Bitten by Books
In the late 1980s, when I was 10 years old, Urban Fantasy wasn’t really a genre that existed, and if it had, I’m not really sure that I’d have paid attention. By the time I was 10, I was reading Sherlock Holmes, Treasure Island and The Jungle Book. I liked adventure books and mysteries.I think I was 11 when I found a copy of a few a Fighting Fantasy books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone in a charity shop. They were maybe 10p (16c) each, although I couldn’t tell you all of their names, I do remember one. The Forest of Doom. They were all good fun, but Forest of Doom was the one I re-read the most. This is primarily because it was hard and I died a bunch of times, but win or lose, I had fun. Except with Armies of Death. I remember having no fun at all with that that one very clearly, as I’m pretty certain it was impossible.
Over the next year or so, I managed to go through most of the series by finding them in libraries or using pocket money to buy them. They were my entry into the world of fantasy novels, but it was an English teacher, Mr Pearcey who got me to branch out.
In English class, we all had to keep a book diary of what we’d been reading. After several months of mine containing only Fighting Fantasy novels and superhero comic books, Mr. Pearcey took me aside and told me to try something else.
I went to the school library and took out Terry Practhett’s Men at Arms. Why did I pick that book? Well, I’d like to say that I was drawn to it, but in truth the cover looked like fun. No matter the reason, one read was all I needed. That was it I was hooked. I was soon at the local library taking out Stephen King, David Gemmell, Anne Rice and reading anything else I could get my hands (note, these weren’t in the school library. I’m pretty certain parents would have complained).
I read a huge amount stuff during my school years, and college years, and still do at 35 (although not as much as I’d like these days). I still go back to Men at Arms. It’s probably my favourite book of all time and one of the very few (along with It and Legend) that made me want to be a write books.
These days Urban Fantasy is a big genre, and one that I’m more than happy to be a part of, but you can trace my current writing to the mix of genres I got through when I was at school. Mystery, action-adventure, horror and fantasy all play a big part in my writing, and if I could figure out a way to include some dice rolling and map drawing for my readers to take part in, I’d probably have done that by now too.
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Books in the Hellequin Chronicles in the order they should be read:
Crimes Against Magic
Born of Hatred
With Silent Screams
Prison of Hope
About Steve McHugh
Author Bio:
Steve McHugh is the author of the popular Hellequin Chronicles. The fourth book, Prison of Hope, is out now. He 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.
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Who are some of your favourite authors?
Lots of great authors; Robin Hobb, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, David Gemmell, Warren Ellis, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong. I’ll leave it there because we’re moving away from the word ‘some’.
Hi Steve!
Welcome back to Bitten by Books! It’s always great to have you with us.
I really love your series and this latest installment Prison of Hope was FANTASTIC!
First fantasy would be the Chronicles of Narnia and LOTR trilogy/The Hobbit. Sci-fi would have been Stranger in a Strange Land which I don’t think I ever finished. LOL I am not a big fan of Sci-fi in books though grew up watching and loving Star Trek!
What’s coming up next for you in 2015?
Thanks very much for having me, I’m really glad you enjoyed Prison of Hope.
I grew up watching Next Generation, love that show.
I’ve got the 5th Hellequin book out in Aug, so at the moment I’m in the final stages of edits. I’m also writing the first book in a Sci-Fi series, which I’ve been told is very Firefly like. So there’s that.
Oh my husband LOVED Firefly! I will have to get your books into his hands. I can’t wait for the ARC of the next Hellequin! Do you have a title for it yet or is it still under wraps?
How many more books will there be in the Hellequin Chronicles?
Book 5 is called Lies Ripped Open. Lots more books. I have about 20ish planned out.
20! That is awesome. I don’t want it to ever end.
And I have Lies Ripped open on my Amazon wishlist now!
I can’t wait to read your sci-fi series. I am a huge fan of Firefly!
Thanks very much. Me too, I loved the show. And the movie.
Hi Steve!
Your books sound great, i just added to my to-read list!
How many books are planned for this series? Do you ever see yourself branching out to YA/NA?
Thanks very much, I hope you enjoy it.
There’s about 20 for the Hellequin series, but I’ve got plans for a few other non-Hellequin things. As for YA/NA, I did have an idea for a YA book, whether I ever get to write it though is another matter.
