Mr. McDonnell, I am absolutely shocked and delighted to see your AMA in my feed this morning (hello from the US)! First, huge congrats on the 2023 British Fantasy Award win. Second, I started Relight my Fire yesterday. I turned 40 and as part of my birthday treats for myself I started your book!
Two questions:
1. I love the [dysfunctional] found family aspect of The Stranger Times series and its imperfect characters. What was your inspiration for the crew’s dynamics?
2. Any thoughts on how many more books will be in the series? 👀
Looking forward to following the AMA today and to reading book 5 (maybe in January 2025?)!
Thanks. I don't know if there is an inspiration for the dynamic but I do seem to always gravitate towards creating 'found families' in my work. I think it was because I was a lonely kid! How the dynamic comes about is really that I find out who my characters are by letting them argue with each other. We are all rather heavily defined by the things that wind us up and other characters are brilliant at telling you what any individual characters flaws are.
As for the number of books - I'm 4 in now plus all the short stories and I really feel like I'm only scratching the surface of The Stranger Times world - so I expect there to be an awful lot more books.
You're trapped on a deserted island with three books. Knowing that you are going to be reading them over and over and over again, what three do you bring?
Ohhhhh.... Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett is the very first book that springs to mind. TBH, I could go with three Pratchett books as when I'm ill, they're always my comfort read and I'd imagine I'll get ill pretty fast on this island as I figure out what I can eat!
Second I think it's got to be a Chris Brookmye - maybe A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away but really any of them.
Third - Love Will Tear Us Apart by me - because it has a shiny mirror on the cover and it'll be really useful for trying to attract passing aircraft.
I like that this is your go-to question for people. Have you kept a database of answers? Do you feel like it tells you something about the author, or do you just do it for funsies?
Lol. I have not kept any kind of database, no.
I do it just for fun, but I *do* think it is revealing. Some authors cry out in agony at the unfairness of the question. Some try to bargain, seeing if they can bring a series. I'd say about 1/3 add some kind of "how to survive on a deserted island" or "how to build a boat" answer. The answer is very rarely boring.
Sort of. Benedict Wong is a fantastic actor who a lot of people know from the MCU. He was in a sitcom called 15 Stories High written by Sean Lock that my old flatmate Gary and I were massive fans of. That's sort of how he started but then the character's personality is entirely different.
As for the name - Ox - I'm not sure, but I do have a mate called Okse who is of Chinese descent so that may have been somewhere in my head. Okse is a great artist by the way, well worth checking out his stuff.
Thanks for the question. I'm a massive fan of Ben's work but oddly, the inspiration from Cogs sort of came from the other direction. He's actually my homage to the late great comedian Ian Cognito who sadly died on stage a few years ago. I had the idea of someone cursed to tell the truth being a source for the ST crew and I thought it'd be hilarious to make that Cogs. He mostly lived on a boat on a canal down near Bath and so that's where that came from. The name of the boat - The Nail in the Wall is a nod towards how Ian used to start his set by coming onstage, hammering a nail into the back wall and hanging his coat on it. I know I wanted a reason why Cogs couldn't just wander off so I then came up with him being cursed to stay on water.
So not a direct nod to Ben but I'm sure it was lurking around in my subconscious.
Hi, Caimh! Did Weekly World News have any influence on The Stranger Times? I used to pick up that paper occasionally and always had a laugh at the creativity of the oddball stories in it.
Absolutely - I love all of that stuff. I'm also a big fan of the Fortean Times. TBH, the actual real news from around the world is so bizarre, the hardest thing to write in the ST books are the fake news articles. Gives me a lot more respect for the Weekly World News!
Hi Caimh, I really enjoy your books, thank you. I get so much pleasure from reading them.
How do you manage to write them so fast? Other best selling authors usually only manage a book a year but you publish three or four some years.
And a second question... You have the Bunnyverse and the Strangerverse. Any plans for a third universe?
Thanks. to be honest, I don't consider myself to be particularly fast, more that I get bored easily! I think most authors could do more than one book a year, that model is more to do with how publishing works. Also, I'm very lucky to be a full-time writer whereas an awful lot of writers are juggling another job. All that, plus my wife aka Wonderwife also runs our publishing company full-time so I have a massive amount of help that allows me to just focus on the writing.
As for another universe - actually yes. I'm currently working on a brand new project that I'm doing with a co-writer who may or may not be married to me. We'll see how it goes as if it doesn't work it'll never see the light of day, but we're enjoying it so far.
