Book Name and Description: I have a story in the Sparks:An electric Anthology, The Final Charge, and another in 12 Days Three French Hens.
Interview Questions:
What gave you the idea for?
For The Final Charge it was simply the thought of Iron Man Getting stuck in his armour when it ran out of power. That evolved to Edge of Tomorrow style exo-suits and then I threw them into a World War One type trench warfare setting.
With Three French hens it was easy. I keep chickens and I knew what little anecdotes I wanted to include. The rest of the story pretty much wrote itself.
What got you into writing in this genre?
I’ve always watched the odd gore film like Saw and Final Destination films and thought that was what horror was. But what really got me was reading my friends CL Raven’s books. Reading their stuff pushed me to explore more horror and the last couple of years have been eye opening for me as I start exploring the genre.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing for about twelve years, but have only been taking it seriously for the last couple of years.
Tell us about your past books and stories?
I’m very much a newbie when it comes to published work but I’ve got a couple of trunk novels. One of which I will be rewriting in the next couple of years, yes its a vampire one but they’re badass.
What is the writing process like for you? What is your writing day like? What have been the biggest influences on your writing?
Writing is some days the most effortless thing I’ve ever done, other days it is like pulling teeth from a disgruntled goat.
On a good day I’ll get up about 5am and write for an hour or two before thinking about work. On Sundays I try to spend the morning writing and so on. That especially seems to work for me.
As for influences. The writers whose work I love the most are Dan Abnett, Scott Sigler and CL Raven. The Forever War books by Joe Haldeman had a real impact on me. Something that is very big in my life is TV shows and films. When I think about how they’ve influenced me then I think about movies like Terminator 2, Predator, Aliens and TV shows like Red Dwarf and Futurama.
What is your favorite book (other than your own book, of course) and why? What book disappointed you and why?
Favourite book depends on the side of the bed I woke up on. Some days it’ll be The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, other days it’ll be Necropolis by Dan Abnett. Two very different books that I love for very different reasons. The Forever War was the first real book I chose to read that looked at society and the impact of going off to war had on someone. With Necropolis, its the idea of being under siege by an enemy that pure chaos (its a Warhammer 40k novel). Its the third book in a long running series and has characters in it I was invested in.
As for disappointed in, if I’m not enjoying a book then I’ll stop reading. The only one that comes to mind I cant recall the name of, but I got halfway through it and thought ‘nope, im done’ and havent picked it up since.
How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?
I think I’ve learned to trust my own voice and not second guess what I’m writing, especially when the words are flowing. I’ve stopped self-editing as I go and I’m trying to focus on having a finished draft which I can then edit.
What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?
I think being able to look back at what you’ve written is a big one with an analytical eye is a big one. I believe in having beta readers and an editor, but I think if we can look over what we’ve done we’ll have a tighter story when we send it off to betas and editors.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?
Write the story you want to write. If it’s something that excites you it’ll excite other people.
How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?
I haven’t looked much into this yet. It’s something i will do once I’ve got my own novel out.
What piece of your own work are you most proud of?
I’ve got a story that I’ve submitted to an anthology called Serial Pensioner that I am especially proud of. Although I am very proud of the stories I’ve had published and accepted that havent been published yet, Serial Pensioner stands out to me because I feel like I levelled up with it. It feels like my most complete story. My beta readers even said it was the best story I’ve written.
For those who haven’t read any of your stories, what story/book of yours do you think best represents your work and why?
I think Three French Hens in 12 Days 2017 gives a touch of my sense of humour in it, but The Last Charge in Sparks:An Electric Anthology is a better reflection of me as it deals with some social elements that I think will be a recurring theme with my work going forward.
What are you doing next?
I am working on a post apocalyptic story and a military science fiction story. If all goes to plan I’ll be submitting the post apocalyptic story to publishers or I’ll got the indie route. I havent decided yet. But that is further along so I’d like to think that will be published sooner rather than later.
What advice would you give aspiring writers?
Find your community. I got better as a writer when I got involved in my local NaNoWriMo group. It helps so much having other writers to speak to and it’s something I’ve always found inspiring. The same can be said since I’ve come into the horror community.
bio:
Peter Germany is a writer of Science Fiction and Horror from Gravesend in Kent who intends to finish a novel, one day.
He is influenced by writers like Dan Abnett, Scott Sigler, CL Raven and Joe Haldeman.
When not pretending to be normal at a day job, he is writing or dealing with a supreme being (a cat), an energetic puppy, and trying to wrangle a small flock of chickens. He also spends an unhealthy amount of time watching good and bad TV and movies.
He has had stories published the anthologies Sparks:An Electric Anthology and 12 Days of Christmas 2017
Links:
Trick or Treat Thrillers 