Interviewing Barry Nugent

Hello!

A few weeks ago I talked about Barry Nugent’s exciting fantasy series Unseen Shadows ( reviews for Fallen Heroes Forgotten Warriors in the links) a fantastic fast paced tale of secret societies, demons, shadowy agencies spanning the globe. Unusually this series is multi-media and Barry kindly agreed to answer a few questions on the series.

So how would you book tempt someone into reading the Unseen Shadows universe?

What if Indiana Jones (with a large dash of Blade), Ethan Hunt, Sydney Bristow, Sherlock Holmes, Simon Templar, Ellen Ripley and The Shadow teamed up to battle a doomsday cult?

What drew you to this theme of secret societies and organisations?

I’m an 80’s kid so I grew up with shows like Knight Rider, Airwolf and MacGyver. Back then you couldn’t walk down the street without tripping over a secret organisation. I’m a bit of conspiracy junkie (waiting for Amazon to drop off my tin foil hat) and I’ve always loved the idea that if you peeled back the skin of the world their would be gooey centre filled with ancient forces battling to shape all our futures.

This concept of an invisible, global battleground where the supernatural and the modern worlds collide was where the term ‘Unseen Shadows’ took root in my brain.

You have a huge cast of characters – do you have any particular favourites to write?

I always love writing Ben ‘The Hand’ Ashodi because he has elements of my childhood friends baked into his DNA. He’s your classic master criminal with a flair for the dramatic who, despite his nefarious profession, has a fully working moral compass.

Right alongside Ben would be his bodyguard and partner in crime Steph Connisbee. Writing any dialogue between the two of them always leaves me smiling. I like to think of them as the Han and Chewie (Disney don’t sue me!) of the Unseen Shadows Universe.

Writing Kathryn Monroe allows me to scratch my Sherlock Holmes itch and pairing her with Eve really pushed me to write dialogue that lived up to their high expectations.

However, the character I love more than any other will always be Professor Napoleon Stone. I used to write short stories about him as a teenager and putting him in a novel was something I always dreamed about doing. Napoleon is one of those heroes who will always act for the greater good no matter the personal cost.

What I really enjoyed in Forgotten Warriors was that you focused on some of the minor characters what led to that choices?

It is hard not to read Fallen Heroes and not think of characters like Vincent, Kathryn, Eve, Steph as sidekicks. However, I always had the mindset that they were all driving the narratives of their own story.

I wanted the second novel to not only move the overall story forward but to also act as a showcase for these ‘Forgotten Warriors’. My goal was to show they were every bit as nuanced and capable as the main characters in Fallen Heroes.

Unusually the Unseen Shadows universe has evolved quite a lot outside of novels. How has that happened and what is currently available or being planned?

At the moment there are twelve one shot comics, three graphic novels, one audio drama and a choose your own adventure novel.

I would love to say it was all some grand plan I had back in the day but the truth is it all started with a lone voice that wasn’t mine.

Several years ago I was contacted by Nic Wilkinson (comic letterer extraordinaire and creative whirlwind) on behalf a comic company to whom she had pitched the idea of adapting Fallen Heroes as a graphic novel. Sadly, when we were about half way through the first issue, the company went bankrupt. Luckily for me, Nic and the adaptation team still wanted to finish the comic. I was able to sell some ad space in the comic to cover a small print run for issue one. We then started work on the second issue.

During this time I was talking at length with Cy Dethan, a comic writer who was a fan of the book. It was then Nic, the aforementioned creative whirlwind, swept in with the suggestion of Cy writing a solo comic featuring one of the characters. It was something that neither Cy or myself had ever considered. The art team from the comic adaptation loved the idea and we all started work on a spin off comic called ‘Wrath of God’ which featured the vigilante known as ‘The Reverend’. During the project more people got wind of what we were doing and wanted to get involved. It wasn’t long before the project took on a life of its own. Soon we had finished a comic anthology, centered on characters from the first novel, called Tales of the Fallen, with an introduction by Jonathan Ross.

None of this have been possible without Nic seeing the potential to widen the world outside of my novel and everyone who decided to join the party. Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful to all of those fine people. To say the experience has been a dream come true to collaborate with these wonderfully creative folk is an understatement.

You write fantastic action sequences! What for you is the key for writing great action scenes?

Thanks! It really means a lot you hear you say that. The action sequences always take a lot of work but I’d be a liar if I said they aren’t fun to write.

Good action I think should have a flow to it, like listening to music. It’s knowing when to keep your prose moving with short, punchy sentences to knock the wind out of your reader. At the same time it’s balancing that with knowing when to take that pause to throw in a character beat or two to ground some emotional stakes in the reader. I read a lot of action and I’m always taking mental notes of how different writers approach doing it. I also watch a lot of Tv and film action sequences. This helps me set the tone for the scene I’m working on.

I did karate back in the day and doing kata’s I was taught to always imagine the opponent is right there. For a lot of the hand to hand fights in the novels I playact them through, every punch, kick or throw. My wife has caught me doing it a few times so she’s used to it now….mostly.

Who have been your biggest influences in your writing?

I’m a bit of a creative sponge so my influences come from everything really from books, comics, computer games, films and TV.

One of my biggest influences while working on Forgotten Warriors was Shonda Rhimes who is behind shows like Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and more. She writes dialogue so sharp you could use them to slice through a cohort of Ninjas. Her monologues are fantastic. I learnt a lot about the art of dialogue watching her shows and the shows of Aaron Sorkin (West Wing, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Newsroom etc).

I’m a big fan of Clive Cussler as he managed to nail that elusive skill art of infusing modern-day action stories with the old school pulp adventure.

When it comes to handling great action, high stakes and multiple characters David Gemmell, Jim Butcher and James Barclay are my jam…no wait I hate jam…they’re my Mocha.

If you could get everyone to read one book (not your own) what would it be?

Winter Warriors by David Gemmell. The book is a part six of his Drenai saga of books and while it is not the first of the series it was the first Gemmell book I read. After that I was hooked and spent years reading every book he had ever written. Even though his stories went to some dark places there were always characters who you would follow into hell with nothing but a toothpick and a can-do attitude.

The heroes in Winter Warriors live between the lines, in the grey, but Gemmell never forgets to remind the reader that these are still heroes. It’s a feeling I try to evoke in my own writing.

There’s a monologue in Winter Warriors etched in my mind that sums this up. I also use it as motivational mantra when I’m a struggling with a blank page or imposter syndrome.

A warrior has only one true friend. Only one man he can rely on. Himself. So he feeds his body well; he trains it; works on it. Where he lacks skill, he practises. Where he lacks knowledge, he studies. But above all he must believe. He must believe in his strength of will, of purpose, of heart and soul. Do not speak badly of yourself, for the warrior that is inside you hears your words and is lessened by them. You are strong and you are brave. There is a nobility of spirit within you. Let it grow — you will do well enough.

Many thanks for throwing these questions my way and glad you enjoyed the novels!