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Alex Scarrow
Ape
993 Posts |
 Posted - 23 November 2006 : 4:38:40 PM
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Q. Regarding last minute rearguard actions from a demoralised German army. Suns had acts of great heroism from a select bunch, but was this based on anything in particular?
A. Not on anything in particular, however, I was reading Anthony Beevor's FALL OF BERLIN at the time of writing SUNS, and I was amazed at the futility of many of the rearguard actions along the Potsdamm (sp?) river. Also, there were accounts of SS units holding out in various enclaves in Berlin up to, I think, 6 or 7 days after Hitler's death. There's something I find draws me to acts of pointless, futile, heroism...much more so than acts of heroism that manage to achieve something.
Q. You consciously did not expand many of the main characters e.g what was Hauser's background? What was his motivation? Why did he show the fanaticism to be committted to the end, then have a change of heart? Why the emphasis on story over characterisation?
A. Good question. The answer sadly isn't particularly writerly. Being a debut book, I had to keep the word count down to a relatively manageable level. SUNS is about 120k words, and a newbie author is advised to aim for around the 100-110k mark. I was lucky I wasn't asked to trim SUNS down! So anyway...there's quite a lot of story, which meant there wasn't a helluva lot of room to work-up the characters.
Q. Why was New York the scene for the bombing? London was much more realistic. (Please don't say this was to increase US sales of the book!)
A. To increase the US....no. Sorry. I went with NY because it raised the stakes much more than heading over to London. You're right, London would probably have been a more sensible target, but then, as Hitler rationalises in the book, the main thing was to convince the war-weary American people that a new struggle was neccessary against Russia. I'd imagine they'd have been less bothered if London had suddenly ceased to exist!
Q. Have you considered doing a prequel centred around Max Kleinman?
A. I have, but to be honest, I'm being marketted as a contemporary thriller writer, and this would detract from that. But then, should the movie rights to SUNS be sold, and a movie made, there's a great incentive for me to take Max and crew and work on something with them.
Last Light
Q. Second novel is contemporary. Are you deliberately keeping away from the more historical subject matter Simon produces?
A. Yes, only in so far as it's how I'm being marketted. It doesn't have any bearing on what Simon's writing. In actual fact, I suspect Simon's and my publishers would like it if we were competing in the same genre, it would make for some good PR I suspect.
Q. From the blurb, the lead character seems much more rounded than Chris from Suns. Which one of them is the subconsciously autobiographical Alex Scarrow?
A. Ahhh, very probing. I think Chris is an idealised version of me, about eight years ago, and Andy (the protag in LAST LIGHT) is an idealised version of me right now. Perhaps the main thing to mention about Andy is he's a father, and his emotional drive is to find a way back home from Iraq (where he's on contract) when the world, very suddenly, starts to fall apart. I tapped heavily my own experiences over the last 8 years as a dad, and asked how desperate I would be if my lad, Jake, was all alone in a time of crisis.
General
Q. Any sibling rivalry?
A. A little :-) But more so in our bizarre side-interests. We've both always liked making things; movies, sets, animations, diaramas etc, and we've never really grown out of the competitive urge to out do each other on those sorts of things...I particularly enjoy whupping Simon's ass at Call of Duty and various other PC games.
With writing, on the other hand, I think we both have immense respect for each other's work, and also recognise that success for either of us, will rub off to some degree on the other. We're actually collaborating on some projects, which I shan't mention right now...and that's fun. Really good fun.
Q. Simon has indicated that 'Scarrow' and not Eagle is now the brand. How do you feel about this?
A. That's encouraging for Simon. It means the publishers recognise HIM as a source of revenue, rather than just an intellectual property (eg: Eagles) as the source. I think it'll mean in the future he might have scope to wander from the Historical fiction genre, because, SCARROW is the bankable brand, not just EAGLE or REVOLUTION.
