Interview With Author Sid Ishun
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I am Sid Ishun, a self-proclaimed ‘royal expert’ and satirist. I have only one book published currently but many plans for many more.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Harry Windzor and the Stone of Scone.
I’m a new author, inspired to write my first book primarily because I think that I have created and developed an idea and story that I need to tell. I love alternative history, scandals and stories that show people and the established norms in a new light. Humour and art can cut through class, inhibitions and status quo. To me, satire, parodies and sarcasm are invaluable means to change people’s minds. One thing that I am curious about is how we view the royal family. I find it fascinating that they exist and persist solely due to the public’s imagination and belief. For example, although hardly any of us ever met the Queen, we all have an image of her in our imagination. What really is the difference of this to our enrapture and admiration of Gandalf or Princess Leia? This shared understanding of a character – and that is all that the Queen really was to the 99.9% of us who never met her, is a fiction. But one that did not happen by accident. The image of a dutiful and extraordinary family that, by their bloodline and destiny are superior to us, is so fabricated and fragile that it needs ridicule. Princes and princesses belong in fairytales, but our culture, history and media give us them in real life.
And so, this blurring of fact and fiction, truth and tripe, has made me write my own version of what happened to the royal family in the 1990s. Some of us believe in gods, some in fairies and some in magic. In a way, it’s all interchangeable, but certainly not unimportant. As Professor Dumbledore said to Harry just after he had been killed, ‘Of course it’s happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real.’ To believe something, is to make it real. I believe that it this suspension of disbelief that grants the royal family, effectively, a form of magic. Even if some, or even more than half of us, do not believe in this magic, it can still continue if the story is told often enough. Britain’s own ‘big lie’ can seem harmless – and this is certainly how our ‘constitutional monarchy’ likes to be seen – but the magic of their majesty grants them more power than the Death Star or Iron Throne ever could.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I find myself holding my breath a lot when lying on the sofa and writing. It probably doesn’t help and I don’t mean to do it.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
The morality of human interference in nature by Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. A sense of exploration and curiosity from Enid Blyton’s Adventure series. The detail, powerful critique and wit of Christopher Hitchens’ books.
What are you working on now?
A satire of a satire, with an environmental theme. Putting together the ideas for the Harry Windzor sequel too.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
If you write about your passions, find a group of like minded people to befriend. You’ll get new friends and willing readers – win win.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
If something doesn’t feel right – a character name or plot point, just put it aside and come back to it and view it as if someone else wrote it. Then improve it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
When doing a ‘how to succeed in business’ talk to university freshers about my failing business with my business partner, he uttered the most honest and reassuring advice ever, “Never be afraid to give up.” He didn’t mean give up entirely, but to know when to cut your losses and move on.
What are you reading now?
GoT A Clash of Kings. Not very original of me, I’m a bit behind the times, but it’s a great read and certainly one to learn from about weaving extended character arcs together.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Trying to find more time to get stuck into my next book.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
My tiny SAS survival guide, my big old homesteading book, my foraging book.
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