Andrew J McKiernan

The Next Big Thing

Andrew McKiernan — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:55:49 +1100

THE NEXT BIG THING is a chain of book and author recommendations. One author tags five others, who then each tag five others. The idea is that we all help people out there learn about all the good stuff that’s just out or coming soon.

Every Wednesday, the tagged authors post the answers to five questions on their blog or website. Yeah, I know today is Thursday. So, I'm running a bit late and we're just going to pretend today is Wednesday instead. Okay? I mean, what are you going to do? Call the Time Police on me?

Anyway, Alan Baxter tagged me on over on his blog after he was tagged by Angela Slatter, and now it's my turn in the hotseat. Here we go...

1) What is the working title of your next book?

When I first started writing it was just 'The Body Story'. I was about 5,000 words or so in before I realised that the real title was already there: both in a word written on a DVD, and in the actions and motivations and restrictions of the characters. Since then, the title has been 'BOUND' and that single word sums up a large part of the story, so I can't really see it changing.

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

One of those strange things that pops into your head for no reason. A first sentence that just begged to be explored. "They found her body in the boot of an abandoned car." I wrote that down, and within an hour had another 1,000 words. Next day, all the newspapers had as headlines, BODY FOUND IN ABANDONED CAR, or similar. It was on the TV news for our region, too. Happened not too far from where I lived. That was pretty creepy. They caught the murderer, apparently, in not too short a time - a matter of days - which is a bit unlike the killer in BOUND.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Definitely Crime, not a hint of Horror or Fantasy or Science Fiction, which has been a strange experiment for me.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

If I was ever fortunate to have a story optioned or made into a film, I'd hope that there would be a Casting Director to take care of that. I don't like to describe the physical appearance of characters with anything more than very broad (and sparse) brush-strokes. I never really have a concrete image of what my characters really look like, and I think it makes it better, more immersive, for the reader if they can impose a 'face' of their own imagining onto a character.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When Jim Henderson's wife goes missing then turns up dead in the boot of an abandoned car, the discovery of a DVD amongst his wife's possessions challenges Jim's image of their marriage, and leads him on a journey into darkness and depravity to find her killer.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I have a publisher interested in publishing BOUND as part of the new e-novella range.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

It's taken six months and I'm still writing! But really, that's because I'm an 'Edit-as-I-go' person. By the time I've finished first draft, I've pretty much done a 2nd and 3rd draft as part of the writing process. Plus, there was almost 4 weeks off after I broke my right hand; that didn't help the wordcount much. I'm nearing the end now though, so it will probably end up seven months for a fairly polished 30,000 words.

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

That's hard to say because I'm not really that well versed in the Crime genre. I've read a lot of Elmore Leonard and James Sallis and James Ellroy, but that's really about it. Sallis's 'Drive' and 'Driven' and Cormac McCarthy's 'No Country For Old Men' were probably big influences on the writing style. So was Daniel Woodrell's work. But I really couldn't make any comparison to the story or plot.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

See question 2) - it was just one of those ideas that popped up and demanded to be explored. I was still pecking away at it every now and then - between short stories - and then a publisher contacted me and asked if I might have something they'd be interested in. I sent them the first 5,000 words and I received a very positive reply of "Wow, I wasn't seeing that shift coming. Please keep writing!"

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

BOUND is a dark novella and I've taken my characters to some pretty nasty places, but there is also hope and courage and devotion. Maybe, ultimately, retribution. I guess that, if you want a crime story that's more about people than it is about police procedures, then BOUND might be for you.

************

So, my job is almost done. Now, it is but for me to pass the Next Big Thing baton on to some other writers I think you might well be interested in keeping your eye on. I've only listed 3 writers (instead of the standard 5) because these are THE THREE that I think you need to watch and read. They'll be posting their answers next week, Wednesday 6th December, or maybe it will be Thursday, at their own blogs and websites.

And, without further ado, those three are:

AJ Spedding

Geoff Brown

Jason Franks

2012 Spec-Fic Snapshot - Interview

Andrew McKiernan — Thu, 7 Jun 2012 11:48:32 +1000

In what can most probably be best described as a blurry polaroid alongside the crisply focussed and brightly lit portraits of other wonderful authors and editors, I have been interviewed by Kathryn Linge as part of the 2012 Australian Spec-Fic Snapshot...

http://kathrynlinge.livejournal.com/139821.html

CIRCUS - Fantasy Under the Big Top

Andrew McKiernan — Tue, 5 Jun 2012 12:42:09 +1000

Editor Ekaterina Sedia has announced the table of contents and unveiled the cover for her latest anthology CIRCUS: Fantasy Under the Big Top.

