The guys at Invasion Belfast Blogspot got the chance to interview The Time Warriors author Owen Quinn about his books, autographs and other things. It was so good, we had to bring it to you all…
Q: What was your inspiration for the ‘Time Warriors’ novels?
A: The Time Warriors books began when I was sixteen and wrote a story for Doctor Who which then starred Colin Baker. It was titled Wail of the Banshee and I spent the whole summer writing it. Unfortunately I did it by hand which the production office returned with a nice letter saying they didn’t accept hand written scripts. So, being the arrogant 16-year-old I was, I said, ‘Screw you, I’m going to create my own heroes!’ So my starting point was who would protect the Earth if the Doctor had never existed?
I also took what I wanted to see on television and spun it all together into what was the beginnings of The Time Warriors. Time travel was a given as it opens up the canvas for stories, aliens on Earth, hidden agendas, monsters that speak eloquent evil and when i saw some of the crap that was being published and screened on TV I just thought I could do better than that. that may sound big-headed but believe me, it wasn’t. I also wondered why Irish people seemed so scarce in science fiction and why there were so few leading roles, so I set out to put the Irish back the global sci-fi map which led to the creation of Jacke, a black Irish girl, beautiful and tough with a secret. I don’t think there’s been a character like her before so that’s cool for me.
Q: Heroes and Legends Convention II is coming up next month, will you be attending as a guest again this year?
A: Not this time; I was due to launch the new Time Warriors book Venom at it but here has been a problem with the publishing and templates so it’s been stalled. It will be available by March which of course is too late. But as a member of the Emerald Garrison, I will be there any way in full force to get the photographs no-one else can.
Q: On a scale of 1-10, how big a Nerd/Geek would you say you are?
A: I actually hate the words Nerd and geek as when I was growing up they were terms that ensured bullying because it wasn’t normal to like this stuff ,whereas now every Tom, Dick and Harry is a science fiction fan. In my day, you were weird for liking Doctor Who but now you’re weird if you don’t. How times change! But if there was a scale for my love of science fiction then it’s a 20+.
Q: How did you get to write for the following the nerd website? Big fan of those guys (aw shucks – ed).
A: They approached me to see if I would be interested in writing an article for them looking back on an old TV show. As they say, they created a monster, because there are so many shows to talk about and an enormous amount of shows that influenced me growing up but it spills over into comics, movies, toys and movies. Some of the shows I’ve featured have triggered a great response from those who had forgotten about them until they read my articles, eg the Nightmare Man, a really scary four-part series made by several of the old Doctor Who writers and director. We’ve also been getting some great interviews and believe me when I say there are bigger things to come.
Q: What was the first Sci-fi/Fantasy TV show or Movie you watched?
A: I would have to say Doctor Who as it is the one I have the clearest memory of. I heard the music and ran upstairs in terror and refused to come down until it was over. But we watched everything in our house from Blake’s 7, Star Trek and the Tomorrow People to Man from Atlantis.
Q: When did you know you wanted to be an author?
A: I suppose I have always written but in my teens I knew I wanted to write for Doctor Who and Star trek. But that’s a trap that many writers fall into; they want to write for a specific show. My lesson with Who gave me the kick to do my own thing, find your own style and create your own world. If it’s good enough then the rest will fall into place. It took me about fifteen years before I really took the bull by the horns and put it all out on paper.
Q: Are you an autograph hunter or do you just get the autographs when you have the chance?
A: A HUGE autograph hunter. I always have been. I write to everyone and if you get a reply fantastic, others I have met in person such as Nichelle Nichols from Star trek and Billy Dee Williams from The Empire Strikes Back.
Q: Who’s autograph would you like that you don’t already own?
A: William Hartnell, the first Doctor Who; I have all the other Doctors including Peter Cushing, the movie Doctor, and would love that one to complete the set.
Q: How many more Time Warriors novels will there be?
A: Good question, there will be six by the end of the year with work on the next four already underway. To be honest, the format is limitless. I hope to have a solid body of stuff, unlike Harry Potter or twilight which have defined endings. Mine doesn’t; literally anything can happen. There are twenty five stories published over the six volumes and there should be over 35 completed by the end of the year for publication next year. What slows me is that I do everything myself ; I have to edit, write, be my own critic; if I had a publishing house then the stories would be coming out faster as someone would be doing the editing for typos etc instead of me. Editing is such a time consuming task, you wouldn’t believe.
Q: How many conventions have you attended?
A: Too many to count. I travelled all over England and Ireland to attend conventions and have met some great people who have remained friends to this day. I have met stars that are no longer with us and have to say thank god for Heroes and Legends and Star Wars Invasion for bringing celebrities five minutes down the road rather than a long flight to England where there’s even more travel involved. And as long as I’m able I’ll be there when they happen. This year I may be making my debut across the border but it’s still to be confirmed. Having sat in my kitchen spinning the Time Warriors stories which no one knew about to being able to attend conventions because of them is pretty cool. But then sci-fi fans are cool.
Thank you to Owen for taking the time to do this interview, if you would like to buy his book or find out more about his novels or see his pictures from conventions then go to his website here
You can also buy his novels from amazon by clicking here
Thanks to Invasion Blogspot for allowing us to reproduce the interview
Read FTN’s review of Owen’s first book here
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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