Interview Questions
for Anne Hampton author of The Two Worlds of Geratica Series
About The Two
Worlds of Geratica
There are currently
three books out for this series and the end of the third book hinted
at a fourth. When do you expect the fourth book to be released? How
many books total do you expect there to be in this series?
That's a good
question to start with. I actually finished writing this original
'Geratica' series in May 2016 and there were four books in total.
Austin Macauley eventually published the first two in 2017 and the
third in 2018. The fourth obviously concludes the series and I hope
to publish it soon. But in fact since then, I have written a prequel
and a sequel, which again I will endeavour to make available as soon
as possible. So if you have enjoyed the series so far, then I can
confirm that there is more!
How much did you
have to research to write these books, especially with all the
political stuff involved?
Actually, I didn't
really do much of that at all! I'm not really a strongly political
person, though I follow events up to a point. I am quite interested
in history and did get a grade A 'O' Level in the subject. (That
shows my age – it was the very last year that there such exams,
before they were fully replaced by GCSEs!). Growing up when I did in
Britain, a certain woman was the dominant political figure and I
suppose in the series Linda Radcliffe could be seen as comparable. I
have incorporated some things from our history within the books, but
of course it is set on a different world where the people have
adopted what they want from their scanning of Earth. So to a certain
extent I allow myself some artistic license and don't claim it to be
strictly an accurate portrayal of our politics.
The first two books
were a bit larger than the third. How long did it take you to
complete writing each one?
This is true. In
fact I originally conceived of a series of three books, but as I
progressed through writing the first, the beginning gradually grew to
become a book in itself! Therefore it became two volumes. I wrote the
books quite quickly. The first two took about six months each and the
third about three and a half.
Was there any
specific reason for the names that you gave the characters?
No not really. The
names were just what came out of my head. I suppose we in Britain
famously had a Queen Victoria, but I assure you that the queen of
Geraticai with the same name was most definitely NOT based on her!
What compelled you
to write The Two Worlds of Geratica series?
I had several ideas
and much of the basis for the story, such as the main characters and
their setting, as well as the slight element of fantasy and science
fiction, had been in my head for a very long time. It took a while to
find a way to bring it all together, so that I had a story which I
felt could work. Also, most fiction tends to reflect a society in
which men are sexually dominant, which admittedly probably still
appeals to a significant proportion of women, but I wanted to find a
way in which the roles could be reversed and I could write in that
manner. Some women might prefer it and as a man I feel that there is
not enough to cater for the sort who like a stronger (yet still
feminine) woman.
At the beginning of
the books you mention that this is just a “what if” scenario. Do
you feel that women should have a more dominant role in society or
are you more of an advocate for equality? (Feel free to skip this
question if you would like)
Indeed, I did
mention that. I should say first of all that Anne Hampton is a
pseudonym and I am in fact male! I do feel that society can often be
better if women play a prominent role, though I don't necessarily
advocate them getting priority treatment, regardless. Of course in
the series, Geratican society (which is a fantasy) has traditionally
been female dominated due to their world having been created that way
by a live female sex at its core, though they retain their
femininity. Whether that could be achieved in our own real world is a
question, and I don't support one sex's complete domination over the
other, whichever one – but I'd like to hope that Geratican women
could show how their sex can be strong as well as feminine.
Some Geratican men
are trying to gain a more prominent role themselves and to gain
suffrage. If I was a man living there, in all honesty I would
probably in some ways be quite content with their traditional way
(which many of them are), though at the same time as their society
evolves like any other, and particularly if the education system
expands to include all of them for the first time, then they may
begin to gain more equality – and deservedly so.
I did also indicate
that I wasn't necessarily saying that I agreed with every traditional
Geratican view. To make it clear, I am not advocating the kind of
disciplining of children that is practiced there, and whilst some
might infer from elements of my writing that I am of a strongly right
wing persuasion, I am in truth fairly liberal minded. In fact the
main character of Alexandra Radcliffe, whilst not being entirely the
same as me in every respect, does have a lot of me in her. Her
overall personality and general outlook is probably in line with my
own, although she is meant to be more intelligent. She is
traditionalist and conservative minded like her mother, who is a very
dominant woman, but also more liberal. Centre right liberal perhaps?
Where did the
inspiration for this specific series come from?
I think I've covered
that in an earlier question. The inspiration for the hamlet where the
Radcliffes live came loosely from an area not far from where I grew
up. It was always in my mind.
If you had to go
back and start over with the series is there anything that you would
change?
