Peter Mckeirnon's Blog: Death in a Northern Town - Posts Tagged "peter-mckeirnon"
Peter Mckeirnon Interview - Death in a Northern Town
Hi everyone,
Here is a recent interview I did with the Runcorn Weekly News about Death in a Northern Town, how I wrote it and asking people to give me their names so I can kill them in the book...
AFTER Peter McKeirnon’s explosion onto the book world this week with his zombie apocalypse novel, Death In A Northern Town (DIANT), the Weekly News spoke to the author about the dawn of his undead.
Weekly News:Where did the idea come from?
Peter McKeirnon: “I had been thinking of writing a zombie apocalypse novel for some time but I was never satisfied with the setting. Then after one of my regular ‘What would you do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?’ conversations with a friend, it dawned on me that I should set it in my home town. I’ve lived here almost all my life and know it better than anywhere. Runcorn is perfect as the backdrop for the story I wanted to tell.”
What fiction experience did you have?
“I studied performing arts at Halton College and then at the University Of Manchester. Writing was a big part of my student life but I have only ever written plays and for several years, comedy sketches and an ill-fated TV sitcom called Mr T’s with my friend Michael O’Flaherty. Until recently, writing a novel was never something I had considered.
What was the most challenging aspect of completing the book?
“In all honesty, the book has been a pleasure to write. I’ve enjoyed every aspect of it but if I had to pick one thing that was the most challenging it would be learning to have patience and not rush the story; giving it the time and attention it deserved. My wife Kay has been the voice of reason on many occasion. She does a great job of reining me in.”
What was the highlight?
“All of it but if I had to pick one it would have to be the zombie photo shoot. It was a great afternoon and made special by the many people that took part. I was astounded by the effort people went to with their costumes and make up. I could not have asked for more.”
How have people featured in the book reacted to their portrayals, both alive and dead?
“Really well so far! I think that everyone understands that it is just their names being used and the characters in the book do not represent them as individuals.”
Your affection for Runcorn comes across despite featuring what some would see as flaws. As a writer how did you deal with this?
“I avoided it mostly as writing a zombie apocalypse it would be very easy to play on stereotypes, but this is my town and even in the face of Armageddon I wanted to show Runcorn for how it really is and not how it can sometimes be perceived.”
The characters were refreshing and swerved cliches. Was this intentional or just a matter of writing with honesty?.
“I wanted the characters to be as real to Runcorn as possible. I felt it was the only way the story would have worked. It’s important to me that the people who buy the book connect with those they are reading about. Runcorn is a diverse town and I tried to show that the best I could.”
Have any of your horror idols seen the book?
“Not as far as I am aware, although I did receive a tweet from acclaimed thriller writer Stephen Leather saying that my book was selling a lot better than some of his!”
Have you landed a publishing deal for the follow-up?
“No publishing deal. I intend to write and release the sequel the same way I have this one.”
Have any film companies shown an interest?
“I have had no contact from film companies and I have not pitched any ideas. That being said, I am open to offers if any film or TV companies are reading this!”
What can people expect in part two?
“People love zombies but what I have always found fascinating about this kind of fiction is the human element and how society can quickly fall apart.
“The main threat to mankind in any zombie fiction is always the living and not the dead. I will be exploring this more in the sequel.”
How are you getting on with the Red Eye book? Are you Red Eye?
“I am in the very early stages of planning out a potential Red Eye story but that is as far as I have got. DIANT is my priority at the moment but I do intend on revisiting Red Eye as the stories about a Runcorn vigilante or superhero caught the imagination of everyone last year. Regarding whether I am Red Eye or not, I can barely get off the couch some days, never mind climb a tree.”
Death in a Northern Town is available from all major ebook stores including Kindle, iTunes and Kobo and is also available in paperback from Amazon.
Death in a Northern Town
Here is a recent interview I did with the Runcorn Weekly News about Death in a Northern Town, how I wrote it and asking people to give me their names so I can kill them in the book...
AFTER Peter McKeirnon’s explosion onto the book world this week with his zombie apocalypse novel, Death In A Northern Town (DIANT), the Weekly News spoke to the author about the dawn of his undead.
Weekly News:Where did the idea come from?
