- I see you must be a cat lover like me did you enjoy writing My cat is not like other cats the poem?
I did. But I was surprised to find that most people interpreted it as me saying that my cat is actually different to other cats. What I meant was that I, like other cat lovers, know that cats are really horrible selfish creatures, but manage to pretend otherwise.
- I see a lot of mythical creatures in your work which is your favorite? and why?
Death appears a lot, although not always consistently (in some stories I have Death as male and in others as female for example). I don't know if I'd say Death is so much a favourite as the one I think about the most. I've actually come up with a lot of detail on my version of vampires, although I haven't written anything about them, perhaps because of the stigma created by the Twilight series.
- What do you use as your inspiration/muse when writing your work?
I've written a lot about cats, based on having been a cat owner. Of course other fiction is a big influence.
- Whats your favorite fruit?
I like tomatoes: the attention-seeker of fruit.
- What is your favorite genre of books to read/write?
I mostly read fantasy. It tends to be old stories, and more short stories than novels. I've never read any of the Harry Potter or Game of Thrones series for example. I used to read science fiction, and found fantasy a bit pointless. I think my idea was that science fiction was stuff that could happen, whereas fantasy was stuff that couldn't. Then I realised that having ESP or super-advanced alien technology isn't actually that different to having magic.
- I really liked your take on Rumpelstiltskin, where did the idea for a new take on a classic fairy-tale come from?
There was an online magazine called The Enchanted Conversation (it's still online, but sadly it's closing down now). For each issue they picked a fairy tale, and all the stories in that issue were variations on it. I actually wrote two for their 'Rumpelstiltskin' issue: 'Rumpelstiltskin', and 'The Name of the Helper', which is the one I submitted and they ran.
- If you could be anything for the day what would you be?
I'd be me, but years later when I'd written a lot more. Hopefully I'd remember what I'd written.
-What are you working on at the minute? Any sneak peeks ?
I'm working on a verse version of 'A Princess of Mars'. This is a science fiction adventure story, now in the public domain, written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, who's more famous for Tarzan. Disney is also doing a movie of it, called 'John Carter', but that's not why I chose it. I generally work on several things at the same time, so I'm also in the middle of a few short stories and poems. I've also been encouraged to write a novel set in the fantasy city of Telelee, which is the setting of a few of the stories in 'The New Death and others'. I have a lot of background for this world, because I blog every day (http://www.apolitical.info/teleleli) and most of it is setting detail.
- And lastly, Are you a Bookaholic?
I'm not a bookaholic, I'm a binge reader.
James Hutchings lives in Melbourne, Australia. He specializes in short fantasy fiction. His work has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, fiction365 and Enchanted Conversation among other markets.
Death gets a roommate...
An electronic Pope faces a difficult theological question...
A wicked vizier makes a terrible bargain...
44 stories. 19 poems. No whiny vampires. There's a thin line between genius and insanity, and James Hutchings has just crossed it - but from which direction
An electronic Pope faces a difficult theological question...
A wicked vizier makes a terrible bargain...
44 stories. 19 poems. No whiny vampires. There's a thin line between genius and insanity, and James Hutchings has just crossed it - but from which direction
Check out Jennys review of The New Death and others.
