We are so exited to have the opportunity of interviewing the lovely Nathan L Flamank. Who is then first male we have interviewed. Thank you for joining us
What/who inspired you to start writing? I've always loved books and writing stories; this started very early for me, probably around the age of ten, mainly to escape the world around me (mine wasn't the best of childhoods), but it wasn't until college back in the early 90s that I really began to write, it was a college lecturer named John Moore, who taught history, and he was the first to tell me that he thought I could tell a good story, and for many years it was just a hobby and then I thought well why not and so I published via amazon my first novel RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE.
What is your favourite part of a book?
My favourite part of any book is dialogue; it doesn't matter to me what kind of novel it is, if the dialogue rings false I lose interest; in my work I always try (and I use the word try as no one is perfect, least of all me) to make sure that the dialogue sounds real; if I feel that a character would curse a lot then I make sure its as colourful as possible. In my writing I also try to make the sex as real as possible - you know messy, noisy etcetera as I tend to think that we all know how embarrassing the actual act can be (some of the noises the human body makes during sex is highly comical) and so I always endeavour to bring a natural/realistic aspect to any descriptions of sex/sexual activity.
When naming your charcters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?
Naming characters just happens with me, when I created my series of erotic tales featuring Seth & Amber the female name just popped in to my head and I thought that someone named Amber would be drawn to an older sounding name and Seth just seemed appropriate and no, I don't give any thought to the real meaning of a name (is that bad haha).
Would you ever write a different genre?
I started writing erotica purely by chance, my debut novel RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE started life as a very dark, sometimes gruesome, adult thriller; a friend commented on an early draft that the sex scenes were well written and that she thought it was more of an erotic thriller and gradually it became the thrilling romance that is available now (at least thats what readers have told me). RATM is a stand alone novel where as the Seth & Amber series has grown tale by tale. I tend to think that the term "genre" is outdated, a book can be many things, look at McCarthy's THE ROAD; its a post apocalyptic tale but if you really read it, it has elements of horror, of romance (some of the flashbacks to the protagonist's early life with his wife are some of the best romance scenes I've ever read). so I think you can mix genres if you're prepared to put the time in.
What advice would you give inspiring writers?
My advice to any aspiring writer is to just start writing, don't put too much thought in to it, just let the words flow and eventually you'll hit on something that you think "has legs" and it'll flow from there; I must have three hundred short stories in a drawer that are just awful, but from those terrible pages I've learned so much. I'd also recommend reading as much as possible and to not be afraid of failure; the more you write, the better you'll get.
What made you come up with your book titles?
Book titles are a pain in the rear, I really struggle with them and a story can be finished for weeks before a suitable title pops in to my head. The only title that came easily was RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, and if you ever read the story I'd like to think the title is self-evident. The Seth & Amber tales tend to relate to specific incidents in the story I'm telling, but its still the hardest part for me.
Who is your favourite character from your books and why?
I have a huge soft spot for two of my leading female characters: Chloe from RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and Amber from the S&A series, both are very strong, intelligent, sexy and adventurous. Both characters aren't 'atypical' female leads; they don't need men to protect them, they don't need some billionaire to sweep them off their feet and I have had a lot of positive feedback from female readers thanking me for not making them soft and weak.
If you could work with any fellow author who would it be and why?
It'll never happen but I would love to work with a British author called Tim Willocks (he doesn't write erotica), in my opinion he's probably Britain's best living writer and I'd recommend your readers to check his work out.
Who are your top five authors/books
I tend to read non erotic works of fiction, I always worry that if I start reading erotica it'll influence my writing style so with that in mind here are my favourite authors with my favourite book by them:
Tim Willocks - Green River Rising
Stephen King - Salem's Lot
Nicholas Evans - The Horse Whisperer
Christopher Fowler - The Bryant & May Mysteries
Harper Lee - To Kill A Mockingbird
Thank you for taking part.
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