These books are coming out quite quickly. How long does it normally take you to think of a plot and then write the book? Do you plot the stories out before hand or do they sort of evolve as you write them?
I’ve got pretty much the next 5 plotted out in fairly good detail. The 5 after that as rough outlines. I’ve had Nate live in my head for the better part of 10 years, so writing him isn’t as hard as starting from scratch.
I tend to plot the story out in terms of what I want to happen, who whom, and when, and then I know how it’s going to end. That’s about it.
If you could only give ONE piece of advice to newbie authors and writers, what advice do you think is the most important one to give?
Write what you enjoy. You can learn to write, you can learn to be good at writing, but if you’re not writing what you enjoy, no one is going to want to read it.
Congratulations on the publication of Prison of Hope! The Hellequin Chronicles sound fascinating. If you could describe your hero Nathan Garret in three words, what would they be? Who was your inspiration for this character?
I can think of three words, but they all contain swearing, so I’ll leave those aside.
Badass, loyal and scary.
The inspiration comes mostly from the sort of morally grey comic book characters, like Wolverine, Daredevil, even Batman. Nate’s a man who will do whatever he needs to, to win. If he has to go to a dark place to do it, then so be it.
Wow, those are three of my favorite characters! No wonder I like Nate so much.
That works out quite well then. I read a lot of comics.
What was the first fantasy/science fiction/horror book you read?
- The first fantasy book I read – clear in high school – was THE DARK SWORD by Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman. Not sure about science fiction since I’m not into that genre. Horror book, ugh, it would have to be the one a friend gave me to read. I cannot remember the author (but I thought it was VC Andrews) or title. I know she let me read The Other Half by Stephen King.
If you could live inside one video game world, what would it be?
- I am not into video games. Now that is my husband and three sons’ domains. And so far I seen no anime I would wanna be in.
If you could meet one person from fiction, who and why?One person?
- ACK! That is soooooooooo hard! – whines – It would be a difficult choice between these: Tamra from Mercedes Lackey’s Oath books, Vanyel from Mercedes Lackey’s The Last Herald Mage. Those two, I just loved from the first moment I read them. The trials they went through.
* video game not anime. Suffering from a tooth ache.
I watch quite a bit of anime, and I can’t think of too many of those I’d want to live in to be honest.
I watch a crap tone of anime. I wouldn’t mind living in the Fairy Tail world. That is pretty wacky but I love it. I wouldn’t mind Record of Lodoss Wars world. Slayers world too because I love gourry and Zelgadis
I tend to watch things like Fate/Zero, Fullmetal Alchemist, Samurai Champloo and Blue Exorcist. All would be great for a visit, but long term living there I’d probably go crazy.
All great animes… I haven’t seen the new Fate/Zero yet. I love Blue Exorcist. I need to get it for my collection. I just ordered Karnivale and Hiiro No Kakera: Season 2
I noticed that the person who draws Full Metal Alchemist is redoing THe Heroic Legend of Arslan. I’m conflicted. I liked the other but as long as they finished the story I think I’ll be alright.
You have mentioned a number of historical characters and time periods in the Hellequin series such as Greek/Roman gods, titans etc.
Are there any others that you considered introducing but then decided against?
So far every time period I’ve wanted to use, has been worked out quite well. I’ve had a few mythological characters I’ve decided to keep for later, but I’ve not had to pass on any yet. Thankfully.
Anything in the Egyptian pantheon Steve?
A few coming, yes. Japanese too.
That will be awesome Steve!
Hi Steve. Sorry to join the discussion late. I had a meeting all morning.
if you don’t mind, I have a few questions:
Is it hard for you to kill off characters that you like? Do you do it only with great thought or do you find you get stalled and realize that something intense has to happen, and you have to kill someone off?
What was your favorite scene to write?
How did you come up with your magical system concepts in the Hellequin Chronicles?
Which of your characters do you dislike the most and why? I’m assuming Nate is your favorite, but who’s your second favorite?
Do you have to do a lot of research for the historical period when you write Nate’s flashbacks?
The more questions the better.
I’ve killed off a few characters I like. I only kill them off if it makes sense to do so. And yeah, it’s upsetting to do it, but some character arcs end with their death.
In Prison of Hope? There are a few scenes I love. Anything with Nate and Tommy is always great fun, their friendship is a big part of the story. I love the fight scenes too, always fun to write a fight scene.
