Chris Dutton recently burst onto Amazon with his latest steampunk alternate history, The Tyrant Rises (It's about Napoleon!... well kinda) . He's on Twitter but he also has a blog at wordpress where he regularly posts samples you can check out! That's how I originally found his work and first got to know him, but you can get to know him a little right here, just keep reading!
Perkins: Let's jump right in. I don't think I'm giving anything away, afterall you have him right on the cover, but I wanted to ask, why is Napoleon such a compelling figurehead in history to you?
Dutton: Conquest-wise, it fascinates me that he was basically Hitler’s forebear. I don't mean that in any of the more nefarious ways. His genius is fascinating. And the more you read the more interesting Napoleon gets. Crude love poems to Josephine. The questionable sanity as he got older. And even then he managed to almost take Europe after escape from exile - in 100 days! He rose from relative obscurity to be perhaps the finest general of all history. At least until Russia - and even then he had the excuse of not understanding the geography!
Perkins: It sounds like you might’ve had as much fun writing a more standard Historical Fiction novel? One where true researched history remains intact. Why go the route of Alternate History instead? What did steampunk add to the equation that you couldn’t pass up?
Dutton: I did seriously consider a 'proper' historical fiction novel, but I've always loved the 'making stuff up' aspect. I used to read Fantasy and I've really enjoyed period fiction (Wilkie Collins’ Moonstone springs to mind), and it felt like the Historical Fiction (in the way I'd want to do it) left too little of the 'making stuff up' option. It's probably because I love technology and I love the history of it. Bringing in World War I technology on the back of an elongated Napoleonic war felt like fun and gave more scope.
Perkins: How do you balance the 'making stuff up' with the actual history?
Dutton: There's no hard and fast rules. I like a bit of everything. For example, there's the near-perpetual motion bit, in my novel, which was searched after for years, even though it's not really possible. Then there's the 'what-if' part of history and the sci-fi/steampunk aspect of pure make-believe. I don't think it's intended to be entirely believable from a ‘what's possible’ aspect, but hopefully it's on the edge of what could’ve been possible given the right brain. I try and look at enhancing the story with historical accuracy, even if it's only an undertone - the hundreds of years of slavery and rape of lands to line an Empire's pocket on pretty thin pretexts (e.g. 'civilising' the 3rd world), for example.
Perkins: Have you always been into war?
Dutton: I've been brought up on good old World War II films, Bridge on the River Kwai, A Bridge Too Far, 633 Squadron, The Longest Day and that ilk. Barring a bit of Wellington history, not a lot got taught of a fairly crucial part of European history. I stumbled on Napoleon through Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, darn good adventure books with a strong sense of real history.
Perkins: Do you see any parallels in those old wars to the stuff going on in the world today? Any relevance or lessons for example?
Dutton: I'm not sure that the world - in essence - has changed overly much from the setting. Granted, it's smaller and the areas of the globe have altered slightly, but most of the wars are still pretty thinly veneered.
Perkins: How do you mean?
Dutton: Well, the original Gulf War was about nothing more than oil. In the 1970’s the West armed the Taliban to fight the Russians, and then decided we should arm other marginal groups to fight them. And now the same thing is happening in Syria. Back in the Napoleonic era, England armed various Indian states to fight other Indian states, loosely veiled as a fight against France. Again, a thin veneer to get richer. All pretty depressing really, and probably the reason for the underlying darkness of the book.
Perkins: You post a lot of excerpts on your website. What do you hope to gain from that?
Dutton: The general idea was that not a lot would be given away of the overall story, but the excerpts would generate interest in the finished book. Constructive feedback was also an aim, but I suppose, the main thing was to get my name started out there!
Perkins: And has it worked?
Dutton: I can't say whether it's worked - I've sold a few books, probably as well as could be expected for a first time self-published author. I can't say that I really understand social media very well - I'm very much more of a fresh air sort of person, and doing the whole twitter and Blog thing takes time - which is in short supply with a 6 & 3 year old and full time job!
