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Interview One 25/05/2005...
PB: The Road to Inheritance. An intriguing name for a book – that’s a good start!
DC: Thank you!
PB: So, what’s it about?
DC: It’s about a teenager called Will Monohue. He’s staying with his uncle and best friend for the summer holidays when he stumbles upon a robbery. The book takes him through the process of his guilt and issues he has to deal with as he becomes caught up with the criminals himself.
PB: You don’t want to give away the ending?
DC: Nope!
PB: Fair enough! So what was your inspiration for the novel?
DC: I can honestly say that I didn’t have one – at least not a singular one. I was in Australia and New Zealand on a travelling excursion with a friend and had read all the books I had with me and grown bored of the music on my walkman (this is pre – itunes, before you bully me!). So I tried writing a book and, rather than to serve a singular purpose, it became more of an exercise in completing a synopsis. In doing so, I suppose I created a character subconsciously.
PB: And what about the other characters? There are some fairly dubious people in the book.
DC: Yeah, but again, they’re not really based on anyone. I don’t actively avoid certain names and therefore people often assume that they share traits of certain characters.
PB: And why is that?
DC: (thinks) I think it’s a case of serving the story with characters. There might be themes and there might be certain ideas and emotions I want to convey, but its not like I’m trying to force in some bloke I worked under five years ago just to spite him!
PB: And Will Monohue?
DC: There are, perhaps, certain elements of his character that derive from, shall we say, a real person. But I still maintain it serves the story.
PB: He’s quite likeable, isn’t he?
DC: I think so. He’s somewhat vulnerable and probably contradictory in his behaviour, but then that’s what real people are like. Both him and Matt are essentially good people, but that doesn’t stop them doing stupid things, even if their intentions are valid. They get into trouble and that involves them mixing with the kind of people they would never usually encounter in the course of their day-to-day lives, which adds to the dynamic. Their values and attitudes are altered by the situation and they end up doing things they would never have remotely considered beforehand – simply in order to survive.
PB: Again, without wishing to give anything away, the novel is quite open-ended. Is it your intention to work on a sequel?
DC: I’m on it already!
PB: Do we get any details?
DC: Well, it followed on from the thought process and I wanted to shift the vibe slightly. I think it will be slightly longer, far darker in style and essence and the themes will be totally different. In fact, it is a very different book altogether!
PB: Very curious. Do you have any predications as to when that will be ready for release?
DC: I would hope next year, but don’t hold me to that!
PB: Thanks Daniel.
Interview Two 03/10/2006...
All Readers: We wanted to direct a few questions to Daniel Cure, author of the forthcoming novel, Raphael, sequel to The Road to Inheritance. Welco me Daniel.
Daniel Cure: Good afternoon.
AR: So, firstly, how do you feel about your first book on reflection, now you have completed the sequel?
DC: Well, it was the first novel Id written. I think its okay from that point of view. I mean, it’s an interesting story and presents and intriguing character. Of course I can do better, but then most artists can better their first work.
AR: What about the “difficult second album” syndrome?
DC: I don’t subscribe to that.
AR: Really?
DC: Well, for a start, the first album is rarely the first time they’ve written and recorded songs is it? They’ve practised and recorded demos at the very least. So therefore, it’s not as if the band has sprung on some never-to-be-repeated magic formula. I think if you asked Led Zeppelin, or the Stones, they’d call it an excuse as their material largely improved with each release – at least for the first few albums anyway.
AR: Interesting viewpoint. So does that mean each book you write will be better than the last?
DC: I hope so! Or at least they should be – until I run out of ideas, anyway.
AR: So, tell me a bit about Raphael. It obviously picks up where The Road to Inheritance left off, but it’s very different to its predecessor, isn’t it?
DC: Yeah, it picks up a couple of years on from the end of The Road. Will and Matt’s lives have been normal since that point, but it all changes when Will’s girlfriend disappears.
