This month we are featuring Mr. Andrew Harding, author of Split Decision and the newly released Critical Moments, books one and two, respectively, of his Hybrid Series.
Andrew Harding, Author
Minnie met Andrew on Twitter after he commented on one of my first Pink Diamond Interviews. They soon began a twitter friendship that continues to this day. After Minnie and I read an excerpt of Split Decision, we just had to purchase a copy to read, and let me tell you; 50 Shades’ “50 shades of fuckedupness” has nothing on Harvey and Alison!
As is our practice, today, we’ll spend some time getting to know Andrew and what makes him tick. Tomorrow, he’ll spend some time with you all without any meddling from me! J
Andrew, welcome! Thank you for joining us!! Are you ready to be put in the hot seat? Please get comfortable and we’ll begin.
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to begin writing The Hybrid Series.
The first books I wrote were a trilogy, and no one could be more shocked than me that I had to write three books to tell the whole story. I’d done nothing with the trilogy & didn’t know if they were even fit to read by anyone else, having never written anything apart from cheques since I left school. That first chapter was something that happened to me but I wasn’t satisfied with it. I scrapped it and wrote it again from a seventeen year old girl’s point of view. The fun began and whatever I thought of was typed, no matter how obscure as I’d no idea where any of it was going, and just before I finished the trilogy, to give me some thinking time for a compelling ending, I wrote the first five thousand words of the first crime book in the series, Split Decision and then finished the trilogy. Before I embarked on the series, my sister, who’d read the first two of the books said she thought I should write something with some guts to it and after writing something so weird I knew that was the path I’d take from then on because it was thrilling. I had the first chapter laid down and there was no stopping me from then on.
Could you give us some background on the stories within your Hybrid series?
Harvey and Alli are the main characters in the series and some would think I’m demented when I say it’s a love story, but that’s exactly what it is. Through the first book, Alli has so many of the doubts about her life sorted out and she joins Harvey in his detective work for her hyper-sensitive telepathy. They are hybrids, half human- half vampire. They feel no pain, only pleasure and they embark on a love affair where the physical side would kill most humans, but to them it’s normal. The police forgive them anything for their talents. Harvey heads the murder squad and they mainly deal with serial murders that are over-running the country.
What kind of feedback are you getting insofar as the graphic material is concerned and are you concerned about it?
I have to say I expected a lot of flack about the books as not many writers have crossed the boundaries I have, writing such graphic erotica in the series. I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from everyone on Twitter where I promo the series. Other writers return my tweets which I didn’t expect. I’ve had a few follows who have asked if I’ve tried anything like it. Chance would be a fine thing if I had the bloody energy. I’ve just enjoyed writing the books and looked at some of my previous night’s work, nearly passed out and left it all in. If I did get any negative remarks, it’s all good publicity and would make people look to see what was in them, so no, now, I’m not bothered.
Taken from amazon.com, here is a very thorough, unedited review on Split Decision, written by Stauroylla Papadoupoulo:
"First i like to say that this is not an ordinary book, if you think that you read everything about BDSM sex then you're wrong cause this book can take you beyond that, and the reason its because we are not talking about 2 simple humans but about hybrids, half Vampire half human.
There is nothing simple about the two main character of that book.Not the way the fall in love,no the way the make sex,not even their job.
Mr Harding's writing is so vivid and accurate that can make you feel like you actualy been in every murder scene.Some of those scenes give me the chills.
So now about the sex even if you are not into this kind of sex,you will enjoy this book, because the writer's imagination is enormous.
Allthough i believe this book it should write on the cover "Don't try this at Home-Extremely dangerous for Human Beings", i would definitely read the next book of this series."
Kudos Mr. Harding!
The second book in this series, Critical Moments, was recently released. Congratulations! Can you tell us a bit about what you have in store for Alison and Harvey in this bit?
Critical Moments was started an hour after I finished the first book in the Hybrid Series. I wanted more characters to come into the story and began with that to make the book richer. More join their family later in the book which boosts it even more. Harvey and Alli invite them to live in their home as hybrids have to stick together and Harvey supplies them with their blood requirements. The crimes they deal with in that book are horrendous and aimed at young men, either gay, suffering with gender dysphoria or heterosexual. Trying to solve it brings home a crime no one expected, to shock them all, police and hybrids alike.
