Today my guest is the genre-hopping author Jon Richter whose work spans crime novels, fantasy, science fiction, horror stories and cyber-punk. I really enjoyed his last crime novel, Never Rest.
Hi Jon how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. The previous three times we met you were not drinking as you were training for the London Marathon. However what can I get you at the bar?
J: Haha well I’m unclear as to whether you’re paying or not, but if you are I’ll have a double gin and tonic, with one of those posh new-fangled gins please. In fact make that a triple.
Sounds about right. If I remember correctly the first time we met in real life was a boozy occasion?
J: Oh yes! We first met at a Bloodhound Books event where I was very nervously dishing out some (rubbish) promotional badges I’d had made, while you were very slickly distributing copies of your ace crime thrillers, including to me!
I still have my badge! First impressions?
J: Dead nice, dead friendly, an absolute pleasure to talk to, and you clearly knew what you were doing at such an event so I latched onto you like a determined leech.
Strange isn’t it? I thought you were amazingly confident! Not sure about the repetition of “dead” in your reply given the type of books you write. Apart from living in the same area, do we have any other points in common?
J: We both write crime thrillers and also dabble in other genres, although to my knowledge you haven’t yet ventured into cyberpunk… but I would absolutely love to read it if you did. I think we also both like a drink and a good laugh, as showcased at the recent charity quiz event I ran, where your team were very gracious about all the super-nerdy video game questions. That was only back in March, would you believe – it seems like a lifetime ago after the lockdown has since kicked in.
Indeed. What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
J: It’s really interesting to reflect on all the things I thought I’d miss, but actually don’t really mind. For social events, it turns out that Zoom parties/quizzes are a pretty good replacement – you still feel like you’ve seen all your friends and family, had a few drinks and a laugh, and you don’t have to faff around travelling home. For live sport, you can just watch old repeats of matches where you know your team won, thereby avoiding the usual stress and heartache. And for days outdoors, I now have a great excuse not to bother, and can instead enjoy staying at home reading, writing and playing video games!
I do miss going out for meals though – I’m a terrible chef so I love treating myself to some much better food that someone else has prepared. Thankfully my girlfriend is a really really cook good, and actually enjoys it, so I’m very lucky to be quarantined with her (also because she’s lovely).
I’ve also very recently started a new job, actually during the lockdown, and I never thought I’d say this, but I think I miss going into the office. It’s strange to be working as part of a virtual team without the opportunity to meet new colleagues face-to-face or to get to know them properly in the pub… although on the plus side, I can now wear shorts to work, so it isn’t all bad!
Back to events – what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
J: This is such a good question! I think if I was going to appear on a panel of writers I’d like one of my all-time idols to be there, along with a writer who I really like and respect, but who I’ve already met (to put me at ease so I didn’t become too starstruck and waffly). Then finally I’d add someone who I’m convinced would be an entertainingly terrifying maniac. So that’s the sadly-missed Iain Banks, the equally-sadly-missed Harlan Ellison, and your good self Anne – I’ll let you decide which one is which!
Well as I’m not dead yet… What are you working on now?
J: It’s actually a really big year for me! My first cyberpunk thriller, Auxiliary: London 2039 has just been published by the awesome TCK Publishing (an American publisher, resulting in many battles about correct spellings!) and I’m just putting the finishing touches to another dark and sinister crime novel, Rabbit Hole, for the ace people at Bloodhound Books, due for release in June. I’ve got a couple of new writing projects on the go, with the genre-hopping showing no sign of abating: one is a dark fantasy novel, and the other is a science fiction “sidequel” to the cyberpunk book… and there are always more short horror stories in the pipeline of course!
Is there one thing lockdown has made you think about/want to do?
J: It has definitely reinforced my belief that you should always say “yes” to things. I always try to say yes whenever I’m lucky enough to be invited to events, parties, posh cocktail lounges like this one, or even just for a few pints at the pub after work, because I think I’m really unbelievably lucky to have friends in my life who want to spend any of their time with me… and because you never know when that might change. The unthinkable circumstances that have descended upon us so mind-meltingly quickly in the last few months have reminded us all just how fleeting and precious those relationships are.
So, when all this is over, the first round is on me!
I’ll hold you to that, Jon, and thank you for joining me in The Cocktail Lounge and good luck with your launches.
