Author Showcase - James Batchelor
01st August 2022
This month I'm turning the blog over to five different authors who write in genres different from the next.
Each Monday, you'll read a Q&A I did with them about their latest book and their writing process. You'll also see a link to their book should you wish you purchase it.
The author and I would love you to share the blog on your own social channels and PLEASE tag us in. For everyone who shares and tags us both and includes my site name www.loveofbooks.co.uk, I'll send you a little 'thank you' gift, wherever you are in the world*.
*postal address will be required but, in line with UK GDPR regs, not kept. One gift per household.
Socials: Twitter: @sjbwrites @James_Batchelor
Facebook: For The Love of Books or Sarah Banham or James Batchelor
Linked In: Sarah Banham BA (Hons)
Instagram: @s.j.banham @jbatchelorwrites
This week, the blog is with James Batchelor, author of Blow The House Down.
1.Tell me about the inspiration behind this story
This book is a weird mix of separate ideas I had. The biggest one came after seeing Snow White and The Huntsman, which is awful but does do a good job of turning that classic fairy tale into an almost Tolkien-esque epic fantasy. Like so many writers, I was cocky enough to think ‘Pfft, I could do that better’ and started plotting my own epic fantasy take on a fairy tale. I liked the simplicity of The Three Little Pigs and started imagining three knights or three kingdoms raising an army against an evil Lord Wolfe. Not sure what happened next, but I somehow decided to explore the idea of flipping that on its head, pitting the noble Sir Wolfe against the Three Pigs, a trio of greedy kings.
At the time, I was part of a writers' group in Chelmsford and we would do a little writing exercise each week with a prompt given by another member. I used to like to use these to come up with the start of a new story or a new world, and one particularly grabbed me. The prompt was something like ‘You find something strange at the side of the road,’ and for some reason my brain turned that into a crime scene investigation where a magic addict has spontaneously combusted after taking a counterfeit spell (taken like you would a drug), leaving only a charred shoe behind. It was all set in the modern day and I loved the idea of a police force tracking down black market spells and their dealers.
The final piece came when my wife (then girlfriend) and my sister (still sister) were watching Once Upon A Time, a series about fairy tale characters thrown into our modern world. I loved the premise but I found myself wanting a version with a bit more action. The above ideas combined and the result (eventually) was Blow The House Down.
2. Tell me how you built the character of Tony Wolfe
With great difficulty, and I’m still not 100% sure I’ve nailed it yet but I’m hoping people enjoy him anyway. Wolfe was tricky because I wanted him to be an anti-hero, a villain (or rather villain’s muscle) who’s not necessarily fighting for what’s right but is fighting for himself and his family, and that happens to put him on the same side(ish) and the ‘good guys.’ I wanted him to be ruthless, but not a psychopath. Charming, but not your typical Han Solo-style rogue. Deadly and powerful, but still up against something he’s unlikely to win against. I shared the early chapters with friends, both fellow writers and just avid readers. Each one kept asking me questions or offering suggestions that really helped hone Wolfe into the sort of character I was aiming for.
For example, Wolfe’s first chapter originally had him shooting the fingers off someone who had been stealing from the Three Pigs as a warning, but a friend pointed out that’s too violent an act given that we’re supposed to be rooting for this character. Clearly I’d been trying too hard to make him ruthless, so the scene was toned down and I was much happier with it afterwards.
3. Why does the meld of fairy tales and crime interest you?
Fairy tales fascinate me in general, how these quintessential stories of magic and morality, good vs evil, cruelty vs justice and so on have endured for hundreds and hundreds of years. Even more fascinating is unpicking the elements we all know from Disney and the elements that are actually from the source, the original tales. And over the years, we’ve seen so many different takes on these tales that are each unique and yet share enough similarities to be instantly familiar. Again, look at things like Once Upon A Time or Snow White and The Huntsman, or things like the Fables comics. I loved the idea of telling a story where the reader is both learning about my characters, but also figuring out the connections themselves as to who they represent (with a few exceptions, I don’t overtly introduce characters as ‘She is Snow White’).
As for the crime element, it’s less about the crime and more about the action thriller. I love fast-paced stories where protagonists are trying to outwit a multitude of antagonists, where the advantages of modern living are both working for them and against them. I love the mix of fantasy and modern, because I don’t think it’s explored enough, so I wanted to have a go at creating something that feels like both a contemporary thriller and a classic fantasy. Hopefully, I’ve got the balance right.
4. Where, in the real world, did you imagine this story was set?
London. Blow The House Down is set in a fictional city with a fantastical element, in a world separate from our own (so not an alternative Earth, but a completely different world)… but that city was modelled on London. This is for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s my favourite city in the world. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to some amazing places around the globe, but none have the history, character and surprises that London offers. Secondly, it’s familiar to me so was easy to draw on for inspiration (readers can tell when you’re writing about a city you’ve never visited). And lastly, I feel like the vast majority of modern stories, even urban fantasy, are set in America or have a very American flavour. I wanted to write something that felt distinctly British (hence my leaning towards the more British swearwords in the story’s more heated moments).
