#381 Inside the Emotion of Fiction the eco-thriller AN EXCESS OF by Stuart Aken; published by Fantastic Books Publishing on September 26, 2021
https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/aeo-all-formats.html
What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you finished the piece of fiction? I started the research in earnest in January 2020, and the proof sent to me after final editing by the publisher was dated 20/06/2021.
Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? I do all my writing in my study, which is actually the third bedroom in my home. There, I have a desk for my PC and another for my printer. Behind me, the wall is lined with shelves storing books, including my own 12 volumes, anything for research, several dictionaries, and some books dealing with English grammar. The wall in front of me contains a calendar, the map I drew for my adult epic fantasy trilogy, some pieces of art, including some of my own photographs, a corkboard, and some small shelves carrying odds and ends.
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day? While I used to keep relatively regular hours for writing when I was in employment, since I retired, 12 years ago, I’ve been less disciplined and little freer with my time. But I generally try to write in the mornings, when my creative brain is at its most active. I usually spend around four hours, if possible. I use the keyboard of my PC. I used to listen to music, but where we now live is so peaceful I no longer need that to drown out extraneous sound.
I did once write an entire novel, a thriller, by hand on lined paper. That was long before the PC became available. I re-read that work after 75,000 words, decided it was rubbish, and tore it up!
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer.
From page 72:
Our night had been educational for both of us. It seemed sensible to give him time to come to terms with changed realities. He’d uttered that three-word phrase, so overused and devalued but clearly genuine in this case, in an unguarded moment. How I felt about reciprocating was still unclear. But something more than pure, or even impure, lust lurked in a cloak of partial mystery behind my hopes.
We left Zoe to it as Brody and I came back together after our natural break. In unspoken agreement, we diverted to our night-time spot, the memory of our missed opportunity giving us both a sense of loss, coupled with our individual feelings on the desired solution to the unwanted barrier. Understanding it was still not time for him to move on, I recalled instead the brilliance of the night sky, and let Brody remind me how the sight had almost overwhelmed me on the first night.
‘The stars. Can’t get used to their brightness, the sheer feckin number up there.’ His mention now, under a rising sun, made me stare up into the cerulean dome.
‘It’s only when you’re away from all light pollution you realise what you miss in a city. All those points of light a sun, most with worlds spinning round them. Some must be like ours. We can’t be the only sentient life form to have developed from that amazing conglomeration, can we?’
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? The relationship between the man and woman is central to the story. It had begun under extreme circumstances, when death seemed inevitable for both. But survival has taken some of the sting out of that initial panic and the man, because of his beliefs, has allowed tradition to overcome his natural inclinations. The woman, who is the narrator of the story, has no such inhibitions. But she is conscious of his concerns and doubts, and wise enough not to argue the point with him, confident that time will bring him round to her point of view.
I used the difference between the celestial night display in the city and on the isolated island as a metaphor about the way too much baggage can obstruct our view of reality if we allow it to rule unchallenged.
I am deeply anti-religious, and this passage, part of a much longer conversation, is an attempt to highlight the difference between the mind that relies entirely on faith and the one that is concerned for truth through pragmatism mingled with knowledge of the facts.
Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? And can you please include a photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt. I work as a pantster, which means my editing deletes former passages. I’ve shown the passage above as it appears in the book.
Other works you have published? My first novel was a romantic thriller, Breaking Faith, about a naïve young woman forced to seek work with a noted local stud and learning the truth about her troubled family history as she slowly fell in love.
My second is a sci-fi novella, The Methuselah Strain, is based in an undated future, not too far ahead, when AI has rendered all human work unnecessary and the diminishing human population exist entirely for hedonistic experiences.
I’ve also written an epic adult fantasy trilogy, set in an invented land with invented history, myths and legends. The three volumes run to over 600,000 words, and the story is told through eight voices as it takes the characters on a quest in search of the truth. It’s called ‘A Seared Sky’, and the books are, Joinings, Partings, and Convergence.
My sci-fi trilogy, Generation Mars, deals with the establishment of a human colony on Mars as the Earth becomes an impossible place for humanity to survive. The three books, Blood Red Dust, War Over Dust, and Return To Dust, follow the lives of the genetically enhanced first colonists over a period of five hundred years as the civilisation slowly flourishes, engages in conflict, and eventually is forced to flee the planet when the AI system governing all survival equipment decides it knows better than the humans what is important.
I also have a couple of self-published anthologies, one about gentle romance, Ten Love Tales, and the other, Ten Tales For Tomorrow, dealing with speculative fiction.
And a self-published medical memoir, M.E. and me, detailing my recovery from 10 years of ME/CFS.
Stuart Aken, born to a homeless widowed artist, in a neighbour’s bed, describes himself as a word wrangler. He’s romantic, open-minded, atheistic, and radical. Raised by a creative, loving mother and a step-father who educated him in things natural and worldly, he had what he describes as an idyllic childhood. An author who refuses to be shackled by genre, he’s written romance, thrillers, sci-fi, humour, fantasy, horror, and an autobiographical, self-help memoir, aimed at sufferers from ME/CFS. His fiction is the only place he bends the truth and, after love, remains his raison d’être.
https://bsky.app/profile/stuartaken.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/stuartaken/