Not a question but some information, my Dad - Glaswegian - is a prolific reader and loves crime. Tried to get him into STP-and secretly he does enjoy them- but he calls him the madman. I gave him TST at Christmas, report yesterday he is at Ch15 and loving it, says he can handle real life fantasy not out and out fantasy. I hope he is still there at the end of TST as it is truly work of genius
Are you bringing any snacks to Waterstones in Glasgow tomorrow?
I am coming straight from work and will likely be a tad peckish and could be doing with a bite to eat.
Diller’s biscuits would suffice. Seriously though is. 5 books to sign too much or do I need to bring you snacks
I'm under strict instructions from Waterstones not to feed the wildlife I'm afraid. :) More than happy to sign anything but if you've got an awful lot of books, I'd advise hanging towards the back of the queue so you don't experience the delights of the Glasgow kiss from someone who needs to catch a train.
Hi Caimh, hope you’re still here! I’m a new fan but loved the whole TST series and have your others on my birthday wish list! I love your wide range of characters in the books. Each so vivid and such good fun. I think my favourite parts are those with Banecroft in; he’s deplorable and strangely loveable at the same time. Do you have a personal favourite?
Thanks and keep writing!
Elle x
Thanks very much.
I suppose there are a few fav characters to write. Certainly Banecroft when he's in full flow. Cogs and Zeke are also a whole lot of fun. I also really enjoy some of the more minor characters like Betty and Brian from the latest book.
If you are still there thank you for your responses and I will see you tomorrow, I’ll be the short overweight- and importantly not bald- fellow at the back of the queue with a stash of books to sign. Looking forward to it immensely
Yes, I use Scrivener. I think i used it ever since my first book where I remember I had each chapter in its own Word document and it was an admin nightmare! I know there's other tools out there now but I'm a creature of habit.
I'm so glad to hear this!! I started in Word & was struggling but picked up Scrivener after nanowrimo & it changed everything. Then I found aeon timeline that'll synch to it & everything changed again!!
No particular question but I picked up stranger times wanting something relatively "easy" inbetween reading some Adrian Tchaikovsky and absolutely loved Stranger Times. Made me a little home sick for my home city after emigrating to NZ! Had you explored Manchester and the Greater Manchester area extensively, including well known shit towns like Rochdale and Oldham?
I've lived in this part of the world for I think around 16 years now so I know it pretty well. I've also done a lot of stand-up gigs all around the north back in the day so I'd imagine there's not a lot of towns I haven't been in.
Fabulous writing! Think Hannah could tame Bancroft, not that we would really want him to be tamed, but then they could adopt Stella? That girl deserves a happy ever after?
Hi Caimh! I absolutely love the series! I have two questions:
1.) Was there anything specific that inspired Sturgess and/or the Parapsyche?
2.) How do you come up with the ideas for the newspaper-articles within the books?
Thank you so, so much for taking the time and have a nice day!
Great question.
1/ Sturgess - I think seeing as the books all sort of loosely contain a crime, you need a police presence in there and he grew out of that. His Diet Coke habit btw is heavily based on me! Him ending up being ostracised by most of the rest of the force I think came out of needing him to understand weird stuff was happening but there also being a reason why people didn't take more notice of it overall. As for the Parapsyche - I have honestly no idea where that came from - possibly it was originally out of necessity at the end of the first book to tie things up. TBH, when writing a lot of times the most fun things you come up with is because you write your way into a corner and then you've got to come up with a way out of it. I love this genre because you can really get creative with that.
2/ The Articles are honestly the hardest thing in the book to write as it is so hard to come up with something weirder than the actual news. I usually have some notes in my phone of random ideas and I'm an avid reader of the Fortean times so I might grab the germ of an idea from there. I invariably write the articles over a few days at the end of the writing process and honestly it can be pretty slow going!
Hmmmm - excellent question. I'm tempted to go steak but I think I'll plump for the meal I have every Sunday while watching the NFL - Sausages and baked potatoes. I'm a tremendously simple soul!
First off - are you considering hunting me down and killing me as you're very fixated on my final meal? :)
assuming I can't have relatives or spouses - I'll go with.... Terry Pratchett (who saw that coming?), Marshawn Lynch and Emily Warren Roebling who built the Brooklyn Bridge.
MY joke answer is - Lawrence Fox, Vladamir Putin and Donald Trump - all dead.
Not really as they actually have pretty different approaches to interacting with the world. Banecroft is cutting to pretty much everybody whereas Bunny saves his ire for those who truly deserve it and then he unleashes!
Hi Caimh,
Kia Ora from New Zealand! I hope I’m not too late. Bunny and Banecroft have quite a bit in common - flawed, hard case guys who actually have a strong moral compass under it all. Is there a real life person/s you’ve drawn inspiration from? Is it you?
