I am delighted to have my friend, Jonathan Pinnock, whom I first met in Café Doom, a horror writers’ forum (a big shout out to Ed, the owner of the forum!) Yes, Dear Readers, it is True Confessions time. I began in horror and am proud to say that some of my BFFs are horrors, too. But back to Jonathan Pinnock, with me today to talk about his latest release, MRS DARCY VERSUS THE ALIENS. Author of several books, of which this latest one is his first foray into fiction, Jonathan leads a dual life. In one half, he runs a software development company called Jonathan Pinnock and Associates. The other half of his life is spent as a writer of fiction and non-fiction. He states on his website that he does not write Japanese Tentacle Porn, but you can be the judge of that after reading about his aliens. In addition to sharing his experiences and latest teasers, Jonathan has generously provided a signed copy of the book for one reader (UK only). All you have to do is comment or ask a question at the end of the interview to be entered to win.

Jon, what made you want to be an author? At what age did you start telling stories and then writing them down?

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be an author. It was certainly my first stated ambition, although my father (bless him) was not remotely impressed, explaining to me that I would never earn any money that way. As for what made me want to do this, I think it’s partly because I like playing with words and I like to entertain people. I can’t act, so it’s the next best way of showing off.

What do you like best about being a writer? What do you like the least?

I love the surprising feeling when something emerges that you weren’t expecting and you look at it and say “Did I write that?” The subconscious comes up with some extraordinary stuff if you let it off the leash. The bit I like the least is the waiting when you’ve sent something off and you’re desperate to know what the person at the other end thinks of it, whether it’s a competition judge, an editor or – as I’m finding out right now – the general public.

When and why did you decide to write a Jane Austen sequel with a twist?

I was chatting to one of my colleagues after a meeting of our writers’ circle back in 2007 and I was talking about “Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell”, which I’d just read. I described it as essentially a regency novel with added wizards and then we came up with the idea of a regency novel with added aliens. The title “Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens” popped into my head shortly afterwards, and when a title presents itself it’s usually worth taking notice. It took me quite a long time to get going on writing it, however, and things were seriously complicated by the unexpected arrival of “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”.

I know you have a demanding software business. I also know that you have won numerous writing awards for your short stories and poetry. How do you manage to be so prolific? What’s your favorite time management tip?

Ha. I am actually quite hopeless at time management. I only ever produce anything when there’s a deadline attached. Which is why serializing “Mrs Darcy” on the internet was the best thing I could have done from the point of view of getting the thing written, because I was forced to produce two episodes a week.

Are you a plotter or a pantser, i.e., do you outline your books ahead of time or are you an “organic” writer? Was it easier because you had the original Jane Austen materials to draw on–or did you find there were constraints imposed by her voice?

Definitely a pantser. I didn’t have a clue where I was going for the first chapter or so, but then a plot began to form to make sense of what I’d already written. From that point I had a fairly clear idea of the overall arc, but only to the extent that I had a number of distinct events that I needed to move the action towards. I don’t think the Jane Austen materials were either an aid or a hindrance to be honest, as they rather shifted to the background.

Have you ever felt like you were being dictated to while your wrote a book–as if the words came of their own accord? If yes, which book did that happen with? And was it in French or English? Did you feel tentacles as you wrote it?

Oh yes. But that happens all the time when I’m writing. If I feel I’m having to force it, then it’s not working. And it was definitely English: my French is pretty terrible, as you can tell from the trailers. Mercifully, I didn’t feel any tentacles either. Although one should always be on the lookout.

If you had one take away piece of advice for authors, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to try anything. In fact, make sure you try all sorts of things you didn’t know you could do.

Tell me more about MRS DARCY VERSUS THE ALIENS. A year or two into her marriage, Elizabeth Darcy has much on her mind: she has still not produced an heir for Mr Darcy, there are preparations to be made for the Pemberly summer ball, and her youngest sister Lydia has been abducted by aliens. As Regency England sleepwalks towards tentacled oblivion, will she be able to reunite with her old foe Wickham and put a stop to their evil plans? Meanwhile, in the East End of London, the repulsive Mr Collins is running a Mission for fallen women whilst his poor wife Charlotte has fallen under the malign spell of Lord Byron and is now a laudanum addict. But is everything at the Mission all that it seems? What is Mr Darcy doing there? And why are there strange lights in the sky over Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s seat at Rosings? This is probably the most unconventional sequel to a Jane Austen novel ever written. It is certainly the funniest.

How about an excerpt from MRS DARCY VERSUS THE ALIENS?

The problem with providing excerpts is that the best bits tend to contain massive spoilers. However, there’s quite a nice little early scene reproduced on the MRS DARCY VERSUS THE ALIENS website here: http://www.mrsdarcyvsthealiens.com/a_question_of_succession.php.

Where can readers find more about your book on the Internet? (Readers, I highly recommend watching his book trailers. Warning: Do NOT have anything in your mouth when you watch them!)

There’s quite a lot of stuff on the website here: http://www.mrsdarcyvsthealiens.com, and I would particularly recommend setting aside a few minutes to look around the Wickhampedia: http://www.mrsdarcyvsthealiens.com/wiki/, which should give you a flavor of what my editor refers to as the Mrs Darcy mythos. And of course there are those trailers, at http://www.youtube.com/RealMrsDarcy .

How can readers find Mrs. Darcy on Twitter? What about the aliens? Are they on Twitter, too?

Mrs Darcy has her own Twitter account, @RealMrsDarcy. as well as a Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/RealMrsDarcy. Fortunately, the aliens have not yet got the hang of social networking. But it’s probably only a matter of time.

Jonathan, thanks you so much for being with us here today. I know my readers will enjoy your work and your interview.

Thank you very much for having me!

 

 

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