With a stellar line-up of authors, I feel extremely privileged that she has chosen to reprint my circus novelette 'Calliope: A Steam Romance' alongside such luminaries as Peter Straub, Howard Waldrop and Jeff VanderMeer.

CIRCUS: FANTASY UNDER THE BIG TOP

Table of Contents

Introduction
“Something About a Death, Something About a Fire” Peter Straub
“Smoke & Mirrors” Amanda Downum
“Calliope: A Steam Romance” Andrew J McKiernan
“Welcome to the Greatest Show in the Universe” Deborah Walker
“Vanishing Act” E. Catherine Tobler
“Quin’s Shanghai Circus” Jeff VanderMeer
“Scream Angel” Douglas Smith
“The Vostrasovitch Clockwork Animal and Traveling Forest Show at the End of the World” Jessica Reisman
“Study, for Solo Piano” Genevieve Valentine
“Making My Entrance Again with My Usual Flair” Ken Scholes
“The Quest” Barry B. Longyear
“26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss” Kij Johnson
“Courting the Queen of Sheba” Amanda C. Davis
“Circus Circus” Eric Witchey
“Phantasy Moste Grotesk” Felicity Dowker
“Learning to Leave” Christopher Barzak
“Ginny Sweethips’ Flying Circus” Neal Barrett Jr
“The Aarne-Thompson Classification Revue” Holly Black
“Manipulating Paper Birds” Cate Gardner
“Winter Quarters” Howard Waldrop

CIRCUS: Fantasy Under the Big Top is being published by Prime Books in September 2012 and is already available for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and Book Depository.

Guest Post - Painting With Words

Andrew McKiernan — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:32:53 +1000

Author David McDonald has invited me to write a guest blog over at Ebon Shores as part of his Wednesday Writers series.

This was a great honour as David has featured some truly remarkable writers, and I felt a little out of my depth being part of it. But, I think I did alright, talking about how writing and illustration have entwined in my life, and how what I've learnt from illustration has informed my writing processes.

The post is called 'Painting With Words' and you can read it at http://www.davidmcdonaldspage.com/2012/05/andrew/

Interview - Night Terrors Anthology

Andrew McKiernan — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:14:11 +1000

As part of the release schedule for Kayelle Press's new anthology Night Terrors, which contains my novelette "White Lines, White Crosses", editor Karen Henderson has posted an interview with me.There I talk about myself, my writing, and the inspiration for "White Lines, White Crosses". I'm really proud of this story, and think it has some important things to say about youth, boredom, small towns and the danger that an unhealthy interest in fast cars to bring. I hope you'll all rush out and give it a read.

Here's part of the interview:

What inspired your story in Night Terrors?

I live on the Central Coast, north of Sydney, and we’ve got a lot of back roads up here that run through the bush. Twisty turny things, with un-guttered edges and rough paving. Almost all of them are lined in some way with little white crosses marking the place where someone has lost control of their car and wrapped it around a tree or a telegraph pole. I started photographing these roadside memorials – some of them crude, some elaborate, many of them decked about with flowers and photographs – and I noticed the birth-death years written upon them were almost always young drivers. One day, I drove past one I’d photographed previously and there were all these teenagers sitting around the memorial, talking and smoking cigarettes and drinking beers. That was the moment when I knew I had a story. Most of ‘White Lines, White Crosses’ was already written in my head by the time I got home.

You can read it in full at: http://www.kayellepress.com/2012/04/author-interview-andrew-j-mckiernan/

Interview - Tuesday Toot

Andrew McKiernan — Wed, 1 Feb 2012 14:04:49 +1100

Author Alan Baxter has been running a series of Tuesday Toots over on his blog, where a variety of authors and editors get a chance to blow their own tuba about current or upcoming projects. Today, it's my turn and I take full advantage. Like a blast heralding the End Times, I toot my horn three times about:

Toot the First - my new short story "Love Death" now available in Aurealis #45 (http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/100597)

Toot the Second - my Lovecraftian SF tale "The Wanderer In the Darkness" out now in Midnight Echo 6 (http://midnightechomagazine.com/products-page/midnight_echo/midnight-echo-issue-6/).