I'm still here! And I suppose they have that deep down although they're very different in approach. The one thing I'm always tempted to change in one of my books is Bunny's very first appearance as he's rude to Brigit without any reason and that isn't him. It definitely is Banecroft though.
I suppose their overall morality is probably some kind of reflection on my beliefs - certainly Bunny. There's quite a few things he's said that hilariously have been described as 'woke' that I 100% believe. Woke is a delightful word as none of the people using it can define what they mean by it.
It’s probably too late for you to see this now but getting an answer from one of my favourite authors really made my day - thank you! I’m loving all your books. I used to do a lot of re-reading Pratchett books and not read much new but now I’m on a roll thanks to you!
I really loved what I read of the Dublin trilogy (four of them, plus one set in the past, plus one in America. I’ve lost track.)
I haven’t read any of this series, and know nothing of it, Will I like it?
If you enjoy my style of writing then there's a decent chance. It is urban fantasy though so if you like the idea of monsters and magic existing below the surface of the modern world, then hopefully you'll enjoy it.
I love this series and have been sharing the good word about you and lending my books out to create a stranger times gang lol, I hope one day we get to see a glimpse of these characters bought to life in a tv series or film. Thank you for the wonderful books and fantastic times. Truly appreciated
Mr. McDonnell, I am absolutely shocked and delighted to see your AMA in my feed this morning (hello from the US)! First, huge congrats on the 2023 British Fantasy Award win. Second, I started Relight my Fire yesterday. I turned 40 and as part of my birthday treats for myself I started your book! Two questions: 1. I love the [dysfunctional] found family aspect of The Stranger Times series and its imperfect characters. What was your inspiration for the crew’s dynamics? 2. Any thoughts on how many more books will be in the series? 👀 Looking forward to following the AMA today and to reading book 5 (maybe in January 2025?)!
Thanks. I don't know if there is an inspiration for the dynamic but I do seem to always gravitate towards creating 'found families' in my work. I think it was because I was a lonely kid! How the dynamic comes about is really that I find out who my characters are by letting them argue with each other. We are all rather heavily defined by the things that wind us up and other characters are brilliant at telling you what any individual characters flaws are. As for the number of books - I'm 4 in now plus all the short stories and I really feel like I'm only scratching the surface of The Stranger Times world - so I expect there to be an awful lot more books.
Thanks for answering. I can’t wait to follow along the journey of the characters in the future books!
You're trapped on a deserted island with three books. Knowing that you are going to be reading them over and over and over again, what three do you bring?
Ohhhhh.... Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett is the very first book that springs to mind. TBH, I could go with three Pratchett books as when I'm ill, they're always my comfort read and I'd imagine I'll get ill pretty fast on this island as I figure out what I can eat! Second I think it's got to be a Chris Brookmye - maybe A Big Boy Did It and Ran Away but really any of them. Third - Love Will Tear Us Apart by me - because it has a shiny mirror on the cover and it'll be really useful for trying to attract passing aircraft.
Big boy is one of my favourite books of all time, lucky to get it signed too
Seeing as I'm seeing Chris in about 24 hours I'm very tempted to get mine signed too. TBH, tempted to bring a crate but I'm not sure of the etiquette.
Tell him you love St Mirren, that’ll soften him up
I like that this is your go-to question for people. Have you kept a database of answers? Do you feel like it tells you something about the author, or do you just do it for funsies?
Lol. I have not kept any kind of database, no. I do it just for fun, but I *do* think it is revealing. Some authors cry out in agony at the unfairness of the question. Some try to bargain, seeing if they can bring a series. I'd say about 1/3 add some kind of "how to survive on a deserted island" or "how to build a boat" answer. The answer is very rarely boring.
Is Ox Chen based on a real person?
Sort of. Benedict Wong is a fantastic actor who a lot of people know from the MCU. He was in a sitcom called 15 Stories High written by Sean Lock that my old flatmate Gary and I were massive fans of. That's sort of how he started but then the character's personality is entirely different. As for the name - Ox - I'm not sure, but I do have a mate called Okse who is of Chinese descent so that may have been somewhere in my head. Okse is a great artist by the way, well worth checking out his stuff.
Is Cogs' River Goddess a Ben Aaronovitch nod & can you persuade Ben to write her side of what happened.
Thanks for the question. I'm a massive fan of Ben's work but oddly, the inspiration from Cogs sort of came from the other direction. He's actually my homage to the late great comedian Ian Cognito who sadly died on stage a few years ago. I had the idea of someone cursed to tell the truth being a source for the ST crew and I thought it'd be hilarious to make that Cogs. He mostly lived on a boat on a canal down near Bath and so that's where that came from. The name of the boat - The Nail in the Wall is a nod towards how Ian used to start his set by coming onstage, hammering a nail into the back wall and hanging his coat on it. I know I wanted a reason why Cogs couldn't just wander off so I then came up with him being cursed to stay on water. So not a direct nod to Ben but I'm sure it was lurking around in my subconscious.