To find out more about Jon’s books visit www.jon-richter.com
Today my guest is the genre-hopping author Jon Richter whose work spans crime novels, fantasy, science fiction, horror stories and cyber-punk. I really enjoyed his last crime novel, Never Rest.
Hi Jon how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. The previous three times we met you were not drinking as you were training for the London Marathon. However what can I get you at the bar?
J: Haha well I’m unclear as to whether you’re paying or not, but if you are I’ll have a double gin and tonic, with one of those posh new-fangled gins please. In fact make that a triple.
Sounds about right. If I remember correctly the first time we met in real life was a boozy occasion?
J: Oh yes! We first met at a Bloodhound Books event where I was very nervously dishing out some (rubbish) promotional badges I’d had made, while you were very slickly distributing copies of your ace crime thrillers, including to me!
I still have my badge! First impressions?
J: Dead nice, dead friendly, an absolute pleasure to talk to, and you clearly knew what you were doing at such an event so I latched onto you like a determined leech.
Strange isn’t it? I thought you were amazingly confident! Not sure about the repetition of “dead” in your reply given the type of books you write. Apart from living in the same area, do we have any other points in common?
J: We both write crime thrillers and also dabble in other genres, although to my knowledge you haven’t yet ventured into cyberpunk… but I would absolutely love to read it if you did. I think we also both like a drink and a good laugh, as showcased at the recent charity quiz event I ran, where your team were very gracious about all the super-nerdy video game questions. That was only back in March, would you believe – it seems like a lifetime ago after the lockdown has since kicked in.
Indeed. What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
J: It’s really interesting to reflect on all the things I thought I’d miss, but actually don’t really mind. For social events, it turns out that Zoom parties/quizzes are a pretty good replacement – you still feel like you’ve seen all your friends and family, had a few drinks and a laugh, and you don’t have to faff around travelling home. For live sport, you can just watch old repeats of matches where you know your team won, thereby avoiding the usual stress and heartache. And for days outdoors, I now have a great excuse not to bother, and can instead enjoy staying at home reading, writing and playing video games!
I do miss going out for meals though – I’m a terrible chef so I love treating myself to some much better food that someone else has prepared. Thankfully my girlfriend is a really really cook good, and actually enjoys it, so I’m very lucky to be quarantined with her (also because she’s lovely).
I’ve also very recently started a new job, actually during the lockdown, and I never thought I’d say this, but I think I miss going into the office. It’s strange to be working as part of a virtual team without the opportunity to meet new colleagues face-to-face or to get to know them properly in the pub… although on the plus side, I can now wear shorts to work, so it isn’t all bad!
Back to events – what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
J: This is such a good question! I think if I was going to appear on a panel of writers I’d like one of my all-time idols to be there, along with a writer who I really like and respect, but who I’ve already met (to put me at ease so I didn’t become too starstruck and waffly). Then finally I’d add someone who I’m convinced would be an entertainingly terrifying maniac. So that’s the sadly-missed Iain Banks, the equally-sadly-missed Harlan Ellison, and your good self Anne – I’ll let you decide which one is which!
Well as I’m not dead yet… What are you working on now?
J: It’s actually a really big year for me! My first cyberpunk thriller, Auxiliary: London 2039 has just been published by the awesome TCK Publishing (an American publisher, resulting in many battles about correct spellings!) and I’m just putting the finishing touches to another dark and sinister crime novel, Rabbit Hole, for the ace people at Bloodhound Books, due for release in June. I’ve got a couple of new writing projects on the go, with the genre-hopping showing no sign of abating: one is a dark fantasy novel, and the other is a science fiction “sidequel” to the cyberpunk book… and there are always more short horror stories in the pipeline of course!
Is there one thing lockdown has made you think about/want to do?
J: It has definitely reinforced my belief that you should always say “yes” to things. I always try to say yes whenever I’m lucky enough to be invited to events, parties, posh cocktail lounges like this one, or even just for a few pints at the pub after work, because I think I’m really unbelievably lucky to have friends in my life who want to spend any of their time with me… and because you never know when that might change. The unthinkable circumstances that have descended upon us so mind-meltingly quickly in the last few months have reminded us all just how fleeting and precious those relationships are.
So, when all this is over, the first round is on me!
I’ll hold you to that, Jon, and thank you for joining me in The Cocktail Lounge and good luck with your launches.
To find out more about Jon’s books visit www.jon-richter.com