Steve McHugh will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn host.
by Steve McHugh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERVIEW:
1. What or who inspired you to start
writing?
I always
enjoyed writing, even as a very young boy. But when I was about 12 or 13 my
English teacher at school advised me to read books from various genres that I
didn't normally read, so I went to the local library and picked up David
Gemmell, Terry Pratchett and Stephen King. Once I finished them, I knew I
wanted to do it myself.
But it was
the birth of my first child 11 years ago, when I was 25, that made me want to
take it seriously.
2. What elements are necessary components for this genre?
I can’t speak
for anyone else who writes Urban Fantasy, but I think fun, action and adventure
are probably the three biggest components of my books.
3. How did you come up with your idea for your novel?
Lies Ripped
Open was always going to be the accumulation of the previous four books worth
of stories. It was the one that answered a whole bunch of questions, while
asking several new ones.
4. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?
I think
that I write books that I want to read. That was always my goal, to write
stories that if I picked the book up, I’d enjoy it.
5. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
I’ve got
plenty more Hellequin stories to tell, and hopefully an offshoot book too about
a supporting character. And then there’s my sci-fi epic that I’m currently
writing. Basically I’m really busy and not going anywhere any time soon.
6. If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?
Probably
Tommy. He’s the werewolf best friend of the main character, Nate Garrett, and
apart from being very loyal and a loving partner and father, he’s also a
massive geek. So, not too far from me to be honest… apart from the werewolf
bit.
8. Can you give us a sneak peak into this book?
It’s not
every day you get to meet the Queen of England. It’s even rarer when a human
who rules a country gets a visit from someone in Avalon and the human ruler is
happy to see us. But Victoria was a tough old lady, and someone I respected, if
not liked. I’ve met her a few times since she took power, but only once since
the death of her husband, Albert, some twenty-seven years ago. I found her to
be a strong, honest woman, who said what she thought and rarely cared one way
or the other about offending anyone. She was the queen; if you were offended it
was our problem, not hers. But she wasn’t exactly easy to get on with. She
resented Avalon’s influence in the world, and by extension resented the visits
from Avalon’s emissaries, such as myself.
9. Do you belong to a critique group? If so how does this help or hinder your writing?
I did
belong to a critique group, yes. It was Kelley Armstrongs online writing group.
And it was the biggest help I’ve ever had in my writing career. Most of us from
that group are now published authors, and I learned so much during my time
there. The group shut down a few years ago, but I still have my beta
readers—the awesome D.B. Reynolds and Michelle Muto—from the group, who are
completely indispensible. I can’t tell people enough how helpful finding a good
critique group is.
10. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
It would
have been the critique group. I’d recently finished a book and in hindsight, it
wasn’t very good, so I wrote what would become my first published novel, Crimes
Against Magic. Several people who read it told me to submit it, and after a
VERY long process, here we are.
11. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
Best advice
– Don’t read the reviews. Seriously don’t, even the good ones, it’ll only lead
to heartache. I ignore it, as do all authors, but to become an author you need
thick skin, because you’re going to get tested on more than one occasion.
Worse
Advice – Don’t write prologues or epilogues.
All of my books have both, so I guess that was advice I clearly ignored.
12. Do you outline your books or just start writing?
Both. I
outline the main themes, character arcs, and then I usually go through and
figure out what main things are going to happen in each chapter, but other than
that it’s as I go. So occasionally a new character or chapter will be added.
It’s why I enjoy doing it so much.
13. How do you maintain your creativity?
I do
creative things. I play video-games, I read, I watch movies, anime, go out with
friends… tons of different things. Ideas will pop up from all over the place,
so it’s good to have a lot of different ways to get those ideas into your head.
14. Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?
Remy. He’s
half man/half fox. And mostly pissed off at everyone about it. I love Remy,
he’s so incredibly sarcastic to everyone, and couldn’t care less how powerful
someone is, he’ll still wind them up.
BLURB:
Over a hundred years
have passed since a group of violent killers went on the rampage, murdering
innocent victims for fun. But even back then, sorcerer Nate Garrett, aka
Hellequin, knew there was more to it than simple savage pleasure—souls were
being stolen.
Nate’s discovery of the souls’ use, and of those supporting the group’s plan, made him question everything he believed.
Now the group Nate thought long dead is back. Violent, angry, and hell-bent on revenge, they have Hellequin firmly in their sights. And if he won’t come willingly, they’ll take those closest to him first.
The battle begins again.
Nate’s discovery of the souls’ use, and of those supporting the group’s plan, made him question everything he believed.
Now the group Nate thought long dead is back. Violent, angry, and hell-bent on revenge, they have Hellequin firmly in their sights. And if he won’t come willingly, they’ll take those closest to him first.
The battle begins again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
I walked over to the second agent, whose back was toward me
as he stood a little further into the park, and placed my hand on his shoulder.
“That’s enough,” I repeated, but he spun around and all of the breath left my
body at once, followed immediately by pain as it exploded across my torso. I
glanced down as a shimmering blade of ice was pulled free from my chest. It was
covered in my blood. I dropped to my knees and watched as the magical weapon
vanished from view. The pain forced me to abandon my night vision, and the
darkness once again took control.
The overwhelming thought that bounced around my head was
that neither of the SOA agents had been sorcerers. My attacker crouched beside
me. “They interrupted me and my prey got away,” his accent was from East London,
but sounded slightly different from many of those living in the city. As if
he’d been away from here for a long time, and had not quite remembered how the
accent was meant to sound.
I glanced up at him, still unable to breathe; the blade had
punctured a lung. It wouldn’t kill me, but it would be a few hours until I was
back to normal, and without my night vision I could have been staring into
Merlin’s own face and I’d never have known.
The man got back to his feet and kicked me onto my back. “I
should make sure you remember your time here, but I’m sure your comrades over
there will be able to do that better than I could.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Steve’s been writing from an early age, his first
completed story was done in an English lesson. Unfortunately, after the teacher
read it, he had to have a chat with the head of the year about the violent
content and bad language. The follow up ‘One boy and his frog’ was less
concerning to his teachers and got him an A.
It wasn’t for another decade that he would start work on a
full-length novel that was publishable, the results of which was the
action-packed Urban Fantasy, Crimes Against Magic.
Steve McHugh lives in Southampton on the south coast
of England with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or
spending time with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and
comics, and playing video games.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Steve McHugh will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and
Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25
Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn host.
RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteWhat advice would you give to your younger self?
ReplyDeleteWrite more. All the time.
DeleteWelcome to the Angel's blog. I hope you have a great tour. Allana Angel
ReplyDeleteGlad you could stop by Rogue's Angels' blog. Hope you tour is successful!
ReplyDelete--Amber Angel
Great interview, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for having me on your blog.
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