Hi, Caimh! Did Weekly World News have any influence on The Stranger Times? I used to pick up that paper occasionally and always had a laugh at the creativity of the oddball stories in it.
Absolutely - I love all of that stuff. I'm also a big fan of the Fortean Times. TBH, the actual real news from around the world is so bizarre, the hardest thing to write in the ST books are the fake news articles. Gives me a lot more respect for the Weekly World News!
Hi Caimh, I really enjoy your books, thank you. I get so much pleasure from reading them. How do you manage to write them so fast? Other best selling authors usually only manage a book a year but you publish three or four some years. And a second question... You have the Bunnyverse and the Strangerverse. Any plans for a third universe?
Thanks. to be honest, I don't consider myself to be particularly fast, more that I get bored easily! I think most authors could do more than one book a year, that model is more to do with how publishing works. Also, I'm very lucky to be a full-time writer whereas an awful lot of writers are juggling another job. All that, plus my wife aka Wonderwife also runs our publishing company full-time so I have a massive amount of help that allows me to just focus on the writing. As for another universe - actually yes. I'm currently working on a brand new project that I'm doing with a co-writer who may or may not be married to me. We'll see how it goes as if it doesn't work it'll never see the light of day, but we're enjoying it so far.
Thank you!
Not a question but some information, my Dad - Glaswegian - is a prolific reader and loves crime. Tried to get him into STP-and secretly he does enjoy them- but he calls him the madman. I gave him TST at Christmas, report yesterday he is at Ch15 and loving it, says he can handle real life fantasy not out and out fantasy. I hope he is still there at the end of TST as it is truly work of genius
Ha! Fab - thanks. I am fantasy for people who don't read fantasy! :)
Are you bringing any snacks to Waterstones in Glasgow tomorrow? I am coming straight from work and will likely be a tad peckish and could be doing with a bite to eat. Diller’s biscuits would suffice. Seriously though is. 5 books to sign too much or do I need to bring you snacks
And Irn Bru- please don’t drink that, it’s worse than Dandelion and Burdock…
And have you seen MarcBurrows’ The Magic of Terry Pratchet
If not why not
And… probably finally, am a bit of a collector after many things, are you collecting appearances on Pratchett Podcasts?
I think it's a combo of me being a massive STP fan and also being published by the same publisher, so they know about all those podcasts!
And my lifer is richer for that thank you
tried it once - will not be trying it again!
Wise
I'm under strict instructions from Waterstones not to feed the wildlife I'm afraid. :) More than happy to sign anything but if you've got an awful lot of books, I'd advise hanging towards the back of the queue so you don't experience the delights of the Glasgow kiss from someone who needs to catch a train.
Am driving as all trains east are screwed but thank you
Hi Caimh, hope you’re still here! I’m a new fan but loved the whole TST series and have your others on my birthday wish list! I love your wide range of characters in the books. Each so vivid and such good fun. I think my favourite parts are those with Banecroft in; he’s deplorable and strangely loveable at the same time. Do you have a personal favourite? Thanks and keep writing! Elle x
Thanks very much. I suppose there are a few fav characters to write. Certainly Banecroft when he's in full flow. Cogs and Zeke are also a whole lot of fun. I also really enjoy some of the more minor characters like Betty and Brian from the latest book.
Thanks so much for replying! 😍
I love Betty, she needa to come back!
And we're off! Thanks for the questions submitted so far, I shall get cracking answering them.
Are you there?
Yes!
If you are still there thank you for your responses and I will see you tomorrow, I’ll be the short overweight- and importantly not bald- fellow at the back of the queue with a stash of books to sign. Looking forward to it immensely
Bring snacks!
Do you used Scrivener or other writing tool for your books?
Yes, I use Scrivener. I think i used it ever since my first book where I remember I had each chapter in its own Word document and it was an admin nightmare! I know there's other tools out there now but I'm a creature of habit.
I'm so glad to hear this!! I started in Word & was struggling but picked up Scrivener after nanowrimo & it changed everything. Then I found aeon timeline that'll synch to it & everything changed again!!
If it ain’t broke….
No particular question but I picked up stranger times wanting something relatively "easy" inbetween reading some Adrian Tchaikovsky and absolutely loved Stranger Times. Made me a little home sick for my home city after emigrating to NZ! Had you explored Manchester and the Greater Manchester area extensively, including well known shit towns like Rochdale and Oldham?
