What inspired you to write your first book? I pictured a character – he had been so traumatized as a child that he had completely cut himself off from his emotions. I wanted to explore whether someone that damaged and flawed, who had done all these horrible things, could possibly find redemption through love. The first line of The Book of Paul is: He practiced smiling.
Who or what influenced your writing once you began? I like crazy Irish and British playwrights. Enda Walsh. Martin McDonagh. Jez Butterworth. They are so courageous, go so far out on a limb, never play it safe, or write to be “liked” – at least it feels that way to me. When I see any of their work, I know I’m going to be taken for a ride. A wild ride. That’s what I want my readers to experience.
Who or what influenced your writing over the years? When I was younger, I loved horror. Then sci-fi. Then mysteries and thrillers. Then literary fiction. I always loved the classics. My writing is very research-intensive so 95% of what I read now is non-fiction related to various topics in my work: science, mythology, history.
What made you want to be a writer? I write stories that I want to read – more than once. I write to entertain myself, first and foremost, but I want to entertain other people too. If I ever start wanting to entertain other people more than myself, I better straighten that out quickly, otherwise I might end up back in advertising, whoring myself out that way.
What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel, or about writing in general? I love to write. If I could be left alone all day long to write or do my research, I’d be the happiest man on the planet. But I have a wife and children and friends and family, so I need to balance my time with the people that matter me to me even more than the work. The hardest thing about writing is not doing it, particularly when all the marketing work that constantly demands attention has to come before the writing itself. If I don’t sell books, there’s no writing career – and no more Happy Richard.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it? The Book of Paul is my first novel, so it taught me a zillion lessons. The most important takeaway was finishing what I started. Even though there are six more volumes in the series!
Have you developed a specific writing style? I keep coming back to the word “voice” even though my “voice” changes with each character. I don’t want to write like anyone else. If I’m truly inhabiting a character, they tell me what to say, and how to say it.
What is your greatest strength as a writer? I think I do a good job of setting a scene with a minimal amount of narrative description. You can’t write a good story without interesting (though not necessarily likeable) characters. If I’ve done well with the character development, the reader should be able to inhabit them in the scene and actively participate in the action.
Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it? I rarely get blocked. When I do, it’s usually over a plot point I can’t figure out. Long walks really help with that.
Can you share a little of your current work with us? I’m working on the other volumes in the Paul series and I’m just finishing a YA fantasy called the Dream Palace. I wanted to write something my children could read before they’re adults.
How did you come up with the title? I’ve often had dreams of a place I keep coming back to – a gigantic palace where I know my way around, even though I know I’ve never been there in the real world. So the basic premise is that maybe there are places in the dream world that are “real” in the sense that they can be visited over and that the experience can be shared by more than one person. When I began having lucid dreams, which really challenged my whole idea of what “reality” might be in the dream world and also in our so-called physical world that we think of as so defined and predictable.
“Everything you’ve ever believed about yourself…about the description of reality you’ve clung to so stubbornly all your life…all of it…every bit of it…is an illusion.”
In the rubble-strewn wasteland of Alphabet City, a squalid tenement conceals a treasure “beyond all imagining”– an immaculately preserved, fifth century codex. The sole repository of ancient Hermetic lore, it contains the alchemical rituals for transforming thought into substance, transmuting matter at will…and attaining eternal life.
When Rose, a sex and pain addicted East Village tattoo artist has a torrid encounter with Martin, a battle-hardened loner, they discover they are unwitting pawns on opposing sides of a battle that has shaped the course of human history. At the center of the conflict is Paul, the villainous overlord of an underground feudal society, who guards the book’s occult secrets in preparation for the fulfillment of an apocalyptic prophecy.
The action is relentless as Rose and Martin fight to escape Paul’s clutches and Martin’s destiny as the chosen recipient of Paul’s sinister legacy. Science and magic, mythology and technology converge in a monumental battle where the stakes couldn’t be higher: control of the ultimate power in the universe–the Maelstrom.
The Book of Paul is the first of seven volumes in a sweeping mythological narrative tracing the mystical connections between Hermes Trismegistus in ancient Egypt, Sophia, the female counterpart of Christ, and the Celtic druids of Clan Kelly.
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Genre – Paranormal Thriller / Dark Fantasy
Rating – R
Connect with Richard Long on Facebook & Twitter
Website http://www.thebookofpaul.com/
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