AR: Changes is an understatement!
DC: Well, yes, you could say that. If Will thought he had a lot to content with last time out, he’s in for a shock now. His girlfriend has disappeared, he losses his job, becomes depressed and isolated and to make matters worse, he starts to lose control of his mind.
AR: There are some eerie passages, even within the first few chapters.
DC: The atmosphere is a little different.
AR: Supernatural.
DC: Supernatural, yes. It’s as good a word as any other to describe what occurs in that its “unexplained and strange happenings.”
AR: Was it always your intention to explore the supernatural world and specifically the occult?
DC: Hmm. Not sure about that. Possibly, but I never really had a suitable précis. I think the challenge came about taking the vast body of material that exists out there and trying to fathom how good and evil affects the world today.
AR: Was the concept of good and evil the main area of focus following The Road?
DC: Well partly, but for me, there was only ever one theme or emotion I wanted to convey in this book.
AR: And that was?
DC: Sighs. That...someone is alone. Not necessarily in a literal or physical sense, though that adds to it. I mean spiritually, emotionally and psychologically alone. That they are understood by nobody and therefore they have nobody in the world in which to confide. That they are, therefore, desperate and quite possibly without hope for life. The framework of Raphael, in this sense, is created to speed up the scenario in which this can occur.
AR: And is this based on your own personal experiences?
DC: Perhaps.
AR: Perhaps?
DC: The reason people create fictitious scenarios based on such experiences is to better explain the process. I don’t doubt that there are lots of people who experience the emotions Will feels on a daily basis, only they don’t end up involved in Satanism in the process. If their stories were told, they would make for miserable, bland reading and people would turn off. Not because they are bland people, but because that’s the reality of the monotony of life. To tell the story of gloom, one needs to present it in a somewhat more attractive framework, else the reader wont pass beyond page one.
AR: The story of gloom – could be the title to complete the trilogy!
DC: Are they that depressing?
AR: No, just joking! So have you plans to further the series?
DC: Well, in as much as there are numerous open ends – not least from the last book. I did have plans for a host of sequels, but on reflection they stretched the interest slightly. I think there’s room for a third instalment, but I’m not sure when I’ll get round to producing it.
AR: You’re having a break from writing?
DC: No, not at all. It’s just that I’m working on a new project at the moment and I can see this taking up the next few years for now.
AR: So readers will have to wait for Will Monohue 3?
DC: Well they have the first 2 to read and I do have a day job to focus my time!
AR: It’s a fair excuse!
DC: I keep telling myself that!
AR: Thank you for your time today, Daniel.
DC: You’re welcome.
Interview Three December 2008...
PR: Daniel Cure, author of The Road to Inheritance and Raphael, has joined me for a few questions about his newest release The Silver Knight. You’ve been working on this one for some time – is there a sense of relief now that it is finally due out?
DC: Very much so. I wouldn’t place too much emphasis on the time it’s taken, however. It started writing it in 2005 and completed the first draft halfway through 2007, since which time I’ve been editing and working on various supporting projects. I don’t think two years is a huge period of time for a work of historical fiction, particularly when you consider I have a full time job that takes priority and it’s over twice the length of the previous book, Raphael.
PR: It’s quite long isn’t it?
DC: Yeah, it’s over 165 thousand words. But it’s as long as it needs to be. The main thing is that people enjoy it and are not counting the words!
PR: Let’s talk about the background of The Silver Knight. How would you describe the period in which it is set and why did you choose such a period?
