Meet M.F. Alfrey

Every Friday, we meet a member of the BFS and peer deep into their soul (or, at least, a form they filled out). Want to be featured? Email us: online@britishfantasysociety.org

Name: 
Marek F Alfrey (he/him)

Which region are you based in? 
West Midlands

If you write, which genre?
Sci-fi, fantasy, horror … all of the things!

If you don’t write, what do you do?
Pssst! I’m also a SFF editor specialising in developmental editing and line editing. I do digital art, too. Mostly book cover design, mostly.

Are you drawn to any specific SFFH sub-genres?
Body horror, spam-in-a-can survival sci-fi, fantasy adventure, and any of those with cool monsters in them. I love creature features, and non-human protagonists.

Your influences

Tell us about the book/film/thing that got you into SFFH: What was it? How old were you? What impact did it have on you?

Aliens. I remember seeing a snippet of the USC Marines entering the hive. It was on the end of an old VHS taped off the telly. I must have been about twelve years old. I had no clue what the movie was called as the first half and last bits were missing. But it haunted my imagination as a kid and stuck with me until I stumbled upon the full film years later. It was just an instant obsession after that.

I hungrily devoured the Darkhorse comics set in that universe, and then found my first fave author, Steve Perry, who penned loads of Alien novels. I even have the xenomorph and a predator tattoo to testify my nerdery.

These influences are prevalent in the stories I write, especially my body horror, Silentium, which is also a homage to my other creature obsession: The Thing. Again, all versions. The original 1951 movie, John Carpenter’s 1982 vision, and the 2011 prequel. Not to forget, of course, the short story by John W. Campbell known as Who Goes There?

How does that early influence show up in your work (writing/agenting/publishing/editing/reading) now?

In terms of writing, no matter the genre, there are always monsters or weird creatures in my work. There will be derelict space ships, lost temples, things buried under the ice. I love settings where extremes play a part, like deserts, arctic conditions, or jungles. My few but loyal readers often describe my writing as cinematic, and I would agree. I was raised on film, and enjoy trying to get that feel across in writing. There’s always some form of action and adventure in my work. But the thing I love the most about writing over film is the depth at which you can explore the characters. Horror elements work better when you know a character deeply and are praying they won’t succumb to the monster.

Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?

Films, comics, novels, and my experiences in the world. I travel a lot, and have been some amazing places, met some fascinating people, and been in some bizarre situations (often stranger than fiction). I frequently blend those experiences in with SFF elements. Ooh, and maps to. Fantasy maps, schematics of ships. I pored over technical drawing of the Aliens and Star Wars tech when I was a kid, and likewise Tolkien’s maps of Middle Earth. So now I often draw out those kinds of things before I start writing in order to inspire me.

Who do you look to as a genre hero? Why?

Ooof, that’s a tough one. I jump around a lot from medium to medium, so my inspirations are perhaps a little unconventional for a writer, maybe. Directors like Stephen Spielberg, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron and the movies they produce. Stan Winston, Phil Tippett, and Ray Harryhausen create visually-striking creatures, and I always look to their designs when creating monsters. In terms of writers, Terry Pratchett is my comedic king, Phillip K. Dick is my sci-fi sage, and Steven King is my horror hero. 

Marek says: “There’s only one true here for me: Godzilla, the king of monsters.” Pictured below: Godzilla sculpture, plus a photo of Godzilla’s head above buildings in Tokyo.

Your work

You’re stuck in an elevator for 60 seconds with that hero, and they want you to describe your work. Give us the pitch.

Hello Mr Cameron! (shaking like a leaf) I guess I’ll pitch my latest work, Silentium. Here goes …

“Aliens meets The Thing. An action-packed military SF gore-fest, in which a struggling haulage crew and a squad of delinquent marines find themselves hurled together in a gruelling fight for survival beneath the ice. But not long after their arrival, and failure to raise Aquilo Base on comms, all souls aboard the Fritzwicky suddenly find themselves stranded on a frozen world with no other choice but to delve into the ominously silent facility. And what should have been a routine passenger drop quickly takes a hideously twisted and disturbing turn.”

What are you working on right now?

