Ask the Author: Andrew Innes
Answered Questions (6)
Andrew Innes
A new virus begins to spread around the world. It is immune to all vaccines.
Andrew Innes
Currently reading Bob Mortimer`s autobiography, I`m going to revisit a book called Animal Societies and will press on with the rather weighty tome Shuggie Bain at some point. Oh, and try to finish コンビニ人間.
Andrew Innes
I'd started to get bored with consuming rather than creating. A friend and colleague introduced me to a journal called The Font that publishes essays, stories, and poems on the subject of teaching, and I decided to write and send them a story. The story was accepted, I've since written several pieces for them, and was actually invited to take over as the new editor there just recently. In terms of tips for writers who are just beginning their journey, my main advice would be to take note of ideas as soon as they come to you so that you can use them later, even if it's just a single word. Regarding roadblocks, I did completely rewrite the story When in Rome after my editor had a bit of trouble understanding the Mancunian (from Manchester) way of speaking of the original main characters. I think she used the phrase `completely obnoxious` or something similar to describe what became the new character, Hogan, which was exactly what I was trying to achieve. His full name, which isn't in the story, is actually Hogan Saul. Although fictional, make of that what you will if you are familiar with YouTubers who have come to Japan and epitomize the theme of the story: Tourist Pollution!
Andrew Innes
I'm just about to release my debut book, which is called The Short Story Collective: 13 tales from Japan. My goal was to give an insight into the culture and experience of living in Japan that people might not have seen before. As an example, the story Naisu Shotto centres around a boss (Aoki) who is extremely mean with money and will do anything to cut corners. This extends to putting cardboard into the dog food that his company sells and legally dubious techniques to market his product. This element of the story could happen anywhere in the world and is not representative of Japan as a country; it is simply a storyline. The point where Naisu Shotto adheres to the central theme running through the book, however, is the tension between Aoki's personality and something that I believe is unique to Japan – the existence of hole-in-one insurance. Ultimately, this unique aspect of Japanese culture seals his fate and draws on the notion of `saving face` which, while existing in Western societies, is often considered a key factor to understanding the Japanese mind. In this way, I have combined universal elements of human nature with aspects readers may not find or find to a lesser degree in other cultures.
Andrew Innes
Inspiration can come from anywhere. The basic ingredients for the story Digital Detox came about during a conversation I had with a student. I can't recall how we got onto the subject, but I think I made some joke about the concept and how it could be used to lure gullible tourists into spending money doing nothing in the countryside under the guise of the buzzword `detox`. In the story, the character Masayoshi remarks how it is "Money for old rice". I initially used the English phrase "Money for old rope," but changed it to “Money for old sushi”. Someone suggested I switch sushi for rice and I went with that. Of course, no such term exists in Japanese, but this led me to think about how I could make the dialogue have more of a Japanese flavour. In this way, the phrase "All water under the bridge now" became "It's all seawater under Akashi Bridge now," and the English phrase "Taking coal to Newcastle" became "Taking snow to Hokkaido".
Andrew Innes
Time and patience. The story exists somewhere within the paper, and it's the writer's job to find it. Give it a few days, and the problem usually resolves itself.
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