Interview with Alex Scarrow
Recently i managed to gain the chance of interviewing one of my favourite authors, Alex Scarrow, author of the Time Riders series and his newest series Ellie Quin. Here is my interview...
1. Did you always want to be a writer?
When I was nine, ten, I used to write lots of stories but the. When I hit my teenage years I got into Rock music and being in bands. Then of course the goal was simply to become a rock star. It took me ten dispiriting years of failure and another ten years being a designer in the computer games industry for me to realise that actually, I should probably go back to writing!
2. Do you see yourself collaborating with your brother on a book?
Simon and I have worked together on a number of screenplays, but never on a book. Not yet. We might do that one day but since right now we're both really busy with our own series it's sitting there on the 'todo' list.
3. How long did it take you to come up with the storyline for the Time Riders series?
I planned out the entire nine book series over a year. It was really difficult to get the plot arc right, but with something like time travel you have to know how the whole thing ends before you even start to write it! So...i have this folder at home with an incredibly detailed synopsis of all nine books, which means I know exactly how the last chapter of the last books goes!
4. Are any characters in your books based on real life people?
There are quite a few real historical characters in the series. We meet Hitler, Caligula, Abraham Lincoln, Jack the Ripper, H G Wells, Richard the Lion Heart, Robin Hood....quite a mix there!
5. In your Q&A forum on the Time Riders website, you mention you would travel back 40,000 years ago to what is now the rock of Gibraltar. But where would you go after that?
I think it would be hard to think up a sight more spectacular than the atlantic filling up the mediterranean sea!
6. What has been your most favourite book to write?
My favourite one to write? That's a toss-up between Eternal War and Pirate Kings. I loved the steampunk universe of Eternal War, the genetic creatures, the war machines, the idea that Britian is a world power and America a humbled almost third world nation. A novel notion! On the other hand I enjoyed the adventure and open seas of Pirate Kings, the gentle mickey-taking of films like Pirate of the Caribbean. But when all's said and done, there'll always be a place in my heart for the first book because that's where we meet our characters and the big ideas for the first time.
7. After Time Riders and Ellie Quin, have you got any more book ideas?
ELLIE QUIN is the big thing I'm working on right now (as well as the last two books for TimeRiders). Actually, if I may, I'd like to encourage TimeRiders fans to give my new series, ELLIE QUIN, a go. It's very similar to TimeRiders in terms of pace, big ideas, strong likeable characters. It's about a very ordinary girl who yearns to escape a boring rural existence on a remote agricultural planet. But soon becomes embroiled in a universe-spanning conspiracy. She finds herself on the run through this madcap, colourful, vibrant universe full of really fun ideas. For instance....pets you can grow from seeds, nail varnish that when it dries you can watch TV on your finger, genetically engineered labourers with four arms, weird fortune telling aliens, soda pops that change flavour all the time, plants with a cabby attitude!....lotsa fun stuff in a big, big, universe. The series has just been launched on Amazon. You can download it as an ebook or order (soon) a printed version from Amazon. If you're interested in learning more about it go to www.elliequin.com
8. I know you can't tell us what happens later on in Time Riders, but can you say one place in time they're not going? Just so we know.
Sure. They're not going to the time of Vlad the Impaler, Ancient Japan, The Boer War, Ancient Greece, The Wild West, Tudor England, Renaissance Italy, Napoleonic times, the English civil war...I could go on.
9. Don't you think Becks loving Liam is a bit... well ewwwww?
I like the fact that Becks has malfunctioned that way. Yes...it's a bit ewww...but then that kinda makes things a bit more interesting! From Liam's perspective there's an interesting and slightly gross juxtaposition. On one hand Becks is this beautiful human android...on the other hand, she's basically Bob in a woman suit.
10. This is a classic question, everyone gets asked this, but, any tips for those budding writers out there?
Hmmm...my tuppence worth would be, be original. That really is the trump suit.
If you would like to know more about Alex and his books you can find out more on any of these website;
Or follow Alex on Twitter @AlexScarrow