Q. Who do you bounce ideas off? I suspect you're a lone wolf, are you?
A. Simon and I do tend bounce things round a bit every now and then, but usually it's merely 'sanity-checking' an idea rather than conjuring up ideas from scratch. That said, what we're collaborating on now, was an idea we conjured up together when the train back home from London delayed us for a couple of hours.
Tongue in cheek
Q. Do you write in Times New Roman
A. Umm, yes, I think I do. A hangover from my screenwriting days. You just get used to a font, and anything else looks, well...just wrong.
I think that's it, isn't it? Some very good questions there Deva. Next time I'm up in Manchester, we'll have to do it again over coffee.
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Edited by - Alex Scarrow on 23 November 2006 5:02:01 PM |
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 23 November 2006 : 4:53:49 PM
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A really good interview and some great questions..
Centurion Parmenion
 LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 23 November 2006 : 8:11:40 PM
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very good interview,
Al, meant to ask, is the LastLight Protag, "Andy" named after anyone you know????? hehe hint hint nudge nudge..
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If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script??? |
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Graeme Canty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
2286 Posts |
Posted - 23 November 2006 : 9:49:52 PM
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Can't think who that could be Bro'???
'With all these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you'
The Doctor to Tuvok, Star Trek Voyager (Infinite Regress) |
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Graeme Canty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
2286 Posts |
Posted - 23 November 2006 : 9:50:45 PM
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Great interview, very interesting. Look forward to further ones and Last Light.
'With all these new personalities floating around, it's a shame we can't find one for you'
The Doctor to Tuvok, Star Trek Voyager (Infinite Regress) |
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Alex Scarrow
Ape
993 Posts |
Posted - 23 November 2006 : 11:16:40 PM
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| Hmmmm...might be. How much is it worth for me to say it's you? :-) |
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Simon Scarrow
Ape
Uruguay
1048 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 12:12:29 AM
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"...I particularly enjoy whupping Simon's ass at Call of Duty"
Yeah, right. In your dreams pal. |
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Peter Croft
Dinosaur
United Kingdom
363 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 12:38:55 AM
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| Q: Is there really such a thing as a good nazi? |
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Alex Scarrow
Ape
993 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 07:55:31 AM
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| A. I'd guess there might have been card-carrying Nazis who didn't eat babies. Having said that...I'd hate to sound like a Nazi apologist. So for the record, so we're clear. Nazi party = bad. |
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 09:17:29 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Alex Scarrow
Hmmmm...might be. How much is it worth for me to say it's you? :-)
Hmmmm, you'll have to send Santa a wishlist..hehe I'm sure we can come to an arrangement......
_____________________________________
If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script??? |
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 09:58:11 AM
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quote:
"...I particularly enjoy whupping Simon's ass at Call of Duty"
Yeah, right. In your dreams pal.
and that would be some of that sibling rivalry!!
i think the problem is when we think of WW2 we think of the whole german nationa as nazis...when that was not the case there were many who were not and many in the armed forces who were not,,,as in the case of some of Alex's characters.
thats one of the things i liked about the book, it reminded us that some of them were just men at war, and just as hroic as our guys.
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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Deva
Dinosaur
279 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 1:15:23 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Alex Scarrow
[Next time I'm up in Manchester, we'll have to do it again over coffee.
Thanks for answering.
Have you, Simon and the Scarrowags ever met up for a beer or anything? |
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Parmenion
Homosapien
United Kingdom
14676 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 1:24:19 PM
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I know me and Andy have met the Bros...not sure how many other have?
Centurion Parmenion
LASCIATE OGNE SPERANZA, VOI CH'INTRATE
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AndyCanty
Homosapien
United Kingdom
6782 Posts |
Posted - 24 November 2006 : 1:36:58 PM
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BTW: dont offer Al a beer, a nice red wine will suit him much better...hehe
I'm not sure on Simon's favourite tipple though..
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If all the worlds a stage?
Where's my script??? |
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DEVA's forum interview with Alex Scarrow
