Rod Marsden Guest Blog
Rod Marsden was born in
Sydney, Australia. He has three degrees; all related to writing and to history.
His stories have been published in Australia, England, Russia and the USA. He
has worked in the American anthology Cats
Do it Better. Many of his short stories have been published in Night to Dawn magazine. Undead Reb Down Under and Other Vampire
Stories is a collection of his short fiction on vampirism. His novel Disco Evil: Dead Man’s Stand is his
first venture into the vampire novel. Ghost
Dance is his first undertaking into dark fantasy involving a quest. Desk Job is a first in that it is his
salute to Lewis Carroll and it is also his initial surrealist novel. He is no
stranger to controversy and much of his writing is purposely as well as
purposefully politically incorrect. He prefers truth and integrity over the
lies and half truths we are so often inundated with. Thus his work has a
certain honesty about the times we are living in that may not be found
elsewhere.
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I hate injustice especially when it is disguised as fair play. At the
time I was looking for inspiration to start a new book a news report on
television caught my attention. A new wave of political correctness was in the
planning stage. Political correctness, especially in the office, bugs me. Hence
the giant praying mantis menacing a computer jockey on the cover of Desk Job. Like Lewis Carroll and Terry
Pratchett, I use symbolism and metaphor to reveal the darker, weirder and more
fascinating elements of life as I know it. Fear created by censorship inspired
by political correctness is at the heart of why the office where Desk Job mainly takes place is so
dysfunction. I have worked in offices not far removed from the office in my
novel.
I do most of my rough first draft writing on the train. I edit at home
on my P.C. Since I do a lot of travelling for my current job as a researcher
for public transportation, this works out fine.
I don’t expect to get everything right with the first draft. If I did
then I suspect the work, whether short story or novel, would lack inspiration
and the kind of flavour that makes for a good read. It is okay to let your id
free to play with ideas in the early stages of any kind of writing. You can
edit out the accrued garbage in subsequent drafts. Also the ending you
originally have in mind is often not the ending you arrive at. You get to know
and develop your characters as you write and this can result in your muse finding
a more suitable if not a more fun conclusion.
I get my ideas from life. I always have pen and paper handy when I’m
travelling. You never know who you are going to meet on the train or how they
will inspire you. I also read a lot. I try to get in a couple of factual books
a year along with the novels I absorb. Even a bad author can teach you
something about writing. There’s the question of why you have decided that he
or she isn’t very good.
I have a novel in mind
that will deal with a common fear. A man has just won a fortune but his past is
about to catch up to him. Will it be flight or fight? It’s presently titled Cold Water Conscience. No plans to imbue
it with fantasy elements like my other novels. It will be stark and compelling.
