...Jeff Gardiner. Welcome to the blog, Jeff and thanks for agreeing to be put the microscope!
AW
What is your current release?
JG ‘Pica’ is a Young Adult (YA) fantasy about
our relationship with the natural world.
The main character discovers some of the ancient secrets and magical
powers that have been hidden for thousands of years. It is the beginning of the ‘Gaia’ trilogy which explores
environmental themes.
AW
What first got you into writing and why?
JG I’ve always wanted to write – “I write therefore I am”. My head is full of images, stories and
events that I need to express somehow before I lose my mind completely. As a kid I wrote terrible stories and
self-indulgent poetry. My first real
publishing success occurred when an adaptation of my MPhil thesis was
published. This gave me the fillip I
needed to write some short stories which found homes in magazines and
anthologies in the UK and US. And I
went on from there. My first novel,
‘Myopia’ was accepted by Crooked Cat, and since then I’ve refused to give up…
AW
You write YA and Contemporary novels. Is it all imagination or do you also
undertake research?
JG Most of what I write is imagined, but ‘Igboland’ is set in
Nigeria – where I was born – and that involved lots of research into Igbo
culture and beliefs, as well as the Biafran War, which is the historical
context of that novel. It was a
fascinating process and when you immerse yourself deeply into a completely new
culture it starts to affect your own perspective on things, and your way of
thinking.
AW
And what about other types of writing? Have you ever dabbled with short stories,
for instance, or other genres?
JG Yes, I have a collection of short stories called ‘A Glimpse of
the Numinous’, which contained a range of genres: horror, slipstream, romance,
comedy and surrealism. Not all my
novels are YA. ‘Igboland’ and ‘Treading
On Dreams’ include mature themes and episodes.
And I even have an erotic novel out under a pseudonym!
AW
Famous authors, such as Roald Dahl and Dylan Thomas,
had a special space for writing. Do you have a writing ‘shed’ of your
own?
JG I wish. No, I have a
laptop on my dining room table, or sometimes on my lap (weird!). If I ever become more successful then a
writing-shed is something I’ll have built (but the dilemma will be: should I
include a TV with Sky Sports or do I want to get some writing done?).
AW
Finally, if you had a whole afternoon to yourself and
could choose to spend it with anyone, living or dead or a character from a
book. Who would it be, and what would
you want to discuss?
JG My hero is Gandhi. We could
do with his wisdom and clarity on a number of issues right now. Whenever I have a discussion with friends
about politics I wonder what Gandhi would say.
I’d ask him a million questions and jot down his pearls of wisdom. I’d also love to chat with Herman Hesse for
similar reasons. The philosophy in his
books is inspiring and mesmerizing. If
I could be transported into a book I’d like to visit Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast
and get lost in the endless walls of the castle filled with hilarious and lunatic
characters.
AW I make
that three people Jeff! A tad greedy
don’t you think? So I’m going to have
to press you because the idea is to spend the afternoon with one person…
JG Ghandhi.
Author Bio Jeff Gardiner is the author of four
novels (Pica, Igboland, Myopia and Treading On Dreams), a collection of
short stories, and a work of non-fiction. Many of his short stories have
appeared in anthologies, magazines and websites.
Pica is the first in the Gaia trilogy – a fantasy of
transformation and ancient magic, which Michael Moorcock described as “An
engrossing and original story, beautifully told. Wonderful!”
“Reading is a form of escapism, and in Gardiner’s fiction, we
escape to places we’d never imagine journeying to.” (A.J. Kirby, ‘The New Short
Review’)
For
more information, please see his website at www.jeffgardiner.com and his blog: http://jeffgardiner.wordpress.com/
About the Book Pica explores a world of ancient magic, when people and
nature shared secret powers.
Luke hates nature, preferring the
excitement of computer games to dull walks in the countryside, but his view of
the world around him drastically begins to change when enigmatic loner, Guy,
for whom Luke is reluctantly made to feel responsible, shows him some of the
secrets that the very planet itself appears to be hiding from modern society.
Set
in a very recognisable world of school and the realities of family-life, Luke
tumbles into a fascinating world of magic and fantasy where transformations and
shifting identities become an escape from the world. Luke gets caught up in an
inescapable path that affects his very existence, as the view of the world
around him drastically begins to change.Accent Press
Amazon Australia
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