Perkins: A little young yet to be fans, I suppose.
Dutton: I'd love to leave them a legacy. I tried to explain to my 6 year old that I was writing, but only when he saw the book cover, my name on it, and that it's for sale on a website, did he go 'Wow!'
Perkins: Family can really get in the way for some writers. I just had my first son a few months ago. How do you structure your writing time around family without compromising either?
Dutton: The biggest issue isn't family, it's my day job! It takes time to get the editing done. Anyway, my wife is very considerate (as well as beautiful, loving and an excellent mum).
Perkins: What does your writing space look like?
Dutton: I don't really have a writing space! With a young family, most of my privacy is totally invadable, and generally is. Even writing this is hampered by pests! There's a quiet local pub and a beautiful old playhouse called the Plaza in Stockport which dates back to the 1920s or so. They're my favourite places to write, as well as the swimming baths when I'm taking the eldest to lessons (I've done an awful lot there...!). Funnily, the best time I had of it was when I was put on gardening leave - I pretty much finished the novel then, and it still took another 18 months to finish off!
Perkins: Tell me more about your "polishing" process? Were there lots of rewrites?
Dutton: Regarding the time aspect, with a young family, it's pretty easy to take ages over something, and in that time, it's easy to forget what already went on, how the story is meant to be going, and so sometimes it feels great to just write - but then it needs major re-editing to bring it back to the story - or if it feels particularly right, maybe re-editing some other section for continuity. Brocklehurst started off as a side character, but he just sprouted wings and added a depth of sinister-ism (which I don't think is a word!) to the whole darkness conquering Europe bit. And in addition to that, being a new writer, some things work, some things don't.
Perkins: Like what?
Dutton: I had a number of people tell me that introducing all of the characters bit-part throughout the first three chapters was really confusing - it led to a re-structure, and then the reading experience is different. Which means more re-writing. And then we get started with exposition, passivity, and all of the things that should make the second part a lot slicker to write.
Perkins: What is your favorite steampunk “classic"?
Dutton: I've read many of the modern genre and a few of the olde worlde originals of what could be called 'Steampunk'. I love some of the YA literature out there - Scott Westerfield & Philip Reeve, Eoin Colfer's Airman. I love the slightly irresponsible Chris Wooding. But as an absolute favourite, I have to say the original trilogy from Mark Hodder - the Spring Heeled Jack series. It's so well written and messes around with time so brilliantly; it leaves me a bit in awe of the intelligence behind it.
Perkins: What are you reading right now?
Dutton: I'm currently re-reading the Steven Ericson Malazan series. I'm on book 2. I'm reading it for 3 reasons - one is pure enjoyment, the second is to try to understand what the hell is going on, and the third is from a writer point of view - how does he make it all hang together. The second and third installments require a lot of the aspects he brings in (albeit without so many levels of complexity, I'm just far too simple to manage that), and I'm reading it for understanding and inspiration. If anyone has any further interesting reading that follows a similar level of detail, I'd be fascinated. And not GRRM, I'm aiming at fewer words that are more meaningful!
Perkins: Yes, leave any suggestions in the comments!
Perkins: What's next on your publishing agenda, besides promoting the new release?
Dutton: I'm not too actively pushing on sales at the moment. I want the second book in the series written and out there. It's fairly normal for readers of this type of genre to want to see progress and an end in sight. Robert Jordan and George Martin spring to mind at how to frustrate a reader! So to that end, the main project is getting book 2 finished.
Perkins: And how far along are you? Do you have an outline?
Dutton: I have a fairly loose outline for each volume of the story, which I've stayed pretty close to, but I'm not a fan of writing a chapter outline and not being able to get away from it if the story or characters take me elsewhere - which they do! The first draft is half written, aim is October 2017. We'll see just how much time the kids force me to spend with them! (actually, I've got some really cool Meccano to build with my 7 yr old. I can feel it calling as a good New Year’s Day project... For him! Honest!).
