Meet Iain McChesney!
Iain is a writer of gothic mysteries.
He was born and raised in Scotland. He studied History and Geography at the University of Glasgow.
The World Wars left Iain’s family with generations of widows. As a result, Iain has always been interested in the tangible effects of history on family dynamics and in the power of narrative to awaken those long dead. For the characters in The Curse of Malenfer Manor, he drew on childhood reminiscences and verbal family history—though he hastens to add that his family had barely a penny, far less a manor, and any ghosts dwelt only in memory.
He lives in Vancouver, Canada, with his wife and two children.
A Little Q& A with Iain
Q: What inspired you to write your first novel?
A:
I’ve
always read and enjoyed different genres and what you’d call “the classics” as well. That made
it difficult at first. It wasn’t like I’d
grown up all my life needing to write a cowboy book or anything. What drew me
to write The Curse of Malenfer Manor – a gothic novel – is that it combined
all those bits I liked best. A pinch of horror, a dash of supernatural, a sniff
of the grisly, a stem of romance, a teaspoon of the dark soul in all of us.
Setting civilized people in uncivilized times lets you talk about what matters
in life without boring people to tears.
Q: What books/authors have inspired your life most?
A:
I like books that move. John Buchan’s The
Thirty-Nine Steps, Ken Follett’s Eye of the
Needle. Dan Brown, whatever you think of him, you can’t say his books don’t
move. I tried to keep that always in mind. Whenever I started rambling or
getting flowery with description, I’d tell myself to
put it in gear. I like a lot of different authors, though. I tend to go for the
classics, but I read in genres too. I remember finally reading Bram Stoker’s
Dracula. By that point I had seen dozens of vampire films, seen vampires
on TV, and read of them in other books. Stephen King, Anne Rice, Charlaine
Harris were all good, but Stoker was the best. There was something of the ‘old school’ gothic that really spoke to me. It was
civilized and yet full of dread. Edgar Allen Poe, everyone should read him, and
H.P. Lovecraft’s
short stories.
Q: Whom would you consider a writing mentor(s)?
A:
I don’t belong to any
writing classes and I’m not in group
therapy yet. I suppose I subscribe to the “long lonely suffering” school of pen craft
which has a certain disdain for help.
That being said, I do bounce the occasional idea off trusted guides but
writing is a path walked alone.
Q: What book(s) are you reading now?
A:
I’m one of those
sorts with a half stack of books on my bedside table, some of which I blaze
through, others which takes me years. It’s a fire hazard. haven’t gone over to digital. I am reading
(or not reading) Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age - a cyberpunk
Victoriana nano-technology sci-fi thing that moves, Margaret MacMillan’s The War that
Ended Peace about the realpolitik in Europe up to WWI (I got it for
Christmas in luxurious hard back but isn’t as good as her last one), it doesn’t move, and Eleanor
Catton’s The Luminaries
which won The Booker Prize this year (or was it last?) - I’m having trouble
getting into it. Her stories are
everywhere and tangled - usually something I like a lot. I’m sticking with it.
It seeps of the elusive ‘worth’.
Q: What are your current writing projects?
A: I
was half way through a post-apocalyptic thing for Young Adults when Malenfer
was accepted for publication. That put
it on hold (The Curse needed re-writes and that sort of thing). Then instead of going back to it I ventured
into another idea I had that was more in fitting with the gothic mystery genre.
It is called The Calling (a working title). A remote Scottish Island in
the 1920’s,
owned by a reclusive industrialist. A cast of curious characters arrive,
invited, and pretty soon start to be murdered. The supernatural element
remains, and there may be a cameo or two from some of the Malenfer Manor cast.
One can’t
write mysteries and not be influenced by the late great Agatha Christie. Like
baking a cake, it is at a tender stage. If I open the door it may fall
flat. (Note to self: don’t
open the door.)
Q: What would we find you doing when you're not at
the keyboard?
A: When
I’m not hot air ballooning
and wrestling alligators, I’ve
got two kids and a mortgage to feed. Writing is a part time job. Wrestling
alligators whilst hot air ballooning is the ultimate high.
Q: What are your favorite setting(s) to read/write
about?
A: I’m a Baskin Robbins
kind of reader and writer - do you have those stores where you are? It’s an ice cream shop. 99 flavours of anything. Malenfer had cities and battlefields, but had
many gothic elements which mystery books, horror stories, and forlorn romances
share and enjoy. A castle setting, or a
big family home, preferably somewhere remote. The house is not a prop; it is a
character itself. Its corridors are like arteries, its rooms are organs, and it
keeps secrets and concocts schemes. It has a will. It suffers, or broods, along
with its occupants – something the
weather seems to do too. That is one of my flavours.
Q: If you could be any character in your book(s),
which would you be and why?’
A: You spend a lot of time with all of
them when you write them for a year. I consciously tried to make all of them
flawed – I’m not one for
perfect heroes – so each of them annoy me a little.
There was a time when I was writing the book – about six months in
– when I had to make a major shift and
the protagonist got switched. The ghost used to be the hero –
there
is a ghost, you find that early on, so I’m not giving too
much away – but it wasn’t
working. Partly because of that, my connection to the proper hero, Dermot, is
not what the reader might think. Instead, I reserve my affections for the
villains. After all this time I enjoy their company the most. If you read the
book that should be enough for you to figure out who I’d
choose.
Q: I’m
a potential new fan. Sell me your book in ten words or less.
A: Lost
hero renewed by love, friendship, and revenge. And ghosts!
Brandy Wants to Know
Top
five favorite titles (these do not have to be favorite books)
Hi
Brandy. Five favourite titles? Oooh, and not just books. Hard question. Okay,
let’s do it. In no particular order:
Sergeant
Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club
Band
- I mean, you just would have to pick that thing up.
Jaws - Onomatopoeic and
to the point.
The
Curse of (anything)
- Fill in the blank, because curses are just so sexy.
Jude
the Obscure
- Gets you thinking. Obscure? Obscure ‘bout what? Hardy’s agent was clearly
a trailblazer of social media.
The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the
Galaxy
- Don’t forget to bring
your towel.
Can
I stop now?
Felicia Wants to Know
Top ten books turned to movies. But I’ll go one step
further and say it is my top ten books turned into movies that DID NOT
SUCK. Drumroll please.
Jaws
Cloud
Atlas
The
Iliad
/ Troy (and I don’t even go for Brad
Pitt’s thighs).
Dracula - the Francis Ford
Coppola version.
The
Lord of the Rings
To
Kill a Mockingbird
The
Wizard of Oz
The
Shining
The
Big Sleep
The
Maltese Falcon
Doh! Ten already?
How could you read/watch those and not love books/movies?
Contact Iain
Wayzgoose Site Book Page: http://wayzgoosepress.com/imc.html
The Curse of Malenfer Manor
Synopsis:
Those in line to the Malenfer estate are succumbing to terrible ends - but is it a supernatural legacy at work, or something entirely more human and evil?
Young Irish mercenary Dermot Ward headed to Paris at the close of World War I, where he drinks to forget his experiences, especially the death of his comrade, Arthur Malenfer. But Arthur has not forgotten Dermot. Dead but not departed, Arthur has unfinished business and needs the help of the living.
Upon his arrival at Malenfer Manor, Dermot finds himself embroiled in a mystery of murder, succession, and ambition. Dermot falls in love with the youngest Malenfer, the beautiful fey Simonne, but in his way are Simonne’s mismatched fiancé, her own connections to the spirit world, Dermot’s overwhelming guilt over the circumstances of Arthur’s death… and the curse.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FCP9F4A
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/
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