Sooo many projects. I have several pots on the hob. Right now, there’s May Contain Space Pirates Vol 2, a comedy space-opera pirate adventure. The first volume got some good reader feedback and even a small following of fans hungry for the sequel, so I thought I should perhaps write the second book in the trilogy. I’m working on a high fantasy LitRPG adventure too, cos I’ve always wanted to do one and have a massive love for tabletop RPGs. Something epic like Wheel of Time. I’m also working on a co-authored tribal fantasy adventure with my wife.

Thinking about all the stories/work you’ve done, what sticks out most in your mind? Why?

Silentium. I’m really proud of it. The story, the cover, the rigorous editing. I worked hard on the characterisation too. I really wanted readers to have physical reactions when the characters are in peril, and when creatures leap out of the shadows. One of my beta readers said she gagged at some of the body horror elements and loved the grimness. I think attempting to make horror genuinely scary is a tough task, and some stories fall short of the promise. I hope Silentium at least feeds a little genuine fear into my readers.

Where and when do you create/are you at your most creative?

First, in my head. I write the story there. Or rather dream it. If it sticks, then I jot the key elements down, sketch out some concept art. I tend to write wherever and whenever inspiration hits: in a café, as soon as I wake up in the morning, or when I startle awake in the middle of the night. I can’t rest until the scene or idea is out of my head. It bugs me until it is. 

(Pictured: Marek’s writing set-up while in Phan Thiet beach, Vietnam)

What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?

In Steven King’s On Writing, he talks about ideas and notebooks. I’m paraphrasing, but it goes something like this: “I don’t use notebooks. If the idea is good enough, it will keep popping up.” Or something like that. When I read that, I felt validated in the way I come up with ideas and rarely use notebooks. It works, too. Good ideas simply won’t let you rest. 

What’s your writing soundtrack?

I tend to listen to movie and video game scores when writing. Something that sets the scene, mood, and pace. When I wrote Silentium, I listened to the Doom, Dead Space, and Alien Isolation soundtracks to name but a few. When I edit, its instrumental thrash and death metal all the way. It gives me the energy I need, especially when formatting a book.

The Quick-Fire Round

Sci-fi, fantasy or horror?
Yes.

Quiet or loud?
Quiet, building up to deafening.

Dark or light?
Dark with a pinch of humour.

Strict lines or genre blend?
Pick and mix all the way.

Awards or bestseller?
Well, if you insist … 

Fiction or non-fiction?
Fiction.

Poetry or prose?
Prose, but with poetic conventions in mind.

Plotter or pantser?
I heard Brandon Sanderson say he’s a “floating outliner”. That works for me too, I’m a floater.

Reading or listening?
Reading.

Notebook or computer?
Computer. Picture that confused Gandalf meme. That’s me attempting to read my own handwriting.

Favourite SFFH book of all time?
They change at goblin whim, today I’ll say:

• H = All the Fiends of Hell
• SF = A Scanner Darkly
• F = The Hobbit

Last book you read?
All the Fiends of Hell, by Adam Nevill. The bad guy is just so frustrating, you turn the page just in the hope he gets his just desserts, but Nevill really teases it out. Love it.

Any SFFH author on auto-buy?
Wait, there’s an auto-buy setting?

Favourite podcast?
Note to self: start listening to more podcasts.

The Home Stretch

What’s the best thing about being part of the SFFH community?

When someone you meet for the first time asks you what your favourite dinosaur/monster/spell is.

Time to plug your stuff! Where can we find you and your work? What have you got coming up? Consider this your advertising space.

Shameless self-promotion! As an indie author, this is something I’ve learned to appreciate (if not timidly at first). Well, lots on the go right now, as always. You can find free shorts and tasters of my larger works on my website, mfalfrey.com. There’s news, upcoming works, novel links, book trailers, audio shorts, and my author bio.

I’m enthusiastically indie, and my work can be found on chiefly on Amazon, and some on Waterstones and Foyles. I have four works to date: Symbionts and the Sixth Dawn—both short story compilations—plus my indie debut novel May Contain Space Pirates, and Silentium, my labour-of-love military sci-fi body horror (all pictured below).

I’m currently working through a tribal fantasy adventure with my wife as co-author and some exciting developments are happening there. It’s fun seeing her take on the story and characters we’ve both come to know over the years of the story’s development. I’m really looking forward to seeing what readers think too. The cover is already designed, so we have to finish it now!