Gareth D Jones Interviews Gareth P Jones

At WorldCon I was mistaken for Gareth P Jones, which makes a change as usually I'm mistaken for Gareth L Powell. There are a few other Gareths and even some more Gareth Joneses with writing credits to ther name, so I thought I'd track some of them down and ask a few questions about writing and being a Gareth.

First off, Gareth P Jones, author of numerous children's novels.

What do you enjoy about writing for children?

The freedom. Authors who write for adult readers very often end up writing one type of book, but I have written science fiction, gothic, thrillers, funny books and mixtures of all these things. I’ve written about dragon detectives, ninja meerkats, Steampunk pirates, ghosts, werewolves. I love the variety of my job.

 

What books did you enjoy reading when you were young?

Again, I was never very consistent in terms of genre or loyal in terms of author. I have great affection for fantasy books such as Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea books but I also remember with great fondness the sheer wonderful silliness of The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. And then there were all the books that were read to me including Watership Down and Mrs Fisby and the Rats of Nimn.

 

What do you enjoy reading now?

Recently I’ve made a conscious effort to read books aimed at the same age group as the novels I write and I’ve very much enjoyed Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell and Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead.

 

As you mentioned, you write in a variety of genres. Do you have a favourite?

Not really, but I do like making myself laugh.

 

What's your writing schedule like?

In terms of deadlines this year is pretty hectic. In terms of my working day, it’s very flexible. I have no set time of day I work better, no set place to write. I set myself weekly targets and work the hours necessary to meet them.

 

Have you ever been mistaken for another author, or another Gareth?

No. I chose to insert the P into my writing name so that I wouldn’t be mistaken for any of the many other Gareth Joneses. Since getting published in 2007 though, another Gareth P Jones has started writing kids books, which just shows you how common this name of ours is. I blame our parents. I have brought this up with my mother but she claims she didn’t know I wanted to be an author when she named me.

 

 

Fin.

Random Interview Question: Gareth L Powell

I've been following Gareth L Powell's writing for a few years now, since we appeared in the same TOC in Aphelion magazine. Gareth's enjoyable space opera novel The Recollection was published last year. This question may not make much sense if you haven't read the book, but I don't want to spoil anything by explaining.

Q. If you were swallowed up by The Recollection, who (from anywhere or anywhen) would you hang out with?

A. If I were swallowed up by The Recollection, I’d get Jack Kerouac, Philip K Dick, Walt Whitman and Hunter S Thompson together for a night of wild talk; I’d argue about science fiction with JG Ballard, Douglas Coupland, Cordwainer Smith and Samuel Delany; and I’d get Stephen Hawking, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay, and Brian Cox around a table and hang on their every word.

Favourite Stories of 2010

It's time to look back over a year's worth of reviews and a collection of other magazines I read during the year to see which were my favourite stories of the year. Here's the result, in alphabetical order:

A Clown in Apus – Gary Budgen – Jupiter XXVIII
Agents of Repair – Rosie Oliver – Jupiter XXIX
Alternate Girl’s Expatriate Life - Rochita Luenen-Ruiz – Interzone 229
Frogs on my Doorstep - Annette Reader - Albedo One 39
Ishin – Madelin Ashby – Shine
Over Water – Jon Ingold – Interzone 228
Plague Birds – Jason Sanford – Interzone 228
Served - Rauri MacInnes – Murky Depths 11
Spare Change – Jay Eales - Murky Depths 12
The Bottle Garden – Mike Wood – Jupiter XXIX
The Cloth from which she is Cut – Gareth Owens – Fun with Rainbows
The Shipmaker – Aliette De Bodard – Interzone 231
The Shoe Factory - Matthew Cook – Interzone 231
The Story of Andrew Haddock, Part 2 - Dave Barnett – Murky Depths 11

Book Review: Fun with Rainbows by Gareth Owens

I first came across Gareth Owens in Nature magazine, where in fact he has had four stories published. Other than that, he’s a relatively unknown author in SF circles and yet as I read through this collection I began to wonder why that is so.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Immersion Press

At Eastercon I met up with Carmelo Rafala of Immersion Press, a new small press who have just released their first book: Fun With Rainbows by Gareth Owens, whom I shall henceforth dub 'the other Gareth', coincidentaly the same as 'the other Gareth'.

They're also due to release a new anthology entitled 'The Immersion Book of SF', for which the line-up looks pretty impressive. Their website says they'll be specialising in single-author collections, which is good news for those of us mourning the demise of Elastic Press.

A Fourth Gareth

Issue #37 of Albedo One contains a story by Gareth Stack - his first published story in fact. This takes the total numner of SF authors called Gareth to 4, as far as I am aware.

- Gareth D Jones
- Gareth Owens
- Gareth L Powell
- Gareth Stack

Of course there may be more. Drop me a line if you're an SF author called Gareth.

Surprisingly there aren't that many authors called Jones, considering it's a pretty common surname.