Author Archives: Wayne Smallman

About Wayne Smallman

When you're young, you think you know everything and life is indistinguishable from a game. It's only when you get older — when you begin to doubt the authenticity of the event and question the rules — that experience begins to count for something. And to quote the inimitable Forbes Bingley, a recurring character of several novels: "Life makes you stronger, at a price." In a sense, life has been preparation — practice, perhaps — for this wild stab at being an author. After all, how hard can it be, putting one word after another? Of course, like anything else in life, you only get out what you put in. At times, writing is both cathartic and semi autobiographical, where I catch myself looking backwards whimsically, lustily, with regret, a wry smile, a despondent glower or growing doubt. But writing is also a journey, one with no intentional destination, just waypoints I may navigate towards from time to time, at leisure. Though I must admit, it's a journey I would prefer not to make alone.

Darwinism versus the persistence of ignorance

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Darwinism, both as an idea and as a mechanism, has been used as an excuse for no end of atrocities — from Hitler, to Pol Pot, and to Stalin.

Justifying hate

Almost anything can be used as an excuse and as a means to inflict harm upon others, like the Christian Bible, for instance. Do we see people protesting against the sale and distribution of religious texts in the same way as Christians — and particularly Conservative Christians do — in the southern states of the United States of America? No, we don’t.

Or what of the Qur’an, or the Torah? Again, silence. Yet religion is the original weapon of mass destruction, one responsible for unparalleled cruelty and destruction, visiting death not just on mere people, but on entire cultures and civilisations, which have been swept from the face of the Earth.

So clearly, what we see is not knowledge itself as being harmful, but what people choose to do with it.

If he were alive, you could ask Robert Oppenheimer for his thoughts on the potential of hydrogen atom, and how it was harnessed to unleash unimaginable devastation upon the Japanese. Specifically, we could ask Oppenheimer what he thought of his part in the harnessing of this element, yes?

“I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.”
― J. Robert Oppenheimer

Knowledge is potential, not power unto itself

The internet is another much maligned entity, which is essentially a repository for knowledge of many kinds.

“The internet is a reflection of our society and that mirror is going to be reflecting what we see. If we do not like what we see in that mirror the problem is not to fix the mirror, we have to fix society.”
― Vint Cerf

Substitute the internet for almost anything, like Facebook, and again you find something that contains various things of varying edifying quality, and many things some — or most —people would describe as challenging or troubling. But what you’re seeing is only ever a reflection of society itself.

Yes, there are blueprints for bombs on the internet, but that blueprint is nothing but bits of data without the want of someone to harm someone else.

Belief — and by extension religion itself — does not require anything so stoic and solid as proof or evidence, and relies entirely on fear, uncertainty and doubt. Darwinism — or any other theory of science — does not require such an ephemeral thing as belief to exist, only the persistence of human enquiry and the willingness to learn.

Who do I write for?

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Me. First and foremost, I write for myself. I have to motivate myself to write, and a key motivator is writing about something that excites me. Romance? As a genre, it’s not my thing. I might throw the occasional romantic interlude into a novel, but that’s purely as an essential, vehicular aspect of wider character developments, not an overarching theme.

So, what’s Wayne’s writing style?

I don’t write for genres. A genre is something I only consider once I’ve written the story. If you begin to think of a genre as a means of beginning the writing process, you’re immediately compartmentalising your efforts — narrowly defining to the point of constriction.

If you’re a genre writer, that’s perfectly fine. But for someone like me, a genre is like a toolbox that contains only a hammer, and in the eyes of the builder, everything would then look like a nail.

I write whatever is necessary to transform an idea into a story.

Character driven. People buy into people before they buy from people. Once the reader believes in a character, they’re far more able to suspend their disbelief when that same character finds themselves in an unbelievable situation.

Cerebral, with a twist. Invariably, there’s a twist to everything that I write. I don’t write light entertainment. Dark themes hang like an autumnal fog, punctuated by acts of violence, occasionally breaking to reveal the light of love and the usual emotional suspects, lingering at the fringes.

I delve deeply into the themes that are shaping the world around us, such as: how science and technology interface with society; minor and major socio-political issues, using them as backdrops to the main events.

The fact is, escapism isn’t synonymous with optimism, which isn’t automatically pessimism, either. The world around us is far richer and infinitely more nuanced than it appears at first glance.

Apparently, I don’t write science fiction. Earth Day ought to be science fiction, but it’s more akin to a fable. Lucidity deals with identity, espionage and dreams. A Darkening of Fortune is a crime thriller and action adventure, but grabs racism and prejudice with both hands.

When you the reader encounter the science fiction elements, they may not even be immediately obvious to you, but that’s often a good thing.

If the science obscures the fiction — confusing the reader with jargon — then the author probably got something wrong, or they’re extremely sure of their target audience.

Incidentally, I have several out-and-out science fiction novels in the planning stages, but they’re possibly not due for several years yet.

I don’t fear writing a female protagonist. In fact, both Earth Day and Lucidity have female protagonists.

Fantasy. Fantasy? Kind of. At this point, I’d rather not explain too much, because in doing so, I’d be completely undermining the very effect I’m attempting to create, once the whole meaning is revealed. Suffice it so say, everything is connected.

Everything is connected? So many questions. Just imagine, a universe running in parallel to our own, one sewn together by sinuous threads of interconnectedness — binding characters, events, places, corporations, and technologies together.

Imagine one novel flowing into another, not as part of a series, but as a continuum. Imagine one major novel as a star, and surrounding it, a nebulous array of novellas.

Yes, it’s ambitious, of course it is. But if I make it work, it’ll be spectacular. It’s a far better thing to aim hight and come up short, than to make mediocrity your goal.

So who?

If you’re here, reading this closing paragraph, there’s every chance you are interested in my writing style, and you’re my ideal reader! Buy a book and read on…

Lost, up the Amazon

I find it strange that Amazon doesn’t offer a redirect to the correct regionalised version of an ebook. Authors could be losing sales because of this. Let’s face it, Amazon doesn’t often miss a trick when it comes to maximising sales, but they’re missing this one.

Every author is an island

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I’m quite fortunate, in that I’m also a graphic designer and a web developer, and I have a very good (if somewhat technical) copyeditor and proofreader.

And if we were to use an island analogy I read earlier, I’d encourage people to rely as much as is practicably possible on their own skills, to continue their toil in isolation (which is good practice for those times when you have almost no choice), and channel your inner autodidact.

I’m a firm believer in self reliance, because you cannot trust that you’ll have the support you need, when you need it most. I’ve learned this lesson at some considerable cost.

On those occasions where you need to broaden your skills, don’t roam too far, and instead build your own archipelago of suppliers and partners.

I say this not just as an author, but as a business owner since 1999.