Mars, Inc., The Feifdom of Thirty-nine Galaxies, and--who can forget--the great, epic, ever expanding Half-Light series? The only author who can create these witty, wild, and sassy worlds is Forbidden Planet's very own @AngusEcrivain. Who better to interview for the TK: Space opera issue than the man who would perhaps be more at home on the Serenity, itself? 

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So, who are you—tell us a little about yourself.

I'm Angus Ecrivain – or Dan, to those in the loop. I've been around here for going on four years now. I've seen Wattpad grow and develop into the quite wonderful site that it is today and I hope to be around for a few more years, if only to see what Wattpad becomes!

So yes as I said, I'm Angus Ecrivain. It's quite likely I'm the most random person and offensive you'll ever encounter. My stories rarely follow traditional rules but that's the way I like it, makes me feel all rebellious and shit.

My life outside Wattpad is shrouded in mystery but here, allow me to remove that shroud for a moment. I have a wife and a puppy. We live in a house in a village near a town in Sussex in South-East England. I work the graveyard shift and have done so for the last seven years but I kinda' like it because it means I don't have to deal with too many stupid people.

Years ago I played football and not quite so many years ago I played guitar and sang in a fair few rock bands. Now I'm far too unfit for the former and haven't touched either of my guitars for a while.

When did you begin writing?

Well now, that happened during a particularly long and boring night shift. It was nothing more than an idea that I simply had to write down. There really wasn't much to it but it's since grown into a Space Opera of epic proportions. The original prologue to Half-Light started life as a mere three hundred words and the current word count sits somewhere about 650,000. I suppose that just goes to show that even the smallest, simplest ideas can develop into something absolutely bloody awesome.

I still work nights, however I no longer have the time during my shifts to write. That's fair enough I suppose, considering I get paid to work! Every chance I do get though, at work or otherwise, the chances are I'm writing!

Why SciFi?

Why not SciFi? For me it's the logical genre in which to write. It gives more freedom than any other – aside from Fantasy, to be fair. Anyone who's read my work knows that my mind works in random and mysterious ways so taking that into consideration, there really is no other genre in which I'd rather write.

What’s your favourite story you’ve written?

Getting Stephen Laid, definitely. The idea for the novel formed whilst I was reading 'The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy,' for the millionth time. It's been described as an R-Rated version of that Science Fiction classic and for me that's a massive, massive compliment. It was so much fun to write, too. A story about a man so ugly and yet incredibly well endowed and his quest to get his end away, saving the Universe in the process. It's riddled with clichés and obscenities and that's probably why it's my favourite. I think it's fair to say that whilst writing it, I wasn't taking myself seriously in the slightest!

What is your fan’s favourite story you’ve written?

I honestly don't know but I'd like to think their favourite is Half-Light. That's the story that got me into writing and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that I put every drop of blood, sweat and tears into that tale. It's not complete, either. The story – albeit a few generations down the line – is in the process of being continued!

Who are some of your influences? Favourite writers?

Sir Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt, Jack Campbell, Max Barry Stephen King, Frank Herbert, Rob Grant, Doug Naylor and of course, Grant Naylor... I don't know, the list is probably endless. I'm quite partial to a wee bit of Big Will and I do enjoy reading George RR Martin. My favourite writers are those who manage to craft a tale and grab my attention and then out of nowhere, hit me with a sock full of pennies in the nads with some twist that I never saw coming.

Where do you find inspiration for your stories?

Everywhere, quite literally. I was driving the other day – only a short drive to pick up some cigarettes for the missus – and I shit you not I had to pull over and jot a basic synopsis for a new story down on my phone. The inspiration there was a football – soccer ball, if you're less refined – simply rolling down the pavement.

Sometimes, ideas come when I'm dreaming, watching TV or during conversation. Other times, and these are the ideas we all love to get, they hit me like a fucking train.

We know some of the big authors, Orson Scott Card or Tolkein for example, incorporate their religion into their work. Are you religious? If so, do you incorporate it into your stories?

I'm not religious in the slightest, however that doesn't stop me incorporating it into my works. Even though I don't believe I find the concept and mythology that surrounds all forms of belief quite fascinating. Very few of my characters have any religious affiliation and that isn't on purpose, I think it's more to do with me subconsciously effecting the characters I write.

Religious figures do appear in my work, however. Angels feature in Half-Light, for example, as do a select few of the Celtic pantheon, not to mention Loki from Norse mythology as well as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. God makes an appearance in Mars Inc., too...“'Sup, Mike? Break a leg, yeah?”

The thing I find with religion is that it offers such a rich and diverse pool of story-telling goodness!

Others say your first novel is usually autobiographical in nature. Did you find this was the case? Do you ever base characters or situations off real life situations? How do you balance that?

I wish that my first novel was autobiographical in nature, however that's simply not the case. I think it's likely I'd remember if I'd spent a vast amount of time going around the Universe in a space-faring vessel, saving the day where necessary and shagging anything with a pulse.

