Please welcome Ian Williams author of The Clockmaker's Tale
Ian Williams will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
The Clockmaker's Tale
byIan Williams
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GENRE: Science Fiction
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INTERVIEW:
1. What or who inspired you to start writing?
My father first inspired me to start writing. He would always tell me and my two sister funny stories as kids. When we were upset, he spun the situation into a tale of heroism. When we felt scared, he would make us into warriors brave enough to fend off any foe. And when we were sad, he would make us laugh about farting dinosaurs or giants with smelly feet.
That love for telling stories has stuck with me throughout my adult life. I feel the same moments of excitement and joy from creating my own worlds as I did when listening to him as a child. That joy will always bring me back to writing.
2. What elements are necessary components for this genre?
I cannot speak for all science fiction fans, but for me, there are three main components that I feel are necessary for this genre to work at its best. The first is that it should make you think, either about the plot itself or a more subtle undertone. I want to be challenged in some way when I read Sci-Fi.
The second element is a well-rounded antagonist. My favourite ‘baddies’ are the ones that make a good point, even when their deeds are truly diabolical. You may not agree with them as the reader, but you cannot deny that such a person believes in what they are doing. These types of people are the truly dangerous ones. These are the ones that will take everything, from anyone, if they feel it is necessary.
The third is that all good sci-fi creates an entire world or universe for readers to become lost in. The story may not cover too much of that world or universe, but it is crucial that I get a sense of what is beyond the plot I am presented with. The world must feel real to me.
3. How did you come up with your idea for your novel?
All six of the short stories that make up The Clockmaker’s Tale: and other stories, were written to highlight current societal problems that will inevitably harm the future of humanity should they be ignored. These are issues that have frustrated me for some time and will continue to do so until we face them fully.
For example, the story ‘Waste Not’ takes place in a future entirely overrun by trash and detritus. The people within this world are literally choking on the mess that makes up their home. This may seem far-fetched until you look at exactly where our rubbish, plastic or otherwise, ends up today.
‘Out of sight, out of mind’ is not a solution.
Excerpt from Waste Not…
The Parliamentarians sit contently beneath their giant polythene tent, as large and looming as their presence is far-reaching. They dictate from a place of comfort, always consuming the best food, claiming the best clothing, and always dumping their waste first, before anyone else. I watch them from a distance as they become ever more ignorant of the world they have built.
They don’t care about us.
My living space is a paltry ten-foot hole dug into the side of the tower of trash I call home. It is a home made not of brick or stone. It is made from the forgotten, the worthless and unusable. We are the forgotten, who live amongst the rubbish, the refuse they refused to accept. We make our home spires out of broken wood, unwanted scaffolding, and stick them together with anything sharp enough to use as a nail.
The rubbish pile reaches for the sky, as does every other tower in this district, the district Parliamentarians call their land. It’s one of an endless number of similar structures, in fact, all filled with families struggling to survive under harsh rule. These structures weren’t designed either, they simply grew out of the leftovers of previous generations.
It wasn’t always like this, so my mother once told me. Once, when the Parliamentarians were much younger and a lot less greedy, there was more to go around. Back then, years before I existed, people could build solid walls out of the bricks found amongst the debris. They ate meals of more than one ingredient too. Now, I’m lucky if I can scavenge enough to eat at all.
‘Just a flip of a coin decides all fates,’Mum always used to say. What she never said was how that coin had slowly been weighted to make one outcome much more likely than the other.
4. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
My next project will be another short story collection, except these will explore a shared world. They will follow the changing timeline of a small town rocked by an unexplained event. I plan to have a first draft completed by the end of the year.
5. Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?
Sure! Here is an excerpt from the opening story, 10,000.
We lost the Earth today. Well, not physically lost it. It’s still there. In fact, I’m looking at it right now, as I write this report. No, I just mean that we’ve lost contact with it. Earth ‘went dark’ (as Test Subject #47 put it), never to see the light again. What light? You may ask. The light of a stable civilisation is the best answer I can currently offer you.
As I sit here staring at that blue marble in space, I swear I can hear the last of the bombs dropping, smell the stench of decay stretching across every continent, feel the last vibrations of warring nations. You may think I’m being overly dramatic, and you’d be mostly correct. The past ten years have been hard to bear, watching as the people who created me descended further into chaos. They gave me life, now I fight to save theirs.
Even though all communications have ceased, I will continue my work in silence. But don’t fear, dear future reader, I am not alone out here. There is another here just like me. We share this moon-based facility equally as we do our work. His name is Arthur (originally designated R4).
“Today sees you fully functional, Rachel?” Arthur greeted me with this morning. He’s trying something new today, something a little more personal than my model number; I was originally designated R8CH-L.
Not sure how to respond, I simply smiled and got on with things. I don’t think he understands the significance of a silent Earth. It could mean we’re already too late.
6. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
The moment I had a completed version of my first book, Transitory, I decided to submit it. I hadn’t known before that point if I was capable of writing an entire novel. My previous work had been the odd short story here and there. But after showing it to my friends and family I was encouraged to publish it. So, I did.
