Interview Corner: Andrew Turpin & Christopher McGarry
NOTE: These interviews were originally published in the run-up to a major promotional event in which their books were being given away for free. That event has concluded, but I have left their interviews up on my site so they are still available for anyone who’s interested.
Andrew Turpin
Q: What made you stop dreaming about becoming a writer/author and actually become one?
I’ve always been a writer, having once been a journalist, and I’ve always dreamed about writing a novel. But work and family got in the way of the novel. However, after I was made redundant in late 2015, I decided to give it a go. Now I’m wishing I had somehow made the time earlier – I’m thoroughly enjoying it!
Q: What do you hope to give readers through your books?
An entertaining and hopefully compelling read, such that they want to keep turning the pages. A learning experience, through finding out more about a particular period in history or a particular current issue — just as I have done myself through my research. But perhaps most important, a sense that perseverance can lead to justice and truth prevailing – which in the case of a war crimes investigator, can mean many years after the original event.
Q: What did you learn from writing The Last Nazi?
I learned that what seemed the impossible – writing a full length novel – is do-able if broken down into bite sized chunks….and if I discipline myself to sit down and just get on with it every day, whether I feel like it or not.
Q: How do you hope to change the world?
If my book could have one effect, I’d like it to make those currently considering repeating some of the worst atrocities of the past to reflect that it might just not be worth it, and that tolerance and forgiveness is the best route forward.
Q: Why does your work matter? What need are you trying to meet, or what void are you trying to fill?
It’s a need to understand the world, to understand people and why they behave in the ways they do, and perhaps to highlight to myself and others that there is always a better way and we should never give up looking for it.
Q: What is the most important thing for your readers to know about you?
That I’m 100% committed to giving them the best product I can – and that I’d like to hear feedback from them in order to achieve that.
Q: Is there anything fun or quirky about you that you’d like to share with readers?
I play cricket, a game understood in very few countries; I once hitch-hiked across the Sahara; I get my plot ideas while walking the family dog Coco.
Q: What part of your own life/experience/personality influenced The Last Nazi the most? Where can readers find you in this book?
I love travel, I love history and how decisions or actions of the past impact the present day, and I love those who keep trying and don’t give up. All of that is in the book somewhere.
Q: What is your favorite part of The Last Nazi and why?
Without creating a spoiler, I like the part where the protagonist Joe Johnson realizes he may be on to a significant investigation that could change his future direction in life.
Q: What first inspired you to write The Last Nazi, and what made you commit to writing it?
It is something I always wanted to do, and after redundancy struck in my job, decided it was now or never, while I unexpectedly had time to give it a go. And in terms of this specific plot, I wanted to devise characters and a plot that would allow me to build in my interests in history, current affairs, travel, justice, and truth.
Q: If you could ask your readers anything, what would it be?
What could I do better? What did you enjoy most and would like to see more of in future books? What did you enjoy least and would like to see less of?
Christopher McGarry
Q: When did you decide to become a writer and why?
I have always been interested in literature and have been writing stories since a young age. For years, I wrote screenplays. I decided to try my hand at books and it’s been getting better ever since.
Q: What do you hope to give readers through your books?
A glimpse into my view of the world. My beliefs, principles, etc.
Q: What did you learn from writing When the Guns Were Turned On Us?
I learned that I can actually write a book series. Also, it improved my overall writing.
Q: Why do you write?
I enjoy telling stories and have many ideas I want to put to paper.
Q: Why does When the Guns Were Turned On Us matter?
It’s a very important commentary on the unstable state of the world today. Things are uncertain, even scary. Anything can happen in a moment’s notice.
Q: What is the most important thing for your readers to know about you?
I love swimming and working out.
Q: What part of your own life/experience/personality influenced When the Guns Were Turned On Us the most?
Probably just a collection of my own experiences. I’ve been in the military reserves, I was a journalist for ten years. I’m very attuned to the news happening around the world.
Q: What is your favorite part of When the Guns Were Turned On Us? Who is your favorite character and why?
When Jake Scribner escapes into the mountains. My favorite character is Sarah Jane because she goes from being a hardcore leftist SJW to a gun-toting more conservative gal. I tend to lean right in many of my views.
Q: What first inspired you to write When the Guns Were Turned On Us?
I was inspired by a story I had written in high school. It was originally about aliens invading planet earth.
Q: If you could ask your readers anything, what would it be?
Why do you enjoy reading the action/suspense genre?