I’m interviewing author Adrian Gross, the writer of “The Goddess and The Great Beast”, a supernatural thriller. Enjoy the interview. My questions are bolded.
1) What is the hardest part about being an author?
Making a living! Taking criticism is pretty difficult, too. Doubly so when you’ve asked for feedback and you get a screeching wall of noise smack in the face destroying your carefully constructed and lovingly nurtured baby which you then have to finally admit needs to be ripped limb from limb and reconstructed with new parts you have to find from somewhere in the depths of your exhausted brain.
2) Can you give us the synopsis of your book?
Vivian, a bored British soldier stationed in Baghdad during World War Two, seeks excitement with a sex cult descended from ancient Babylonians. He becomes obsessed but flees when they try to sacrifice him. He is then chased, physically and psychically, across the Middle East, through London and, ultimately, to Hastings where he seeks the help of Aleister Crowley. His battle with the Babylonian spirits, Crowley’s ghost and his own subconscious lead to a showdown in a Hastings lodging room, but also on the astral plane.
3) Is this part of a series or a stand alone?
I only intended it as a standalone work, but it does have potential to become a series. I’m not interested in writing a series for the sake of it, though. It might make financial sense, but if I don’t have the artistic drive then I won’t do it. I would dearly love to be able to make a living out of writing, but I couldn’t bring myself to write purely for money. I want to be able to say, on my death-bed if needs be, that I have created something which stands on its own merits, regardless of the balance sheet.
4) How many hours do you write per day/week?
I tend to write incredibly erratically. I’m sure this is immensely inefficient, but I’m just not the type of person who can sit down at the same time every day and do a set amount of work. I don’t find that approach remotely creative. If the muse is hovering over me I can write five or six hours a day. If not, then I won’t write at all. I’ll do something else, and not always something constructive. I’ve wasted enough of my life in 9-5 offices. I don’t have any more time left to do something so miserable.
5) What is your favourite book?
Impossible, of course, to pick one, but the first really important book for me was The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide To The Universe by Douglas Adams.
6) What are you working on now?
Inspired by the brain-melting awfulness of Murder She Wrote, I’ve got an idea about a twisted musician turned detective in the Heavy Metal community forming in my mind. It’s a community I know quite well and it is well stocked with shall we say, interesting characters.
About The Book
Title: The Goddess and the Great Beast
Author: Adrian Gross
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
1942: a bored British soldier in Baghdad; a beautiful Babylonian Goddess; a sacred marriage unconsummated.
Five years later, in a dreary post-war London, the Goddess must be satisfied.
Can anyone save her demobbed consort from eternal torment?
Or eternal bliss?
Can he save himself?
Does he even want to be saved?
And what’s it got to do with the ‘wickedest man in the world’?
Author Bio
Adrian Gross is a British writer. Some bits of him used to be Irish and some others were once Hungarian. He lives close to Glastonbury and likes to bang his little heavy metal head whilst drinking chewy real ale!
He has endured many terrible jobs, including adrenaline-junkie motorcycle courier, record shop dude-with-bad-attitude, and air traffic control disaster limitation assistant.
When his aching bones and throbbing hangover allow, he plays football (soccer) and rides bicycles up and down the Mendip Hills.
Links
Website: www.adriangross.co.uk
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