Today, I'm pumped to speak with Joshua Winning, author of the soon-to-be-released, Sentinel.
-You are the author of Sentinel, book one of the Sentinel Trilogy. Is this your first novel?
JOSH: It's the first novel I'd put my name on! The first book I wrote from start to finish was called Illusions. I think I was around 14, and it was heavily inspired by the Point Horror stuff I was reading around that time. There's probably a copy of Illusions gathering dust around here somewhere, but I'm pretty sure it's gloriously bad.
-Where did the inspiration for this book come from?
JOSH: I just started writing. I was pretty naïve when I started out on this writing thing, and I began a very early version of Sentinel when I was 16 (I'm now 30...) It's changed massively since then – new characters, new twists, new demons – but the core idea is the same, the idea of a secret community of demon hunters. I've learned that the ideal approach to writing is striking a balance between planning and allowing ideas to write themselves out. In terms of inspiration, Sentinel's a jigsaw puzzle of my own interests and experiences, though obviously not an accurate reflection of my life (I'm not sure I'd make a very good demon slayer). I couldn't pinpoint anything specifically, other than the fact that I was a teenager with an over-active imagination.
-How did you find a home with your publisher, John Catt Educational Ltd.?
JOSH: I self-published Sentinel in May 2013. I had spent a couple of years attempting to land an agent and a publisher with no luck, and the self-publishing route seemed like a no-brainer. If I'd been able to tell my teenage self that one day you could publish your stuff without an actual publisher, I would've thought it was the coolest thing ever. Self-publishing was what eventually led me to John Catt – they have a fiction imprint that they're looking to expand on, and they heard of Sentinel through one of our mutual contacts. It was a right time, right place sort of thing and I feel incredibly lucky.
-What would you say was the most difficult part of writing your first novel?
JOSH: Actually finishing it and letting it go. I'm a serial tinkerer – even after I'd self-published Sentinel on Amazon, I tinkered here and there and uploaded new versions. Having to submit a final edit version of the manuscript to John Catt was really daunting, but thanks to my editor's brilliant notes, I feel like Sentinel is now in the best shape it's ever been in. Which helps with the abandonment issues.
-Do you have any tricks/helpful hints in querying potential agents/publishers?
JOSH: Be concise. Be polite. Be proud of what you've written. Also, do your research. There are loads of websites out there that list all the different agents and publishers, and usually they're in handy genre-specific lists. So if you're writing a crime novel, make sure you're approaching agents and publishers in that field or your submission is likely to get spiked, which is just as painful as it sounds. And if an agent says they're not accepting new submissions, accept that, even if you have just written the next War & Peace. Also, get used to the rejection. Even the best authors have folders full of rejection letters. I actually quite liked receiving them – it meant I was one step closer to that elusive 'yes'.
-How difficult is it to write something new, that hasn't already been done and played out over and over again?
JOSH: There are no new stories. Vladimir Propp wrote about that (he's a fancy theorist with an amazing name). He said that there are only a finite number of stories out there, and they've already been written. You can be different, though, in the way you tell a story – whether it's from a unique perspective that hasn't been explored before or by cross-pollenating genres. Just look at the rom-zom-com thing that Shaun Of The Dead did, and that went down a storm. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter not so much...
-Was there an author and/or book that you read growing up that has influenced how or what you write today?
JOSH: Loads of them. CS Lewis, Roald Dahl, Christopher Pike, Robin Jarvis, Stephen King – even 'screen authors' like Joss Whedon helped me find my own voice through writing. The trick is loving their work and then attempting to do your own thing without ripping them off. Harder than it sounds.
-Can you talk a little about the cover design for your book? How much input did you have in its creation?
JOSH:I created the cover for the self-published version of Sentinel, and John Catt took that as inspiration for the new cover. They've been incredibly inclusive in every aspect of the process of publishing Sentinel, which has been fantastic. They took my crazy suggestions seriously and, of course, they were always right all along. I love the new cover and I hope everybody else does, too!
-What audience is your book geared toward?
JOSH:I wrote Sentinel entirely selfishly. By that I mean I wrote it without any audience in mind other than myself. (Mostly because I never imagined anybody else would be interested in the dark world I had created.) It was only when I'd finished the manuscript that my cousin – who was one of the first people to read it and is a writer himself, check out Max Fincher's The Pretty Gentleman – described it as a 'dark young adult fantasy'. He was right, of course, so Sentinel is aimed at the young adult market, though I like to be delusional and imagine anybody could enjoy it.
-The Revolutionary War or The American War of Independence?
JOSH: My knowledge of American history is atrocious, but I like the word 'independence', so I'll go with that one. Go independence!
-Ok, here's the scenario: the world is about to be attacked by a race of hostile alien beings. You can jump into a car with Jack Bauer, Indiana Jones, John McClane, John Rambo, Ellen Ripley, Ashley "Ash" J. Williams, Winston Churchill, or "Chunk" from The Goonies. Whose passenger seat do you hop into?
JOSH: Ellen Ripley's of course – have you ever seen her behind the wheel? Also, she's a proven alien killer, last survivor of the Nostromo and all that. (As an aside, my absolute dream date is Sigourney Weaver, but that's another issue entirely.)
-Fill in the blank with whatever amazing-ness you can think of: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band, featuring special guest(s)________.
JOSH: Wolverine, Ron Burgundy and Snarf. Can you imagine?!
-Word association. I say "Kool-Aid Man", you say________.
JOSH: Kool-Aid Man? No, really, what is that? I've been to America at least a dozen times and I love Kool-Aid, but who's the Kool-Aid Man? Is he that giant jug thing that sometimes crops up on Family Guy? Or is he Maple Syrup Man?
-Here he is, circa 1978. "Oh yeah!":
-Favorite film in the Ghostbusters franchise?
JOSH: The first, obviously. I was never a fan of the second. Nowhere near enough demon dimensions in fridges for my liking.
-Anything else you want us to know about your book? Why should we go out and buy it?
JOSH: It may look like a book... because that's what it is. Basically, if you're looking for something that will have you checking under the bed at night, Sentinel is the book for you. It's scary, it's got adventure, it's got, like, deep and meaningful themes and stuff. And if you don't like it, it's perfect for keeping a fire going in the winter.
-Brief teaser for Sentinel:
The Sentinels are the world's best-kept secret, an underground society whose eternal cause is to protect the world against the dark creatures and evil forces that inhabit the night. Now Sentinels are being targeted, murdered and turned as the fury of an ancient evil is unleashed. And when 15-year-old Nicholas Hallow's parents are killed, he's drawn into a desperate struggle against malevolent powers. Sentinel introduces readers to a world of unconventional heroes, monsters, murder and magic...
Where can I buy it???
You can pre-order Sentinel on Amazon in the UK (http://amzn.to/1jAdb6t) and the US (http://amzn.to/1hEwPtE). It's out 19 May 2014. Also make sure you follow @SentinelTrilogy and facebook.com/SentinelTrilogy. Book two, Ruins, should be out in 2015, but don't hold me to that.
Tons of great stuff there, Josh! Can't wait to read this thing.
Keep on keeping on, all you crazy cats.
Love, Tom
Follow me on Twitter: @RimerTom
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