5. How did you cope with/and keep track of so many characters?
Lots of notes, but most importantly timelines. I’m somewhere between a discovery writer and a plotter: I tend to write about one third, maybe half a story, and once I’ve an idea of where it’s going and how it’s going end, I pause and plot out the rest of the book. I still allow new ideas to come to me as I go – towards the end, connections between characters were coming to me that I hadn’t even thought of at the start but made perfect sense.
Then, once I’m in the editing/second draft stage, I make notes as I read, jotting down any details about characters or world-building elements as I come across them. This is partly to check for consistency, but it also means I’m preparing a story bible I can consult if I want to change things. (I should probably have done that from the beginning, but we learn these things the hard way).
6. How did you make clear each character’s personality?
It helps in this case that all my characters are modelled on established ones from fairy tales. There’s an archetype for each to either stick to, or veer away from. What also helps was ‘casting’ my characters in my head: if (pipe dream alert!) this were made into a Hollywood film, which actors would play each role? Tony Wolfe, for example, I imagined as Jason Statham while (staying on the Snatch theme) the narrator that introduces each chapter and is revealed later in the book would have been brilliantly played by Alan Ford (aka Bricktop). Doing this gives the character a clear voice in my head, and I have a much better idea of not only what they would say but how they would say it. Voice and dialogue is such a great expression of personality, it’s a big part of how we get to understand the personalities of people we speak to, and apparently it works when you’re making people up as well.
7. Will you return to this story? How?
Absolutely. I originally planned this as a standalone because I wanted to go back to the fantasy series I was writing. But I was having so much fun with it, and sowing seeds for things I could follow up on later that I’m definitely going to come back to the world of Tony Wolfe. There are so many fairy tales to riff off, so many different takes on characters to explore; there’s a whole universe I can build here.
8. How old will your children be when you allow them to read it?
There’s a lot of swearing in this book (it’s never gratuitous - just some very angry characters who don't take kindly to people trying to kill them). Once my kids are teenagers and I’ve given up trying to stop them from swearing, then it’ll be time to lend them a copy.
Check out James' book. Click Here to go to James' book on Amazon. Don't forget to share it, tagging in James, me, and a link to this site to earn your free gift.
Each Monday, you'll read a Q&A I did with them about their latest book and their writing process. You'll also see a link to their book should you wish you purchase it.
The author and I would love you to share the blog on your own social channels and PLEASE tag us in. For everyone who shares and tags us both and includes my site name www.loveofbooks.co.uk, I'll send you a little 'thank you' gift, wherever you are in the world*.
*postal address will be required but, in line with UK GDPR regs, not kept. One gift per household.
Socials: Twitter: @sjbwrites @James_Batchelor
Facebook: For The Love of Books or Sarah Banham or James Batchelor
Linked In: Sarah Banham BA (Hons)
Instagram: @s.j.banham @jbatchelorwrites
This week, the blog is with James Batchelor, author of Blow The House Down.
1.Tell me about the inspiration behind this story
This book is a weird mix of separate ideas I had. The biggest one came after seeing Snow White and The Huntsman, which is awful but does do a good job of turning that classic fairy tale into an almost Tolkien-esque epic fantasy. Like so many writers, I was cocky enough to think ‘Pfft, I could do that better’ and started plotting my own epic fantasy take on a fairy tale. I liked the simplicity of The Three Little Pigs and started imagining three knights or three kingdoms raising an army against an evil Lord Wolfe. Not sure what happened next, but I somehow decided to explore the idea of flipping that on its head, pitting the noble Sir Wolfe against the Three Pigs, a trio of greedy kings.
At the time, I was part of a writers' group in Chelmsford and we would do a little writing exercise each week with a prompt given by another member. I used to like to use these to come up with the start of a new story or a new world, and one particularly grabbed me. The prompt was something like ‘You find something strange at the side of the road,’ and for some reason my brain turned that into a crime scene investigation where a magic addict has spontaneously combusted after taking a counterfeit spell (taken like you would a drug), leaving only a charred shoe behind. It was all set in the modern day and I loved the idea of a police force tracking down black market spells and their dealers.
The final piece came when my wife (then girlfriend) and my sister (still sister) were watching Once Upon A Time, a series about fairy tale characters thrown into our modern world. I loved the premise but I found myself wanting a version with a bit more action. The above ideas combined and the result (eventually) was Blow The House Down.