My joint favourites are Nate and Tommy. Which is probably why I tourture them so much. I dislike Hera, she’s mean and nasty and enjoys it. She’s also incredibly dangerous, and hates Nate with a passion.
A fair bit of research, yes. I need to make sure that technology at the time is correct and places are where they should be, and named correctly. It’s a lot of work, but it’s good fun too.
What are your current favorite comics? Would you ever consider writing one?
I’d LOVE to write one. In fact I have a few friends who write them and they keep telling me to get on with it. So hopefully that’s something I’ll be working on soon, at the moment my favourites are, Rat Queens, Nailbiter, Rocket Raccoon, Southern Bastards, and a whole bunch of others. What are yours?
Unfortunately I haven’t time for them anymore, but eventually I’d like to check out the new Thor. And figure out what would be good/appropriate ones for my daughter.
Author q: I think my first trip into a fantasy novel was Terry Brooks’s Shannara series. And I’m so glad.
That’s a great series.
I love your action scenes too. I’m glad that you allow Nate to get hurt quite a bit. It’s more authentic. I don’t like when the hero is infallible.
Another question: Were you intentional about trying to make Nate’s voice as distinct as possible from the other male UF heroes? What things did you look at with his character to make him stand out.
I couldn’t do a book where the hero was basically superman with no threat, I’d get bored.
He’s much more vicious than most of the other heroes in urban fantasy, in fact his tactics would probably make him a villain in some books. I wanted a character who will do anything to ensure that he wins and his loved ones are safe. sometimes that means going to a very dark place, which he’s okay with,
I can totally see that about him!
What new releases are you looking forward to?
Jim Butcher’s new Steampunk book, the new Scott Lynch and Clive Barker too.
Hi!
Know what you mean about not reading as much as you’d like to now - haven’t read any fiction books since the second week of the semester - tough going back to school on many things, but that is a big one. Anyway, is there an author or book that you’ve been wanting to get or try but haven’t made it yet?
Lois
and your questions -
What was the first fantasy/science fiction/horror book you read? that I can think of, might have been my first ST:TNG novel. Otherwise, as far as I know, it was always science before I tried science fiction.
If you could live inside one video game world, what would it be? Well, if I were in Cake Mania, there would always be cake… yeah, not a big gamer. I did do Star Trek Generations, Klingon Academy, the X-Files Game and the Atari 2600 Star Wars ones, but it’s been a few Windows OS’s ago with them.
If you could meet one person from fiction, who and why? to continue the Trek theme - Kirk or Picard… from general fiction, Mr Darcy. why - because they are the captains, and he’s Mr Darcy!
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. Everyone I know says it’s amazing, and I have a copy on my kindle, just haven’t gotten round to it yet. I will though.
Every question I wanted to ask was answered above! Just finished POH, 5 stars Steve. Will post with amazon later. I am saving the only novella left for when I get withdrawal and can’t wait. Great to hear 20 are in your head. I love this world you’ve built! Write faster.
Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it. The novella has characters who are going to be in book 5, which is out in Aug.
hi Steve,
Pacman, so I can eat the ghosts, lol
what place would you like to visit the most?
That’s hard. Maybe the Knights of the Old Republic world. I know that’s a bit of a cop out as it’s Star Wars too, but that would be cool. Or Skyrim.
What is your favorite stand-alone novel?
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Amazing book.
Hey Steve,
Love the series and really enjoyed Prison of Hope! One question, when Nate was fighting Cronus he stated that “Zeus & Hera were right about you”. What does that mean? What were they right about? Does this also dovetail into who Nate’s father is and his curse marks? (Sorry that was a few questions”
Yep, they both know who Nate’s father and mother are. And with no Zeus about, and Hera hating Nate for various reasons, it’s unlikely that they’re going to be the way he finds out who they are.
Is it possible that Nate is much older that his 1600 that he can remember?
Possible, but his first memories are from when he was about 8, so someone would have had to keep him very young for a long time.
When you start writing, do you already have an ending in mind, or do you just let the narrative go where it takes you?
I already know the end. Or at least a big chunk of it. The smaller details change, but the over all idea is pretty much done from the first word.
Hi Steve and congratulations! I finally made it to the chat! Do you write full time?
