Dave Jeffery is the author of 15 novels, two collections, and numerous
short stories. His Necropolis Rising series and yeti adventure
Frostbite have both featured on the Amazon #1 bestseller list. His YA
work features critically acclaimed Beatrice Beecham supernatural
mystery series. His screenwriting credits include award winning short
films Ascension and Derelict.Jeffery is a
member of the Society
of Authors,
British
Fantasy Society (also
as a regular book reviewer), and actively involved in the Horror
Writers Association where
he is a mentor on the HWA Mentorship Scheme. Jeffery is married with
two children and lives in Worcestershire, UK.
1)
So, what’s new from you?
Hi,
Simon. First of all, I’d like to say thank you for being a generous
host.
In
terms of new projects, I have just released the second book in my A
QUIET APOCALYPSE series through DEMAIN PUBLISHING. The series is set
after a pandemic, where a mutant strain of meningitis (MNG-U) has
left most survivors deafened and dependent on those few who have
retained their hearing. The novella is called CATHEDRAL and features
a cordoned off section of Birmingham city centre, where a fledgling
society keeps order using spurious methods of social control.
Like
the first book, the story is told from a single person point of view.
Where the original novella featured a hearing survivor enslaved by a
deafened farmer, CATHEDRAL focuses on a deafened woman living in a
town that is terrified of returning to the chaos prevalent in the
immediate aftermath of the collapse of civilisation. The town’s
presiding council use a bastardised version of Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs (known now as Maslow’s Law) where community comes before
all, and there is no scope for individuality. Failure to adhere to
Maslow’s Law means The Corral, a place where dissent is met with
ritualised punishment.
2)
How did it come about?
A
QUIET APOCALYPSE was meant to be a standalone volume. Critical and
reader response was highly positive, but there was consistent
interest in what was going on outside the experiences of our hearing
protagonist. A few reviewers were captivated by the mention of
CATHEDRAL, an almost mystical place that meant different things to
different people. This had me thinking about CATHEDRAL as a construct
of social control in a world never too far away from falling to ruin.
3)
Tell us about the process of how you created it.
As
a concept, CATHEDRAL was in my head as context for pending
interviews. I decided that it would be of value to write these ideas
down. This process made more sense once words were on the page. The
story seemed such a natural progression, it made perfect sense to
develop it into another novella. Looking at the isolating nature of
deafness, I wanted to maintain the single person perspective and use
it as a device to compound that sense of alienation for the reader.
This works extremely well for the story, but I readily accept this
kind of narrative does not appeal to all.
4)
What was your favourite part of the process?
The
story came so effortlessly, felt so right from the outset, that the
whole process was as exciting as it was unusual. The basic story
structure was there from the start, with a few tweaks in the second
draft, to knit together any loose strands. Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs was something that came to mind when I was considering the
society in which our protagonist lives. I had worked with Maslow’s
model during my time as a mental health professional (35 years in the
NHS) and its core concepts worked so well until applied to a society
as a whole. This is deliberate, of course, as the model is for the
development of individuals to become the best they can be. If you
remove individuality from the equation, in this instance by culling
the top two tiers of Maslow’s triangle relating to personal growth
and self-actualisation, you have an effective social model with no
scope for individualism. Add to this fears of an existential threat,
then I felt the scene was set for strong drama. Weaving this into
the storyline was my favourite part of the project and reinforced
that I was doing something different.
5)
What was the toughest part of it?
There
are some scenes in the book that are very brutal, but I wanted to
make sure that they were not sensationalised or marred by inept
delivery. This is an extremely horrific story but not a book of
extreme horror, so maintaining a balance was important when putting
those scenes together. In the end, I made the controversial aspects
of these events almost an afterthought of the protagonist as they
rationalised their involvement in what is ritualised retribution on
Harbingers, that is those culturally Deaf people who are blamed
(without evidence) for the end of humanity. This was then contrasted
by the response to this practice by someone who has just arrived in
Cathedral and witnessing the atrocities for the first time.
These
scenes were difficult to write and difficult to get right, but they
are so important to demonstrate how, by trying to keep away from
chaos, we step ever closer to losing something far more terrifying. I
think they work well, and reviews so far have not been contrary to
this early conclusion.
6)
Is there a theme running through it?
The
central theme is that of abject fear of isolation - that created by
the disease and also of being alone in a world that has fundamentally
changed – and how, as human beings, we maintain our sense of
well-being. The idea that self-imposed adversity, shared through
community, is better than the crippling terror of fending for oneself
in a hostile environment is at the heart of the book. It asks the
question: “Are some horrors easier to accept if they mean
preventing something far worse?” Ultimately, I’ll leave that to
the reader to decide.
7)
If you had to sum this story up in three words, what would they be?
Unique
dystopian horror.
8) Where
can/will we be able to get hold of it?
CATHEDRAL
is out now in eBook format on Amazon by following this LINK.
The
paperback is coming at the end of February/early March 2021.
Thanks
again for allowing me to share these insights with your readers!
