Simon: I had a day job for some time so keep office hours. In the morning I take the dog for a walk (he's black and Jackal-like: the image of Anubis that guards pharaohs' tombs), then I return home, make coffee, check e-mails, tell myself that one day I will spend the day watching films (but never have done yet) then I open up a chapter file. For a second there's feeling of dread that I'm not going to be able write anything today, then it's gone and I dive into the story and it carries me away. Later, as if waking from a deep sleep, I'll realise a couple of hours have gone by and I've never noticed the time passing.I generally finish writing fiction around five and take the dog for a walk again. In the evening I catch up on e-mails.
Louise: Would you tell us a little about your latest novel In This Skin and the inspiration behind it?
Simon: In This Skin is my first novel of cosmic horror. It has a slight touch of Lovecraft about it with bizarre other-worldly creatures spilling from another dimension through a portal in a disused dance hall. Part of the inspiration came from visiting cinemas and seeing the old dance halls, which have now usually been converted into bingo halls. Places like theatres, dance hall and cinemas seem to inhabit some borderland between this reality and make-believe. Their architecture, their decor, their very purpose is to take us, even if only briefly, away from the day to day reality of our lives. For me the dance hall where bands played from the jazz era to rock are the perfect setting for a horror story with flashes of fantasy. They're places that have their own kind of magic anyway. All it needs in fictional terms is for a chink to appear in their already fragile reality and anything could crawl through from worlds beyond this one.
Louise: When writing Vampyrrhic, you wanted to do something different with the vampire mythos. What made you decide to use the old Viking gods in the creation of this novel?
Simon: I guess I might have Viking bones... well, at least a dash of Viking DNA. As far as my family can trace back our ancestors we came from Viking territories. My father, who was a history teacher, was full of exciting Viking tales. I grew up in places with Viking roots feeling a kinship with Viking culture. It seemed more natural to draw my Vampires from Viking folklore rather than that of the Balkans. Also it gave the story some unusual twists to play with this notion that the Viking gods aren't dead but merely banished behind the scenes where they try to insinuate their way back into human affairs anyway they can.
Louise: How important do you think realism and research are to the setting of a story? What advice would you give to an aspiring writer when it comes to breathing life into the setting of a tale?
Simon: Research can be a dangerous thing. If you do too much you feel it's got to be, by hook or by crook, shoe-horned into the story somewhere. This can lead to acres of information that bog the action down to a standstill. If say, you are setting your story on the Moon for example then research is vital initially, but if its set in your own house then a minimum only is required, and then perhaps only after the story is finished. As for 'realism' that's more a state of mind, a smoke and mirror thing, constructed by the skill of the writer. Clearly most of my stories aren't realistic as normally you don't encounter vampire like creatures, invisible beasts or zombies; however, you do need to create an air of authenticity even for a story involving fantastic creatures. A way to breathe life into the setting of a tale is to bring your monsters into a real place; one that you know well; for example set a story in your own bedroom where the creature lurks under your bed. If doing that gives you nightmares use those too!
Louise: If you could be any other author for a day, living or dead, who would you be?
Simon: This sounds like the answer of a raging ego but I wouldn't want to be anyone else -- even for a day. Heck, the notion is creeping me out. If I could select meeting an author for a day then I'd reply: Don't meet your heroes. Keep them at arm's length, or you'll be disappointed. Well, that's the sensible advice but I'd be a sucker for meeting a literary hero. I'd like to go for a beer in New York with Dylan Thomas. A day on a sailing ship with William Hope Hodgson. A walk around Highgate, London with Arthur Machen. Tea with Lovecraft. Then maybe a day on the set of Twilight Zone with Rod Serling -- the Nightmare at 20,000 Feet episode. Even though it's not possible to meet these heroes it's possible to bring them back to life in a story. That's one of the beauties of being a fiction writer -- you can always do the impossible.