When will the next story in the Hybrid series release?
Devil’s Dyke is ready for the editor now but he’s editing Parity, the last book in the (Spirit) trilogy. The first two, Spirit and Force, are ebooks on Amazon and both have 5 star reviews. Once that is finished Devil’s Dyke will be his next job and after that Wet Daddy, (both in the Hybrid series), so it could be a few months before the third book in the Hybrid series is out, maybe less.
Are you working on any other stories apart from the Spirit series?
Not really. To whet peoples' appetites for the series, I’m writing a hybrid book on my website, He Who Shall Not Be Named; strange title for a horror, but that’s what this is. A new cell of hybrids are introduced and they will meet some of the characters from the series. I have to keep it clean but that doesn’t mean it will be boring and I see around 400 hits per day. That rockets when I upload another chapter and hopefully by the time this is printed Chapter 5 will have been added. I have lots of ideas for more books in the hybrid series, listed on a file on my PC, but they will have to wait a while before I’ll have the time to write them.
Minnie was asked the following question during an interview she once did, and I thought it was a great question, so I will ask it here: If we were to observe you in the act of writing, what would we see?
You’d see me in an armchair as I couldn’t sit at a desk for 18 hrs a day. I have my PC on a small table I pull over my lap. Every available space around me holds books that I may need to research from as well as the staple standard dictionary, a thesaurus, a quotations dictionary and tons of others pertaining to writing in some form or other.
Do you plot your stories or are you a pantser??
I’m a panster and always will be. Plotting would take away the fun as I’ve no idea where each book is going and for me that’s the biggest thrill of all. As I said before, I type whatever comes into my head and as with the trilogy, something that happened to Leah (in the Spirit Series), very early on in the first book, became relevant near the end of the second one. You never know what link you may be trashing if you cut things to the quick. I edit, of course I do, to make them read fast but I leave quirky things in as I’ve learned how valuable they could become maybe fifty thousand words, or more, later.
Tell us about your process when writing your stories: do you edit as you go along? Do you play music in the background? Pray tell J
I have to have silence, nothing else works for me. I tackle the series in the same way as I did the trilogy. I had a sentence with an idea and a title, nothing more. In the trilogy I wrote mainly in dialogue and I’ve carried that on as it’s immediate and the characters have a voice and they tell the story, not me. I have to be very disciplined with the series because they all have a great ending but run on from one to the other and the characters may chat about something three books back and I have to know exactly where to find it. Trawling through text, trying to find something, to keep the continuity flowing would take up to much time. I have a small book and write chapter and page, when a new character is mentioned in the books. These are crime books and they have to be believable. They come across all walks of life and the dregs of society. The crimes are more horrendous as the books pile up and they have to use more of their gifts to solve them.
Do you ever get writer’s block? If so, how do you handle it?
So far, and I touched wood before I typed this, I’ve not had writers block. My books take in such a diverse list of genres that I haven’t run out of ideas and just wait seconds for something to pour out. That’s the only way to describe it and I count myself fortunate on that score.
And now, we come to my favorite part of the interview! Liptonisms!!!
What are your favorite/least favorite curse words? I know! That’s two questions, but this is MY blog! :)
Fuck & the least C---. Can’t even type it, I hate it so much.What are your favorite/least favorite curse words? I know! That’s two questions, but this is MY blog! :)
Who or what do you most admire?
Russell Blake. @BlakeBooks on Twitter. If I had a fraction of his knowledge of words I’d be ecstatic. I’d never read a thriller. I’d never watched a film that did them justice, and my reading taste was always for the weird side of life. After reading his parody How to sell a Gazillion Books in No Time at All (and if you want a laugh from beginning to end, that’s the book to have on your kindle); I tweeted him to say how hilarious it was. He offered The Geronimo Breach as a good read and one of his favorite books. That was the first thriller I’d ever paid for and read. From the first paragraph, the book and Blake’s writing, had me hooked and I read it in a day. I couldn’t wait to read what came next and that will always be the book, I believe, that would make a terrific film. He’s a genius wordsmith but that’s not all, he’s helped me so much as a new author. I’m indebted to him as he gave me the backbone to stand up to the publishers and ebook them myself after a nightmare year.
