Ask the Author: Damian Knight
Answered Questions (8)
Damian Knight
Hi Shaili, thanks for your question!
I think that, on some level, I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but didn’t get down to any actual writing until I was in my early twenties. After a few short stories and a couple of unfinished novels, I went through a break of about 5-6 years when I didn’t write a thing. Then, around 2012, I got back into writing in a big way and have written pretty much every day since.
I think that, on some level, I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but didn’t get down to any actual writing until I was in my early twenties. After a few short stories and a couple of unfinished novels, I went through a break of about 5-6 years when I didn’t write a thing. Then, around 2012, I got back into writing in a big way and have written pretty much every day since.
Damian Knight
Quite simply, doing the thing I love.
One of my favourite feelings is that from linking two unconnected plot points in a way that adds to both, when things suddenly seem to fall into place and make sense.
One of my favourite feelings is that from linking two unconnected plot points in a way that adds to both, when things suddenly seem to fall into place and make sense.
Damian Knight
Hi Wendy, that’s a good question! Thinking back, I suppose the idea for Sam and his ability were part of my initial idea for the book. I remember hearing of the notion that time is subjective, rather than some universal absolute, which got me wondering what would happen if someone were to suffer an injury which affected the way they experience time. Over a day or two, I sketched a plan for Sam, his ability and his recruitment to the Tempus Project. In terms of Sam’s character, it made sense to have someone who was susceptible to manipulation, such as an impulsive and unconfident teenager. I’m interested in how our personalities are constantly evolving in real life, so I tried to make Sam someone who is shaped by his experiences over the course of the story.
Damian Knight
My least favourite thing about writing is when it doesn’t flow and can feel like banging your head against a wall. Perversely, though, I’ve often written some good stuff on days that started out like this, so my advice is to go and do something else for an hour or two, then come back and try again.
Damian Knight
Read a lot. Write a lot. Grow a thick skin.
I’m still working on that last one.
I’m still working on that last one.
Damian Knight
Ideas come to me in a variety of ways. On some occasions it’ll be something I read or see on the news, and on others a chance encounter or a conversation overheard. I’ve had ideas from dreams before, and have climbed out of bed in the middle of the night for half an hour’s frantic scribbling (unfortunately these ones don’t always look so good in the cold light of day).
Damian Knight
I am writing the sequel to The Pages of Time, which I hope to publish next year. It continues to follow Sam and his friends in the present day, while delving more deeply into the backstory of Pages.
Damian Knight
I had the initial idea for The Pages of Time after reading The End of Time by British physicist Julian Barbour. According to Barbour, we have no evidence of the past other than our memory of it and no evidence of the future other than our belief in it. He argues that each individual moment of time exists as complete and whole in its own right – “nows” – and that what we experience as the passage of time is, in fact, an illusion: the linking together of these distinct nows by their similarity to one another. This notion led me to wonder what would happen if someone were to suffer a disorder which affected the way they link these similar nows together, jumbling their experience of the passage of time, which gave me the idea of Sam’s brain injury in The Pages of Time. Everything else sort of followed from there!
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more