Andy Darby interview 2

AUTHOR INTERVIEW 2


First of all welcome back for another interview with Feed My Reads as our community really do appreciate you taking the time to do this.


So, our first question is who is your writing hero?

Undoubtedly Michael Moorcock. His influence upon me as a teenager and beyond was massive. I love the writing of R E Howard, Conan was my first reading obsession, but when I discovered Moorcock's Eternal Champion mythos I was hooked. The sword and sorcery genre suddenly became a lot richer and more complex and led me off in other directions of metaphysical thought and study, and novels such as Breakfast In the Ruins, Behold the Man, and Byzantium Endures proved that he is not just a writer about dragons!


Which book or books would you say influenced you the most on your writing journey?

Stormbringer and The Final Programme by Michael Moorcock, The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, and The Táin, Beowulf, and The Mabinogion - I have many different versions of each!


If you could choose one book by someone else that you wish you had written then which would it be and why?

Circe by Madeline Miller. I think that it is the perfect book, closely followed by her Song of Achilles. Beautifully and achingly poetic in its portrayal of the stupidity of men and the pettiness of the gods. Great book!


Who have been your biggest supporters during your writing career to date and what would you like to say to them?

My wife Jane has been a massive help in editing my manuscripts. Given that she doesn't read fiction she has put up with my bizarre nonsense very well!


We all know how important reviews are to authors so if you could speak directly to them what would you say about reviewing books they read?

Please be honest but bearing in mind that regardless of what you think, every author writes what they believe to be original work dragged kicking and screaming from their heart and soul, so please try to treat each review as such. Even a negative review can point an author in the right direction but shouldn't destroy their passion.


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