Mike Wild
Interview by Jim Dodge.
Now I don’t plan to go too deeply into the above mentioned book here in the introduction. I’ve already written a review here at Mass Movement so if you want to read my thoughts on the CK of O then you can check the MM archives HERE . It is an awesome book so you should rush to Amazon, Ebay or wherever you need to go to pick up a copy. If you want to learn a bit more about Mr. Wild, then keep reading right here. Hopefully this interview will be every bit as interesting as the man himself!
MM; Thank you for your time today! I trust this finds you well. How are the plans for the release of Twilight of Kerberos: Crucible of the Dragon God coming? How soon until readers can delve into this follow up of The Clockwork King of Orl?
Mike: Hi, Jim. Actually, it finds me (if easily offended, turn away now) slumped at my desk in my underpants, drinking Perry at half one in the morning, unable to sleep because of the heat-wave. Having given you too much information on that Y-front, I am pleased to report that Crucible is already on bookshop shelves and I am now working on its follow up, The Engines of Apocalypse. That one should be on the shelves spring 2010.
MM: I know I kind of painted you as a sissy in the lead-up but in truth your writing resume is impressive and, other than ‘My Little Pony’, not gay at all. In your mind, have your successes outweighed your failures? If you had a choice would you still have done work with My Lil P?
Mike: Oh, I’ll write anything as long as they pay me. Total mercenary hack. I’ve always gone for skiffy, fantasy or horror as a preferred genre, though, because of my lifelong interest in same and, I suppose, the fact that I now have 6 genre novels published probably means that successes have outweighed failures, yes. Not that I really consider any of my non-genre work to be ‘failures’ – they all helped to get me where I am now. But would I go back to My Lil P? No. No. And thrice no.
MM: You mention in your bio your distaste for the string of menial jobs you previously performed. If you weren’t a rich, famous and dreadfully talented writer, what do you think you’d be doing for a living?
Mike: Nope, never called them menial or viewed them with distaste. I only said I was crap at them: something in the way my brain’s wired, so it’s my fault not theirs. If I were a rich, famous and dreadfully talented writer I wouldn’t give a toss about what I’d be doing instead but, as I’m not, I do sometimes regret not staying with my University Anthropology course, where I suppose I could have become the living embodiment of Kali Hooper. Without the nice arse, of course … though my wife tells me otherwise.
MM: What one question would you like to be asked that no one’s ever asked you? What’s the answer to that question?
Mike: ‘Would you be willing to inherit the island paradise hideaway of your hitherto unsuspected uncle, the master assassin Francisco Scaramanga, to do with what you will?’ Oh, go on, I suppose so. But I’d change the shooting gallery/hall of mirrors into a holodeck with a fully 3D Baldur’s Gate/Knights of the Old Republic program, and dump Mary Goodnight in favour of Amanda Plummer or Jedi Bastila as illustrated by Quoom. Alternatively, would I like to live out the rest of my days in Gandalf’s house in Hobbiton, drinking wine and watching grass sway in the breeze outside? No. Wait, yes.
Mike Wild
MM: How often do you write? Is it an every day affair or just when you have a bit of inspiration? Are there any steps you take to get the old creative juices flowing?
Mike: Every day – because sadly, I don’t get paid half a million a book. There are days when I am less inspired than others, however, and at such times I retire with pen and paper to my other office, the local pub, a quiet, friendly haven where I slowly marinade my writer’s block in pints of bitter. I’m generally back on the ball after four or five.
MM: So you’re turning 50 soon? What’s it like to be staring a half-century directly in the face? I know I freaked out just turning 30! Do you feel like you’ve managed to accomplish what you set out to accomplish by this time?
Mike: It was originally going to be a ‘Fuck me, I’m fifty!’ party but this had to be changed because of over-excitable friends. It summed my feelings up better, though – hang on, where did all that time go? Me, in my bedroom at my parents’ house, reading my American comics collection, drawing my plans for a new “Man From U.N.C.L.E.” headquarters with really devious anti-THRUSH traps or playing with Major Matt Mason (no sniggering, child) seems like five – well, maybe fifteen – minutes ago. Also, I do actually still feel as young now as I did then; I just need to sleep more. I’m actually pleased to be 50 because being so allowed me to experience first hand the golden age of telly fantasy, the thrill of hunting down missing comics on newsagents’ (always different) Thorpe and Porter racks, and to go play in swamps, derelict air raid shelters or abandoned cinemas without some prick telling me there was ‘danger of death’, maybe by being concussed by a conker. It’s all different now – everything’s available, everything’s the same wherever you go, and there’s nowhere to explore that gives you the feeling of a true adventure, even if you did have to go home for tea. Frankly, I despair where the imaginations of the future are going to come from. Sorry, sound like an old git. Have I accomplished what I wanted to by this time? Have I bollocks. But then, I never really knew what I wanted to accomplish – I’m just grateful that what I’m doing now gives me the chance to keep my imagination young.
