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2010-02-08: MilSciFi.com interviews Andy Remic, author of, Hardcore
a standalone Combat K Novel.
MilSciFi: "Welcome. Please tell us a little
something about your novel."
Remic: "HARCORE is a rollicking
rollercoaster ride starring a Combat K squad, Keenan the straight,
tough-talking soldier, Pippa, the cynical female take-no-shit assassin, and
Franco Haggis mad, and ginger, demolitions expert extraordinaire with a love
of tinned cheese and sausages. They are hunting for the birthplace of the
Junks, an alien scourge spreading like a disease across the Four Galaxies. They
are SLAM-dropped to Sick World, an abandoned medical planet with a dark and
violent past. Here, the nurses, doctors and patients have been left in a
thousand year-gestation of medical technological mutation, and as Combat K
arrive, the baddies begin to awake
HARDCORE. You'll never look at a nurse the
same way again
"
MilSciFi: "What inspired you to write this
story?"
Remic: "My mother was extremely ill, and
rushed into hospital a few times. Some of these experiences were good, and some
were very bad like waiting in casualty for 5 hours to be seen on the 1st
January, with my mum's BP at 240 over 150, with the nurses and doctors arguing and
in-fighting because they had to work New Year's Day and were pissed off at the
world. Anyway, spending a lot of time in that environment, usually in a violent
and angry state (rarely have I wanted to kill so much), I started to envisage a
world of deviated medical staff and patients. The seed of the book was born
right there."
MilSciFi: "This is the third novel on the
Combat K series, are there more planned?"
Remic: "The Combat K books follow a very
broad story-arc, but are all standalone adventures. I have about ten planned
(in my heed), and we're just negotiating the next contract with Solaris Books
for the next sequence. Announcements soon!!"
MilSciFi: "Is there any talk about making
this into a movie?"
Remic: "Not yet (haha). I've made (with
Colin Howarth) a short film to promote the book. I got tired of the book
trailers where you get a few fancy pans across the cover, so I got together
some friends, a steelworks and some real guns (including a cool Remington pump-action
shotgun), and we made a film. You can see more (and it will shortly be live)
at: www.grungefilms.com."
MilSciFi: "Does humor play and import role in
your stories?"
Remic: "Oh yes!! All life is a big joke,
isn't it? There's always been a lot of dark humour in my writing, which stems
from either ridiculous situations, or gently mad people so, just like real
life then :-). This is why I like reading Iain M. Banks, because he also has a
lot of darkly comic humour in his SF."
MilSciFi: "Do past or present real world
events influence your work?"
Remic: "Of course, everything that happens
around you and provokes an emotional response must in some way influence your
work. I know I just hate terrorists, that idea of punishing innocent people to
promote a cause random killings and suchforth in anathema to life, in my
opinion. And every writer will tell you their work is influenced in some way by
what happens to them in the real world. For example, I am plagued by my
neighbours' yappy snappy shitty little dogs which I would like to cook in a
fine stew (no, really) and as I was writing Kell's Legend, the little
bastards started again, yap yap yap, (labrapoodle curry, anyone?) and Kell
tells a story about how he kills his neighbours' yacking canines. Art imitating
life? Pass me the machete. Couldn't help myself ;-)."
MilSciFi: "Do you have any control, or at
least input, on the design of your books covers?"
Remic: "I am not an artist, but I know
what looks good. I have been blessed with good cover artwork from day one, and
although it states in my contract I have no control over this thing, if a
publisher tried to put out a book with a shit cover I have to say, it'd be time
to get the chainsaw out. But hey, that's never happened, and both Solaris and
Angry Robot are wonderfully cooperative and open when it comes to artwork a
pleasure to work with! Marek Okon did the fine HARDCORE artwork, and Adrian
Smith did the superb Kell's Legend and Soul Stealers covers. I really am over
the moon with these guys and their work!!"
MilSciFi: "Is military science fiction the
only thing you write, or is there something else out there we should be looking
for?"
Remic: "I've been doing the fantasy series The Clockwork Vampire Chronicles for
Angry Robot Books. This is the blurb for the first, Kell's Legend:
The land of Falanor is invaded by an albino
army, the Army of Iron. A small group set off to warn the king: Kell, ancient
hero; his granddaughter, Nienna and her friend, Katrina; and the ex-Sword
Champion of King Leanoric, Saark, disgraced after his affair with the Queen.
Fighting their way south, betrayal follows
battle follows deviation, and they are attacked from all quarters by deadly
albino soldiers, monstrous harvesters who drain blood from their victims to
feed their masters, and the twisted offspring of deviant vachine, the cankers.
As Falanor comes under heavy attack and invasion, only then does Nienna learn
the truth about grandfather Kell that he is anything but a noble hero,
anything but a Legend."
MilSciFi: "Do you have any other projects in
the works?"
Remic: "I have so many projects it makes
my head spin. After I've finished the Clockwork Vampire trilogy, I have ideas
for another 6 books in that same universe, but following completely new story
arcs; then I have three more Combat K books to write, plus some other ideas
being talked about with different publishers. On top of that, I'm working on
three film scripts and some short film ideas, because I'm an amateur film
director and very much interested in telling stories visually. In fact, we've
just finished a short film based on a scene from HARDCORE in order to promote
the new book, where Franco Haggis (played by me
the horror, the horror) and
Keenan (played by Paul Remic) and Pippa (played by Nicola Cross) are pitted
against some dodgy nurse zombies. It was great fun to film, and is in
post-production right now. This film is directed by my good friend, Colin
Howarth. You can see more at www.grungefilms.com and www.andyremic.com.
You can also see my short horror film, Chemical Man, at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPh3sk0egdA"
MilSciFi: "Do you have any upcoming author
events?"
Remic: "I'll be at World Horror Con in
March 2010, and Odyssey/Eastercon, London, in April 2010. You will find me at
the bar. I always accept beer and whiskey."
MilSciFi: "Thank you, for your time."
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