Questions for Andy Hedgecock
To save time, the questions are listed below. To read the full article, question by question, click
HERE.
1)Can you tell me about the way you've set out to engage and interact the reader? Did you see us in the role of the player on the other side of the board? Or was the process much more intuitive than that?
2) To what extent are your small but significant reality shifts satirical in intent? Were you consciously commenting on the artificial divisions between high and low art? Or were you taking an amusing idea for a walk? This question applies to the material on the Goliath Corporation too Ð were you taking a conscious sideswipe at the way we live now?
3) Why do you think so many contemporary writers* are willing to credit their readers with the intelligence to cope with a rich and allusive narrative, while many critics seem to prefer fiction that conforms to their expectations of a specific genre? *There's you, Michael Moorcock, Charles Palliser, Iain Banks, Tibor Fischer, Lawrence Norfolk and Peter Ackroyd to name just a few.
4) Influences. Who are the writers, filmmakers and other artists who have informed your development as a writer?
5) Genre blending. Did you plan to mix the Chandleresque detective elements, sci-fi tropes and alternate history elements from the start? Or did these elements emerge as an essential way of taking the narrative forward? Or are you drawn to these exotic blends of literary ingredients?
6) Conspiracies. Why are conspiracies such a durable and popular literary and cinematic motif and what led you to explore the conspiracy theme? Has comedy become the most popular mode for dealing with conspiracies?
7) The alternate history is an enduringly popular form which readers never seem to tire of. Why are we all so fascinated by the idea of paths not taken? What drew you to this theme?
8) Can you tell me more about your new book at this stage? And can you tell me about anything other current or future projects Ð literary or cinematic?