Nice to have you here. No, I have a fulltime job. And a wife and 3 young daughters. Sleep is something other people have. And I write quick, so if I can spend 3 or 4 evenings a week writing and a weekend, I tend to get a lot done.
Wow! Talk about a busy life! I guess sleep is a luxury for you! It’s a good thing you’re able to write quickly and that is something that just amazes me. It takes me awhile to compose an answer on this chat so I don’t suppose I’m destined to be an author. I wish you great success with your writing and greater success with your family!
Thanks very much, very kind of you. Typing fast, and having it make sense (mostly anyway) is very much a blessing.
Answers to Steve’s questions:
1. The first one that I can remember reading was Carrie by Stephen King.
2. I’m woefully uninformed about video games so I don’t know.
3. I’d love to meet Sherlock Holmes. He is highly intelligent, calm, unafraid, observant and has amazing deductive powers. Awesome traits!
It was my first Stephen King. Never have liked clowns since.
The first one I remember is Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron” short story in my high school sophomore English class (unless you count the Scholastic tie-in RETURN OF THE JEDI book from when I was 9).
I don’t know…most seem too frenetic for me to live in comfortably (I liked Pac-Man and Pitfall! as a kid). I could see myself visiting Threes!, since talking numbers do kind of appeal to me, but I don’t think I’d live there.
Even though the crush would be unrequited, I’d have fun hanging out for a day with HOT HEAD’s Griff Muir (yeah, I’ll let him bring Dante, why not).
Who is your favorite Muppet and why?
Beaker. Because he’s awesome.
If you could pick any author - from present or past - to be able to collaborate with on a book, who would you pick?
David Gemmell. Always loved his work, he wrote incredible action-packed fantasy. It would have been cool to work with him.
Is there a genre you have not written in yet that you would like to?
Well, I’ve done Urban Fantasy, and I’m currently doing Science Fiction and then I’ve got an more Science Fiction/Fantasy book to do. Probably Epic fantasy, or a thriller. I’ve got ideas for one of each, but at the moment they’re just an idea.
What are some of your favorite fantasy/scifi TV shows and movies?
Wow, this is going to be quite the list.
Star Wars (Not the prequels because meh, but most of the other stuff is great)
Star Trek (not Voyager as it sucked)
Firefly
Farscape
Daredevil (The new TV show is incredible)
The Flash
Futurama
Avengers
Winter Soldier
Lord of the Rings trilogy
Blue Exorcist
Fullmetal Alchemist
Samurai Champloo
And lots and lots more.
LOVE Star Wars, but I agree that the prequels were bad. I’m really hoping the sequels will be better. I stuck with the first 3 hoping they would get better, and then to answer the ultimate question of how he became Darth Vader.
The sequel looks pretty good so far. Here’s hoping, anyway.
Of any of your books, what has been one of your favorite scenes to write?
Anything with Nate and Tommy is always great fun. They have a brilliant friendship, and it’s good to see them together.
There’s a lot of stuff in Prison of Hope that I loved writing, which would spoil if I told anyone, but there’s a fight involving a Titan I’m particularly happy with. And the last few chapters of book 2, where Tommy’s daughter, Kasey, begins to show the kind of person she will become, and shortly after when Nate shows everyone why he’s considered so dangerous.
If you could have any mythical animal come to life as your companion/friend what would it be?
The dragon. Because it’s a dragon and that would be awesome.
Are you a fan of Terry Brooks’ Shannara series & what do you think about it being produced for tv? By MTV of all networks…
The first fantasy I read was probably The Hobbit- but that may have been a school read. The first series I read by myself (and reread to this day) was the Belgariad series by David Eddings. I have a vague memory of much of my early reading being fantasy based though…
If I could live in one video game world, hmmmm…this is terrible because my husband is an import/vintage dealer but I don’t know that there are really any video games I am familiar enough with to actually want to live in one. Maybe BioShock Infinite- but that is only because 1.) I love fair food 2.) That game had a killer soundtrack & 3.) It was really pretty. I have no problems watching him play- I just don’t really play.
There are probably 1000s of characters I would like to sit down and talk with from fiction but the 2 I find myself vacillating between are Polgara (from the David Edding’s stuff I love) and Marius (from Anne Rice Vampires). Polgara is like the ultimate heroine and Marius is just a character I love.