2. Tell me how you built the character of Tony Wolfe
With great difficulty, and I’m still not 100% sure I’ve nailed it yet but I’m hoping people enjoy him anyway. Wolfe was tricky because I wanted him to be an anti-hero, a villain (or rather villain’s muscle) who’s not necessarily fighting for what’s right but is fighting for himself and his family, and that happens to put him on the same side(ish) and the ‘good guys.’ I wanted him to be ruthless, but not a psychopath. Charming, but not your typical Han Solo-style rogue. Deadly and powerful, but still up against something he’s unlikely to win against. I shared the early chapters with friends, both fellow writers and just avid readers. Each one kept asking me questions or offering suggestions that really helped hone Wolfe into the sort of character I was aiming for.
For example, Wolfe’s first chapter originally had him shooting the fingers off someone who had been stealing from the Three Pigs as a warning, but a friend pointed out that’s too violent an act given that we’re supposed to be rooting for this character. Clearly I’d been trying too hard to make him ruthless, so the scene was toned down and I was much happier with it afterwards.
3. Why does the meld of fairy tales and crime interest you?
Fairy tales fascinate me in general, how these quintessential stories of magic and morality, good vs evil, cruelty vs justice and so on have endured for hundreds and hundreds of years. Even more fascinating is unpicking the elements we all know from Disney and the elements that are actually from the source, the original tales. And over the years, we’ve seen so many different takes on these tales that are each unique and yet share enough similarities to be instantly familiar. Again, look at things like Once Upon A Time or Snow White and The Huntsman, or things like the Fables comics. I loved the idea of telling a story where the reader is both learning about my characters, but also figuring out the connections themselves as to who they represent (with a few exceptions, I don’t overtly introduce characters as ‘She is Snow White’).
As for the crime element, it’s less about the crime and more about the action thriller. I love fast-paced stories where protagonists are trying to outwit a multitude of antagonists, where the advantages of modern living are both working for them and against them. I love the mix of fantasy and modern, because I don’t think it’s explored enough, so I wanted to have a go at creating something that feels like both a contemporary thriller and a classic fantasy. Hopefully, I’ve got the balance right.
4. Where, in the real world, did you imagine this story was set?
London. Blow The House Down is set in a fictional city with a fantastical element, in a world separate from our own (so not an alternative Earth, but a completely different world)… but that city was modelled on London. This is for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s my favourite city in the world. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to some amazing places around the globe, but none have the history, character and surprises that London offers. Secondly, it’s familiar to me so was easy to draw on for inspiration (readers can tell when you’re writing about a city you’ve never visited). And lastly, I feel like the vast majority of modern stories, even urban fantasy, are set in America or have a very American flavour. I wanted to write something that felt distinctly British (hence my leaning towards the more British swearwords in the story’s more heated moments).
5. How did you cope with/and keep track of so many characters?
Lots of notes, but most importantly timelines. I’m somewhere between a discovery writer and a plotter: I tend to write about one third, maybe half a story, and once I’ve an idea of where it’s going and how it’s going end, I pause and plot out the rest of the book. I still allow new ideas to come to me as I go – towards the end, connections between characters were coming to me that I hadn’t even thought of at the start but made perfect sense.
Then, once I’m in the editing/second draft stage, I make notes as I read, jotting down any details about characters or world-building elements as I come across them. This is partly to check for consistency, but it also means I’m preparing a story bible I can consult if I want to change things. (I should probably have done that from the beginning, but we learn these things the hard way).
6. How did you make clear each character’s personality?
It helps in this case that all my characters are modelled on established ones from fairy tales. There’s an archetype for each to either stick to, or veer away from. What also helps was ‘casting’ my characters in my head: if (pipe dream alert!) this were made into a Hollywood film, which actors would play each role? Tony Wolfe, for example, I imagined as Jason Statham while (staying on the Snatch theme) the narrator that introduces each chapter and is revealed later in the book would have been brilliantly played by Alan Ford (aka Bricktop). Doing this gives the character a clear voice in my head, and I have a much better idea of not only what they would say but how they would say it. Voice and dialogue is such a great expression of personality, it’s a big part of how we get to understand the personalities of people we speak to, and apparently it works when you’re making people up as well.
7. Will you return to this story? How?
Absolutely. I originally planned this as a standalone because I wanted to go back to the fantasy series I was writing. But I was having so much fun with it, and sowing seeds for things I could follow up on later that I’m definitely going to come back to the world of Tony Wolfe. There are so many fairy tales to riff off, so many different takes on characters to explore; there’s a whole universe I can build here.
8. How old will your children be when you allow them to read it?
There’s a lot of swearing in this book (it’s never gratuitous - just some very angry characters who don't take kindly to people trying to kill them). Once my kids are teenagers and I’ve given up trying to stop them from swearing, then it’ll be time to lend them a copy.
Check out James' book. Click Here to go to James' book on Amazon. Don't forget to share it, tagging in James, me, and a link to this site to earn your free gift.