WHO ARE THE KINDLE ALL-STARS?
Tony Healey has posted short conversations throughout November with the stellar talent behind the revolutionary short-story anthology THE KINDLE ALL-STARS PRESENT: RESISTANCE FRONT. To even things up, here’s an interview with Tony himself.
JJ: How did you come to hear about the Kindle All-Stars project?
TH: I saw Bernard tweet about it, and e-mailed him straight away to find out about it.
JJ: What’s your contribution called?
TH: It’s called REDD
JJ: And without giving too much away, what’s it about?
TH: It’s a prequel of sorts to my story FRANK, and we get to see the character in action pulling off a job, and what the repercussions will be for those who work with him.
JJ: What was the main inspiration behind it?
TH: Really it was to explore his character a little bit more, and have an action vignette featuring him. It’s got a little touch of a heist about it, in a way.
JJ: Did you write it specifically for the Kindle All-Stars, or was it written prior?
TH: I wrote it just for the Kindle All-Stars project.
JJ: Obviously the primary goal behind this anthology is to make some money for disadvantaged and abused children. But secondary to that, it is to promote fresh, new writing talent – the punk rock of literature – and show that Indie writers are out there, dedicated and working hard to produce Class-A work. If people take notice of what you’ve written for this anthology, what do you hope the outcome is of that attention?
TH: I hope that everyone gets some good exposure from it, and that that exposure has a domino effect in getting people’s attention. Bernard has set out to show that Indie doesn’t mean crap, just because it’s not come from Random House or some other big name. With the right amount of love and care, an Indie book can equal something put together by industry ‘professionals’ and that’s the point I think.
JJ: Is there anyone in particular who’s contributed to the anthology that you’re excited to be included alongside?
TH: Alan Dean Foster, mostly. I love his work, and he seems like such a nice guy. He travels the world over, trying to see as much of it as possible, and you just genuinely get the feeling that he is a generous spirit. As a kid I thought I’d found my favourite series of books in the Chronicles of Narnia until I found his ‘Spellsinger’ series.
JJ: We know that there will be a KAS 2 at some point. Plans are already afoot. Is there a dream name you’d like to see involved in it the next time around? Me personally, getting published in a book that includes a story by Alan Dean Foster is one of those “Wouldn’t it be great if one day…” things that I can now tick off of the list.
TH: I’d like to see King, for obvious reasons. Perhaps his son Joe Hill.
JJ: So when you’re not helping to fight evil, what do you get up to in real life?
TH: I used to be a manager in retail, but I changed company and took a step down so that I could cut my hours and spend more time with my kids. I realised that promotion and pay rises and all that business didn’t really matter to me, and that I didn’t want to miss any part of my children growing up, which I would do if I carried on working a 50-60 hour weeks. Now I’m enjoying working 30 hours a week and getting extra time to see the kids grow and develop into little people. It also gives me more time to read and watch TV, which is always a bonus!
JJ: Are you working on anything now? Anything you’d like everyone to know about?
TH: I’ve got the first draft of a thriller, ‘The Man With The Broken Heart’ resting until I’m ready to rewrite it. I’m working on a novella/short novel length scifi story called ‘The Stars My Redemption’ which sort of incorporates both Frank and Redd – the stories that is – into a much bigger and grander narrative. You can find out more about it, as it develops, at http://thestarsmyredemption.wordpress.com Hopefully I will have ‘The Stars My Redemption’ ready to go before Christmas so watch out for it!
JJ: And to your readers – both potential and existing – is there anything you would like to say? They might be reading this months after Resistance Front has landed, wanting to know more about you. What would you like to say to them?
TH: Support every writer involved in this project by looking at their stuff and maybe buying some of their books. They’re all wonderful. Bernard wouldn’t have included them if they were crap writers. The man is a paramount professional, and he wouldn’t cheat you by trying to sell you a book of stories that weren’t up to scratch. Seek these writers out and buy their stuff. Help us to drive this Resistance Front!
JJ: Thanks, Tony, and thanks for interviewing all those other Kindle All Stars.