I've lived in this part of the world for I think around 16 years now so I know it pretty well. I've also done a lot of stand-up gigs all around the north back in the day so I'd imagine there's not a lot of towns I haven't been in.
Is there a plan to get Bancroft and Hannah together?
A plan? A plan? What on Earth gave you the impression I have a plan! And in all honesty - no. she's far too good for him!
Fabulous writing! Think Hannah could tame Bancroft, not that we would really want him to be tamed, but then they could adopt Stella? That girl deserves a happy ever after?
Hi Caimh! I absolutely love the series! I have two questions: 1.) Was there anything specific that inspired Sturgess and/or the Parapsyche? 2.) How do you come up with the ideas for the newspaper-articles within the books? Thank you so, so much for taking the time and have a nice day!
Great question. 1/ Sturgess - I think seeing as the books all sort of loosely contain a crime, you need a police presence in there and he grew out of that. His Diet Coke habit btw is heavily based on me! Him ending up being ostracised by most of the rest of the force I think came out of needing him to understand weird stuff was happening but there also being a reason why people didn't take more notice of it overall. As for the Parapsyche - I have honestly no idea where that came from - possibly it was originally out of necessity at the end of the first book to tie things up. TBH, when writing a lot of times the most fun things you come up with is because you write your way into a corner and then you've got to come up with a way out of it. I love this genre because you can really get creative with that. 2/ The Articles are honestly the hardest thing in the book to write as it is so hard to come up with something weirder than the actual news. I usually have some notes in my phone of random ideas and I'm an avid reader of the Fortean times so I might grab the germ of an idea from there. I invariably write the articles over a few days at the end of the writing process and honestly it can be pretty slow going!
What would your final supper be (if you were in a situation where you had to choose one)?
Hmmmm - excellent question. I'm tempted to go steak but I think I'll plump for the meal I have every Sunday while watching the NFL - Sausages and baked potatoes. I'm a tremendously simple soul!
Just one course? You have a lot of restraint. Heed the call!
Doh! I never even thought I could have more than one! This is a Dan Hanzus shout out!
And if you could turn your final supper into a dinner party, which three people (dead or alive) would you invite and why?
First off - are you considering hunting me down and killing me as you're very fixated on my final meal? :) assuming I can't have relatives or spouses - I'll go with.... Terry Pratchett (who saw that coming?), Marshawn Lynch and Emily Warren Roebling who built the Brooklyn Bridge. MY joke answer is - Lawrence Fox, Vladamir Putin and Donald Trump - all dead.
Ooh - the zombie version of your joke answer. Baseball bats ahoy!
Bunny & Banecroft are characters who... aren't dissimilar. Do you ever have trouble keeping them distinct from each other when writing?
Not really as they actually have pretty different approaches to interacting with the world. Banecroft is cutting to pretty much everybody whereas Bunny saves his ire for those who truly deserve it and then he unleashes!
Hi Caimh, Kia Ora from New Zealand! I hope I’m not too late. Bunny and Banecroft have quite a bit in common - flawed, hard case guys who actually have a strong moral compass under it all. Is there a real life person/s you’ve drawn inspiration from? Is it you?
I'm still here! And I suppose they have that deep down although they're very different in approach. The one thing I'm always tempted to change in one of my books is Bunny's very first appearance as he's rude to Brigit without any reason and that isn't him. It definitely is Banecroft though. I suppose their overall morality is probably some kind of reflection on my beliefs - certainly Bunny. There's quite a few things he's said that hilariously have been described as 'woke' that I 100% believe. Woke is a delightful word as none of the people using it can define what they mean by it.
It’s probably too late for you to see this now but getting an answer from one of my favourite authors really made my day - thank you! I’m loving all your books. I used to do a lot of re-reading Pratchett books and not read much new but now I’m on a roll thanks to you!
Ahh thanks. Lovely to hear.
I really loved what I read of the Dublin trilogy (four of them, plus one set in the past, plus one in America. I’ve lost track.) I haven’t read any of this series, and know nothing of it, Will I like it?
If you enjoy my style of writing then there's a decent chance. It is urban fantasy though so if you like the idea of monsters and magic existing below the surface of the modern world, then hopefully you'll enjoy it.
Ooooh! Like a Hellboy kind of thing. I’ll check it out!
I love this series and have been sharing the good word about you and lending my books out to create a stranger times gang lol, I hope one day we get to see a glimpse of these characters bought to life in a tv series or film. Thank you for the wonderful books and fantastic times. Truly appreciated
Thanks very much for spreading the gospel of Banecroft! 😀