MM: What’s left on your to-do list of life? Do you think you’ll manage to complete that list before you die another half-century from now?
Mike: Never had a to-do list, really – things just kinda happened. And I hope they still will. I would, however, like to travel America by train, stopping off wherever the mood takes me. Also, if I ever get that elusive bestseller, I’d buy a country pub – my own Here there Be Flagons. On that subject, I would also restore smoking to pubs, even if I could only do so by warping reality with my own incandescent rage at the ludicrous and unnecessary ban.
MM: What’s the best comment you’ve ever gotten about your work from your wife? What’s the worst? Which one helped your writing most?
Mike: We have talked about this and can remember nothing specific. Paraphrasing, probably the best is “Wow!” (talking about the Old Race elevator in Clockwork King), and probably the worst, “This is shite … are you pissed?”. The cat, meanwhile, always stares half balefully, half hungrily on, eyes fixed on the printout the wife reads, wishing she could eat my words. She probably puts it in its rightful place in the cosmic scheme of things.
MM: With a new book on the way out, you probably want to talk about that for a little while. Will you tell us what Twilight of Kerberos: Crucible of the Dragon God is about and where the idea came from?
Mike: Each Twilight character’s second book will take the overall Kerberos story arc a little further, and that’s the case here. This time Kali’s out to stop something from a different age in her world’s history, when Old Race technology was more advanced. What she finds as a result I would spoil the ending by telling but you get lots more hints of what’s happened in the past and what’s - literally - to come. It doesn’t leave Hooper happy. The idea was borne out of a passing reference in our official ‘world bible’ – something which when I first read it I thought, “Oh yeah, I wanna play with that …”
MM: Of all the things you’ve ever written, what’s your favorite? Have you ever considered writing a Lifetime (channel for women) movie starring Meredith Baxter Birney?
Mike: No, gods no, but I did once try to sell a Mills & Boon romance about a fireman - called, would you believe it, The Fire in his Eyes. I think my favourite so far has to be Clockwork King – I knew it was going to be something special as soon as the title and the character of Ms Hooper popped into my head. It’s a pleasure to go adventuring with her.
MM: What project would you like to tackle next? How much do you think it will change from its initial conception to its eventual release?
Mike: I deliver the next Kali Hooper in December and I think there might then be a gap before the 4th in her adventures, so the other Twilight characters can do their thing. Maybe during the gap, if they want me, I’ll tackle a different Abaddon book or one or two other long-standing projects, one of which is a pitch for a revival of a lesser known 1960s TV series which, done as it deserved to be done then, will, I think, go down a storm. But who knows what’ll happen – between conception and eventual release, things always mutate.
MM: Is it fun for you to see how a project develops or do you find it frustrating when editors or producers muck up your work? How often do they just really piss you off?
Mike: Actually, I do find it fun, yeah. The transformation from initial pitch to finished product, on the Abaddon Books, anyway, takes six or seven months, and putting together the cover blurb, deciding on the artwork etc punctuates the time quite nicely, so you feel you’re heading somewhere rather than just being stuck in front of a keyboard. Some publishers have mucked up or pissed me off in the past but I’m happy to say that’s not the case with these novels – Abaddon lets you be very hands-on, and we’re on the same wavelength.
MM: What’s your favorite color? What’s your favorite American sitcom? How much money is in your wallet right now?
Mike: Green. Don’t really watch ‘em these days but I used to be an avid follower of ‘Cheers’. Three thousand one hundred and twenty five of your Earth Pennies.
MM: Thank you, Mr. Wild, for submitting to one more of my short and mostly pointless interviews! I’m currently waiting for my copy of Twilight of Kerberos: Crucible of the Dragon God and am looking forward to writing the review! Good luck and send any future therapy bills to my lawyers!
Mike: Hope you enjoy, Jim. By the way, I know it’s an old one but Mr. Wild was my dad. Thanks for your interest!
