Hi Alan. Welcome to Fallen Angels. I have enjoyed reading your work and I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.

From the looks of things, you have been very busy. Your book Tharne’s Quest was released in July and Killer Turtle, the third offering in the Al Brookes action/adventure series, was released earlier this month. For fans that have not had a chance to read these, can you tell us a little bit about these works?

Tharne’s Quest was one of my first steps into the horror genre and the release in USA coincided to the day with a visitation to my home in New Zealand that ended up needing a visit from a minister to run an exorcism to clean the bad ‘vibes’ that were hanging around.

Killer Turtle is an action/adventure that starts in New Zealand but then moves over to Fiji Islands before returning to this country for the rather bloody ending. The action is both above and below the waves and involves criminal elements as well as radicals (or terrorists as we now call them!)

You write a variety of genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Action Adventure. What appeals to you most within each of these genres?

With scifi and fantasy I like the power to create my own worlds, fill them with people and objects of my choosing and manipulate them with total freedom without anybody being able to tell me I got the geography, history or science wrong.

I have been challenged by one reader who insisted I had a river flowing the wrong way on Praesepe in Dreams of Charni. Interesting observation because, as far as I know, nobody has yet been to Praesepe other than my imagination – while it is a really star in the Crab Nebulae, it is 545 light years away from Earth so if somebody has gone there they would still be in transit – and they’d be awful old by the time they got back!

Do you find your writing style differs with each category?

Yes, it seems to be driven by the location and the type of action. At times, when I return to the first edit, I wonder where some of the ‘wording’ has come from because it’s not normally the way I speak. I guess my mind must have different compartments and depending on the style depends on the door that opens in my brain to let the words flow out. I also find that if I switch from one genre to another for a break, the word pattern automatically changes to meet the new situations.

You started out writing as a reporter, what finally convinced you to sit down and complete a manuscript?

Would you believe it was boredom. I had been posted to Fiji on a twelve-month tour with the Royal New Zealand Air Force but, within months, the government decided to close down the base with the ‘retirement’ of the Sunderland flying boats. As a single airman I was put on to the closure party and told I would be there until we finally shut the gates.

That was both good and bad news for the 18 air force people left behind. There was no pressure on us such as a finite date for closure so we managed to drag it out for another two years.

The downside to that was we were a very small and isolated community. To break the boredom I bought a typewrite and start to write – Killer Turtle was completed in 1968 but then went into storage when I got back to New Zealand where other activities took over, including 13 years working with the Wellington Badminton Association in various voluntary management roles.

The books didn’t see the light of day again until the late 1980’s when they were dragged out of mothballs and used as a stress reduction tool. At this stage I was the Area Manager of the Kaipara Area Health Services and deeply involved in the restructuring (reduction!) of the hospital. It was extremely stressful so I faced those pressures by moving back into my fictional worlds and taking out my frustrations on the characters I created – some bearing a strong resemblance to the people in authority who were destroying the service that I had spend the previous twelve years building up.

It kept me sane and with a smile on my face, something that annoyed the managers in Whangarei who were driving the reforms.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of completing and publishing a book?

To see my thoughts and ideas become available in print to share with others.

Besides writing for Amber Quill Press, you have released a cookbook titled Food For Thought.” Can you tell what inspired you to create a cookbook?

I’ve always been ‘involved’ with cooking so this was just a normal progression. I write a regular healthy eating column in the local paper under the guise of The Knackered Chef and also do cooking demos as part of a local health education program.

While I’m still working on a version of Food for Thought to be released on CD I have also just released a new cookbook, titled The Knackered Chef’s 3D Cookbook which is designed specifically for diabetics and included both recipes and information on diabetes. It was released today (16 September) and will be available locally and internationally through bookshops and over the Internet.

In addition to writing, you have a number of other interests. Your site indicates that you enjoy gardening and photography as well as computers and food and wine. This would seem to be a very eclectic set of interests. How did you become involved with these subjects and what do you find the most appealing?

Yes, it does cover a wide spectrum.

Gardening was basically because I enjoy a wide range of fruits and vegetables and it was cheaper to grow them than make regular visits to the supermarket. Sounded a good idea but like all my good ideas it got out of hand. The ‘jungle’ now has dozens of fruit trees and an amazing range of vegetables – and takes many hours of work each week.

