Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
Deng Zichao is, obviously, entirely fictional.
My first book, People Like Us, is set in Brittany, where I still spend quite a lot of time, and it isn’t entirely complimentary about the locals. In order to avoid being tarred and feathered by my neighbours next time I visit, I invented D.Z.C.
Like my main character I am a specialist in oriental art. When I’m not in Brittany, I’m usually in Paris or Vientiane.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My most recent book is called Bright, Still – a book of ghost stories that’s permafree on Smashwords. I had a stack of ghost stories sitting around gathering dust, so I decided to put them together into a book and offer it as a free taster.
I haven’t done much publicity for it, but it seems to be doing ok without me. Hopefully some people who read it will be tempted to try my novels.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Not really – I do most of my writing in spare minutes at the office. If I indulged any unusual habits there I’d risk getting the boot.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
People Like Us and Xanadu were isnpired more by old radio comedies than books – things like The Goon Show and Round the Horne. I love the idea of using one set of stock characters and sticking them in various situations – Keszthelyi and Estrade are basically a mixture of Major Bloodnok, Gryttepype-Thynne and Moriarty, but updated to the 21st century.
There are a million novels out there about dodgy antiques dealers – it’s practically a sub-genre of its own – so I can’t really claim much originality for the concept. My favourites are Kyril Bonfiglioli’s, which deserve to be far better known. Caroline Graham’s Midsomer Murders books were also hovering in my mind. The books are far better than the tv series. She writes amazing characters – they’re instantly recognisable types that you’ll find in any English village, but they also have depth. They’re more than just caricatures. I think her Sergeant Troy is my favourite character in the whole of literature.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m doing another ghost story – about a Thai cat ghost – for an anthology that’s being prepared. Northeast Thailand is a very odd place, and packed with ghosts.
I’ve also begun a People Like Us prequel, which is my first novel written in the third person. It’s an odd feeling no longer being able to hide behind my narrator: Nicolas Keszthelyi is a pretty nasty individual, but I can get away with a lot as long as I say “Oh, that’s him – it’s not me talking.” When I’m the narrator myself, I’m a lot more circumspect.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I hate Goodreads for various reasons, but I can’t deny that it does its job. Right now I’m really only beginning my marketing operations, so I’m a novice. My opinion will probably be completely different in six months’ time.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Adjectives are the enemy.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
About writing or life? Er…
Writing: “You’re going to shift most copies on the first day of any KDP Select promo.”
Life: “Delete your cookies before booking an airline ticket.”
What are you reading now?
The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession by John Cornwell.
I’ve only just started, so I can’t give a review or anything, but I’ve always had a prurient fascination with the confessional. I live in a Catholic country, an have plenty of hardcore Catholic friends, but I find it impossible to imagine buying into anything so medieval myself. I’m hoping for plenty of lurid anecdotes.
What’s next for you as a writer?
Marketing, marketing, marketing… It’s no fun at all, but it has to be done. So many great books sell barely any copies because the authors are amazing writers but lousy marketers.
I’m shooting for a Book Bub promo.
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?
At one point I did actually find myself out in the Northeast of China with only one book for two and a half months. I took Herodotus’ Histories, and read it from cover to cover three or four times. I think it’s one of those books where the quality of the translation makes a huge difference. You’ll get some translations that are horribly weighty and verbose, whereas in fact he was gossipy and inquisitive and wrote very economically.
If I had more than one… Hmm… Probably The Hound of the Baskervilles and a collection of Saki’s Short Stories. I must have read THOTB about a dozen times, and I never seem to grow tired of it, and Saki’s subversion always makes me smile – especially the stories about children. They’ve got everything against them and they manage to undermine it using intelligence and bloody-mindedness alone.
Author Websites and Profiles
Zichao Deng Website
Zichao Deng Amazon Profile
Zichao Deng Author Profile on Smashwords
Zichao Deng’s Social Media Links
Goodreads Profile
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