Ask the Author: William Meikle
Answered Questions (8)
William Meikle
Mee-Kull works if you're Scottish :-) Me-Kill is the way non-Scots generally use it.
William Meikle
There's a new novella coming soon in an anthology OCCULT DETECTIVE QUARTERLY PRESENTS. And I'm thinking of more :-)
William Meikle
Sorry this took a bit, missed the post.
Favorite Living Horror Author: Ramsey Campbell. Ramsey's been scaring me for more than 30 years now in both the long and short form. Long may he continue.
Favorite Dead Horror Author: That's more difficult as there's so many of them, from the old ghost story writers, up through Lovecraft, Merritt et al, but I'll go for William Hope Hodgson, for Carnacki and House on the Borderland in particular, which again has been scaring me for decades.
Favorite Living Horror Author: Ramsey Campbell. Ramsey's been scaring me for more than 30 years now in both the long and short form. Long may he continue.
Favorite Dead Horror Author: That's more difficult as there's so many of them, from the old ghost story writers, up through Lovecraft, Merritt et al, but I'll go for William Hope Hodgson, for Carnacki and House on the Borderland in particular, which again has been scaring me for decades.
William Meikle
We killed him. He came back.
William Meikle
Sorry this took so long... the short answer is, yes, there's a developing Meikle Mythos that encompasses my Sigils and Totems idea.
It’s a simple enough concept.
There are houses like this all over the world. Most people only know of them from whispered stories over campfires; tall tales told to scare the unwary. But some, those who suffer… some know better. They are drawn to the places where what ails them can be eased.
If you have the will, the fortitude, you can peer into another life, where the dead are not gone, where you can see that they thrive and go on, in the dreams that stuff is made of.
There it is in a nutshell. There are houses where people can go to get in touch with their dead loved ones.
But this gives me lots of things to play with. To even get inside a room, you need a sigil; a tattoo or carving on your skin, and a totem, a memento of your loved one. Then there’s the fact that your loved one might be a parallel universe version rather than the one you actually know.
And where do these houses come from? What’s behind the walls? How do they work? Why do they work? And who chooses the concierges who run them? Or fixes them when they don’t work?
So I’ve got all that to play with, plus the fact that the houses can exist anywhere, at any time. They’re like lots of boxy, multi-faceted Tardis, spread across space time, places and situations into which I can hook in characters and stories.
I think I’ve stumbled into something that could keep me busy for a few years.
The first two novellas that used the concept, BROKEN SIGIL and PENTACLE were both well received. There’s two novels coming from DarkFuse that expand the idea further, SONGS OF DREAMING GODS, where a house is lying empty in the town center of St. Johns, Newfoundland after a brutal ritual murder, and THE BOATHOUSE, where the rooms are on an old whaling boat in a derelict shed and seem connected to an old chess set, and the arrival of a hurricane.
There’s several new short stories coming soon too, all exploring the idea from a different angle, including a new CARNACKI that tells another tale of the Edinburgh house, a prequel of sorts to the story in PENTACLE, another that wonders what would happen if there was such a house on a space station, one set in late-Victorian Whitechapel, and yet another that takes place in Roman times, in a fort on Hadrian’s Wall.
I’ve also got an idea for a big honking fantasy trilogy using the concept, but that’ll have to wait until the idea develops a bit better and I’ve got time to do it justice.
This latest one I’m about to head into has a burglar entering the wrong room at the wrong time. That’s about all I’ve got so far, but I’m keen to get going and see where it takes me.
Wish me luck, I’m about to knock on the door.
It’s a simple enough concept.
There are houses like this all over the world. Most people only know of them from whispered stories over campfires; tall tales told to scare the unwary. But some, those who suffer… some know better. They are drawn to the places where what ails them can be eased.
If you have the will, the fortitude, you can peer into another life, where the dead are not gone, where you can see that they thrive and go on, in the dreams that stuff is made of.
There it is in a nutshell. There are houses where people can go to get in touch with their dead loved ones.
But this gives me lots of things to play with. To even get inside a room, you need a sigil; a tattoo or carving on your skin, and a totem, a memento of your loved one. Then there’s the fact that your loved one might be a parallel universe version rather than the one you actually know.
And where do these houses come from? What’s behind the walls? How do they work? Why do they work? And who chooses the concierges who run them? Or fixes them when they don’t work?
So I’ve got all that to play with, plus the fact that the houses can exist anywhere, at any time. They’re like lots of boxy, multi-faceted Tardis, spread across space time, places and situations into which I can hook in characters and stories.
I think I’ve stumbled into something that could keep me busy for a few years.
The first two novellas that used the concept, BROKEN SIGIL and PENTACLE were both well received. There’s two novels coming from DarkFuse that expand the idea further, SONGS OF DREAMING GODS, where a house is lying empty in the town center of St. Johns, Newfoundland after a brutal ritual murder, and THE BOATHOUSE, where the rooms are on an old whaling boat in a derelict shed and seem connected to an old chess set, and the arrival of a hurricane.
