The Gates of Hell
1. What can you tell our readers about your new novel The Gates of Hell?
The penultimate novel in the initial Matt Drake series, it carries on from where The Blood King Conspiracy ended. Matt Drake sets out to cancel the vendetta imposed by underworld linchpin, the Blood King, who has set into motion his long-term plan to enter the Gates of Hell and discover the shocking secrets hidden within, while launching multiple terrorist attacks against the islands of Hawaii. With nothing more than an ancient map left behind by Captain Cook, Drake and his team follow the Blood king through a deadly maze in the heart of a volcano as they track down the most dangerous man of modern times and help unravel the mysteries surrounding the bones of Odin.
2. This is book three of four in the Matt Drake series, so tell us a little bit about the previous novels.
After many years of planning, writing and finally releasing my supernatural thriller, Chosen, I wanted a complete change. Something a little more light-hearted and action driven. With the initial 4 part Matt Drake series I wanted a fresh approach – something that hadn’t been done before – and the idea of using Norse mythology suddenly hit me like Thor’s hammer. When I picked myself up off the floor I started researching all things Odin. Matt Drake was envisioned as a tough, highly capable soldier, softened up by seven years living in an easy civilian world, suddenly faced with a series of events where he has to fight to save his friends and call upon old skills that have almost deserted him.The Blood King Conspiracy and The Gates of Hell are books 2 and 3 of the initial 4 part Matt Drake series. They should not be read out of order, as they are part of a continuing story, all leading up to the climatic events that transpire in book 4 – The Tomb of the Gods – which I am currently writing.
3. Tell us about your initial inspiration for these books?
I grew up reading the Marvel comics, on a diet of Thor and Odin, so I guess this helped fuel my subconscious. And since I live in York, once a major Viking city, I come across references to Vikings and their stories on a regular basis. I like the idea of trying something relatively new, which is also why, with Matt Drake 4 (the climatic part of the initial series) the story comes full circle and we get to further explore Norse mythology.
4. Who do you most like to read and why?
I’ve been inspired by so many different authors in so many genre’s it’s impossible to name them all. But I’ve read and loved Stephen King, Peter Straub, Stephen Donaldson, Tolkien and Charlaine Harris. More recently I enjoyed reading The Hunger Games and books by Robert Crais, Andy McDermott and Matthew Reilly. I’ve started reading Scott Mariani a few months ago and am enjoying his vampire and Ben Hope series’.
5. Which authors have paved the way for your work?
I see the Action/Adventure novel as a mixture of subgenre’s. If you start with a great adventure, mix in a little myth and mystery, and add a twist of crime and real war stories you get a potent concoction of Clive Cussler, Dan Brown, Andy Mcnab and Andy Mcdermott.
6. Your books have been compared to Bond and the Da Vinci Code, so how does this make you feel as a writer?
To be compared to any great works of fiction is as humbling as it is incredible. I get many personal emails from readers who enjoy my work and it is chiefly these that keep me burning the midnight oil!
7. Your writing is said to be like Andy Mcdermott and Matthew Reilly, so was this intentional? Do you like to read these authors?
I started out with no preconditions, but wanted the Matt Drake books to make the reader feel as if they were at the cinema, watching the latest action blockbuster on the big screen. Every scene I wrote was planned with this in mind. I do read Andy Mcdermott and Matthew Reilly, and feel very humbled to be compared to these writers.
8. Do you always write action adventures or do you venture into other genres from time to time?
My novel Chosen is a supernatural thriller, referred to in reviews as ‘Twilight for grown ups.’ I see it as a cross between True Blood and 24. The Chosen Few trilogy is, frankly, the book I have always wanted to write. It took a year to plan, let alone to write, and has been a work in progress for me for around six years. All my imagination has gone into these volumes. I get so many requests for books 2 and 3, asking me to hurry up and finish them, but I plan to take my time with the next volumes and not only make them worth the wait, but know that I have written the best books that I can, worthy of all the time I’ve put into them.
9. Tell us about your writing background.
I started writing novels when I was fifteen. Since then I have written on and off, as life and work allowed, but it was the emergence of the Amazon Kindle that really started to kickstart sales and bring my writing to reader’s attention. I’ve tried my hand at almost every genre, and don’t rule anything out for the future.
10. What is next for you?
I’m really excited to be writing the final part of the initial Matt Drake series. As I mentioned this next one rounds off all the questions raised in the first 3 books and brings it all together in a huge climax, which I’m really looking forward to. It’s tough to make sure you’ve covered everything but it’s great fun to write a series finale. I’m hoping to release The Tomb of the Gods in January 2013. After that I’m going to get some reader reaction and see what they want the most – Drake 5 or Chosen 2 and 3…
Female First Lucy Walton