7. Do you outline your books or just start writing?
I outline very roughly, mainly in note form. I don’t like to plan too much in advance because there are often occasions when an idea might pop into my head that works better. That being said, I have written some stories with no planning at all, just an idea and a clean page to begin with.
8. How do you maintain your creativity?
I read as much as I can, from novels, to magazines. The important thing is to be ready when inspiration pokes you in the brain. It can happen at any time too. The job of a writer is to recognize when this occurs and be prepared to utilize it.
9. Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?
One of my favourite characters is Bea from Post-Truth Tours. I feel most sorry for her because of the situation she finds herself in. Through no fault of her own, she is stuck aboard a submarine-yachtwhile her dad works to make enough money to get them a permanent place to live. Most days, her only interaction with other people is through her telepresence gadgets, called Scuttlebugs.
Excerpt from Post-Truth Tours
Flynn turned the lights on and looked sorrowfully at his daughter. The poor thing was getting bored in the room all day by herself. Her wheelchair was rickety, with too many loose bolts and a handful of missing or broken spokes. That she could move at all in the damn thing was a wonder to him.
“Now, Bea, I know you want to explore the boat, but you need to be careful nobody sees you.” He sat on the edge of their sofa and pulled Bea over by the armrests of her wheelchair.
Bea looked to her lap and crossed her arms. “But there’s nothing to do in here.”
“I know, sweetheart. That’s why I thought up an idea that I think you’ll really like.”
“What?” she replied, suddenly interested.
“Well, how about we go for a midnight wander around?”
“Really? But won’t someone see us?”
Flynn smiled when he saw the same appear on Bea’s face. “I’ve cleared it with the nightshift guys. They’ll give us half an hour to explore, then they’ll reopen the area. What do you say?”
“I say yes, and yes again.”
“Good girl. Now, I should be getting back to work.”
He stood and was about to open the door to the hall when Bea stopped him.
“Will I ever be able to see the rest of the boat?”
With an about-turn, he lowered to one knee to be at his daughter’s eye level. While thinking of an answer that didn’t grate on his guilt, he tied her shoelaces. She couldn’t reach them to do them up herself.
“One day, we’ll be paying guests rather than a staff member and a stowaway.” He winked at Bea mischievously. “We just need enough credits for a deposit on a place of our own to live. It’s been four years now, but I don’t think it’ll be too much longer. You just need to be patient. I know it’s been hard locked away in here for so long. It’s for your own safety though. If they find out I’ve been sneaking you aboard each time, they’ll fire me and then kick us both out.”
Bea put on her best fake happy face. At twelve years old, she was wiser than most.
“It’s OK, Dad. I get it. You go back to work, and I’ll get ready for tonight’s wander.”
“That’s my girl,” Flynn said, kissing her on the head.
10. Are your plotting bunnies, angels or demons?
They tend to be demons disguised as angels.
BLURB:
In The Clockmaker’s Tale: and other stories, Ian Williams takes us to the near future and beyond. From a moon base where androids conduct experiments on human test subjects, to futuristic tours of the ocean depths that hide a terrible secret; from a society governed by harsh rule of law that is enforced by AI, to a humble clockmaker tempted by the promise of increased productivity through technological augmentation.
Covering issues such as environmental decay, the end of facts and proven truths, our growing waste problem, and humanity’s tendency to divide when we should come together, this collection of six science fiction stories relates as much to our time as it does to the many possible futures.
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EXCERPT:
We lost the Earth today. Well, not physically lost it. It’s still there. In fact, I’m looking at it right now, as I write this report. No, I just mean that we’ve lost contact with it. Earth ‘went dark’ (as Test Subject #47 put it), never to see the light again. What light? You may ask. The light of a stable civilisation is the best answer I can currently offer you.
As I sit here staring at that blue marble in space, I swear I can hear the last of the bombs dropping, smell the stench of decay stretching across every continent, feel the last vibrations of warring nations. You may think I’m being overly dramatic, and you’d be mostly correct. The past ten years have been hard to bear, watching as the people who created me descended further into chaos. They gave me life, now I fight to save theirs.
Even though all communications have ceased, I will continue my work in silence. But don’t fear, dear future reader, I am not alone out here. There is another here just like me. We share this moon-based facility equally as we do our work. His name is Arthur (originally designated R4).
“Today sees you fully functional, Rachel?” Arthur greeted me with this morning. He’s trying something new today, something a little more personal than my model number; I was originally designated R8CH-L.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Ian Williams is a Science Fiction writer from the UK. He lives in a small town not far from London. Ian had a short career in the UK Court Service but was forced to quit that job when his medical condition worsened. Now, from the comfort of his wheelchair, he writes the stories he has always wanted to read. His writing spans lightyears of space, to near-future Earths; from small changes to society, to entirely new civilisations.
Author Website: HOME | Ian Williams Sci-Fi Author (ianwilliamsauthor.com)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ian-Williams-Author-Page-1552239548176515/
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https://youtu.be/4tbD-2LVCTE
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/iwilliams235
Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091FYYFBZ
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Ian Williams will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the excerpt and look forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the Angel's blog. I hope you have a great tour. Allana Angel
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