Author Interview & Guest Post: S.Williams

EEEEEEEEK!!!!  I have been waiting for this post for some time ~ my fault entirely for the delay, but I tell you what #bookjunkies  it is well worth the wait!!    A freakin’ Q&A with Tuesday Falling author S.Williams!!  And not only that…he has done a kick-ass Guest Author post you do not want to miss!!  Okay…enough of my ramblings…let’s just get to it!!!

Author Interview

First off, can I just say a massive “thank you so much” for agreeing to pop over to CrimeBookJunkie and answer a few questions!  I adored Tuesday Falling and love that you have agreed to chat about it here on my blog!

1. There was/is an air of mystery about “S.Williams”. In fact, in one of the book clubs, there had even been a question about whether you were male or female! So (a) Why all the mystery? and (b) Can you give us some insight into who you are? 

Hi, Noelle, lovely to be here!
There’s no mystery, really. I originally wanted to be known as Strawberry! It is difficult enough in everyday life to escape the judgments and preconceptions that people place on you (race, sex, accent, sexuality, decision to wear a bowler hat at every opportunity). I did not want people to identify with Tuesday through me. I wanted them to go straight to her with no ‘opinion’ filter. Plus I quite like being mysterious. I may begin to wear a smoking jacket.

2. “Tuesday” is such a brilliant character. When I visualise her I see a cross between “Harley Quinn” and “Alice” from Resident Evil. Can you tell us who is Tuesday to you?

‘Alice’ is a new one! Harley Quinn. Tank girl. Jessica Jones. Hayley Stark. Any girl who refuses to be oppressed. To sit down. To be trodden on. I wanted her to not be in someone’s pocket, or be part of someone’s idea of what a strong woman should be. That’s why she has no particular combat ability. She doesn’t need them. Because all her opponents see what they want to see. That is their downfall; not that she has any super abilities.

3. Tuesday Falling has a YA feel to it. When writing this book, were you aiming at a particular audience?

Although I just ‘wrote it how I wrote it’; because Tuesday is a teenager and half the book is from her perspective, It definitely has that vibe. Really, I’m just happy that anyone has read her. I’ve had lovely responses from 14 year olds to an 85 year old! In fact, I’m really delighted that TF is both in my local library, and in the 6th form library of a local school.

4. The underground features heavily in the book. What research did you do and how much of what is in the book is reality?

A fair bit! From working in the tunnels themselves under Oxford street, to various subterranean building projects I was lucky enough to participate in, to the inevitable internet and several very informative books. As to how much is reality; most of it! (although I don’t believe there is a surviving tunnel linking the British Museum to the abandoned station…).

5. If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it be and why?

Good one! I once did an audio called ‘Book Envy’ that i’ll dig out and post on my tumblr/twitter, in which I talk about a children’s book called Marianne Dreams (later made into a TV series called Into The Night and a film called Paperhouse). Really, there are so many books I love and I often think how much I would have liked to have written them. But then I think that if that were the case then I would never have had the chance to read them fresh! Would never be moved, thrilled, enlightened. Would never have fallen in love, shouted at, hated. So really there is no book I would have wished I’d written, but there are writers I wish I could write as well as!

6. What book are you currently reading?

Just finished Pretty Girls, by Karen Slaughter, Revival by Stephen King, and Luna by Julie Anne Peters. I’m trying to finish my own novel at the moment so don’t have as much time as I’d like!

7. Describe how you see yourself in five words.

Hopeful. Tired. Standing. Confused. Loved.

8. Are there any current/new authors that have grabbed your interest?

All authors are current to my mind (thereby making myself relevant for eternity)! If they’re are doing their job then the themes, ideas and emotions should talk to the reader whatever.
The Bunker Diary, by Kevin Brooks is always current. I Think Ava Marsh rocked it with Untouchable. Sharon Bolton continues to be pulling the pin. Andrew Vachss keeps it ground zero when it comes to the hard truths.

9. Can you tell us about the “Murder Tweets” on Twitter.

Just before Tuesday Falling came out, I released a number of tweets from the perspective of Tuesday. On the Tube-train. In the tunnels. Originally I wanted to do them live, hooked up to a real time tracking app. The idea was that you can follow ‘Tuesday’ on your phone, getting tweets and instagrams as the story unfolds. I had to scale it back to just the tweets as no-one had heard of Tuesday! I’d still love to do something like that, if anyone was interested. There is so much you can do with all the media platforms available.

10. You get onto a train at the tube station. Tuesday is there. What happens? What would she say to you? What would you say to her?