Peter McKeirnon: “I had been thinking of writing a zombie apocalypse novel for some time but I was never satisfied with the setting. Then after one of my regular ‘What would you do in the event of a zombie apocalypse?’ conversations with a friend, it dawned on me that I should set it in my home town. I’ve lived here almost all my life and know it better than anywhere. Runcorn is perfect as the backdrop for the story I wanted to tell.”
What fiction experience did you have?
“I studied performing arts at Halton College and then at the University Of Manchester. Writing was a big part of my student life but I have only ever written plays and for several years, comedy sketches and an ill-fated TV sitcom called Mr T’s with my friend Michael O’Flaherty. Until recently, writing a novel was never something I had considered.
What was the most challenging aspect of completing the book?
“In all honesty, the book has been a pleasure to write. I’ve enjoyed every aspect of it but if I had to pick one thing that was the most challenging it would be learning to have patience and not rush the story; giving it the time and attention it deserved. My wife Kay has been the voice of reason on many occasion. She does a great job of reining me in.”
What was the highlight?
“All of it but if I had to pick one it would have to be the zombie photo shoot. It was a great afternoon and made special by the many people that took part. I was astounded by the effort people went to with their costumes and make up. I could not have asked for more.”
How have people featured in the book reacted to their portrayals, both alive and dead?
“Really well so far! I think that everyone understands that it is just their names being used and the characters in the book do not represent them as individuals.”
Your affection for Runcorn comes across despite featuring what some would see as flaws. As a writer how did you deal with this?
“I avoided it mostly as writing a zombie apocalypse it would be very easy to play on stereotypes, but this is my town and even in the face of Armageddon I wanted to show Runcorn for how it really is and not how it can sometimes be perceived.”
The characters were refreshing and swerved cliches. Was this intentional or just a matter of writing with honesty?.
“I wanted the characters to be as real to Runcorn as possible. I felt it was the only way the story would have worked. It’s important to me that the people who buy the book connect with those they are reading about. Runcorn is a diverse town and I tried to show that the best I could.”
Have any of your horror idols seen the book?
“Not as far as I am aware, although I did receive a tweet from acclaimed thriller writer Stephen Leather saying that my book was selling a lot better than some of his!”
Have you landed a publishing deal for the follow-up?
“No publishing deal. I intend to write and release the sequel the same way I have this one.”
Have any film companies shown an interest?
“I have had no contact from film companies and I have not pitched any ideas. That being said, I am open to offers if any film or TV companies are reading this!”
What can people expect in part two?
“People love zombies but what I have always found fascinating about this kind of fiction is the human element and how society can quickly fall apart.
“The main threat to mankind in any zombie fiction is always the living and not the dead. I will be exploring this more in the sequel.”
How are you getting on with the Red Eye book? Are you Red Eye?
“I am in the very early stages of planning out a potential Red Eye story but that is as far as I have got. DIANT is my priority at the moment but I do intend on revisiting Red Eye as the stories about a Runcorn vigilante or superhero caught the imagination of everyone last year. Regarding whether I am Red Eye or not, I can barely get off the couch some days, never mind climb a tree.”
Death in a Northern Town is available from all major ebook stores including Kindle, iTunes and Kobo and is also available in paperback from Amazon.
Death in a Northern Town
Death in a Northern Town - UK Horror Scene review
Hi all,
UK Horror Scene is a site offering reviews of anything and everything to do with UK Horror and they do an amazing job. I am honoured to have my book reviewed by the guys at UK Horror Scene and they have been very kind with their comments. Here's a link to the site and you can read their review below.
http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/
Death in a Northern Town is in reality the journal entries of John Diant (get it? Death In A Northern Town – use the capitals). It is also interspersed with entries detailing the activities of some of the other residents of Runcorn.
It is written in a very light jocular manner especially with the actual subject matter that author Peter McKeirnon is dealing with. The narrative is fast paced , full of blood and guts (and bodily fluids) and is written with such skill and talent that it makes Death In A Northern Town almost impossible to put down.
When Peter was writing Death he had the idea to set up a Facebook page and then from this he asked his readership to send their names in so they could appear in the book, maybe as zombies or perhaps killing zombies. This proved to be a great success and Peter received around 100 names and they appear in the book .Also Peter had the idea to have a promotional photo-shoot for Death and he again invited his Facebook friends to come along to the shoot dressed in full zombie attire and to use all the special effects they could. Again a massive success with almost 60 people turning up for the event , a real fan participation event and something (living so close) I sadly missed out on.
