Q.1 Tell us a little about yourself?
A. Okay then. I’m a forty-something journalist
who has spent the majority of his adult life writing about music, books, films, and comics, and did the whole playing in punk rock bands thing for way too long.
I’m currently the editor of Mass Movement.
Q.2 Do you have any upcoming books?
A. I
do. My short story, rites of passage collection called What Would Gary Gygax Do? is scheduled to appear in February, and a
new novel is also due to be published around July by Earth Island Books.
Q.3 What made you write Compression?
A. Honestly?
I don’t know. The idea had been rattling around in my head for a while, and one
day I just sat down to write it, and a month later, the first draft was
finished. I think maybe it was because
after my first band broke up there was a creative vacuum in my life, and at the
time I just needed something to fill it. Somewhere along the way, I discovered
that I enjoyed writing more than making music, so I gave up on the latter and
began to concentrate on the former.
Q.4 How do you come up with the name of this
book?
A.
In my experience, life is comprised of short, sharp shocks and brief moments of
revelation, and joy so I wanted a quick, one-word title that would reflect that.
And Compression seemed to perfectly capture the ideas and themes of the book,
so I went with it.
Q.5 How has your environment/upbringing
colored your writing?
A. That’s difficult to say… I spent most of my
teenage years and my adult life, so far, immersed in the punk rock scene, so
the connection to music was bound to appear in some fashion, and as I grew up in
a small town, I guess the personal and everyday politics and social norms have
shaped my way of thinking which is expressed through the way I write. My literary influences and the writers I
adore are as far removed from what Compression is, and became, as possible, so
it’s more of a manifestation of my musical influences, and the bands I’ve been
listening to for far longer than I care to remember.
Overall though, I think that I’m
influenced by a glorious mishmash of all the things that I love - genre
fiction, punk rock, and Hardcore, comics and science fiction and (old) horror
films. How they do that though, I have no idea. But they are part of it.
Q.6 Is there a message in your novel that you
want readers to grasp?
A. Just
that, as people we’re not defined by the past, and we should never let a single
incident shape our futures. Our lives are our own and,
ultimately, they’ll be as rewarding and fulfilling as we want them to be.
Q.7 How many books do you write? Which one
is your favorite?
A. So far? Two, with the third well underway.
Which one is my favorite? That constantly changes but at the moment the one
that I’m currently writing is my most beloved literary creation.
Q.8 How do you develop your plots and
characters? Do you use any set formula?
A. I don’t have a set formula or pattern, they
just tend to appear fully formed, and evolve as the story progresses. I used to
be a drug and alcohol counselor so I’ve seen people at their absolute worst
and lowest and at their best and most triumphant, which served as a stark a reminder that as a whole, we’re all fallible, beautiful, and incredibly fragile.
That sense of realism is something that I’d like to think that I incorporate in
the characters that populate my books.
Q.9 How much of your work is realistic?
A. The first two books are very dependent on realism. However, the one that I’m writing at the moment? Not so much. That’s a
work of pure fiction.
Q.10 Where do you hope to take your writing in
the future?
A.
I’d like to alternate between factual and fiction, which is part of the whole five-year plan that my
publisher, and I are working toward. I’m sort of a long game planner and have
the next decade completely mapped out in my head, and I know what my next eight
or nine books are about, and when they should appear.
Q.11 Does your family supports your career as
a writer?
A. My
family is incredibly supportive. I’ve been juggling being a full-time parent
with a journalistic career for the last sixteen years, and I couldn’t have done
any of it without my nearest and dearest. And they’re fully behind me adding being an author to my schedule. I’m
incredibly fortunate in that respect.
Q.12 Do you believe in writer’s block? If yes,
how do you deal with it?
A. Oh
goodness, yes. Well, the only way I can deal with it is by just writing. That’s
the only way to break it, and move on. Just write. It doesn’t matter what you write
about, you just have to write.
Q.13 Does writing energize you or exhaust you?
A. It
depends on what I’m writing about. Work-wise, constantly writing reviews can
become tiring as you can tend to exhaust your ideas, and what you’re trying to
say if you just lurch from record to record or book to book. But creatively?
No, it’s always energizing as the tales that have been trapped in your head are
given form and substance. I kind of like and thrive on that.
Q.14 Do you have any unique and quirky writing
habits?
A. Every
writer does. I tend to relate everything to personal experience and approach
everything I do from an incredibly personal perspective. It can be both infuriating and massively
liberating at the same time, and as much as it annoys others, it annoys me far
more.
Q.15 What do you consider to be your best
accomplishment?
A. What
I’m most proud of has nothing to do with writing. The fact that I’ve raised,
and in some small fashion, helped to enable my daughter to become a confident,
well-adjusted, fair-minded, and just human being is the thing that I’ll always
be most proud of. She is the absolute light of my life and the reason that I am
who I am and why I do what I do.
Q.16 What is the most unethical practice in
the publishing industry?
A. I really don’t know. I mean, you hear all
sorts of horror stories about writers being taken from granted and treated
poorly by their publishers. While I’ve been ripped off by magazine editors in
the past, not been paid for work I’ve done despite contracts and agreements
being in place and have fallen foul of the whole nepotistic nature of the
business, apart from that I haven’t really seen the more vicious, or unethical,
side of the industry.
Q.17 What advice do you have for aspiring
authors?
A. Believe
in yourself and what you’re doing. It’s easy to lose faith, but just remember,
sometimes it takes a little longer to get to where you want, and need, to be.
You’ll get there in the end though, so don’t lose the faith, and believe in what
you’re doing. Because if you don’t, how can you expect anyone else to?
Q.18 Which famous person, living or dead would
you like to meet and why?
A. Can
I have three? Henry Rollins, Stan Lee, and George Lucas. Why? Because they’re
responsible, more than anyone else, for helping to shape my creative and
philosophical world view. And I think that meeting all three at once, over
coffee or dinner, would provide an evening filled with endlessly fascinating
conversation.
Q.19 What is your favorite book and why?
A. My absolute favorite? That’s difficult and
changes all the time, but at the moment it varies between Broken Angels by Richard K. Morgan, Aberystwyth Mon Amour by Malcolm Pryce, and Volpone by Ben Johnson (which is a play, but still a riveting
read). They’re all character-driven
tales that subvert societal norms, and have a flexible moral ambiguity which
provides a fascinating insight into the human condition. And, at their core,
they’re all GREAT stories.
Q.20 Share the experience of your journey so
far?
A. It’s been long, it’s been difficult, and full
of unexpected twists, turns, and surprises, but I wouldn’t change a second of it
for anything. And it’s just beginning.
Share your social
account links -
Facebook - @tim.cundle
LinkedIn - @timcundle
Instagram - @timmassmovement
Twitter - @TimMassMovement
Website - www.massmovement.co.uk
Such a thoughtful interview and also helpful.
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