A chat with author Mark Rice

I Interviewed Mark Rice last year after reading his novel, Metallic Dreams. Here's a link to that interview for those of you who missed it: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

Metallic Dreams blends two of my favourite things, music and words. It's also a very funny book. I love Mark's writing style, so I was very excited to hear he had a new release, a short story, Revelation Was Wrong.

After reading that very entertaining story, I was keen to invite Mark back to my blog for a chat about the book.





In your novel, Metallic Dreams, you based many of the characters on people you know. Your latest release is a short story 'Revelation Was Wrong'. There is an eccentric character Tam who predicts the end of the world. Is he based on anyone you know, or entirely fictional?

Tam the Bammus is purely fictitious. He came to me one night, fully formed in glorious detail: a gift from the literary gods.

What are your views on prophecies? Do you think it's possible to predict the future? Have you ever had any premonitions yourself?

I grew up listening to my father’s stories of Coinneach Odhar, the Brahan Seer, who was Scotland’s answer to Nostradamus. Coinneach’s prophecies were much more specific than those of Nostradamus, which tended to be vague. Many of the Brahan Seer’s predictions about Scotland came to pass, just as Orwell’s description of a Big-Brother state in 1984 is eerily close to what surveillance-obsessed modern society has become. Were these just two incisive men who observed their cultures and made educated guesses about the future, or were visions channelled into their minds from elsewhere? That’s a question I find fascinating. My view: the future is a blank page and we write on it with every one of our actions, no matter how small. I’ve never had any bad premonitions, but I have experienced vivid déja vu many times.

An alien appears in Revelation Was Wrong. I won't ask if he is based on anyone you know lol, but feel free to answer that if you do actually know aliens. My question is, do you think there is life on other planets?

The alien isn’t based on anyone I know, although many of my friends could easily be mistaken for extraterrestrial lifeforms. As for life on other planets, I’m certain of its existence. Bacteria have been found in meteorites and also outside the Earth’s atmosphere. If bacteria are hurtling around in space, it would be preposterous to think that other forms of life aren’t out there too. I started a short story based on a (fictional) conflict between the organisation SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and two primary-school geniuses. I can’t say any more about that without giving away the surprise, but it’s on the back burner for now anyway. I’ve always thought it one of the biggest examples of closed-minded human ignorance to believe that we are the only sentient beings in the Universe. (I’ve found animals to be more sentient than most humans.) I’d bet my entire music collection that there’s intelligent life outside our planet.

I don't think it's giving too much away to say that your main character Uriel is faced with a dilemma, to either stay on earth and risk being killed, or go to a different planet. He wants to take certain things with him that are close to his heart. If you had to leave earth in similar circumstances and could take three things with you, what would they be?

I presume by ‘things’ you mean inanimate rather than living ones. If I had to leave Earth and couldn’t take any living beings with me, I’d take: (1) a laminated photo of my cowgirl Deena Rae; (2) my kilt of MacLeod ancient tartan; (3) some of my rabbit Fluff’s fur.

I'm interested as to how the idea for Revelation Was Wrong was inspired, and how long did it take to write?

The idea was sparked by an experience I had three summers ago. On an unusually hot day for Scotland, in the middle of summer, I decided to walk to my local corner shop for an ice lolly. I had noticed a big chest freezer in the shop, so I figured it must contain a selection of icy things. On this day - to my horror - I discovered that it was a deep fridge full of Buckfast: a super-high-caffeine-content tonic wine which is implicated in most of Scotland’s violent crimes. (It turns regular garden-variety neds into amped-up maniacs.) Sweating like a racehorse, I asked the shop owner where the ice lollies were. He replied that he didn’t sell ice lollies, as no one in the area wanted them; they wanted Buckfast. He then tried and failed to sell me a chilled bottle of Buckie (also known as Wreck-the-Hoose Juice, Commotion Lotion, Devil’s Water and Vino Tonic Supersonic). I told him exactly what I thought of his no-ice-lolly policy and ruminated that the whole area was going to Hell in a handbasket. While wandering home, I realised with absolute clarity that if the Apocalypse were to come to the west of Scotland, Buckfast would be involved. After that, it was easy. The story came out in a stream-of-consciousness flow that lasted three days and nights. Tam dropped out of the sky to take his rightful place as the unlikely hero of the tale. This year, I spent a couple of weeks revamping the text and three weeks creating the book cover with 3D modelling software.