I enjoyed the books, but I didn’t know it was being produced by MTV. That doesn’t sound great, but then MTV doesn’t strike me as the epic fantasy type. I could be proven wrong though.
Bioshock Infinite (All 3 Bioshocks to be honest) were beautiful places. Scary, but beautiful.
How many books you write from jan 2015 to today
I finished Lies Ripped Open and started the Science Fiction book, which isn’t finished. So 1 1/2, I guess.
Pritchett’s covers are always fabulous, huh? So which is your favorite cover by him and favorite book to read by him?
Men At Arms and Hogfather are my favourites. The former because it was the first one I read, and later because it’s incredible.
Reaper Man is my favourite cover. Death as a farmer is a great visual.
What other classics have inspired your writing, outside of fantasy and horror?
A lot of comic book stuff, Daredevil, Batman and the like. I wanted to create a character who lives in that place between good and evil and if perfectly okay with doing bad things if needed.
Okay, so I might have fallen asleep while typing last night (again). I just scrolled through to make sure I didn’t somehow actually hit post comment and had some sort of non-sense posted. Very different from the non-sense I spout when I’m coherent. But it did let me look at all the new Q & As.
So my question, do your characters come with their names? Or do you look around for a name until it fits?
Oh and if you like Beaker from the muppets singing Carol of the Bells with the Swedish Chef and Animal. Priceless. I may be easy to amuse, but no matter what you can’t deny it’s entertaining.
Also just out of curiosity have you seen the new Hobbit trilogy as well?
Thanks!
I’ve seen the first 2 Hobbit movies, which probably could have been 1 film without any problem.
Names suck. I always have a hard time with names. I tend to change the names of characters over and over until I’m happy with them. I’m fussy like that.
Author Questions:
The first books that I can remember reading were fantasy. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings has been apart of my memory for so long, but for the life of me I can’t remember when I actually read it. But two other fantasy books that I do remember reading are The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle and Alanna by Tamora Pierce.
As for videogames, well it gets complicated because a lot of the videogames I play and played were pretty violent, like Mortal Kombat. SO just as I’d end up as cannon fodder in an Urban Fantasy, so it would go in a videogame. But I have to say, I wouldn’t say no to Kingdom Hearts!
And you had to ask the cruelest question of a reader! I honestly don’t know. I’ll have to think about this while I’m at work.
ave your job experiences ever found a way into your books? What was the worst job you ever had?
I worked for a shipping company who dealt with cargo. Worst 3 months I ever worked. My boss there was unpleasant, and the staff all hated it. I walked out one day after deciding it wasn’t worth the effort.
Prison of Hope has the London Book Fair in it, which is sort of work related. Other than that, not yet.
1) Lord of the Rings, City of Steel by Isaac Asimov and Carrie by Stephen King
2) I don’t play video games, but i like the art of Final Fantasy, so let it be one of those:)
3) Gandalf, because he’s fun but also powerful and a very interesting character.
what is your favorite part of being a Author?
There’s so many great parts, it’s hard to pick just one. Probably being able to create worlds and characters, to see them come to life. But having people read my work and enjoy it is probably one of the greatest parts of being an author.
Answer Authors Questions
1. I think Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist maybe it’s hard to remember that far back.
2. Skipping don’t play
3.Would likely be somebody from Anne McCaffreys dragon book because it would be so cool to be picked by a Dragon to fly on it.
you reading sounds like mine with comic books but I also read a lot of romances since my grandmother had lots of those. But I definitely branched out when she moved right directly behind the library. and I was extremely lucky cause no one censored what I was reading. Loved Stephen King and so glad that the kids today have some many different types of books.
My question is if you could have three folks to dinner living, dead, real, or imaginary to dinner who would they be and why?
Leonardo da Vinci, Stephen Hawking and Nikola Tesla. I might not be able to understand everything the talked about, but by the end of that dinner they’d have probably come up with something to change the world.
How many books have you written?
I’ve published 4 and a novella. I’ve got my 5th written and coming out in Aug and I’ve written 1 book that is destined to live in a drawer somewhere forever. And i’m writing another. So 7 and a novella.
Where is your favorite place to write?
In my new office. I love my new office.
Do you have a favorite cocktail?
Scotch is about as close to a cocktail as I go.
Do you have any pets?
We have a bearded dragon called Kaiju.
Do you hav a favourite genre to read?