20 March 2019

Ruin's Wake by Patrick Edwards - Blogtour

Today I'm joining the blogtour for Ruin's Wake by Patrick Edwards, published by Titan Books on 12th March. It's a poignant science fiction novel that explores powerful themes of love, revenge and identity - including the search to find salvation in the face of insurmountable odds.

In this post, Patrick generously answers some impertinent questions from the Balloon. So - let's find out a bit more about the author, the book and how they fit together...

The Q&A

Blue Book Balloon: What inspired you to write in the first place (particular books, something that happened...) and how did you get started writing?

Patrick: First, like most writers of any flavour I’m a big reader. I’ll chew on anything – novels of course but also histories, geography articles, astrophysics manuals. My first love was fiction and the deepest part of it was reserved for science fiction. I started writing a schlocky space opera when I was 14 at boarding school – I never finished it but it brought me a lot of joy, knowing I could carve out my own worlds.

Second was my favourite writer, Iain Banks, passing away. As precocious as it sounds I couldn’t get the books I loved from the source anymore so I thought I might as well have a crack at it myself.

And what did you expect from it? How does the reality compare with that?

Writing is the hardest, most gut-wrenching thing I’ve ever done. There are so many pitfalls and setbacks, long silences and many, many rejections. But it means something and it fulfils me like no work has before, so it’s always worth it.

Which writer(s) do you admire most?

Past: of course Iain Banks (both with and without the M); Frank Herbert for his obsession with geography; Terry Pratchett for his incredible scope that rivals the classics (though academia will fight this to the death).

Present: Nick Harkaway for his roguish disregard for the strictures of genre; David Mitchell for his sumptuous, moving style; Adrian Tchaikovsky for sheer breadth of vision; Tade Thompson for, frankly, changing the game.

What's your writing day/ routine like? And where do you write best?

When I have the luxury of a full day’s writing, I’ll start work after a late morning cup of tea and often don’t look up for hours. When nothing’s coming (especially when I’m creating new material) I don’t force it: I love video games and there are so many good shows to stream, so I’ll decompress with them for a bit and then go back refreshed. This approach might seem a bit halting but it helps avoid long dry periods.

Otherwise, it’s down to my study after dinner on a work night to get in an hour or two. It might not seem like much, but with a plan and some stamina you can really rack up  the word count.

I'm always interested to ask authors if the protagonists came first, or emerged from the story.  You've a group in the book who seem very much like people you might meet in real life (if you moved in the right circles). Did they change much as you wrote? Did they take over the story? Or are they as you first imagined them?

For me the first book was a lot about convincing myself I could write a whole book, so the characters grew in the telling. Cale started out living on a space station, then for a brief time had fur (Banks’ Chelgrians are to blame); I was talking a lot with other writers and being challenged by my mentors to think big, so I threw lots of ideas into the mix and eventually, around draft two or three, I found the heart of who Cale is.

Kelbee, on the other hand, came almost fully-formed and barely changed from draft to draft. I think the freedom of shedding everything (gender, background, etc.) made it easier for me to get into her head and live her life.

Sulara started out as an experiment, a framing device between acts. When my agent handed her notes in, MORE OF HER was written in bold and underlined. She was most unexpected.

Ardal Syn is the foul-mouthed, machine-enhanced rogue everyone needs in their life. Even when things got serious he was always enormous fun to write.

Did you work it all out in detail first or just launch in – and did you know how things were going to turn out, or end up surprising yourself?

I wish I’d planned it more – since this book I’ve got much hotter on synopses. I wrote my way into Ruin’s Wake – it was more like Cale chipping away at one of his rocks than I’d like to admit! I had a basic plan, but really it was a case of drafting and reviewing, drafting and reviewing. I’m not sure I’d recommend that approach just because of the amount of material that ended up in the bin but, like I said, the first time is about convincing yourself you can get to the end.

I’m interested in how authors make their settings real - some can do that with visits to places and research, with Ruin's Wake presumably that was less of an option! What was your approach to this?

North Korea had been floating around on the edge of my awareness for years; once I fixated on the idea of an adult, realistic dystopia I knew I had a real world example right there. Even with the amount of research I did (which was a horror and a fascination) I knew I couldn’t write with objectivity about a place I’d never visited so I used framing details instead – the idolatry, the iconography, the oppression of the individual by the state. I tried to ask the question – what if everywhere was like this?

There was memory too – the parade scene (barring the mechs) was lifted wholesale from a military march in New Delhi when I was about 9.

Did any writing (or other media) particularly inspire Ruin's Wake?

Iain Banks again – he never shied away from sex and death when it mattered; I also like to think Ardal Syn could be a Culture agent! Frank Herbert was the one who showed me the importance of place in science fiction – rather than lots of worlds shown piecemeal he opted for one with culture, history and climate intertwined.

Also, a lot of this book was written listening to Vangelis’ Blade Runner soundtrack.

Given your answer to my first question... o you have a book locked away that you wrote when you were younger? If so, is there any chance of it seeing the light? Or will it get the Terry Pratchett steamroller treatment? (I suppose that's a roundabout way of asking—are you on the side of those who always want to know more about the writing process, or do you think a line needs to be drawn?)

I wrote the start of a terrible novel when I lived in Paris as a student; it was moody and grey and awful. I don’t know where that old laptop is but when I find it, it’s getting the business end of a drill.
I’m with Sir Terry: novels are the result of a long polishing process. I don’t see what’s to be gained meaningfully – by anyone – from half-baked product.

Where do you stand on genre (every time I look there seem to be more of them) - useful in writing or more of a marketing label?

I’m not a fan of tribalism, political or artistic. I can see the benefits of a community but I think that once it starts to impose hard borders it encourages repetition and imitation rather than creation. The writers I most admire don’t give a toss about genre – why can’t a book about virtual reality be literary? Why does magic have to belong to wizards? Let genre be a way of organizing book shops and let’s get on with writing what we enjoy.

Finally... you’ve stumbled into a devious plot while researching a new novel, as a result of which you’re trapped in a lonely forest tower. A rescue party is on its way but will take several days to reach you. You have plenty of food and water, and you can have one book with you. Which would it be?

Probably Lord of the Rings, because there’s always something new to discover and one day I’ll figure out what the deal is with Tom Bombadil.

That, and the SAS Survival Guide. They have a very good chapter on spike traps, because you never know…

Thank you, Patrick, for answering all those questions (readers should know I said that there were any he didn't want to reply to, I'd happily withdraw them - but he answered them all). Best wishes with Ruin's Wake - may it find many many readers!

The Author

Patrick Edwards lives in Bristol and has never grown out of his fascination with science and the future. In 2014, he decided to give writing a go and graduated from the Bath Spa Creative Writing MA with distinction. His first novel, Ruin's Wake, was inspired by the works of Iain M Banks and modern-day North Korea.


The Book

Ruin's Wake
Titan Books, 12 March 2019
PB, 416pp and e-book

Available from your local bookshop, including via Hive, from Waterstones, Blackwell's or Amazon

The blog tour continues - see below for posts so far and to come!

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