You are currently writing a sequel to Metallic Dreams, which I am very much looking forward to reading. Can you tell us anything about it yet, or is it still at the top secret stage?

It’s very much at the top-secret stage. I have a GREAT title for it and a GREAT opening line, but it’d ruin the surprise if I unveiled them now. The band’s ability to court controversy and fall into trouble is in no way diminished. Quite the opposite. For example, while touring India they manage to make a host of cultural gaffes as well as breaking several laws.

Have you been to any good gigs recently?

Aye, I went to see Steel Panther, which was the most fun gig I’ve experienced: excellent musicianship, good songs, wet-your-pants-funny lyrics and band members who are natural entertainers. Thin Lizzy was a good one too, earlier in the year. Most recently, I saw Paradise Lost and Insomnium, two of my favourite bands, play in King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.

What's the most recent CD or mp3 album you've bought?

Ready as Hell by Jim Dandy (legendary frontman of Black Oak Arkansas). I’d been waiting decades for it to be released on CD, and it finally was. For anyone who thinks that Axl Rose has a unique voice, think again; go listen to the early Black Oak Arkansas albums and it becomes very clear whom the G ‘n’ R frontman modelled his vocal style on: ‘Big’ Jim Dandy Mangrum.

You recently enrolled your debut novel, Metallic Dreams, into the KDP Select programme on Amazon. KDP Select is a bit of a controversial subject amongst authors. Some think it's great because it increases the visibility of our books on Amazon when we give them away free. Others say that by giving our books away free we are in effect making it harder for authors to ever sell any copies of their books. After all, with so many free books out there, why would anyone ever have to buy a book? What are your thoughts on these issues? Can you tell us a little bit about your decision to enroll your book into the programme and whether you would recommend it to fellow authors.

I would recommend it to fellow authors once they’ve launched a book, gathered some momentum and received some good reviews. For me, the KDP promotion was a huge springboard that took Metallic Dreams to a wider audience. It hit #1 in both of its Amazon categories during the promotion and stayed at the top of one category for over a week. The knock-on effect in terms of sales and visibility has been considerable. It’s unlikely that my novel would have been at #1 in any paid category without the free promotion to launch it up the rankings in the first place. I know that there are people who don’t (or rarely) buy books, as so many free ones are available. I can only speak from my perspective: while I’m happy to like, tag, tweet and download free books to help other authors, I only read what I truly want to read. If this means shelling out some cash, I knuckle down and do it (which, as a stingy Scotsman, hurts like Hell). For example, last year I spent a small fortune on True Norwegian Black Metal, a huge limited-edition hardback full-colour glossy photobook by Peter Beste. Worth every penny. If a book’s quality is good enough, people will buy it, regardless of price. That should be a mantra for all authors: refine, polish and make your work perfect, then people will buy.

To help with promotion of your novel, you have appeared on internet radio shows. What is your experience of taking part in that type of promotion and have you gained new readers directly as a result of that? Would you recommend it to other authors?

Yes, I gained new readers as a result of appearing on the Charity Parkerson and Melissa Craig show. Yes, I would recommend it to other authors. Hurl yourself onto the show and don’t be afraid to put foot in mouth, as those gaffes end up being the most entertaining bits. For example, when I said to Charity, on air, “I reckon everyone you know is a pervert,” I rapidly realised that I know her mother and several other authors who might not take that as a compliment. My frantic attempt to dig myself out of that hole was one of the funniest parts of the show.

Do you have any other news you'd like to share with your readers?



The anthology A Blended Bouquet by my writers’ group – Writers Inc – is finally available on Kindle, just three years after the paperback came out! I was having some niggly formatting issues and eventually surrendered to a professional at eBookBuilders. The finished product looks perfect. My witchcraft-themed shortish story (about 20,000 words) is moving along. It has taken far too long, as I’ve been juggling so many things, but I’m almost happy with most of it. It’s also worth mentioning that I’m currently reading and enjoying your novel The Dream, Maria.

Thank you, Maria, for another cracking interview. Excellent questions, as always. I look forward to your new novel.

Thank you, Mark, for being a charming guest. I'm glad to hear you are enjoying The Dream