Interview with Andrew McBurnie

When did you realize that you wanted to become a writer? 
What was the very first thing you ever wrote?

It was an SF story for the school magazine, about an astronaut who loses his identity after being alone in his spacecraft for too long.  The English teacher/editor told me it was "too sophisticated" for the boys and so he added an attack by bug-eyed Martian monsters, complete with death-rays, which WRECKED it. I was horribly embarrassed when the magazine appeared, nobody could understand it with his additions, but I had to smile and tell him it was good when he asked me what I thought of his modifications. You didn't argue with teachers in those days.

Who is your literary hero?

If I have to identify just a single person, I suppose it would be Anton Chekov. This was a surprise to me when I discovered him, since he's (obviously) not  an SF or fantasy writer, sometimes not much happens, but he does depict quite an alien world. (J.G. Ballard would probably be a second.)

How much of your characters are based on your traits or someone you know personally?

I told my brothers and sisters that any resemblances between the characters in my book and real persons are pure coincidence.  (They pointed out a number of coincidences. I denied them all.)

Describe your main character in six words.

Lonely adolescent speculating adults are insane.

Describe the world you’ve created in six words.

Primitive, shabby, strangely frivolous; intermittently terrifying.

What scene was your favorite to write?

The science lecture at the Guildhall, because of a misunderstanding between the hero and a professor resulting from their differing accents, with the challenge of not boring the reader over the actual science content.

What scene was the hardest for you to write?

The ending, and particularly the final few paras, which are intended to conclude with a positive note. This was the chapter most criticised by my editors in its early versions, was re-written several times and took significant effort.

What are you working on now?

I like to work on projects simultaneously, so when you get stuck on one of them you can switch to another.  I've got two SF novels underway, and notes for a "straight" one, to be set in Sydney. No time-frame, has to fit in with work.

What's your favorite thing to do when you're not writing?

I have a half-share in a glider which I enjoy flying; (I mean a proper fixed wing aircraft that doesn't have an engine, not a hang-glider; they look scary)