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:
Jason Whittle (he/him)
Which region are you based in?
Central South – if forced to choose between southwest and southeast, as per the BFS Discord, I identify slightly more to the west, living as I do on the edge of the New Forest.
If you write, which genre?
Sci-fi, fantasy, horror – all, but with a horror lean.
Are you drawn to any specific SFFH sub-genres?
My origins are as a horror writer, particularly zombie horror. But the influence of other writers – many of them BFS members – that I have met or watched at conventions have led to me try to write more broadly across SFFH, as is shown in my forthcoming short story collection (out on 20 March!).
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?
The 1981 BBC adaptation of Day of the Triffids, although I think I saw it repeated in 1983. I’d never seen or imagined anything like it before, and I was thrilled, gripped rather than scared. I was suddenly much more open to watching horror movies, and I remember my older brother renting CHUD on VHS. After watching that I was unequivocal that horror was my favourite genre.
How does that early influence show up for you (in life/writing/agenting/publishing/editing/reading) now?
There’s an obvious link to my zombie origins in both of those. CHUD, obviously, but the Triffids adaptation had all the stylings of a zombie movie. You can see the influence of Dawn of the Dead there, and in turn you can see the influence it subsequently had on 28 Days Later and The Walking Dead.
(Pictured: Jason and friends in zombie mode)
But even my work in other subgenres taps into those moods, be it a sense of desolation, or an Everyman fighting against rising odds.
Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
Wherever I can. People watching, place watching, overheard conversations. Everything I read or see gets assimilated, every situation I’m in, I think, what if?
Who do you look to as a genre hero? Why?
It would have to be George A. Romero (pictured), for sure. For authors, John Wyndham and James Herbert. Put simply, if I hadn’t experienced their work, I severely doubt that I’d be an author now, and definitely not in these genres.
(Photo of George A. Romero by nicolas genin – originally posted to Flickr as 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra), CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7936953)
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.
They’re all dead! And I’m in an elevator with them!
Given that one of Romero’s most famous scenes occurs right there, I’d just be happy to get out unbitten.
What are you working on right now?
I’ve just finished putting together a short story collection – the Greatest Hits of the first half-century of my life (its official release date is my 50th birthday).
I am absolutely forbidden from writing anything new until the autumn, as I am working on my crime fiction thesis until then.
Thinking about all the stories/work you’ve done, what sticks out most in your mind? Why?
This new release, actually – which I know is what everyone says. But this is my life’s work being presented, with stories dating back 16 years, and so many influences stretching right back to childhood. You can write a novel, and put part of yourself in it, and expose that side of your soul, but The Five Stages has my whole self in, laid bare and vulnerable.
Where and when do you create/are you at your most creative?
My least creative time is when I’m sat at my computer, sadly. The rest of the time I’m accruing inspiration, and thinking about how I will use it, and that’s where and when I work out my ideas. And when I sit down to write, I am merely typing what is already in my head.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?
Probably something from the pages of On Writing by Stephen King. That was the best 30p I ever spent, from a charity shop in Shirley, Southampton.
But not all advice suits everyone, and you have to find that which works for you. For example the title of my planned Creative Writing Guide is ‘Average Writing is Good’, but when I posted those words, along with an explanation, on Twitter, it upset an aspiring ‘literary’ author so much I had to block him.
What’s your writing soundtrack?
I love music at least as much as I love reading and writing, and for a while that was where my ambitions were. I play bass and rhythm guitar, and was a prolific songwriter before turning to prose.
But I tend to keep the two separate, and prefer the distant drone of a quiet TV to music blasting out while I’m actually writing. Although if I need a motivational boost I will play Great Things by Echobelly to get me going, and also Buck Rogers by Feeder.
The Quickfire Round
Sci-fi, fantasy or horror?
All three … horror.
Quiet or loud?
Loud-quiet-loud.
Dark or light?
Dark.
Strict lines or genre blend?
Genre blend.
Awards or bestseller?
Either would be lovely.
Fiction or non-fiction?
Fiction.
Poetry or prose?
Prose.
Plotter or pantser?
Bit of both.
Reading or listening?
Reading.
Notebook or computer?
Computer.
Favourite SFFH book of all time?
Day of the Triffids.
Last book you read?
One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence
Any SFFH author on auto-buy?
Tim Lebbon
Favourite podcast?
None, sorry.
The Home Stretch
What’s the best thing about being part of the SFFH community?
It’s just a great group of people with egalitarian values, social conscience, and a supportive attitude. Such as this right here, right now, for example. You’re giving a voice to an unknown author, letting me show myself and my work to the people most interested. I don’t think the mainstream would bother doing that.
Time to plug your stuff! Where can we find you and your work? What have you got coming up? Consider this your advertising space.
- Everything’s on my Amazon page, but of particular interest to SFFH fans would be:
- My psychological thriller Midlife Crisis might be of interest too. It starts out as a cheeky rom-com, but turns very dark indeed.
- My new short story collection, The Five Stages, out on 20 March
- My novella, Escaping Firgo, previously published by Grimbold Books
- My collection of comedic SFFH stories, My Boyfriend is the Antichrist
- And Con-goers might want to relive some memories or search for their own names in my Convention report compilations, here or here
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