If you had to choose one superhuman power, what would it be and how would you use it for the better good? Again, this is my blog :)
I hope people don’t think I’ve lost the plot when I divulge this; to be more psychic than I am. You see, my interest in the paranormal has never just been a whim. If you ever read Spirit’s first chapter and I know I changed the character to a seventeen year old girl, but that really did happen and it was the first time I truly came to terms with it – then it stopped freaking me out. But what good it would do anyone, I’ve no idea.
If you could time travel to any time period, which would that be?
To the seventeenth century in the time of William & John Hunter. The first surgeons who tried to make a difference to the barbaric operations doctors in the London hospitals performed on the poor sods that ended up in their care. The book I once had, read like a horror story only it wasn’t fiction. There’s a museum in one of the hospitals dedicated to them and one day I’ll try to go there, if it’s open to the public.
When is your favorite time of day?
I live my life on US time mostly, as I have more follows over there than in UK on Twitter. I also find the small hours the best time to write. The ideas flow easily and I write the more graphic content at night. I know what will have flashed into your minds; the erotica. NO. The crime scenes; I try to feel, think and write every emotion they have when confronted with the abominations that people do to each other and believe me, I've cried writing some of those scenes and I’m gutted when reading them over and over to make sure I’ve missed nothing.
What would friends say is your best trait?
I’m very rarely negative about anything and I think being that way has helped me deal with illness and hey, I’m still here!
Ha! Ha! Yes you are!!
Ok, chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate all the way!
Words of Wisdom:
Do you have any words of wisdom that you could offer up to aspiring writers?
Write every day, no matter how small and try to attain something to be proud of. A few hundred words of a great creation knocks spots off thirty thousand words of rubbish no one would be interested in. It’s not quantity but quality. If you aren’t sure that something wouldn’t sound right, read it out loud and you’d hear and understand what a reader would think of it. I don’t care if I have to work on a few hundred words for a whole weekend, until I have it to the best of my ability. Use a thesaurus constantly. It’s the only book I bought brand new because I couldn’t find one that held enough words, anywhere else. The rest I've used have come from a quality, charity, second hand book shop where the volunteer staff know what quirky books might be of interest to me and keep them to one side. I make sure I go in every week or phone if I can’t. Those shops will save you a small fortune and unless you know your subject, to the nth degree, for the book you’re writing, you need reference books.
You can’t just wing it. One of your readers will certainly have more knowledge on the subject than you and find gaping holes in the book and you’ll end up with a bad review. Even in Divination, a word to encapsulate the whole of the supernatural and occult subjects, you need to research as everyone has their own opinion on it. One subject I haven’t delved into or never would is Wicca. The whole thing scares the hell out of me.
Very sage advice, Mr. Harding. I must say, this has been a real pleasure! Thank you for spending time with Minnie and I and allowing us to share this interview with our mutual followers!
Andrew Harding will be back tomorrow with a guest post on....
Oh, I'm not going to tell you! You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out! In the meantime, visit with Andrew at his media sites:
And here are links to Andrews books:
The Hybrid Series
The Spirit Trilogy:
So, people! Until next time, this is, Sinner Reems...... signing off!
I enjoy the HYBRID series too! And from what I've picked up telepathically (only half kidding) Spirit seems very enticing as well... And concerning medicine in the seventeenth century--- there's a macabre, old museum on a little side street in Philadelphia called THE MUTTER MUSEUM OF MEDICAL PRACTICE AND PHYSICAL ODDITIES (may not have it exactly right, but close enough). It's a real nineteenth century rogues' gallery of hellish 'tools' and weird preserved ghouls...well, not really ghouls, just poor, deformed fetuses and decapitated heads. Don't go before lunch.... Now let me spend a few CRITICAL MOMENTS with the second book in Mr. Harding's series...... like The 'X' Men for literate, thinking (and dare I say 'sensual' adults)...
ReplyDeleteOh Mr. Kravitz! You have a way with words AND a sense of humor! Andrew's one of my fave tweeple!
DeleteThanks for the comment and the visit!
P.S. I'll have to make my way to The Mutter Museum of Medical Practice and Physical Oddiities!!
♥ I can totally relate!
ReplyDeleteI Love the words U use2 express Urself ...
~Special Blessings of Love2U ...
~Debbie:)
Hi Deborah!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your good wishes and your visit. Come back soon!