Hard one. Who am I? Am I good? Am I bad? Is she?
What I’d like to say to her is ‘Here is your daughter,’ but that’s not going to happen. Maybe I’d say ‘thank you’.

11. Will we be meeting Tuesday again?

F**k, yes. By hook or by crook she’ll be back in your business.

12. What current project(s) are you working on?

Been working in tandem on a YA time travelling, gender questioning multi world sci-fi book, with swearing; and a thriller that I’m really very excited about which I’m trying to finish because frankly I can’t wait.

13. Do you or will you be attending any of the crime/book festivals? If yes, which ones (not that I am going to stalk you or anything!! ~ translation…YES I AM!)

I will probably go to Harrogate, if anyone fancies a drink? I’ll be the one in the bowler and eye-liner, smoking. Possibly.

14. What question do you wish someone would ask you about your book, but nobody has? And if you could, answer it!

Fab question!

Question. ‘Dear S Williams, we love your book and wonder if you’d like to write an episode of Doctor Who?’ S Moffat (main writer for DW)
Answer. ‘Yes! I have the best idea you could ever want! Dark, scary, socially relevant. No monsters apart from the ones we make, but still need the Doctor! They’ll be talking about it for years!’
‘Great! And while you’re at it how about a Sherlock episode?!’

15. Tuesday uses some interesting weaponry in the book. Can you tell us a bit more about how/why you chose those weapons.

This was a hard one! Really early on I didn’t want Tuesday to be able to buy her weapons from the street, or the dark web. I wanted her to be unique, and wanted her weapons to be unique too. I also didn’t want them to be easily replicable (for obvious reasons).
I love her weapons. I do. I love them. They suit her, don’t they? They frack up the bad guys in just the right way. I can imagine her holding them with her smile, that says ‘how f-cking stupid are you?’

16. How can readers discover more about your book/writing? 

Thank you!
I don’t actually have a Facebook of my own, although I may have to relent at some point! A friend set up a fan facebook site under the name tuesdayfalling. She does the same on twitter.

Myself, my thoughts and other ephemera can be found on my personal Tumblr  and Twitter

Thank you so much for agreeing to do this Q&A. Tuesday Falling is in my Top Reads of 2016 and I hope this is not the last we have seen of her.

Thanks, Noelle! I’m so pleased she ripped it up for you. I’ve really enjoyed the questions! I know you want answers to the questions not yet answered concerning Tuesday’s future, but all I can say is be patient!

S.Williams: Author Post

Character empathy, twisted

How much do you love your partner?
Your wife?
Your husband?
Enough to remember their birthday, or a least remember enough in time to pick some flowers up from the garage? Some chocolate from the minimarket?
Sure.
Maybe even enough to remember your anniversary, the anniversary of your commitment to each other, and get a special gift. Not just some mass produced rubbish, but something that really means something to you both.
A pebble from the beach where you first kissed.
A copy of the film you saw together on your first date.
A Spotify playlist of all those songs that meant everything to you whilst you were courting.
Absolutely.
I mean why not? This is the person you’re going to spend the rest of your life with.
To have and to hold.
For better or worse.
Of course you would.
So here’s the question
Do you love them enough to kill them?
And not just once.
Over and over again. Getting it right.
And not just nicely.
In ways too shocking to come at directly. In situations too heartwrenchingly awful to do anything less than bring you to your knees weeping with the loss and despair of it all.
And then, once you’ve done it, will you share the experience?
Because if you want to move the reader with the violence and the loss and the emotion of a good thriller then they have to believe what you write.
So you have to believe what you write
You have to believe in your characters as much as you believe in the person you love. And when they die it should rip you up inside. Like it would in real life. Like it would if it was your partner.
To make your readers care you have to care.
And for you to care you must suspend your disbelief.
I’m not talking about the fun you can have making the bad guy suffer. The terrible, yet satisfying, ways you can make him rattle his last.
Get her just desserts.
I’m talking about the character we’ve come to love. The person we’ve been allowed to ride shotgun with. Knowing her secrets. Sharing his hopes.
Murdered. Killed in front of us. Being sliced from the page to die in our arms, our tears mingling with the blood as it runs from her body like the saddest of rivers.
Because that’s what it takes.
It takes you everything you’ve got to make that person real.
More than you’ve got.
You’ve got to steal as well. Take your love.
Your girlfriend.
Your parent.
Your child.
None of them are safe from the hurt vampire that is the thriller writer.
You have been warned.