Q. Where can I buy
Stuart's books?
A. You can buy the first two books of the Darkness Rising trilogy
at your local branch of shops where they sell quality books.
Q. Why does Amazon say Darkness Rises - the Great War was released in 2005?
A. I've asked them to change it a bunch of times.
Believe me, I'd LOVE The Great War to be on shelves, but it's just not
finished - yet. Which brings me on to the next question...
Q. When will Darkness Rises - The Great War be released?
A. I hate this question. I've plotted out the story but I've been
concentrating on bigger contracts with much larger companies. If anyone
wants to pick up Darkness Rises, then great! But otherwise, it could be
some time before you see a conclusion to the trilogy...
Q. Is there a gay theme running through Darkness Rises? Are Devin and Alain lovers?
A. I can safely say that at NO time in the writing of Darkness Rises
did I consider Devin and Alain to be anything other than the best
of friends. There is no gay subtext. Two people of the same sex
CAN be friends you know. Just look at Xena: Warrior Princess. Hmm, on
the other hand, best not! Move along! Nothing to see here!
Q. When are we going to see some boy on boy action in Darkness Rises?
A. This is a REAL question that was emailed to me. No,
really! My response: there's enough slash fiction in the world - we
don't need any more. Actually, this email went on to ask for a scene
with Devin soaked to the bone, paying Alain a visit in the dead of
night! I think we'll move swiftly on...
Q. How homoerotic was that kiss in Darkness Rises?
A. Despite what some reviewers
might think, that kiss was purely about power. I had no intention
of making it sexual in any way. It's about power and pain and
submission. Nothing else.
Update: Since writing Darkness Rises I was offered the chance to write a Mills & Boon type cowboy romance... I turned it down.
Q.
Why did you first become a writer?
A. I wrote my first novel in 1985 after being inspired by Graham Masterton's
Night Warriors. Really, I owe a lot to the underrated and hopelessly
neglected horror writer. Graham - I'm praying for a movie deal for
you in 2006. If you've never read Night Warriors - go out and buy
a copy right away!
My
first novel (whose name will never be revealed to the world due to
sheer embarrassment) was total crap and will never see the light of
day, but I moved on, never stopping writing, and finally, some twenty
years later, my first novel was published.
Q.
When do you write?
A. I know it's the standard writer's answer, but I really do write
all of the time. It used to be ideas, or game-related material, but
that soon exploded into novels or movie/television ideas. I'd finished
a novel (with which I was reasonably happy) by the time I was 21,
but on reflection that novel (Darklight) was raw and unprintable and
it shall never see the light of day. Well, never say never ...
Q.
What other writers/novels do you like?
A. Harry Potter, Graham Masterton, Terry Brooks, Helen Fielding (Bridget
Jones). I'm also really into Peter Stroud right now. The Amulet of
Samarkand is a great book - Bartimeus is such a fantastic character.
In fact I spend longer in the kid's section of the local bookstore
than anywhere else. It gives me a real thrill to see children sitting
on the floor reading. Now, why can't we all just do that?
Q.
Why did you REALLY stop writing for Bottled Imp Games?
A. Honestly, I'd had enough. All the fun had been drained out of role
playing for me. It's as simple as that.
Update:
I haven't stopped writing! There are still the odd Bottled Imp Games
book being released on an infrequent basis. The Book of Arcane Spell
Verbals will be released at some point in 2007. I also plan to release
The Lords of the Night: Vampires - second version. Which will hit
shelves sometime late 2007/
Q.
What are your future plans?
A. In the next year to sign a major writing deal and, hopefully to
write some really cool stuff. It's Only Temporary; is at the top of
the list - so if you like Bridget Jones's Diary - watch this space.
Update:
It's only temporary was crap! It really was. The idea was sound but the
actual writing was dire. It just didn't come across in a stylish or
appealing read. I know where I went wrong now and the revised draft
will be much more interesting. After much research you all want to read
about sex. So that is exactly what you'll get...
Q.
Do you listen to music while you write?
A. Nope. I have to have absolute quiet. I can't stand anything that
could distract me. And like many writers, I'm very easily distracted
(curse the evils of the internet).
Q.
Who would you most like to meet?
A. Well I'd love to meet J. K. Rowling (hopefully she would be nice
to me), and Stephen Fry (a genius in his own lifetime), but that's
about it. I don't really see people as being much more than people,
so I can't say my list of folk I'd love to meet is very long.
Q.
What do you do in your spare time?
A. Right now, I barely get any. In between working full-time, I write
in the evenings. But I love to watch movies, read novels and brush
up on my trivia. I'm trying really hard to learn Japanese, but every
time I try to make time for it, there's always something else to do.
I'm also learning to meditate at the moment, which takes up much of
my brain.
Q.
Last Question. If you could write anything, what would it be?
A. A very good final question and one that's easy to answer. I can
categorically state that I would love to write for the Tomorrow People.
Of course, now Joss Whedon has lost Wonder Woman, there's a job for me,
there. Although right now, that might be asking for a tad too much out
of life.
Still, I can dream, can't I?
