Meet Owen W. Knight

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, including preferred pronouns: 
Owen Knight (he/him)

Which region are you based in? 
UK (England, East of England, Essex)

If you write, which genre: 
Sci-fi & horror

Are you drawn to any specific SFFH sub-genres? 
Contemporary Horror, Weird Fiction, Dystopian Fiction

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?

After the Great Storm of 1987, I would take my children to the local woods and encourage them to poke around with sticks among the roots of fallen trees. I told them we might find treasure buried centuries ago. Twenty years later, I incorporated this into a story about a hidden location that does not appear on maps, governed by a Sect planning world domination. This developed into my YA series, The Invisible College Trilogy. More recently, I wrote a stand-alone sequel, The Visitors, set fourteen years later, when the protagonists were approaching thirty.

How does that early influence show up in your work now?

My books are set in closed communities, where normal rules do not apply. The leaders of the communities do not consider themselves accountable to outside authorities.

Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?

Dreams provide me with imagined landscapes, of places I have never visited, inspiring fear and awe. Scientific discoveries provide the potential for new stories. Each day, the news warns us that however creative our stories might be, little matches the dystopia found in the everyday world, as the world races towards oblivion.

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

Catriona Ward (pictured). Her most recent three books show her to be a master of contemporary horror. She develops stories, often based on real life events, and cleverly plants false trails for the reader to unravel.

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.

I write contemporary and speculative fiction, mostly set in closed communities where those in power set their own rules, differently from normal society.

I enjoy creating worlds based on documented myths, with elements of dystopia, mystery and science fiction to highlight the use and abuse of power and the conflicts associated with maintaining ethical values. 

Many of my characters hold deeply personal and authoritarian moral ideals. They believe their conduct and actions to be beneficial to society. Inevitably, these convictions steer them towards forms of what they believe to be benign dictatorship, restricting the freedom of others and leading to defiance and resistance.

(Pictured: Owen’s marketing assistant, Lyra, with his latest book Conditions Are Different After Dark)

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on the theme of increasing state monitoring and control of individuals. The motivation of those in power, the move towards a totalitarian state and the relentless erosion of personal freedoms. The challenge is that the real world is moving so quickly. Given that it can take two years between starting to write a book and its publication, it is difficult to take a fix on where we will be in two years’ time.

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

The surprises I have uncovered during the research and planning of my books. How mycorrhizal networks allow trees and plants to communicate (The Visitors). How developments in cryonics could affect society (Another Life). The power of historical events and how they continue to influence people’s lives, even centuries later, in defiance of logic and reasoned thinking (Conditions Are Different After Dark).

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

Time: early mornings when the brain is uncluttered by the trivia of daily life.

Place: in a warm country, especially in Bali, where again, it is easier to escape the everyday world. 

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

Write for yourself and not for an audience. If you can’t satisfy your personal standards and aspirations, you will be unlikely to entertain, amuse and inspire others.

What’s your writing soundtrack?

I rarely listen to music while writing. Definitely no vocal music. On the rare occasions I do, it will be Balinese gamelan.

(Photo of Bali by Aron Visuals on Unsplash)

The quickfire round

Sci-fi, fantasy or horror?
Sci-fi

Quiet or loud?
Quiet

Dark or light?
Dark

Strict lines or genre blend?
Genre blend

Awards or bestseller?
Awards

Fiction or non-fiction?
Fiction

Poetry or prose?
Prose

Plotter or pantser?
Plotter

Reading or listening?
Reading

Notebook or computer?
Computer

Favourite SFFH book of all time?
The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison

Last book you read?
Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

Any SFFH author on auto-buy?
Catriona Ward (and Andrew Michael Hurley)

Favourite podcast?
None

The home stretch

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

Speculating on the direction the world and society is heading and the unknown forces and conspiracies that are shaping our destiny.

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

I have written six novels, including Another Life, The Visitors, and The Invisible College Trilogy (They Do Things Differently Here, Dust and Shadows, A Perilous Journey), all pictured below.

My Amazon Author Page is here, or visit my website here. You can also follow me on social media:

• Facebook: @OwenKnightAuthor
• Instagram: @OwenWKnight
• Twitter: @OwenKnightUK
• Pinterest: @owenwknight

My latest novel, is Conditions Are Different After Dark. Here is the cover blurb:

In 1662, a man is wrongly executed for signing the death warrant of Charles I. While awaiting execution, he asks to speak with a priest, to whom he declares a curse on the village that betrayed him. The priest responds with a counter-curse, leaving just one option to nullify it.

Over four centuries later, Faith and James move to the country to start a new life and a family. They learn that their village lives under the curse uttered by the hanged man. Could their arrival be connected?

Faith and James fear that their choice of a new home is no coincidence. Unexplained events hint at threats or warnings to leave, including the slaughter of their hens, an attic break-in and other menacing incidents. They become convinced the village continues to live under the curse despite denials from their new friends. 

Who can they trust, and who are potential enemies?