Interview with Gary Allen
Featured Author for August 2001

Would you introduce yourself and give a little personal background?

"Why do I suddenly feel like I am at a party, eyeing someone who looks really interesting, armed only with a lame collection of opening lines?

In case you believe a person is a product of where they've come from... I was born in Britain, and grew up in Crawley. Essentially this was a place filled with families relocated out of London and put into rows and rows of identical government housing. Whilst at first glance this might not seem like a fertile field for a writer, my childhood remains with me as an important source of inspiration.

At 18 I moved to Queensland Australia. I have had a couple of holidays back to Britain, and worked in London for a month last year, but I consider myself Australian. I love my sub-tropical home, my wife is Australian, and I could not imagine living anywhere else.

Just in case you believe a person is a product of what they've done... I've worked as everything from a tiler's labourer to an adviser to a high profile Australian politician. I trained to be a high school English / Drama teacher, but never ended up teaching. I currently work at a university in Brisbane, in research administration.

Having said all of that... I like to introduce myself as a writer - albeit a fledgling one. "

How long have you been writing? When did you start writing fantasy and science-fiction?

"As long as I can remember I have written stories and built worlds. I started playing roleplaying games when I was 11, and I have pretty much only written fantasy or science-fiction since.

I always said writing was something I would pursue after my 'real' career. A fairly major life changing event six years ago prompted me to listen to my wife, stop procrastinating, and get serious about writing.

I am just starting to feel like I am settling into my craft, and I hope I stand upon the doorstep of a writing career. Either way... I'm enjoying the journey. "

What are your inspirations and influences?

"I find inspiration in the strangest places. It's not unusual for me to stop what I am saying mid-sentence, and spring for my notebook so I can scribble something down. I try to be a keen observer of people and events, because life never fails to serve up inspiration.

Thematically, the cultures of ancient Britain are definitely an important source of inspiration. There is a strong Celtic influence in my work.

I tend to be a creative sponge - reading, viewing and listening - picking and choosing from what I experience. Inspiration comes when two ideas spark off each other. "

Who are your favorite authors? Why?

"Without a doubt Katherine Kerr. Her work is very much Celtic-inspired, it's complex, compelling, entertaining and very witty. Everything I would aspire to be.

There's an army of other authors I enjoy, but principally Feist and Wurtz. "

What do you want the reader to get from your work?

"First and foremost, I write to entertain. I hope readers lose themselves in my work, connect to my characters and feel like they've shared in something wonderful. I always get a buzz when I know I've moved a reader.

I guess I do present in my work some commentary on ignorance and prejudice, but hopefully it doesn't get between the readers and a good story. "

What makes a good story, in your opinion?

"Pace, dramatic tension, strong characters and punchy dialogue. In short, the readers need to care about what's going to happen.

The best stories are those where the reader finds themselves "talking" with the characters. They have connected enough to care what happens and actually experience a sense of ownership of the action.

The best writing is invisible. Yes... I like to craft my share of powerful images. I enjoy the play of words and knowing I have used a clever turn of phrase, but I suspect people don't read my stuff to be impressed. Really great writing should invoke the emotional response, describe what is happening, without the reader being conscious of the words. "

Can you describe your writing process? How do you develop and refine your ideas?

"As I mentioned before, inspiration tends to come to me when two separate ideas spark off one another.

Whenever I get an idea for a story I follow some of the best advice for writers I have ever seen - 'just write'. Once I start a first draft, I do my best to keep going without re-reading what I have written. Only once that first draft is completely finished will I start editing and proof reading. Quite often my stories will change direction and focus. My hard drive is littered with story shards dropped from first drafts that I am keeping because I think they still might be worth pursuing down the track. I have found this kind of approach reduces the chance I will lose sight of the joy / spark that is driving a particular story. Prior to adopting this approach probably 75% of my stories never made it past the fifth paragraph - now I have less than 10% false starts.

I have taken great care with my writing environment. I have my own study... which is where I do most of my writing. I have a collection of music cds I play while I am writing (the Gladiator sound track is one of my favorites at the moment). Beside my computer I have a row of dictionaries, a huge thesaurus, books of quotations, and an army of reference texts (covering everything from castle building to weather).

All of my work is set in the same world, so over time I have built a resource I call my Encyclopaedia. These two lever arch folders are crammed with notes about people, places, races, languages, animals, and about nearly anything you can imagine. This helps me keep continuity between my stories. This kind of world building has always been an interest of mine. I have shared something about this process, and some of the content from the Encyclopaedia on my web site (www.lathroug.com).

I am very strict with myself in "working" on my writing. I try to spend at least 30 minutes a day writing. By the end of 30 minutes I am either on a roll and will work for some time, or know I am not going to make any progress."

If you could be a character from a fantasy novel, movie or game, who would you be?

"When I am in a swashbuckling heroic frame of mind - Kevin from the Feist / Wurtz Empire series.

I tend to write a bit of myself into a number of the characters I create for my own work. There are probably a couple of characters that I wish I could be. "

Finally, what cartoons did you watch as a kid?

"My two favorite cartoons were Ulysses and Battle of the Planets. I also religiously watched shows like Joe 90, Blake 7, Space 1999 and the Tomorrow People "