Anyway back to the book!! The characters are well written, realistic and very likeable . The character of John Diant is the glue that holds the story together and everything revolves around him but the stand-out character must be 80s Dave who I found to be hilarious and going back to my warehouse working days I could totally relate to him and was in stitches throughout with his one-liners and the true love he has for everything from that decade. Also Peter’s description of Runcorn is something that someone from a small northern town will completely relate to – just picture perfect!
I also realise that I am not being as descriptive in regards to storylines and such , but this is purely because I really don’t want to give anything away or any spoilers except to say that the chapter “Poundland” will stay with me forever and especially when I visit the said retailer and peruse their aisles of much cheapness.
Not only is Death a wonderful zombie novel it is also one of the funniest books I have ever read, the mixture of stomach turning graphic descriptions interspersed with very dark working class humour . Peter’s ability to bring “belly laugh” comedy into a serious life or death situation is wonderful and I just found reading Death In A Northern Town an absolute joy.
Death will not only appeal to the zombie fans and the gore-hounds out there but should also be enjoyed by people who love programmes like A League of Gentleman and Psychoville . Death In A Northern Town had absolutely everything for me , it made me laugh , it made me cringe, it made me wince in imagined pain and ultimately it just made me very very happy. It is a modern zombie classic with real heart and I implore all lovers of horror fiction to pick up a copy of it NOW!!
I have no reservation whatsoever in giving Peter McKeirnon’s Death In A Northern Town something I have never given a review on UKHorrorScene before….
10/10
Death in a Northern Town
UK Horror Scene is a site offering reviews of anything and everything to do with UK Horror and they do an amazing job. I am honoured to have my book reviewed by the guys at UK Horror Scene and they have been very kind with their comments. Here's a link to the site and you can read their review below.
http://www.ukhorrorscene.com/
Death in a Northern Town is in reality the journal entries of John Diant (get it? Death In A Northern Town – use the capitals). It is also interspersed with entries detailing the activities of some of the other residents of Runcorn.
It is written in a very light jocular manner especially with the actual subject matter that author Peter McKeirnon is dealing with. The narrative is fast paced , full of blood and guts (and bodily fluids) and is written with such skill and talent that it makes Death In A Northern Town almost impossible to put down.
When Peter was writing Death he had the idea to set up a Facebook page and then from this he asked his readership to send their names in so they could appear in the book, maybe as zombies or perhaps killing zombies. This proved to be a great success and Peter received around 100 names and they appear in the book .Also Peter had the idea to have a promotional photo-shoot for Death and he again invited his Facebook friends to come along to the shoot dressed in full zombie attire and to use all the special effects they could. Again a massive success with almost 60 people turning up for the event , a real fan participation event and something (living so close) I sadly missed out on.
Anyway back to the book!! The characters are well written, realistic and very likeable . The character of John Diant is the glue that holds the story together and everything revolves around him but the stand-out character must be 80s Dave who I found to be hilarious and going back to my warehouse working days I could totally relate to him and was in stitches throughout with his one-liners and the true love he has for everything from that decade. Also Peter’s description of Runcorn is something that someone from a small northern town will completely relate to – just picture perfect!
I also realise that I am not being as descriptive in regards to storylines and such , but this is purely because I really don’t want to give anything away or any spoilers except to say that the chapter “Poundland” will stay with me forever and especially when I visit the said retailer and peruse their aisles of much cheapness.
Not only is Death a wonderful zombie novel it is also one of the funniest books I have ever read, the mixture of stomach turning graphic descriptions interspersed with very dark working class humour . Peter’s ability to bring “belly laugh” comedy into a serious life or death situation is wonderful and I just found reading Death In A Northern Town an absolute joy.
Death will not only appeal to the zombie fans and the gore-hounds out there but should also be enjoyed by people who love programmes like A League of Gentleman and Psychoville . Death In A Northern Town had absolutely everything for me , it made me laugh , it made me cringe, it made me wince in imagined pain and ultimately it just made me very very happy. It is a modern zombie classic with real heart and I implore all lovers of horror fiction to pick up a copy of it NOW!!
I have no reservation whatsoever in giving Peter McKeirnon’s Death In A Northern Town something I have never given a review on UKHorrorScene before….
10/10
Death in a Northern Town
Death in a Northern Town
Details about zombie horror / dark comedy Death in a Northern Town by Peter Mckeirnon.
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