David Impey’s latest book The October Men is written exquisitely. If you always wanted to read a book on time travel but never had the heart for going into many details. I recently had a chance to interview him.
Q. Hi Mr. David Impey, and thank you for agreeing for this interview. Tell me a little about yourself and your background?
Hello there and thanks for taking the time to read ‘The October Men’. I’m much obliged to you for that.
My background is a bit tangential in that I have spent most of my career working in the life sciences industry mostly in commercial roles. These have involved trying to translate fairly complex technical concepts into everyday language for consumption by the general public, the press and the scientific community as well (they aren’t usually the most articulate of people!).
I have been a writer since way back. I wrote my first novel when I was 13. And set fire to it when I was 14 – my critical faculties had developed sufficiently during that year for me to appreciate quite how awful it was. I got my first article published in a yachting magazine when I was 17. And I’ve been contributing articles and columns to various magazines, journals, and websites since then.
I also developed a TV format on how drugs work which was eventually picked up by a small cable channel in the US.
Q. Congratulations in your book, The October Men. Very thought-provokingly told. What led you to pick a theme based on Time Travelling?
It was two things really. The first was my musing on why there seemed to be a sudden glut of World War 2 documentaries in colour and then chatting about these musings with a friend of mine over a few glasses of wine.
It struck me that, if people were able to go back and get colour footage and return to the present, then what else could they do? The novel sort of spiraled out from there.
Q. I see you your writing style is excellent and it is what kept me going throughout the novel. What is the easiest thing about writing you find?
Thanks for the compliment. I’m not sure that ‘easy’ is the right word. The key thing is planning out the story in advance. I use a rather complex set of spreadsheets and diagrams to make sure that the whole thing flows, despite being told from multiple viewpoints, and to make sure that certain characters don’t end up being in totally different places at the same time. As happened at one stage in the draft – I had to go back and do some serious re-writes to amend this.
Once the plan is there, then I have a fairly vivid mental image of what is occurring – I also try to write about places I have visited in the past and can see clearly – and it becomes a lot more straight-forward to write.
Q. What motivates you to write?
There isn’t a simple answer to this one. I suppose I wanted to see if I could actually do it.
I was a bit nervous about making an ass of myself so I had a friend, who is a published author, read through the first draft of the first 50 pages. I asked her to put me out of my misery if I was deluding myself and she was adamant that it was worth persevering with.
Q. When did you decide that you want to be a writer?
I’ve been entertaining dreams of being a writer since I was a kid, if I’m honest. I was always making up stories on the way to school. I’ve finally got round to it.
Q. What are your thoughts on good/bad reviews?
Obviously, I love getting a good review; it’s like being told you’re a fine parent. As for bad reviews, I suppose I take it a bit personally, although I am quietly satisfied if I elicited some sort of response as long as it’s objective and not a grandiloquent critic trying to get a laugh at my expense.
Q. What do you prefer: Pen or Computer? And how do you stay organised (any methods, systems, tools you use)?
Computer. I’m a much faster typist than writer and, besides, my handwriting has deteriorated since the days when I started using PCs as standard.
As for organisation, I file everything and anything I can on the hard drive. I’m a lousy librarian so filing systems don’t come naturally to me. That said, putting ‘The October Men’ together was not too onerous in that regard
Q. How do you relax?
I am a very keen musician. I have a recording studio which I use to write and record material for use as soundtrack music as well as commercial release. I also very occasionally play live with other musicians. I used to be a singer but I hate my voice so I leave that sort of thing to people who are talented.
I love listening to music – especially classical – whilst doing the crossword. In addition to all that, I occasionally play cricket and I enjoy walking my dog Dino.
Q. What would you have done differently if you could do it again?
Oh gosh. That way madness lies.
Q. Something personal about you people may be surprised to know?
I tend to compartmentalize my life a bit so people from one part don’t really get to know much about the stuff from another part. To some extent, I feel that I’m rather forcing myself on them if I keep bouncing up saying “Oh yes, I also do that… and that… etc.”
So people from my life sciences / commercial side of things were very surprised to hear about the Book launch.
Other than that, I don’t have any deep secrets that I keep hidden from the world. I just don’t tell everybody everything either.
Q. Do you re-read books? One book that you would read again & again?
Yes. Sometimes, the books one reads as a child take on new detail and significance as an adult. ‘The Lord of the Rings’ was one such and ‘The Wind in the Willows’ made me sob twice (Mole getting homesick and ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’ being the two episodes).
The one book that I would read again and again is probably ‘The Sixth Day’ by Primo Levi or ‘1Q84’ by Haruki Murakami. Both very philosophical and which reveal themselves through repeated study.
Q. Your influence(s)/ favourite author(s)?
JP Donleavy, E Annie Proulx, John Irving, Alistair Maclean (his early stuff was brilliant!)
Q. Are you working on anything at the moment? When can we see your next work?
Yes I am. I have just been taken on by a literary agent (thanks Helen) and she immediately asked me to draught up the plot for a second novel and the first 50 pages. Which I have just done. As for when it will come out depends largely on the success of ‘The October Men’ and the speed with which Helen and I can get a publishing deal for the follow-up. As for when: this time next year..?
Author’s Blog | Publisher Website | Goodreads
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