The Lowdown with... Joseph D'Lacey

Joseph D’Lacey writes Horror, SF & Fantasy, often with environmental themes, and is best known for his unsettling novel, Meat.
Other books to-date include Garbage Man, Snake Eyes, The Kill Crew, The Failing Flesh, Blood Fugue, Black Feathers, The Book of the Crowman and Splinters – a collection of short stories. He won the British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer in 2009.
He also writes children’s stories with his daughter.

  1.       Tell us three things about yourself.

I'm acutely shy and uncomfortable in social situations. In the 90s I was a British and European gold medallist in Tai Chi sword forms. I started writing fiction when I was 30.

   2.       What was the first thing you had published?

The first story I ever wrote was called 'Getaway Car.' It was about a terminally ill woman who buys a second hand car for a final road trip, only to discover the previous owner was an angel. I sold it on its first submission.

   3.       Which piece of writing are you proudest of?

It has to be MEAT because, although it was my sixth novel, it was the first one I sold. If I hadn't found a publisher for it, I might not be writing now. The book won me a BFS award and Stephen King, who has been a writing hero of mine since my teens, loved it.

   4.       …and which makes you cringe?

My erotic novel A Willing Pupil, published under the name Jacqueline Griffin. It doesn't make me cringe but it's the novel I wrote with the least angst and, therefore, the least attention to detail. For a while, Jacqueline had a profile on Library Thing. It must have been convincing because she started to get attention from a male reader who said, amongst many other things, "Thank you for being who you are." She mentioned in reply that, for 'professional reasons' she sometimes used pseudonyms. The admirer disappeared like Roadrunner. Jacqueline decided it was a good idea to delete her profile at that point and concentrate on 'real' life...

   5.       What’s a normal writing day like?

I don't have them any more. I used to be disciplined to the point of martyrdom and I really suffered at the desk. Since having a family, I'm more relaxed; I fit writing in around whatever else I'm doing. Sometimes, as a treat or to make some headway, I'll take a quiet weekend away on my own and write all day.

   6.       Which piece of writing should someone who’s never read you before pick up first?

For a quick taste, my short story collection Splinters. For a big fix, Black Feathers and The Book of the Crowman.

   7.       What are you working on now?

I've just finished a post-diluvian fantasy set in the Far East. It has a very young hero and is significantly different from my other books. I would love to tell you more about it but I'm superstitious when it comes to talking about work before it finds a home.  Perhaps, if things go well, though...