That said, a few of my characters start off being based on people I know. They normally morph pretty quickly into something – or someone – completely different, but it's handy to have that base to work from, especially in the early days of character creation.

Real life situations – albeit heavily modified ones – do appear in my works, too, but I'll leave it to anyone reading this to work out what those situations might be!

Who is your favourite character you’ve written into a story? Why?

Dan from Half-Light. He's a total badass, an anti-hero. He's the kinda' guy who'd make for a fantastic drinking buddy but there's no way you'd introduce him to your sister, or your girlfriend, or your wife, mother or grandmother... Not only that but no matter what the Universe throws at him he always manages to find a way to get done what needs getting done. He was originally an exaggerated version of me and I intended to kill him off pretty quickly. I think it's fair to say that he had other ideas!

Walk us through your writing process—how does it begin? What do you do when you get stuck? How do you decide when the story is over?

It's quite likely my process is different to most people, because I don't really have one. I don't sit down and think to myself, 'right this is gonna' happen or that's gonna' happen.' I occasionally have a rough idea of how I want a story to end but more often than not those goalposts shift about 270 degrees and invert several times. I tend to go wherever the story wants to go or as is more often the case, wherever my characters tell me they want to go.

I remember reading somewhere and I can't for the life of me think where I read it, but an author was asked to explain the origins of one of his characters. He replied something along the lines of, 'well it was my understanding that [insert character here] was a 32 year old single mother from Norwich. She quickly impressed upon me though, that she was in fact a 17 year old Japanese girl with a penchant for death metal and crotchless panties.'

That reply kinda' stuck with me and whether it was subconscious or not I guess I've followed that route. I let my characters lead me. It's their story, they know best.

I rarely get stuck, to be perfectly honest. I have so many stories on the go at any one time – eleven at the moment – that it's never really an issue. I work on whichever story I feel like working on. It can get confusing, on occasion, especially of one of those I'm working on happens to be the sequel/prequel of another that I'm working on – which is actually the case at the moment – but it works for me.

As for knowing when a story is over, it never is. There's no such thing as a completed story, for there's always more that can be told.

(& in the spirit of this month’s theme—Space Opera)

Big worlds, big stories, new creatures—how do you manage it all and make it believable?

I'm not entirely sure that I do manage to make it all believable.

OK in all seriousness the thing with Sci-Fi – not just Space Opera but every single sub-genre – is that so long as you adhere to the defined rules of your created universe, you can do whatever the fuck you want. I'll use my own story, Half-Light, as an example. It's epic in length and during the process of writing that wee tale everything about it evolved, and I do mean everything. The thing is, that's OK in Science Fiction – Hell, it's OK whatever you're writing. Providing you can justify what's happening by pointing – with a big pointy stick – at a particular passage/chapter/dialogue and say “yeah, I hear what you're saying but if I can refer you to [passage/chapter/dialogue], I think you'll see that it is actually possible to play pineapple tennis in zero gravity.” None of my characters have ever played pineapple tennis in zero gravity but you get the point. If you're able to justify something through your writing, then anything is possible.

If two of your characters were to play pineapple tennis in zero gravity, who would it be? 

Well, because this is me and I'm more than a little dirty minded, it'd have to be two of the girls, my hardcore honeys, haha! I would say Nona from Getting Stephen Laid and Eloise Barker from Mars Inc. would be first choice, with Red from Half-Light umpiring attired in something suitably skimpy...

One of the most inviting, and at the same time, most intimidating things about Space Opera is that is so wide-open. How did you get involved in writing this sub-genre specifically?

I think the fact that it is such a wide-open sub-genre is the draw. As long as you, the writer, are able to keep a track of what's going on in your own story by keeping notes or having the kinda' mind that remembers minute little details – like what song Dan and Tristian first 'danced' to in Half-Light. Things that probably don't matter a fuck to the story but make it more real and your characters easier to relate to. Providing you manage to do that, you'll find that writing Space Opera is pretty straightforward. It's not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but if writing was easy then everyone would do it!

What’s the hardest part about writing Space Opera? …your favourite?

My favourite part of writing Space Opera is the fact that you're writing within what could potentially be an enormous self-created universe where pretty much anything is possible. We know next to nothing about our own universe so I think it's rather nice to be able to create one where I know everything about everything – to a point, it's always nice to be surprised!

The hardest part about writing Space Opera is much the same as my favourite part. You're writing in a vast universe of your own creation. You have to remember every single detail about that universe else your story will fall flat.

You’re stuck on a spaceship, not sure where you’re headed; what’s in your backpack?

Cigarettes, of course I'd have to hope that the scrubbers on said spaceship are fully functioning. A few cans of Red Bull, too... Gotta' have my caffeine fix. My ipod, 'cos what's the point of traversing the Galaxy if you don't have some bitchin' tunes to listen to? The Walking Dead on DVD because it's the best show on TV and of course, though I'm sure it goes without saying, I'd have a towel in there, too.