Perkins: Sure, we believe you!
Keep the conversation going in the comments if you have anything to ask! Otherwise check out The Tyrant Rises on paperback or e-reader!
Dutton: Conquest-wise, it fascinates me that he was basically Hitler’s forebear. I don't mean that in any of the more nefarious ways. His genius is fascinating. And the more you read the more interesting Napoleon gets. Crude love poems to Josephine. The questionable sanity as he got older. And even then he managed to almost take Europe after escape from exile - in 100 days! He rose from relative obscurity to be perhaps the finest general of all history. At least until Russia - and even then he had the excuse of not understanding the geography!
Perkins: It sounds like you might’ve had as much fun writing a more standard Historical Fiction novel? One where true researched history remains intact. Why go the route of Alternate History instead? What did steampunk add to the equation that you couldn’t pass up?
Dutton: I did seriously consider a 'proper' historical fiction novel, but I've always loved the 'making stuff up' aspect. I used to read Fantasy and I've really enjoyed period fiction (Wilkie Collins’ Moonstone springs to mind), and it felt like the Historical Fiction (in the way I'd want to do it) left too little of the 'making stuff up' option. It's probably because I love technology and I love the history of it. Bringing in World War I technology on the back of an elongated Napoleonic war felt like fun and gave more scope.
Perkins: How do you balance the 'making stuff up' with the actual history?
Dutton: There's no hard and fast rules. I like a bit of everything. For example, there's the near-perpetual motion bit, in my novel, which was searched after for years, even though it's not really possible. Then there's the 'what-if' part of history and the sci-fi/steampunk aspect of pure make-believe. I don't think it's intended to be entirely believable from a ‘what's possible’ aspect, but hopefully it's on the edge of what could’ve been possible given the right brain. I try and look at enhancing the story with historical accuracy, even if it's only an undertone - the hundreds of years of slavery and rape of lands to line an Empire's pocket on pretty thin pretexts (e.g. 'civilising' the 3rd world), for example.
Perkins: Have you always been into war?
Dutton: I've been brought up on good old World War II films, Bridge on the River Kwai, A Bridge Too Far, 633 Squadron, The Longest Day and that ilk. Barring a bit of Wellington history, not a lot got taught of a fairly crucial part of European history. I stumbled on Napoleon through Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, darn good adventure books with a strong sense of real history.
Perkins: Do you see any parallels in those old wars to the stuff going on in the world today? Any relevance or lessons for example?
Dutton: I'm not sure that the world - in essence - has changed overly much from the setting. Granted, it's smaller and the areas of the globe have altered slightly, but most of the wars are still pretty thinly veneered.
Perkins: How do you mean?
Dutton: Well, the original Gulf War was about nothing more than oil. In the 1970’s the West armed the Taliban to fight the Russians, and then decided we should arm other marginal groups to fight them. And now the same thing is happening in Syria. Back in the Napoleonic era, England armed various Indian states to fight other Indian states, loosely veiled as a fight against France. Again, a thin veneer to get richer. All pretty depressing really, and probably the reason for the underlying darkness of the book.
Perkins: You post a lot of excerpts on your website. What do you hope to gain from that?
Dutton: The general idea was that not a lot would be given away of the overall story, but the excerpts would generate interest in the finished book. Constructive feedback was also an aim, but I suppose, the main thing was to get my name started out there!
Perkins: And has it worked?
Dutton: I can't say whether it's worked - I've sold a few books, probably as well as could be expected for a first time self-published author. I can't say that I really understand social media very well - I'm very much more of a fresh air sort of person, and doing the whole twitter and Blog thing takes time - which is in short supply with a 6 & 3 year old and full time job!
Perkins: A little young yet to be fans, I suppose.
Dutton: I'd love to leave them a legacy. I tried to explain to my 6 year old that I was writing, but only when he saw the book cover, my name on it, and that it's for sale on a website, did he go 'Wow!'
