#HistFicThursdays - Quetzalcoatl by Ian Hunter - Author Inverview

 

Today's #HistFicThursdays blog is an exciting interview with Ian Hunter, as part of his Yarde Book Promotion tour! Read on to find out about his influences, inspirations, and the adventures which readers can expect to share in with Quetzalcoatl.

But first, let's meet the book...

Blurb

Jessie Mason lives with her nose in the pages of history. But she is discovering that the past is a dangerous place where she doesn't belong, and knowledge alone is not going to save her.

Jessie’s life has become a series of terrible challenges. Now she must lead her friends in the hopeless task Grandfather set them: hunt down and destroy the Time Stones. But her leadership has already failed. Tip has left them and Abe has simply disappeared, while she and Kes are trapped in the heart of an ancient empire in turmoil.

Thrust into a fractured, threatened Mexica nobility, Jessie is immersed in a way of life, fascinating and disturbing in equal measure, yet powerless before the approaching Conquistadors and the impending clash of cultures.

Even as the fabulous city of Tenochtitlan descends into savage violence, Jessie’s determination to succeed is undiminished. But with world history taking a new, bloody direction before her, she is finally forced to decide which is more important: continuing the task or simply surviving.

Praise for Quetzalcoatl

“Quetzalcoatl (Time Stones Book II) by Ian Hunter is a tautly gripping novel that is written with a sensitivity to the era it depicts, but it is also a story packed with adventure and magic. Hunter’s vivacious storytelling made this novel impossible to put down. It is a story that has been penned with an impressive sweep and brilliance.”

Quetzalcoatl

is available via this Universal Link

Author Interview

What inspired you to write this book?

For as long as I can remember I have found history fascinating, whether that is visiting buildings, towns or places of interest, watching history play out on the screen, or simply reading it. But the more I read, the more I realized how narrow my knowledge was. So, I expanded the range of my reading and at some point, came across the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Obviously, I knew it had taken place, but I had never read the history. I found it such an inconceivable outcome, that a handful of soldiers, criminals in the eyes of the nearest Spanish authorities, could topple a military empire of millions, that I decided I had to investigate further. I was already working on the first book of the series and felt that this was a story which, despite the tragedy it ushered in, deserved to be more widely understood. Although the book doesn’t cover it, the Spanish conquest of central and south America was arguably the first step towards the imperialistic capitalism that would dominate the following centuries and laid a path towards our modern world.

Is there anything about your writing process which is unusual or unique to you?

That’s difficult to answer, as I’m not sure what process others use. What I can say is that I used two different processes for my two books and the results surprised me. For my first book, I sort of made it up as I went along. I had a reasonable idea of the plot, where to start and where it would end, but a lot of the content wasn’t clear until I wrote. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I ended up editing out about forty percent of what I had written. With this second book, I worked out quite a detailed plan beforehand. That was helpful, as the story unfolds across an extended timeline, with a lot of  complex, inter-connected events needing to be included, most of which are historical fact so I couldn’t get that wrong. But this approach, putting in the work upfront, meant that the actual writing process was significantly shorter and the editing much less drastic. It’s nice not to have to cut so many of the words I worked hard to get down in the first place.

How much of yourself goes into the characters you create?

I think there is something of me in all the characters, but a lot of things which I am not besides. Jessie’s musical tastes mirror my own, and I wouldn’t have her listen to anything else. But as she and her friends developed, I could also see traits from other people that I know coming out. Without really planning to, I unconsciously projected specific people onto the character, and found myself thinking, what would X say here, or how would Y react in this situation.

I have one lead and three further main characters in the series and I would say together, they represent different aspects of many people I have met or known over many years.

What’s the first thing you do once you complete a manuscript? Is it immediately sent to the first readers, or does it go on ice for a while?

Well, I have written two books in this series, and I can speak for both approaches. The first book, I sat on it for quite some time, and I think that was a mistake. With Quetzalcoatl, I immediately sent it to a selection of people to read, asking for thoughts, comments, suggestions for improvements, and also a grammar check. Obviously, that takes some time, but when the feedback started to arrive, I was still in “writing” mode, and using the feedback to polish the work was much easier. I found with the first book, after such a long pause, it really took time to get back up to speed.

What emotions should your readers expect to feel when reading this book for the first time?

Well, first and foremost, the book is an adventure, so I would hope they are drawn into the excitement and the action as it unfolds. Jessie and her friends face formidable challenges which demand quick wits, bravery and sometimes they must fight for their survival. I would be very content if the readers were invested sufficiently in the characters to cheer them on in their struggles. As I alluded to previously, part of the inspiration for writing this was to shine a light on some of the lesser-known periods and events in history. So, if the readers were to gain a greater understanding about the Mexica, to marvel at their engineering capabilities, be repulsed by their ceremonies and to wonder how it could be that it was all overthrown by a few hundred adventurers, then I would be very happy. 

