Interview with Jude Austin, Author of Nowhere to Hide

What’s the story behind the story? What impressed you to write Nowhere to Hide?

I wished to develop on the Five Worlds sequence (though like all Five Worlds books, it really works nice as a standalone!) I additionally wished to discover the worlds extra. Up till now, the sequence has centered round Kata, with Alan making his debut in Homecoming. I wished to take the e-book in a unique path and usher in a number of new characters. What I ended up with is actually two interlinking novel-length tales in a single thread.

If you had to choose theme songs for the principle characters of Nowhere to Hide, what would they be?

KATA: “Was I Even There?” by Trip Cyclone. ALAN: “I’ll Be There For You” by The Rembrandts. DIRAN: “Hammer to Fall” by Queen.

What’s your favourite style to learn? Is it the identical as your favourite style to write?

This sounds unusual, however though I write sci-fi, I by no means learn it. Too many sci-fi books are all about area battles, dystopian societies, corrupt governments, rogue AI (or simply full of AI) and hard-bitten navy varieties. I don’t like studying about any of these issues; I need to examine regular people who I can relate to being put in extraordinary conditions. I got here to the conclusion that if I wished to examine alien worlds and common future-people, I’d have to write about them myself. That’s why my model of sci-fi is totally different to many different authors; it focuses much more on worlds and cultures, no dystopias, simply common individuals with issues that lots of individuals face immediately.

Generally talking, I’m optimistic in regards to the future! I don’t perceive why so many sci-fi writers imagine the longer term goes to be such a horrible place. As for my favourite style, this will shock you, however I really like studying outdated youngsters’s books, like Amy Brooks and Nina Rhoades, and Angela Brazil. They provide a window into regular individuals’s lives over 100 years in the past. Besides, my work offers with some fairly severe matters in locations – psychological well being performs a big half, particularly with Kata – so it’s good studying one thing extra harmless!

What books are in your TBR pile proper now?

I’m going by a Dickens kick and rereading Oliver Twist. After that, I’d attempt Great Expectations or The Old Curiosity Shop. Plus no matter e-book is sitting underneath my Christmas tree as I write this!

What scene in your e-book was your favourite to write?

Oh, that’s laborious. If I had to actually choose one, it might most likely be most of Chapter 3, the place we see Diran interacting with his spouse Selenda. It was enjoyable to write such a traditional scene. You know, you could have Diran, who’s a conscripted covert operative/murderer and one of one of the best at what he does, and Selenda, who’s in the identical line of work and likewise a power to be reckoned with, and it was enjoyable simply writing the 2 of them interacting freely. Neither of them can admit to loving the opposite in public, in case that’s used towards them, so it’s the one time we get to see how they act once they’re secure within the privateness of their very own condominium.

Do you could have any quirky writing habits? (fortunate mugs, cats on laps, and so on.)

My cat would love that, however since I work on a laptop computer, he doesn’t get to sit on my lap as typically as he thinks he ought to! I’ve one of these reclining couches, so I simply chill and chill out with my Smart TV whereas writing. I’m typing this on my different pc, although, and he’s curled up on my desk subsequent to me.

The solely actual quirk I can suppose of is that I can’t work in silence; I would like some sort of background noise, whether or not it’s YouTube or Netflix or something.

Do you could have a motto, quote, or philosophy you reside by?

I attempt to use Socrates’s Triple-Filter Test. I gained’t copy-paste the complete story now, and it’s been attributed to different individuals apart from Socrates, nevertheless it mainly boils down to “If what you have to say isn’t true, or good, or useful, it’s probably best not to say it at all.”

If you may select one factor for readers to bear in mind after studying your e-book, what wouldn’t it be?

Emotional abuse is simply as damaging as the opposite sorts, and it wants to be talked about extra and handled with the seriousness it deserves.