ASC - Probably the honey bee. I’m an absolute workaholic. I have to be constantly doing something, keeping active, whether it be writing or researching. Even when I’m out walking in the middle of nowhere, I have plot-lines ticking over in my head, constantly reformulating. The bee is definitely that kind of animal, constantly working, creating its honey.
SW - How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
ASC - I am an adept multi-tasker. As a result, I always have numerous projects on the go. It’s very much the nature of my creative work - Sam Spallucci is just one part of an ever-expanding universe. So, for example, at the time of writing this, I have Sam Spallucci: Fury of the Fallen in its proof-reading stage; Bobby Normal and the Children of Cain is in its final edit; Bobby Normal and the Fallen is just starting out; my next anthology Out of the Depths is half way through its first draft; I’m plotting out Sam Spallucci: Lux AEterna and a novella regarding a recurring character from Sam’s stories; I’m formatting the first Sam Spallucci Omnibus and my second Macabre Collection; I’m constantly tweaking a future publication Fallen Angel which will pull all the stories together; I am writing notes down for a trilogy which which end the whole universe.
So, quite a bit, lol.
SW - What does literary success look like to you?
ASC - Finishing writing all these ideas I have bouncing around in my head. When I was much younger, there were dreams of book deals, film rights, all that jazz. However, as I grown older and seen the stress that all that malarky causes other authors, I’m just content to write, to create something that I and my readers enjoy.
SW - What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
ASC - Research, for me, is constant. I always have non-fiction books on the go and read varying scientific journals and publications to see what’s new and interesting.
A lot of my stories have a background in mythology and ancient history, so there are always numerous books on those topics lying around my house. For example, Fury of the Fallen required me to read up on Ancient Troy, Ugarit and the Levant as well as the Ba’al cycle of myths. All fascinating.
SW - What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
ASC - Probably making them feel realistic rather than some sort of image of perfection. The last thing I want is for someone to turn around and say, “Well, they were rather two-dimensional…” I want all my characters to feel like they are real, that people can relate to them and recognise personality traits in them.
SW - How do you select the names of your characters?
ASC - Jesus, with great difficulty! You’d think it would be simple: millions of permutations of fore- and surnames. However the first names that seem to go through my head are Dave and Ethel. Fortunately, I came up with a greta way of getting around this. I started selling characters off to readers as part of Kickstarter rewards. People love to be murdered brutally (in a fictional manner, of course).
SW - Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
ASC - I pop onto Amazon from time to time and have a look. It’s really useful for readers to leave simple reviews or ratings as this helps bump a book into the recommended reads. I seem to be fortunate to have mostly five- or four-star reviews over there, which is very heartening. I have one one-star which made me chuckle. The reader complained that there was very little history of Lancaster in the book. I’m guessing they hadn’t read the description…
SW - Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
ASC - Okay, so I’ll have to be cagey here as, you know, spoilers.
I always leave breadcrumbs through all the Sam books. Absolutely everything that occurs has a meaning or a purpose, even if it isn’t for that particular book. One thing I do like playing with is the television programmes that Sam watches. They either have meaning for later on in the series or they refer to something which has happened in a short story in another book.
I also left clues from the first book as to the fact that one of the main characters was actually seriously ill. I built upon this through the first five before they died in Sam Spallucci: Bloodline.
The one that i am continually laying clues for, though, is the identity of Kanor, the big bad of the universe. Kanor is this character who brings about the Divergence and basically decimates humanity. At the beginning of Sam’s story, we have no idea as to who he is, but as the books and the short stories unfold, the sharper-eyed readers might start to have a clue.
SW - What was your hardest scene to write?
ASC - There have been two. Both death scenes. One was the aforementioned death of the previously mentioned main character. The other was in Sam Spallucci: Shadows of Lancaster when I killed off his mum. I had Sam walk into her bedroom and she had just simply died. I wept so much after that one and didn’t come back to the book for about a month.
SW - Do you Google yourself?
ASC - Only to make sure I still exist. Also, I don’t touch Google. I use Duck Duck Go - far more secure.
SW - What is your favourite children’s book?
ASC - Michael Rosen’s adaptation of Little Rabbit Foo Foo. It’s an absolute hoot and the artwork always creases me up.
Also, I’m a huge fan of the young adult Star Wars books which were written by Jude Watson. They follow a young Obi-Wan, then a young Anakin, then finally a former padawan by the name of Ferus Olin. They were great work and really cast the Jedi in a bad light, unable and unwilling to change their dogmatic views, leading to the fall of Anakin.
SW - What is the most difficult part of your artistic process?
ASC - The most difficult part is probably down to me rather than the process itself. I have a life-long condition called Meniere’s Disease. It effects the inner ear, causing dizziness, vertigo, tinnitus and deafness. As a result, it can be incredibly tiring and flares up when I get ill from other things such as colds, flu etc. As a result, there are days when i am just not fit to do anything. I have to be brutally honest with myself and say, “Well, today is going to be a rest day, then,” and just accept it.
SW - How long on average does it take you to write a book?
ASC - Depends on the book. From start to finishing editing, the Sam Books now take about eight months continual work. The Bobby Normal books I work on each Saturday and the first draft takes about two months and then editing a similar amount of time. Novellas seem to take a similar amount of time. My short story anthologies are continuous as I have them ticking away in the background whilst working on other books.
SW - Have you ever gotten reader’s block?
ASC - I always tend to have numerous books on the go, but there are times when I really just can’t muster up the energy to pick one up and dive in. This is normally when my Meniere’s i playing up as the dizziness does tend to prohibit reading.
SW - What are you planning next?
ASC - So, I’ve just finished Sam Spallucci: Fury of the Fallen, which is due out in November. Bobby Normal and the Children of Cain is out in June. My first Sam Spallucci Omnibus will be out later this summer.
You can find links for all my books over at www.aschambers.co.uk.
You can also sign up to my newsletter here, to be kept in the loop with all upcoming publications and appearances.
SW; Thank you again for the opportunity to do this interview.
ASC - Not problem. It’s been an absolute pleasure!
