An Interview with Leo Nix
Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."
Yep, I'm starting this post with a quick tribute to one of the best-portrayed characters of recent TV scifi...
And his namesame...
Enough of that, now. In my interview today, I am talking to Leo Nix, author of the Sundown Apocalypse series.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
My main character is Sundown, a bread scientist, quiet, introspective yet determined to do the right thing by his friends and family. I wanted someone who was not perfect, who had lots of human faults, had no military expertise and yet was able to step up and lead his growing community with honour and respect. Sundown fits all those qualities yet is challenged by his own inner berserker demon, when he is pushed to save his friends he is capable of extreme violence. His character was difficult to write but a pleasure to create.
Have any of your characters ever disobeyed you?
Certainly, like most authors some of the characters just write themselves into the story. One of the original hero's, Pedro, had his legs shot off during the Vietnam war, an amputee, has such an incredibly strong character he took over the book. When he enters I have to find nice ways to get him off the front page. I've tried to kill him, poison him and now I've found a nice lady to keep him busy - but that was book 4, he had free range before that. He's such a likable character I have given up trying to control, now I have to write book 5 and see what else he gets up to.
Why do you write?
Everyone has to do something when they get home from work. Now that I'm a grandpa I can do anything I just about want to do when I get home. So to stop myself coming home and eating, drinking and watching TV - I write. I've had a varied career path like most people, I've collected a lifetime of stories and experiences and enjoy creating personalities and situations that places these characters under stress. Put someone under stress and you give them an opportunity to either break down or shine like a light house. I like to write characters who meet the challenge and accept their fate regardless of the outcome. I also like honourable and respectful people. I counsel a lot of people who have experienced the pointy end of a psychopath and I can now write about their conquests of life. On the other side my antagonists, the terrorists, I can give real psychopath personalities. It all evens out in the end, but each book I like to show how even bad people can have a good side when given the right circumstances to show it.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
I've written 8 non fiction books, some have been easy and some not so easy. Mid last year I decided to try my hand at fiction, post-apocalypse in the Australian deserts, my favourite place. I wrote the first 2 books in about 6 months, I pulled them apart and rewrote them several times trying to get my 'voice'. Book three was about 2 months and the same for book four. When I get started I can write for 10 hours straight on a Saturday if I can get it without distractions. By Sunday I'm starting to flag and can usually do 6 to 8 hours with a few breaks, During the week though I get home by 3 pm and can write and edit till about 11 pm. Each book takes roughly 6 weeks of writing and editing as i go along. Then I hand it out to a friend and my wife. I'll take their edits and then run it through a voice program that reads it out to me while I check it. It's a hell of a job and I still make mistakes.
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
My first 2 books were writing by the seat of my pants, I loved where it took me. Books 3 and 4 forced me to do a lot of planning and outlining because I had to weave so many characters and subplots and timelines from books 1 and 2 into them. The more book sin a series the more I find I have to outline. Once I get the rough outline, and it's rough by anyone's standards, I go back to writing off the top of my head. I do a lot of editing and rewriting but I love that part too. When I get stuck I'll close my eyes and and go into a mild trance and create the story an watch as it creates itself. When I get stuck, writers block, I do the same thing, close my eyes and allow ti to flow and create itself. I've been meditating for 40 years and that helps. When in the middle of writing I'll dream scenes and plots, sometimes I'll wake up and run to the computer and type out sections to follow up on when I get home from work.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
Leo Nix is a psychologist who works with victims of psychopaths and has experience working in the justice system. He finds writing is an excellent form of psychotherapy which allows his imagination to unravel the days stresses in creative and imaginative ways.
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By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
"Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore-
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!"
Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."
Yep, I'm starting this post with a quick tribute to one of the best-portrayed characters of recent TV scifi...
And his namesame...Enough of that, now. In my interview today, I am talking to Leo Nix, author of the Sundown Apocalypse series.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
My main character is Sundown, a bread scientist, quiet, introspective yet determined to do the right thing by his friends and family. I wanted someone who was not perfect, who had lots of human faults, had no military expertise and yet was able to step up and lead his growing community with honour and respect. Sundown fits all those qualities yet is challenged by his own inner berserker demon, when he is pushed to save his friends he is capable of extreme violence. His character was difficult to write but a pleasure to create.
Have any of your characters ever disobeyed you?
Certainly, like most authors some of the characters just write themselves into the story. One of the original hero's, Pedro, had his legs shot off during the Vietnam war, an amputee, has such an incredibly strong character he took over the book. When he enters I have to find nice ways to get him off the front page. I've tried to kill him, poison him and now I've found a nice lady to keep him busy - but that was book 4, he had free range before that. He's such a likable character I have given up trying to control, now I have to write book 5 and see what else he gets up to.
Why do you write?
Everyone has to do something when they get home from work. Now that I'm a grandpa I can do anything I just about want to do when I get home. So to stop myself coming home and eating, drinking and watching TV - I write. I've had a varied career path like most people, I've collected a lifetime of stories and experiences and enjoy creating personalities and situations that places these characters under stress. Put someone under stress and you give them an opportunity to either break down or shine like a light house. I like to write characters who meet the challenge and accept their fate regardless of the outcome. I also like honourable and respectful people. I counsel a lot of people who have experienced the pointy end of a psychopath and I can now write about their conquests of life. On the other side my antagonists, the terrorists, I can give real psychopath personalities. It all evens out in the end, but each book I like to show how even bad people can have a good side when given the right circumstances to show it.
How long on average does it take you to write a book?
I've written 8 non fiction books, some have been easy and some not so easy. Mid last year I decided to try my hand at fiction, post-apocalypse in the Australian deserts, my favourite place. I wrote the first 2 books in about 6 months, I pulled them apart and rewrote them several times trying to get my 'voice'. Book three was about 2 months and the same for book four. When I get started I can write for 10 hours straight on a Saturday if I can get it without distractions. By Sunday I'm starting to flag and can usually do 6 to 8 hours with a few breaks, During the week though I get home by 3 pm and can write and edit till about 11 pm. Each book takes roughly 6 weeks of writing and editing as i go along. Then I hand it out to a friend and my wife. I'll take their edits and then run it through a voice program that reads it out to me while I check it. It's a hell of a job and I still make mistakes.
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
My first 2 books were writing by the seat of my pants, I loved where it took me. Books 3 and 4 forced me to do a lot of planning and outlining because I had to weave so many characters and subplots and timelines from books 1 and 2 into them. The more book sin a series the more I find I have to outline. Once I get the rough outline, and it's rough by anyone's standards, I go back to writing off the top of my head. I do a lot of editing and rewriting but I love that part too. When I get stuck I'll close my eyes and and go into a mild trance and create the story an watch as it creates itself. When I get stuck, writers block, I do the same thing, close my eyes and allow ti to flow and create itself. I've been meditating for 40 years and that helps. When in the middle of writing I'll dream scenes and plots, sometimes I'll wake up and run to the computer and type out sections to follow up on when I get home from work.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to me.
Leo Nix is a psychologist who works with victims of psychopaths and has experience working in the justice system. He finds writing is an excellent form of psychotherapy which allows his imagination to unravel the days stresses in creative and imaginative ways.
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