Alex Scarrow is a British Author with four acclaimed novels to his credit and hopefully many more to come.

Before entering the literary world Alex spent time in the music business and later as a computer games artist and designer, so his credentials as a bona fide "creative" are exemplary.

braingunk caught up with him recently and had a few questions for this rising star of British fiction...

: Hi Alex, thanks for taking time out to speak with braingunk. Tell us about your latest book...

Alex : TimeRiders is a series for what the book biz calls the 'Young Adult' market, which euphemistically means it's nominally for an 11+ audience. But actually is the kind of thing adults will read too. Obviously it's about time travel. Basically, three teenagers are plucked from the very last seconds of their lives from various points in history to work for a secret agency tasked with keeping history from being screwed up by future time travellers.

:What are you working on next?

Alex : I'm currently working on TimeRiders2, with a working title of 'Day of the Predator'. The TimeRiders series should be nine books worth of alternative history madness.

:Sounds like it would make a great tv show. Did you ever consider pitching it as a tv concept at any point?

Alex : My literary agency are punting it around to various studios right now, so who knows? It might end up rivalling Dr Who on a Saturday evening.

:When did you decided to become a writer yourself and why?

Alex : Always been the creative sort. As a kid my bro' and I used to make crap scifi movies on our super 8 camera. But I began to write seriously about the time I started to get bored with the games industry. It was my exit strategy.

:How much of your average day do you spend writing or promoting your books?

Alex : I write for about 2-3 hours a day in the morning. Usually in a Starbucks (love their cookies). The rest of the day seems to get filled up quite easily with the promotion side of things; not just library/store visits, but dull stuff like my accounts, editing and proofing.

:Is it a good lifestyle?

Alex : Sure, I wouldn't change things at all....but I do sometimes miss the camaraderie of an office environment - those 'watercooler moments'. It's mostly a solitary existence being a writer. That's why I took to going out and writing in cafes, at least I get to see peeps, even if I don't interact with them.

:braingunk aims to provide a self publishing platform for new writers. Is there any advice you could give to someone who's just starting out?

Alex : Sure. Come up with something original. Although the book industry, like every other media industry, has a habit of pumping out 'me too' clones (you wouldn't believe how many High School Vampire Romances are out there) it's always hungry for new brands and concepts. An 'original idea' trumps 'good writing' when it comes to selling your manuscript to an editor. If you merely ape what's out there, your manuscript stands little chance of being looked at.

:Do publishers ever let you in on the sort of works they're interested in producing or new markets they're trying to satisfy?

Alex : Yes. With my adult books, there's always several lunches with my editor to review which project I'm going to work on next. It's not a science...it's largely guesswork as to what we think might be of interest a year in the future. And mostly we've got it wrong so far.

:A Thousand Suns... World War II. How much research did you have to do to keep things authentic?

Alex : A lot. Because there's nothing worse than going to print THEN spotting a factual error and knowing with certainty that somebody will spot it and write you a lengthy email all about it. Also, I really want a reader to feel confident in my hands and that I'm not just winging it....nothing worse for unravelling your immersion in a book than spotting something really stupid.

:Have you had to do as much research for all your books?

Alex : Each book has required several months of research, reading around the subject. I just wish my tiny peanut brain could keep all this research in my head; I'd be a pub quiz king. Sadly, for a few months I'm knowledgeable about something...then it all quickly goes.

:Do your publishers influence your work at all, or do you have a pretty free rein?

Alex : My editor reads the first draft and then I'll get a bunch of notes back from him. It's up to me what feedback I take on, but really you're a bit of a wally if you choose to ignore too much feedback. As a writer, you soon lose the ability to judge your work objectively and have to rely on fresh eyes. It's about trust too...you need to be sure your editor is giving you good feedback. So far both my adult-thrillers editor and my Young Adult editor have been spot on with their comments.

:As an author who was previously a computer games developer you must have a pretty unique perspective on the publishing process. What would you say the main differences are between literary publishers and games publishers?

Alex : Hmm good question. My experience with game publishers was that they can make some really stupid, careless decisions. If I had a gripe with book publishers, it's how overly cautious they can be. I have many game industry publisher horror stories to tell, and I'm pretty sure you do too, Darren...real boo-boos on their part. Luckily I've not had to deal with too much of that since I've been a writer.

:Do you think either of those institutions could learn from each other?

Alex : Yes. Game publishers could learn a little professionalism from the book industry. And book publishers need to become a lot more tech-savvy. Right now, they're totally baffled by the digital economy and how to find their place in it.

:braingunk likes to encourage people to write short stories, are you a fan of that format and have you written any shorts yourself?

Alex : I'm not big on short stories. I liked a few of King's. I like his shorts better than his novels. In fact, there are a few of his novels that might have been better as short stories. I've written one or two myself, but no, I don't really read many.

:What are you reading at the moment?

Alex : I'm reading 'The Frightened Man' by Kenneth Cameron. A Victorian psycho-crime novel. It's superbly written thus far. But, I'm notorious for not finishing books. Too many writers' tics, bad-habits out there. Once you see one, it gets in the way of enjoying the tale. (Don't get me started on Dan Brown).

:What do you think about ebooks?

Alex : I still haven't tried to read an ebook. I think what puts me off the iPad as a book platform is the fact that it has too many other distracting things going on with it. Honestly, if you want to enjoy a book, you don't want it to beep or whistle, or blink, or light up every time you've received a tweet/email/ebay bid. Nor do you want a million other distractions a mere finger tap away. Which...is why I think paper books continue to be the ultimate hardware platform for longform fiction.

: A few gunk junkies sent in questions for you, some serious and some silly (but that's ok cos braingunk likes silly):

: Lynda wants to know: When you have an idea or stream of thought, do you stop and write then or store it away to grow a bit?

Alex : Hey Lynda...good question. I have the proverbial little black book in my pocket. It goes with me EVERYWHERE. And when a smart little idea pops into my head, it goes straight in there, where it gestates, gets to meet-n-greet the other ideas hanging out in there, and eventually if I'm lucky, they get it together and produce a new book idea for me. (But more often than not I end up with a bunch of mixed up cross-genre ideas that are simply mental and unworkable).

: Dan with the classic: What's your favourite colour?

Alex : Sigh....ummm.....partial to yellow. Since I have a yellow streak a mile wide running through me.

: And Phil needs to know: What's your favourite font?

Alex: I'm a Ariel kinda guy.

: Diane wants to know: What inspires you and do you consciously choose a genre before writing?

Alex : Yes, by the time I sit down to type 'Chapter one' I've plotted it out and I know exactly what I'm writing and where it belongs. Inspiration doesn't really get a look in. I'm in the thriller market with my adult books, and in the scifi/thriller market for my young adult books.

: Steve would like to know :What's the most important thing to study to ensure a good quality of writing overall?

Alex : Read. Read lots. That's how you'll figure out what works and what doesn't. And of course, write lots....but the reading lots comes first. You need to find what it is you like before you start taking it, adapting it and making it your own.

: And finally Adam wants to know :Does my bum look big in this?

Alex : No, not at all Adam, your ass looks pretty nice in that.

:Thanks for sharing your time with us Alex, it's been a pleasure.

Alex : And a pleasure chatting with you too Darren. It's been too long old mate.

Other works:

TimeRiders is available now from all good online and meat space book retailers.

Visit the TimeRiders web site: Here

Find all of Alex Scarrow's Books on Amazon: Here

Find out more about Alex and his brother Simon on their joint web site: Here