Danny Weston Author Interview
A Hunter's Moon
For the last day of the blog tour, I have been lucky enough to get an interview with the author of A Hunter's Moon, Danny Weston, and he had some very interesting answers! But first, here are some details about the book! It was released just over a week ago so once I've piqued your interest I'm sure you'll want to go out there and get your own copy!
Book summary
The forest belongs to the walkers … Enter at your peril.
A fearsome beast lurks deep in the Forest of Tay. Under cover of darkness it emerges to feed on the local farmer’s sheep—and sometimes the farmers themselves.
Fraser McCloud believes it’s a wolf but some whisper that it’s the Cù Sìth, a creature summoned by the mysterious ‘Walkers in the Woods.’
Callum is Fraser’s young apprentice. He’s understandably apprehensive when Fraser insists that he must help hunt down and kill the beast.
In the local village, Callum meets Mhairi, the innkeeper’s daughter, who knows more about the Walkers than she really should.
As time passes, the killings become ever more audacious - and Callum realises he has every reason to be afraid.
Interview
The cover of A Hunter's Moon is very cool and menacing. As an author, do you get a chance to be involved much in the cover designs for your books?
I have quite a bit of say, which is good. I trained as a graphic designer back in the day, so I like to think I have ‘a good eye.’
Usually, the artist prepares a series of rough sketches and I indicate which idea I like the most. The artist takes that idea and works up several versions of the same theme. This time I took against the colour the Cu Sith was originally rendered in and it was changed for the final image, which I think looks splendid.
People always say you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, but of course, we all do. So, getting the right look is very important.
My heart broke for Callum at the start of the book, how did you come up with this character? Is there any of yourself in him?
Authors like to say that there’s a bit of them in every character they write, which sounds suspiciously like multiple personality disorder!
Callum is typical of my young heroes. He’s been treated badly in life and he blows through the various creepy encounters in this book like a hapless leaf on the wind… so perhaps he is like me! I think creating empathy in characters is so important. If readers about the the characters they’ll want to see if things work out them in the end.
How did you get interested in mythology? Have you always liked horror and scary books?
I've been interested in mythology since I first started reading. While still at school I loved reading all those brilliant Greek myths - and around the same time, at the cinema, I watched those exciting Ray Harryhausen movies featuring Jason and Sinbad and so forth.
Thrilling stuff!
Then, a little later on, I discovered the ghost stories of Saki (H H Munro) and M R James - and I read countless volumes of the Pan Books of Horror Stories. I noticed the books were edited by somebody called Herbert Van Thal, so I stuck one of my early stories into an envelope, addressed it to HERBERT VAN THAL, LONDON and confidently posted it off. Strangely, I didn't hear back from him...
Since moving to Edinburgh a few years ago, I've discovered that Scotland has its own collection of folktales and mythologies and I've been exploring them with glee. What I particularly liked about the Cu Sith is that it's a relatively little-known creature and I spotted an opportunity to reintroduce it to a whole new readership.
I was also struck by the creepiness of The Washer at the Ford and as soon as I read about her, I wanted to put her in the story too!
What made you decide to make the move into writing for younger readers? Which do you find more challenging, adult or children's?
I wrote my first children’s book for my daughter. She was ten and wanted to read something I’d written but nothing was appropriate! So I wrote Sebastian Darke - Prince of Fools for her. It went on to become a series of books that sold all over the world. So I thought I’d better write a few more books for the same audience...
And in answer to your question, I see little difference in writing for adults and for younger readers. There are just some subjects you steer clear of when writing for the latter.
Otherwise, all the rules are pretty much the same.
Finally (and most importantly) what is your favourite cocktail?
My favourite cocktail is The Amber Symphony.
1. Take one good quality lager.
2. Pour it into a pint glass.
3. Drink.
(I’m not really a cocktail sort of guy, but, if pushed, I guess I’d settle for a really cold margarita!)
