BLURB
His name is Nathan Garrett, but he’s
also known as Hellequin. And murdering one of his friends and trying
to blow him up is a good way to get this centuries-old sorcerer’s
full attention…
An old friend’s dead body, a cryptic
note, and an explosion that almost costs him his own life propel Nate
headfirst into a mystery involving a new threat from an old foe. Now
he must piece together the connections between a grisly series of
tattooed murder victims, an imprisoned madman, a mysterious
alchemist, and a deranged plot to usurp the throne of the hidden
realm of Shadow Falls, rival to the power of Avalon.
Can Nate avert the coming slaughter, or
will he become the latest to fall in this clandestine war?
With the story careening between
modern-day New York and Ontario and 1977 Maine, With Silent Screams
continues the gritty and action-packed mix of urban fantasy and
ancient mythology that mark Steve McHugh’s popular Hellequin
Chronicles.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Please tell us a
little about yourself
My name is Steve
McHugh. I’m originally from a small town in South Yorkshire,
England called Mexbrough, but I currently live in Southampton with my
wife, 3 young daughters and pet bearded dragon called Kaiju. I’ve
been writing to some degree or another since I was at school, but
Crimes Against Magic was my first published work, which was in 2012.
Since then I’ve published two sequels (the most recent of which was
With Silent Screams) and a novella.
How did you come
up with the idea for your book?
Like everything I’ve
ever written the start of the idea comes from a tiny spark from
something that interests me and it grows from there. In this case it
was the idea that someone would murder the main character, Nathan
Garrett’s, friend and then try to kill him. I wanted to know how
he’d react to that. Badly for those involved was the answer.
As Nate used to be
Merlin’s assassin, I also wanted to show more of the people who
make up his past, hence Galahad. The two of them grew up together as
friends in Camelot, but something happened to split that friendship
and I wanted to explore that.
When did the
characters first pop into your head?
Nate’s always in
my head and has been for years. Which sounds terrifying, but it means
I can figure out how he’d react to a situation with relative ease.
Apart from Nate, the
first character I knew I wanted in the book was Galahad. I wanted
someone from Nate’s past, someone who had known him for a long
time, someone who definitely wouldn’t take any crap from Nate.
Having two people, both sort of vying for that alpha-male spot, made
for some fun interactions.
Without giving
away any spoilers, was the story always straight forward for you to
write, or did it pop up any surprises along the way?
Each of my books has
two storylines. One set in the current time, and one set in the past.
As Nate is a 1600 year old sorcerer, I’ve got a lot of past to
choose from, but the past story has to link to the present one,
otherwise what’s the point?
Once I’ve got the
present plot figured out, the past portion of the book comes along
pretty easily. But I don’t tend to plot out in detail. I usually
have the main plot points I want to get to and roughly who is doing
what, where, but the actual detail of each chapter I leave until I
start writing it. If I did it any other way, I’d only ignore it and
change things anyway, so this makes my life considerably easier. And
it’s nice to be surprised.
Where do you like
to write?
My office is my
usual writing spot. It’s away from everyone else in the house and
it’s quiet. Most of the time anyway. But I can usually write
anywhere. I can block out noise around me, so it’s usually not too
difficult to get a few things down when I have time.
Do you read a
lot?
I used to read all
the time, but I don’t get as much chance as I used to. I usually
read a few books a month, alongside some comics. I’m just pickier
about what I read these days.
Who are some
of your favourite authors?
I have so many
favorite authors from so many different genres; Terry Pratchett, Neil
Gaiman, John Connolly, Dan Abnett, Gail Simone, Sarah Pinborough, Jim
Butcher, Stephen King, Warren Ellis, Greg Rucka, Robin Hobb, Richard
Morgan, Kelley Armstrong, Karen Travis and many, many more. Those are
just the ones off the top of my head.
And last but not
least, have you any words of wisdom for aspiring writers out there?
Write what you like,
what you enjoy. Don’t just write something because it’s popular
or because someone told you that’s what you should write. Because
if you don’t write something you care about, your readers will
notice and can always tell what work an author put their heart into.
AUTHOR BIO
Steve’s been
writing from an early age, his first completed story was done in an
English lesson. Unfortunately, after the teacher read it, he had to
have a chat with the head of the year about the violent content and
bad language. The follow up ‘One boy and his frog’ was less
concerning to his teachers and got him an A.
It
wasn’t for another decade that he would start work on a full-length
novel that was publishable, the results of which was the
action-packed Urban Fantasy, Crimes Against Magic.
Steve
McHugh lives in Southampton on the south coast of England with his
wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time
with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics,
and playing video games.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevejMchugh
Website: http://stevejmchugh.wordpress.com/
With Silent Screams -
http://www.amazon.com/Silent-Screams-Hellequin-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00EDUFTI6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392904137&sr=8-1&keywords=steve+mchugh
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