Perkins: Family can really get in the way for some writers. I just had my first son a few months ago. How do you structure your writing time around family without compromising either?
Dutton: The biggest issue isn't family, it's my day job! It takes time to get the editing done. Anyway, my wife is very considerate (as well as beautiful, loving and an excellent mum).
Perkins: What does your writing space look like?
Dutton: I don't really have a writing space! With a young family, most of my privacy is totally invadable, and generally is. Even writing this is hampered by pests! There's a quiet local pub and a beautiful old playhouse called the Plaza in Stockport which dates back to the 1920s or so. They're my favourite places to write, as well as the swimming baths when I'm taking the eldest to lessons (I've done an awful lot there...!). Funnily, the best time I had of it was when I was put on gardening leave - I pretty much finished the novel then, and it still took another 18 months to finish off!
Perkins: Tell me more about your "polishing" process? Were there lots of rewrites?
Dutton: Regarding the time aspect, with a young family, it's pretty easy to take ages over something, and in that time, it's easy to forget what already went on, how the story is meant to be going, and so sometimes it feels great to just write - but then it needs major re-editing to bring it back to the story - or if it feels particularly right, maybe re-editing some other section for continuity. Brocklehurst started off as a side character, but he just sprouted wings and added a depth of sinister-ism (which I don't think is a word!) to the whole darkness conquering Europe bit. And in addition to that, being a new writer, some things work, some things don't.
Perkins: Like what?
Dutton: I had a number of people tell me that introducing all of the characters bit-part throughout the first three chapters was really confusing - it led to a re-structure, and then the reading experience is different. Which means more re-writing. And then we get started with exposition, passivity, and all of the things that should make the second part a lot slicker to write.
Perkins: What is your favorite steampunk “classic"?
Dutton: I've read many of the modern genre and a few of the olde worlde originals of what could be called 'Steampunk'. I love some of the YA literature out there - Scott Westerfield & Philip Reeve, Eoin Colfer's Airman. I love the slightly irresponsible Chris Wooding. But as an absolute favourite, I have to say the original trilogy from Mark Hodder - the Spring Heeled Jack series. It's so well written and messes around with time so brilliantly; it leaves me a bit in awe of the intelligence behind it.
Perkins: What are you reading right now?
Dutton: I'm currently re-reading the Steven Ericson Malazan series. I'm on book 2. I'm reading it for 3 reasons - one is pure enjoyment, the second is to try to understand what the hell is going on, and the third is from a writer point of view - how does he make it all hang together. The second and third installments require a lot of the aspects he brings in (albeit without so many levels of complexity, I'm just far too simple to manage that), and I'm reading it for understanding and inspiration. If anyone has any further interesting reading that follows a similar level of detail, I'd be fascinated. And not GRRM, I'm aiming at fewer words that are more meaningful!
Perkins: Yes, leave any suggestions in the comments!
Perkins: What's next on your publishing agenda, besides promoting the new release?
Dutton: I'm not too actively pushing on sales at the moment. I want the second book in the series written and out there. It's fairly normal for readers of this type of genre to want to see progress and an end in sight. Robert Jordan and George Martin spring to mind at how to frustrate a reader! So to that end, the main project is getting book 2 finished.
Perkins: And how far along are you? Do you have an outline?
Dutton: I have a fairly loose outline for each volume of the story, which I've stayed pretty close to, but I'm not a fan of writing a chapter outline and not being able to get away from it if the story or characters take me elsewhere - which they do! The first draft is half written, aim is October 2017. We'll see just how much time the kids force me to spend with them! (actually, I've got some really cool Meccano to build with my 7 yr old. I can feel it calling as a good New Year’s Day project... For him! Honest!).
Perkins: Sure, we believe you!
Keep the conversation going in the comments if you have anything to ask! Otherwise check out The Tyrant Rises on paperback or e-reader!