When you go back
over a book after it has been published, there will always be some
things that you might wish to change. I think that your writing
improves the more you do. Some say that they can always tell when a
book is an author's debut novel. I don't think that my first two
books were bad, considering. I wouldn't really make any major changes
to the plot, though there might be one or two minor alterations here
and there to the text in order to make things more strictly accurate
or clearer. I apologize too if there were too many exclamation marks!
I was mindful to try and cut them down from the next book onward.
Sometimes it was just that the characters were expressing humour –
it wasn't always that everybody was simply shouting at each other!
Where did the name
Geratica come from?
I just made it up!
What is your
favorite part of the series to date?
About Writing
What made you decide
to start writing?
Various reasons. I
had always wanted to write a novel and possibly a series. I enjoyed
writing as a young child (I remember once having a piece read out by
the teacher in my last year of junior school and still have a short
mystery/adventure story written in class there, but I didn't really
have the time for it as I got older and then went into office work as
a career. Then in my mid forties I was given early retirement on
medical grounds and this gave me an opportunity to finally put my
head down and write something which I might be able to get published.
What do you use when
you wright (for example do you use a computer, have a special pen or
notebook)?
I use my personal
computer. Though during a writing period, if I am away from it for a
period of time, then I might write on paper until I am back and can
type it up.
Do you start writing
with a specific story or plot in mind or do you just “go with the
flow”?
I start off by
making a few basic notes regarding the plot line and maybe who the
characters are. I keep these with the computer and then just begin
typing away. I roughly follow the plot that I've outlined, but
sometimes other things develop as I go, so that's when “going with
the flow” can apply. Very often for a while before I've started a
novel, I've already had certain situations and character dialogue
thought of in my head, so its a case of getting it down in a text.
Writers are often
belied to have a Muse or something that they draw inspiration from,
how do you feel about that?
Since completing the
original 'Geratica' series, I usually find that an idea for another
story comes gradually. Sometimes it takes a while for me to
definitely decide that it might work. But once I have, then that
tends to be when I find “The Muse”.
What do you like to
do in your free time when you are not writing?
I like listening to
music (the Geratica series do have some popular music references in
them), reading, watching some sports (snooker being the main one) and
DVDs – perhaps now even some youtube! - and nice food and drink.
I'm rather a shy and somewhat introverted person, and my interests
are often quite solitary and quiet – I live alone and only have a
very small immediate family. I enjoy my own company, but that's not
to say that with the right person I won't enjoy theirs too!
What is your stance
on physical books vs. e-books? How do you feel about audio-books?
All of my published
books have been physical as well as e-books, but with the number of
authors who cannot get stocked in bookstores and rely on online
sales, then e-books are an important addition.
Audio books seem to
be all the rage at the moment, so that's something to be considered
too. Maybe people prefer to listen to a book as they do other things,
rather than sit down and read. Maybe they don't have the time to
read. Perhaps for whatever reason, people are simply not reading as
much anymore.
Self publishing
seems to be a major part of the future – especially for new authors
who cannot get a traditional contract.
What font do you
like the most? What font do you like the least?
I generally use
Times New Roman. I'm not really an expert on fonts!
What was your
favorite book as a child? What is your favorite book today?
It's difficult to
pick one. As a young child I read quite a lot of Enid Blyton – 'The
Famous Five' – etc! As I got older, some of Alan Garner of Susan
Cooper and Frederick Forsyth. C.S. Lewis's 'The Last Battle and
J.R.R. Tolkiens' Lord Of The Ring' trilogy and 'The Hobbit'. More
recently I've read several of Wilbur Smith's, Philip Pulman's 'His
Dark Materials' trilogy, Terry Brooks's 'Shannara' series,
Christopher Paolini's 'Inheritance Cycle' and even from the past,
Winifred Watson's 'Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day'. I also read
non-fiction.
What is your
favorite quote (from anything/anyone)?
“My Daddy said to
me, 'Son, you've always gotta shoot first and ask questions later.'
I'd have liked to asked him why, but I had to shoot him first...” -
I believe John Wayne said it as a walk on part in an old edition of
'Rowan And Martin's Laugh In' probably before I was born, which I saw
in a highlights programme many years later. It rather sums up the
stupidity of fighting with guns.
In school what was
your favorite subject? Least favorite?
My favourites would
probably have been History and English. My least favourite would most
definitely have been Games and anything to do with playing sport.
What was your
childhood like?
It was largely happy
and not particularly remarkable – though school wasn't something I
particularly enjoyed. It got better as time went on. I ended up not
doing too badly academically – but perhaps not as well as I should
have.
Is there anything
else you would like to share?
As well as my
Geratica series, there is also another novel of mine published in
another fantasy theme, called 'The Book And The Ring'. Again I have
followed it up with another as yet unpublished work.
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