I’m
pleased to welcome author, N J M Hemfrey and his futuristic novel, ‘My Fatal
Futility Shellshock’ to Writers at the Gate.
Read on to find out more...
About
the book…
In a
neo-Japanese inspired future comes a cyberpunk epic with a razor-sharp time
travel edge.
Kage
Carnifex never bleeds easily. He's stronger than the slickest cybernetics. And
the chip in his brain whispers the value of violence.
Kage is
the last product of a dead corporation. When he is scraped off the streets by
another megacorp, Kage plunges headlong into an unforgiving world of
unbreakable contracts, absolute loyalty, and soulful devotion beyond what he
thought possible.
Yet, the
psychotic butchers from his shrouded past cannot be escaped forever, nor their
malicious masters denied Kage's life. Blood is owed and carnage is coming to
carve everything Kage loves apart.
And the secret to surviving may lie within a device Kage can't control; the
chrono-disruptor -- a time machine -- but time is a fatal thing...
·
Publisher
: Independently published (31 Mar. 2021)
·
Language
: English
·
Genre:
Science Fiction
·
Paperback
: 522 pages
·
ISBN-13
: 979-8731264396
·
Dimensions
: 15.24 x 3.33 x 22.86 cm
'My Fatal Futility Shellshock' is available on Amazon HERE
About
the author…
N J M Hemfrey is 28 years
old, has degrees in Philosophy and Sociology, and Information and Library
Studies, and is an admin assistant for the charity Home-Start Falkirk. He lives
with his fiancé Kasha, who is the best individual to spend existence with,
whether in lockdown, the apocalypse, or more normal things like the cinema, or
wandering around old castles. He is an utter movie, book, video game and comic
enthusiast, especially for the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. One
of his greatest frustrations is that there is not enough time in the universe
to ever finish the lists of things he wants to do.
Website: www.njmhemfrey.com
N J M Hemfrey on Twitter: @Cloud_Neil
Brief Interview:
When
did you start writing your new book?
I started writing My Fatal Futility Shellshock
back in 2017. At that point, the story was called “If It’s the Last Thing I Do”
and was only about 30-pages. Neither was the story set in the cyberpunk genre
or heavily influenced by my research into Japanese culture and beliefs. The
original story had a contemporary setting and was simply about a guy journeying
through a fatalistic timeline to try and stop mysterious assassins who are
after him for obscure reasons. I’d actually forgotten about the concept/short
story until I happened to find it again in a One Drive folder, that I was
browsing through one day on the way to work. The job I had at the time was the
worst job I’ve ever had, and I’d plunged to a particularly low point when I
read this short story of mine again. Something about the idea really ignited my
spirit and fuelled the creative drive within me, a drive I was worried had
jammed because of the soul-sucking job I was doing. After 4 years more of
writing, it became an over 1000-page manuscript that had changed titles to “My
Fatalism of Futility” to “My Fatal Futility” and this has now been split into 3
parts: Shellshock, Convulsions, and Reckoning.
What was the inspiration behind the book?
I’ve been really fascinated by the concept of time
travel ever since I read the horribly lethal time loop in “All You Need Is
Kill” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and the mind-bending bootstrap paradox in “All You
Zombies” by Robert A. Heinlein. My fascination has grown with watching movies
like “Predestination”, “Looper”, and “Tenet” and so has my annoyance at any
time travel story that makes up the rules to be convenient for the plot. My
interest has only heightened by reading various science-eey books that confirm
how nothing in the laws of physics prevents time travel, we only lack the
“exotic” material and “exotic” fuel to make such journeys. Really, though, I
think the most interesting aspect of time travel is how it reveals the nature
of time which absolutely influences our identities, behaviours, free will, and
sense of meaning and place in the universe. The nature of time defines the
nature of humanity in a lot of ways. So, this has all fed into me wanting to
write a story where the timeline was fatalistic and the plot had to respect the
rules, rather than bending them to create easy resolutions. I injected
cyberpunk into the world-building due to how I think that genre reveals a lot
about the evolution and integration of human beings and technology, and how
this affects the political and natural climate of the world. Plus, I’m also a
fan of the hyper-violence, high-adrenaline action pieces, and pure neon
spectacle of the cyberpunk genre. However, I didn’t want to do cyberpunk that
accelerates towards nihilistic oblivion within polluted, criminal-ridden
metropolises as can be so common in the genre. I was inspired by my research
into the samurai ethics of bushido, Buddhism, and Shinto which led me to become
captivated by wider Japanese culture and beliefs, especially the sense of
respect and peace inherent in their outlooks. I wanted to create a cyberpunk
world that had its razor-sharp edges but was also a world that really conveyed
the beauty of nature, the tranquillity of meditation, and the respect even
adversaries can give one another. I wanted to create a cyberpunk world that
wouldn’t be a bad place to live. So, I like to think of My Fatal Futility
Shellshock as cyberpunk with the soul of a samurai, that reflects raw reality.