DC: Very basically, it is set at the start of the period now known to us as The Wars of the Roses, which is technically right at the end of the Middle Ages. The Silver Knight is the first in a series that will ultimately span this period, over thirty years or so. When I was contemplating working on a historical novel, I had to decide upon a period that lent itself to a series of books by virtue of its events and the late fifteenth century has everything I needed: knights, armour, battle, warfare, a succession of Kings, treason, murder – you name it. However, it was a time that was approaching great change in terms of religious attitudes, scientific discovery and European politics. The East was about to fall to the Ottoman Turks, France had been wrestled from the English, Columbus was about to discover the Americas and the Renaissance was only a generation away. I simply felt that it was a perfect landscape upon which to base a series and one that had not been explored in great depth previously. We’ve had most other periods presented to us in the form of historical fiction but the late Middle Ages have largely been ignored.
PR: So how does Jack Templeman fit into this landscape and how does he differ from your previous character, Will? Actually, I’ve pronounced that incorrectly haven’t I?
DC: It’s officially Jacque Templeman as he was born and raised in France – for most of the book he is known as Jack due to the phonetics of his name.
PR: It’s more English!
DC: True! Jack, in my view, is a product of the time in which he lived. He is resourceful, determined, perhaps naïve, but ultimately brave. There is far less vulnerability in him that you get with Will Monohue, though still enough to draw empathy.
PR: He has to overcome an extraordinary set of circumstances.
DC: People knew hardship as the essence of their lives and were therefore hardier as people. In fairness, he does have to deal with some very harsh events, but it ultimately affords him opportunities that he would otherwise have missed out upon.
PR: He dreams of becoming a knight.
DC: Yes and that would have been the case for many young men fuelled with the glory – often misled glory – of the Hundred Years War. However, most would have had to make-do with a common trade or, at best, as a common soldier. There was no notion of being able to better yourself. In fact it was unlikely that a family would ever rise above their station, other than to marry into it.
PR: How much of a task was the research behind the novel?
DC: It was a challenge, but a largely enjoyable one. Fortunately I’m interested in the period, which made it easier! I’m not an academic on the subject and I did not intend to go that far as it would have rendered the narrative too stale. But it is accurate to the best of my abilities.
PR: The Silver Knight covers several years and ends shortly after the Battle of St Albans. You mentioned it as a series – will book two take us from this point?
DC: More or less. The battle you mentioned was actually the first of two that took place at St Albans – the second during a flurry of violence a few years later. They key was to get him present at as many events of significance as possible. In book two, you will see a similar pattern, although he will be established as a man and therefore will have an even greater degree of responsibility and expectation placed upon him.
PR: How does this series differ from the other existing works of historical fiction?
DC: Firstly, as I mentioned, it deals with an infrequently explored period of time. Secondly, that it sticks very closely to verifiable fact. Thirdly (and this is my own opinion) that it incorporates language and themes that are loosely speaking a return to a past. When Jack sits at a banqueting table, I wanted the reader to be able to hear the music, smell the food, taste the wine and feel the overall ambience. I hope I’ve managed to achieve that.
PR: Who is your favourite author?
DC: Good question – I don’t really have one in particular! I’ve always enjoyed a range – Tolkien, Dahl, Lewis and JK Rowling (her nauseating politics aside!) all spring to mind. But in terms of those who have in some way influenced The Silver Knight, I would cite Dickens, Dumas, Dennis Wheatley, Bernard Cornwell and George MacDonald Fraser.
PR: Flashman?
DC: Absolutely – they are works of genius. Even if Jack bears no resemblance to him, the linear historical detail is pertinent.
PR: What would you say is the most difficult aspect of writing?
DC: Getting people to show an interest, ha ha!
PR: Really?
DC: Well, you can only control those elements that are under your own exclusive influence. With these historical novels, there is so much intricacy, detail and research involved that it really is a joy to do. It’s entirely my own creation and I can’t think of anything better than to sit down and work on something like this. Of course, whether or not people value the book is another matter entirely.
PR: Will you write any more Will Monohue?
DC: Possible. If I get the chance to that is! Right at this moment I’m focused on The Silver Knight and the next few books in this series. Quite how long that will take is anyone’s guess.
The Silver Knight is now available at the Lulu online store: http://stores.lulu.com/danielcure |
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