Were there any parts of the book which were particularly challenging to write? Maybe because of heightened emotions or research challenges?

There was certainly a lot of research done with this book, which took time and effort. I have a section of my bookshelves quite full of Mesoamerican histories and studies as well as books on the Spanish Conquistadors. Then arranging everything that I wanted to include in a plan which supported the involvement of Jessie and her friends was also not simple. I think also I had to get the more gruesome aspects, the religious ceremonies and the battle scenes, right. I wanted to convey the horror without describing all the grisly details. So those scenes, whilst critical for the story, could also have become a reason to stop reading. I think I managed to get the balance right.

Which authors have most influenced your writing style?

That’s a difficult question to answer. For one thing, I would say perhaps half of what I read over certain periods are non-fiction, mostly histories or societal commentaries, and as such the style and objective are completely different. Some of these are hard work, tending towards an academic style. Although I would say over the years, the non-fiction history publications have become much more engaging and certainly more enjoyable and easier to read. When it comes to fiction, I just had a look at my bookshelf here and the scope is varied. For example, there are classics like Dickens, Hardy, Bronte, Austen next to Ray Bradbury, several different crime writers, and science fiction. I’m currently working through the Bernie Gunther series from Philip Kerr, as I did the Sharpe series from Bernhard Cornwell. I will read pretty much anything, and if it has an historical element, then so much the better. I would say that just reading gives me a feel for a style, but I don’t particularly try to imitate or duplicate anyone. There have been authors whose style I have not been comfortable with, so I suppose there are styles that I tend to veer away from.

What three pieces of advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Well, I still consider myself an aspiring writer, as I’m still learning. Firstly, the book has to be finished. If , like me, you procrastinate, then set a time within which the work will be finished and stick to it. Then, secondly, don’t hit save and forget about it. Give the finished work to friends. Perhaps, if it is feasible, engage with a professional editor to give you independent and un-biased feedback. Take all the feedback on board and do the re-work, again, within a set time-frame. Use the available tools, social media, internet, etc to market your finished book (for self-published especially), and don’t be afraid to self-publish, it is a way to get your work into the public eye.

Is writing “real life” for you, or do you need to balance it with other things?

Unfortunately, no, there is a real day-to-day, 9 to 5, in addition to writing, which has often been more than 9 to 5, so my writing time is limited. I think it’s also not just the hours of a full-time job, but mental effort means I simply need more down time, which also eats into the creative process. I had a year off work at the time that I wrote this book, and I finished it in 9 months. Perhaps I should try that again.

What’s next for you as a writer?

I have so many ideas of other places and periods in history which I find fascinating, and which will fit nicely with the thread which I am following. So, Jessie will have further dangers in her future. I have already made a good start on the third book in the series, and, without giving anything away, she will spend at least some time in the next book a lot closer to home.

Now, let's meet the author:

Books have been an important part of my life as long as I can remember, and at 54 years old, that’s a lot of books. My earliest memories of reading are CS Lewis’, The Horse and His Boy – by far the best of the Narnia books, the Adventures series by Willard Price, and Goalkeepers are Different by sports journalist Brian Glanville. An eclectic mix. My first English teacher was surprised to hear that I was reading, Le Carré, Ken Follett, Nevil Shute and All the Presidents’ Men by Woodward and Bernstein at the age of 12. I was simply picking up the books my father had finished.

School syllabus threw up the usual suspects – Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, Hardy, To Kill a Mockingbird – which I have reread often, and others I don’t immediately recall. By A-level study, my then English teachers were pulling their hair out at my “perverse waste of talent” – I still have the report card! But I did manage a pass.

During a 35 year career, briefly in Banking and then in IT, I managed to find time, with unfailing family support, to study another lifelong passion, graduating with an Open University Bachelors’ degree in History in 2002. This fascination with all things historical inspired me to begin the Time Stones series. There is so much to our human past, and so many differing views on what is the greatest, and often the saddest, most tragic story. I decided I wanted to write about it; to shine a small light on those, sometimes pivotal stories, which are less frequently mentioned.

In 1995, my wife, Michelle, and I moved from England to southern Germany, where we still live, with our two children, one cat, and, when she pays us a visit, one chocolate labrador. I have been fortunate that I could satisfy another wish, to travel as widely as possible and see as much of our world as I can. Destinations usually include places of historic and archaeological interest, mixed with a large helping of sun, sea and sand for my wife’s peace of mind.

You can follow Ian on these links:

Website - Twitter - Amazon Author Page - Goodreads

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