There’s several new short stories coming soon too, all exploring the idea from a different angle, including a new CARNACKI that tells another tale of the Edinburgh house, a prequel of sorts to the story in PENTACLE, another that wonders what would happen if there was such a house on a space station, one set in late-Victorian Whitechapel, and yet another that takes place in Roman times, in a fort on Hadrian’s Wall.
I’ve also got an idea for a big honking fantasy trilogy using the concept, but that’ll have to wait until the idea develops a bit better and I’ve got time to do it justice.
This latest one I’m about to head into has a burglar entering the wrong room at the wrong time. That’s about all I’ve got so far, but I’m keen to get going and see where it takes me.
Wish me luck, I’m about to knock on the door.
William Meikle
Hi Dawn,
I think it must be THE CREEPING KELP.
It's a cautionary tale of what man is doing to the environment. A WW2 experiment resurfaces; a Shoggoth fragment meets some bits of jellyfish and some seaweed and together they decide they like plastic. They like it so much that they start to seek it out, and grow, and spread... and build.
It's a homage to several things. There's more than a touch of Lovecraft obviously, given that I've appropriated the Shoggoths, but there's also a lot of John Whyndham in there. I wanted to do a big-scale, Britain-in-peril novel for a while. The title came to me one day and I knew immediately that there was a story to be told there. There's also a bit of QUATERMASS in there too -- the old "British scientists screw up" genre has been with me for a long time and it's also something else I've always wanted to do.
Here it is. It's available now from Dark Regions Press and in all the usual online places.
I think it must be THE CREEPING KELP.
It's a cautionary tale of what man is doing to the environment. A WW2 experiment resurfaces; a Shoggoth fragment meets some bits of jellyfish and some seaweed and together they decide they like plastic. They like it so much that they start to seek it out, and grow, and spread... and build.
It's a homage to several things. There's more than a touch of Lovecraft obviously, given that I've appropriated the Shoggoths, but there's also a lot of John Whyndham in there. I wanted to do a big-scale, Britain-in-peril novel for a while. The title came to me one day and I knew immediately that there was a story to be told there. There's also a bit of QUATERMASS in there too -- the old "British scientists screw up" genre has been with me for a long time and it's also something else I've always wanted to do.
Here it is. It's available now from Dark Regions Press and in all the usual online places.
William Meikle
Write, write, then write some more. It's like getting an engine turning over. Once it warms up, it just keeps on running.
William Meikle
I don't know where the ideas come from. I'm just glad that they come. It's been over twenty years now. I think it's enthusiasm that keeps me going. I just love adventure stories with guns, swords, monsters and folks in peril.
I'm just a big kid at heart.
And therein lies my secret. I haven't grown up.
or me it's mainly inspiration. I wouldn't write at all if the ideas didn't present themselves in my head. I find I get a lot of ideas clamouring for attention all at once. I write them down in a notebook that never leaves my side, and sometimes one of them gathers a bit more depth, and I get a clearer image. At this stage I find myself thinking about it almost constantly, until a plot, or an ending, clarifies itself.
Once I've written down where the story should be going it quietens down a bit. Then, if I find myself still thinking about it a couple of days later, I'll probably start writing the actual story. At any given time I have about 20 ideas waiting for clarity, two or three of which might end up as finished works.
That's the inspiration part. And that continues when I start putting the words on paper. I've tried writing outlines, both for short stories and novels, but I've never stuck to one yet. My fingers get a direct line to the muse and I continually find myself being surprised at the outcome. Thanks to South Park, I call them my "Oh shit, I've killed Kenny" moments, and when they happen, I know I'm doing the right thing.
There is also a certain amount of perspiration, especially in writing a novel. But I find if it feels too much like work, I'm heading in the wrong direction and it usually ends up in the recycle bin.
And, yes, there's a certain degree of desperation in that I want to get better, to make the big sale, to see my name in lights, all that happy stuff. But I try not to think about that too much. :)
I'm just a big kid at heart.
And therein lies my secret. I haven't grown up.
or me it's mainly inspiration. I wouldn't write at all if the ideas didn't present themselves in my head. I find I get a lot of ideas clamouring for attention all at once. I write them down in a notebook that never leaves my side, and sometimes one of them gathers a bit more depth, and I get a clearer image. At this stage I find myself thinking about it almost constantly, until a plot, or an ending, clarifies itself.
Once I've written down where the story should be going it quietens down a bit. Then, if I find myself still thinking about it a couple of days later, I'll probably start writing the actual story. At any given time I have about 20 ideas waiting for clarity, two or three of which might end up as finished works.
That's the inspiration part. And that continues when I start putting the words on paper. I've tried writing outlines, both for short stories and novels, but I've never stuck to one yet. My fingers get a direct line to the muse and I continually find myself being surprised at the outcome. Thanks to South Park, I call them my "Oh shit, I've killed Kenny" moments, and when they happen, I know I'm doing the right thing.
There is also a certain amount of perspiration, especially in writing a novel. But I find if it feels too much like work, I'm heading in the wrong direction and it usually ends up in the recycle bin.
And, yes, there's a certain degree of desperation in that I want to get better, to make the big sale, to see my name in lights, all that happy stuff. But I try not to think about that too much. :)
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
May 04, 2019 02:55PM