Can you describe your route to publication from
concept to completed novel?
The writing itself is the most important,
laborious, and time-consuming process. I developed my writing habit and routine
while writing my first novel “Haxfuri”, where I learned if I really wanted to
be an author or not. I ensured I woke up at eye-bleeding early hours in the
morning, did an hour or so of writing before work, did writing on a notepad at
work while others weren’t looking, and did more at night (often on my phone
while my partner lay asleep next to me). I learned that no matter how tired I
was, I never regretted doing writing. In fact, I now become anxious if I don’t
write. So, I have a great writing routine engrained in me now, of getting up
early and writing whenever there’s a moment free, and this has really helped
writing the 1000-page manuscript for the trilogy, then writing five more drafts
of the first book, “My Fatal Futility Shellshock”. My partner, who I am forever
indebted to, helped me do multiple edits and she also drew my “ramhorn-tiger”
logo that features in my marketing and in the book itself. While the editing
progressed, I commissioned Damonza to get my professional cover done, based on a
concept drawing and colour scheme I did, which their artist then turned into
something I would never be able pull off in my wildest dreams. Next, I did the
ebook formatting by following the Smashwords guide, which always takes far
longer than I anticipate. In the spare moments between doing all this prep
stuff, I also created marketing material. I’d find copyright-free images from
websites like Unsplash and Pixabay, researched free picture editors and found
the brilliant Paint.net that I then used in conjunction with PowerPoint to edit
images with a bespoke “branded” feel. My partner and I also created a unique 24
track soundtrack, using the GroovyLoops apps. The music-making part was
surprisingly more fun and addictive than I expected. Once the book was ready in
its print and ebook formats, the cover was finalised, the logo was done, and
the soundtrack was uploaded to YouTube, my last step was updating my website to
hopefully make it appear more appealing. WordPress can certainly be
sanity-straining and yet fun at the same time, even though hours spent trying
to master it can result in nothing. Finally, when all these different elements
were ready like different members of a ragtag team, I knew I was ready to
tackle the platforms I wanted it uploaded onto, including Amazon and
Smashwords, Kobo, Applebooks, Barnes and Noble, and Scribd.
What ideas do you have for any future books?
I’m quite lucky in that I never feel out of ideas.
I only ever feel there won’t be enough time before I die to write them all.
I’ve currently got about 20 folders, each with a story outline between 10 and
20 pages that detail a full story chapter by chapter. After I publish the
second and third books in the My Fatal Futility trilogy, I’ll be returning to a
horror story I wrote. It’s set in the Scottish Highlands and switches between
two perspectives. The first perspective is from a documentary team interviewing
people in a remote fictional town about a strange massacre that occurred. The
second perspective is from a woman who lived in the very community the massacre
occurred in, seeing what she sees on the night of the massacre. It’s got
Lovecraftian cosmic horror vibes as the mystery unfolds and the accounts of the
two perspectives conflict. After that, I’ve got another story I’ll be returning
to. This one is a science-fiction survival novel, set on a refugee's vessel in
space when riots kick-off and the ship AI goes rogue. The perspective is from
ship workers who run the vessel’s radio show, who hear and see things develop
from the isolation of their small studio. Eventually, they’re forced to make
decisions to leave the safety of their room. In essence, the story explores
what ethics really matter when oxygen, food, and water are limited, and I
initially got the idea while working in customer service and serving very
unpleasant individuals. From there on, the list goes on of standalone books and
series I want––no, NEED to write to final fruition.
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