The Final Blast - the cover art and internal illustrations I've done for Australian Literature Review's latest anthology, the Christmas themed Ho, Ho, Horror (http://auslit.net/auslit-publications)

You can read the full interview at: http://www.alanbaxteronline.com/tuesday-toot-andrew-mckiernan/

Interview - Writing Processes

Andrew McKiernan — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:52:25 +1100

The other day, I spoke to author Nicole Murphy over on her blog about my writing habits - how I juggle writing and illustrating with running my own business and looking after my family. Today, I'm talking more about the writing process - how I plot and plan my stories, drafting and editing and many other things besides as part of her Writer's Habits and Processes series.

You can read it all at http://nicolermurphy.com/?p=153

Interview - A Writer's Habits

Andrew McKiernan — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:31:38 +1100

Author Nicole Murphy has interviewed me as part of her Writer's Habits and Processes series. You can catch the first part 'A Writer's Habits' at http://nicolermurphy.com/?p=154.

Midnight Echo 6 now available

Andrew McKiernan — Wed, 2 Nov 2011 12:23:46 +1100

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Issue is now available in print and e-book formats from our dark friends at the Australian Horror Writers Association. It contains my tale of Lovecraftian SF, "The Wanderer In the Darkness".

Nine stories are set in the far future and taking place in the distant reaches of space. Inside you’ll discover a strange world with a planetary ring forged from organic matter, bizarre aliens cataloguing and collecting humans to populate their idea of paradise, Lovecraftian horrors come to life in the heart of a comet, cybernetic monsters hunting humans in the hull of an abandoned star ship, and paranoid space explorers pushed to their limits at the frontier of an uncharted universe. This issue also includes the 2011 Australian Horror Writers Association’s Flash Fiction and Short Story Award winning entries.

“Earthworms” by Cody Goodfellow
“Trawling the Void” by Alan Baxter
“Out Hunting For Teeth” by Joanne Anderton
“Graveyard Orbit” by Shane Jiraiya Cummings
“Surgeon Scalpelfingers” by Helen Stubbs
“Silver-Clean” by Jenny Blackford
“The Wanderer in the Darkness” by Andrew J McKiernan
“Winds of Nzambi” by David Conyers & David Kernot
“Duncan Checks Out” by Nicholas Stella
“Dead Low” by Cat Sparks
“More Matter, Less Art” by Stephen Dedman
“Seeds” by Mark Farrugia

The issue features an in depth interview with Charles Stross, one of the most imaginative and insightful science fiction authors writing today. Stross has been honoured with two Hugo awards and Locus Reader awards, and has published more than a dozen novels, including Saturn’s Children and The Fuller Memorandum. He talks to David Conyers for Midnight Echo about his Lovecrafitan science fiction horror series, The Laundry, and his latest novel, Rule 34.

A second interview is with Chris Moore, world renowned British science fiction artist best known for his striking covers for Orion Publishing’s SF Masterworks series. Insights are gained into Moore’s process for achieving his striking and imaginative art, and the many changes he has been facing in the publishing industry since he began illustrating in the 1970s.

The cover for Midnight Echo 6, ‘Strange Behaviour’, is a creation of talented UK artist, Paul Drummond, who will be well-known to readers of Interzone and Jupiter for his striking depictions of star ships, futuristic humans and robots. Featured interior illustrators include Steve Gilberts, David Lee Ingersoll, Olivia Kernot and Nathan Wyckoff.

Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Special, has been edited by South Australian trio, David Kernot (editor of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine), Jason Fischer (Writers of the Future winner and Aurealis nominee), and David Conyers (author of The Eye of Infinity, The Spiraling Worm and co-editor of Cthulhu Unbound 3).

Source: http://midnightechomagazine.com/products-page/midnight_echo/midnight-echo-issue-6/

Interview - Midnight Echo #6

Andrew McKiernan — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 12:07:01 +1100

In the lead up to the release of Midnight Echo 6: The Science Fiction Horror Issue, containing my Lovecraftian SF tale "The Wanderer in the Darkness", the good editors of ME have posted an interview and a teaser extract from my story. Here's a short snippet...

Midnight Echo: Tell us about your story and what your influences are?

Andrew: My story, “The Wanderer In The Darkness” is a quite obvious attempt at moving something of the Lovecraft Mythos into space. I’ve always seen Lovecraft’s main mythos tales as being more SF than Horror; these are aliens we are dealing with, not supernatural demons, and the leap from Lovecraft’s more common setting of early 20th century America to 21st century deep space seemed an easy leap to make as far as story-telling goes...

You can out the rest of the interview and read the extract at: http://midnightechomagazine.com/2011/10/29/midnight-echo-issue-6-interviews-andrew-j-mckiernan/