At least it makes sure I get some time in the fresh air otherwise I’d take root in front of the computer or have my eye glued to the camera – both time consuming but fascinating.

I started getting serious with photography while in Fiji when I decided to photograph under the waves – and that extended in a few years to aerial as well. I also did a photography course with the New York Institute of Photography.

Food and wine followed on from the early days when we first arrived in New Zealand. My parents had spent most of their lives in India and so had little knowledge of cooking – servants did that! While Mum soon picked up the basics she was still reluctant to experiment or to handle certain types of food even though she enjoyed eating them. As a result I became the Offal Cook (not awful!) and became quite adept at working with brains, kidneys, liver and hearts. Maybe I should have been a doctor.

Your Warriors of Earth Series is very imaginative and unique. How did the idea for the universe come about?

It started off as a short story for an entry into the Ron L Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest Unfortunately the word count limit for that was 1,500 words and Dreams of Charni had sort of grown way past that. At 450,000 words I decided it was time to break it down and forget about the contest entry.

The opening dream sequence was the catalyst but the story soon developed a live on its own, creating new characters and situations that seemed to flow naturally as Jason pursued the evil Prince Khuramani across the world still recovering from the cataclysmic wars that had ravaged the planet in the past century.

Do you know how many works there will be in this series? Do you know how frequently the installments will be released?

The saga has six parts, all contracted to Amber Quill Press, and due for release between now and the end of 2005 – unfortunately I’m my worst enemy because at the same time I have contracts with them for another two Al Brookes action/adventures, and a couple of other titles as well as three still being assessed.

I must say I am envious that you get to live in such a lovely place as Taupo Bay, New Zealand. For those of us that have yet to visit, can you tell us what Taupo Bay has to offer visitors?

It has a beautiful sandy beach that’s sheltered by hills on three sides and open to the sea to the east. We are also right in the heart of New Zealand’s famous Bay of Island s area but isolated enough not to be plagued by endless visitors.

It’s also a haven for kids because of the fact that Stephenson’s Island, 5 km to the east, blocks the worst of the tidal surge. If it wasn’t for the island we’d be getting waves from many thousands of kilometers away because the next major landfall is South America.

Also a good area for yachting and fishing – I’m not over-keen on sailing but I am partial to fish and other seafood.

And there’s always a ‘cuppa’ for visitors at 23 Mako Street!

You have had a very full and varied life, do you feel this contributes to your writing?

I guess so because many of the situations faced in the books are based on things I’ve either done or seen done, changed by that simple but compelling writer’s phase “What if … “

As a writer, do you also take time to read other works? If so, do you have a particular author or style of book that you enjoy?

I guess two writers I was most impressed with were Denis Wheatley and John Norman. Conf

licting styles and generations but both very creative. I also enjoyed Leslie Charteris and The Saint series but I heard they were being ‘factory-produced’ by a stable of writers.

Of all your stories, is there one you would consider your favorite?

Yes, but it hasn’t been released yet.

A Conflict of Interests is something totally different to anything I’ve ever tried before but it is a combination of many – it’s a romantic action/adventure but it is also a travelogue (New Zealand, India and Italy) as well as a cookbook because our hero is a photographer and amateur chef who enjoys conning the chefs where he dines into sharing their recipes with him.

And that is what I also managed to do, getting chefs in the places I put my hero to dine to send me copies of their favorite recipes that are then incorporated into the glossary

Given that you have done more in your life than most people dream of, is there anything you are dying to try?

I would like to revisit some of the sites from my past but I guess that won’t happen unless I win a lottery. Until I do I’ll just have to travel there through cyberspace – at least I can’t be hijacked from in front of the computer!

What are you currently working on?

The CD Cookbook is still in action, as well as three other mss that have been expanded into skeletons and wait my decision on which will be attacked first – two are scifi/fantasy but the third is another like Conflict of Interest except this one will have our photographer visiting dive areas around the Pacific Rim (including the USA) and locking horns with a couple of terrorists along the way.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Only to extend an invitation to anybody visiting the Far North of New Zealand to call in and say ‘G'day’. The teapot is always on.

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. I know I am going to go out and grab a copy of Tharne’s Quest. We look forward to hearing from you again, but in the meantime check out Alan’s website for the latest news on his work.

Interviewed by: Amanda