An Interview with Hater's David Moody
Author David Moody first made a name for himself with Infected Books, an indie publishing house created to publish his Autumn series of horror novels that became an online phenomenon. Now, with his novel Hater out from Thomas Dunne books, a movie deal with Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro, and a planned re-release of the entire Autumn series, Moody has been able to quit his day job and go to work as a full time writer. Amazon recently checked in with him to talk about how his life has changed and what the future holds for the characters introduced in Hater.
Amazon.com: You got your start on the outside of the traditional publishing world as a self-published writer. Having seen one of your books picked up for publication by a major publishing house and movie rights for the same sold to Guillermo del Toro, is your life or work any different now?
David Moody: For me, signing with a traditional publisher was always going to be something of an experiment. I’ve always tried to steer clear of the term "self-published" because it all too often conjures up the wrong impression--badly produced books which simply aren’t good enough to be published by the mainstream. I always thought of myself as being an “independent publisher” instead--producing a product which was capable of sitting side by side on bookstore shelves with titles from the major presses. As far as I’m concerned, it worked! My original edition of Hater had only been out for a couple of months when it somehow found its way onto the desk of the guy who would eventually take it to del Toro, and the book deal followed the best part of a year later.
One of the coolest aspects of the whole process for me has been the fact that the new edition of Hater is virtually unchanged from my first edition, even to the extent that my original cover design and concept has been reused by the US and other publishers. That was a huge vote of confidence for me--it told me there was a market for what I’m doing. So...I’m still planning to write the same kind of stories. Obviously things have changed, though. I used to only have to please myself and my readers, now there are a load more people and interested parties who have fingers in the pie!
I’d be lying if I said this whole experience hadn’t changed my life. After acquiring Hater and two sequels, my US publishers also bought my five book Autumn series. So, as well as having some advance money for the first time ever, these deals have also meant that I’ve been able to close my small press (Infected Books) and that, in itself, has been a blessing in disguise. I ran Infected Books as a business to make a profit, and it took up a hell of a lot of time. I was juggling that with working full time and family life and, as a result, I wasn’t getting any time to write. As a writer, that’s a pretty poor state of affairs! So yes, life is very different now, and it’s incredibly cool to sit at my desk each day knowing that I’m finally being paid to write.
Amazon.com: Speaking of del Toro, how did the movie deal come together? Where is the project now?
David Moody: As I mentioned, the film rights to Hater were picked up shortly after the original release of the book in late 2006. It was a surreal time. I was working full time and my wife was working evenings so we managed the house and the family between us. Everything began to change after I received the initial enquiry about the availability of the film rights. At first I thought it was a wind-up but, after doing a little investigation, I realized the interest was genuine and I suddenly found myself talking to some pretty powerful people. One of the most bizarre moments of the process was when I found myself on the phone to Mark Johnson (producer of the Narnia films). He was on the set of Prince Caspian in New Zealand--I was trying to cook the dinner, put the kids to bed and stop the dog barking!
As I understand it, they’re still working on the screenplay at the moment. J. A. Bayona (who made the wonderful The Orphanage) has been tapped to direct and I can’t wait to see what he does with the story.
Amazon.com: The characters in Hater find themselves dealing with unpredictable and explosive violence. Did you have any particular personal experiences you drew from when depicting these scenes? What about other inspirations? Were there any contemporary events that informed the creation of the novel?
David Moody: I’m pleased to say that I haven’t experienced anything like the level of violence which is portrayed in Hater. But, like most people I guess, I’m aware that the potential for these sudden attacks is always there. Whenever there are two people or more together, anything’s possible. I think that one of the aspects of Hater which plays on people’s minds is the closeness of the violence and danger to their ordinary, daily lives. Any of the attacks I’ve described could happen. How many times during our lifetime do we each put ourselves at the mercy of a surgeon, for example? What if something happened which caused them to react violently and unpredictably mid-operation? If you thought too hard about all the “what ifs” and “maybes” you’d probably never leave the house in the morning!
The story is about the effect of a division being driven through society which bypasses and nullifies all other prior divisions. I wanted to look at the effects of an unstoppable and inexplicable event which drove a wedge between family members, husbands and wives, kids and parents, teachers and students, bosses and workers, government and people, etc. etc. irrespective of gender, age, beliefs, race, culture, sexual orientation and so on. In my very early plans for the book, the Hate didn’t figure at all. Instead, I had half of society becoming physically repellant to the other half to the extent that they were unable to coexist and society fractured! In July 2005, however, when terrorists attacked the London underground and bus services, I saw a piece of film which substantially changed my plans for the book. One of the suicide bombers worked in a school with kids under 10 years old. One week he was teaching them and helping them grow, the next he was on a tube or bus with a bomb strapped to his back, ready to blow as many people apart as he could. The fact that the same person could demonstrate such extremes of behavior gave me the focus for the book. It’s not a political novel and it has nothing to do with terrorism, it just illustrates what we’re all capable of.
Amazon.com: You've made a career telling stories about mass panic and social collapse. What is it about these topics that keep you returning to them?
David Moody: Good question! I don’t think I’m alone in my fascination with the end of the world! In fact, there seems to be a huge surge of interest in the genre right now. I think that as the world becomes a more precarious and uncertain place to live in these sorts of stories will continue to grow in popularity.
We tend to take a lot for granted. We just expect that, day after day, everything will remain the same and life will go on. But the fact is nothing’s certain. Something could happen at any second that could change everything. In fact, by the time you’ve finished this sentence, it might already have started. And that, I think, is what fascinates me. I’m not interested in super heroes or action heroes, I want to know what will happen to you and me and my neighbors and my friends and my relatives when it all hits the fan! I like looking at the “what-ifs” and trying to imagine the worst case scenario. At the risk of sounding too cheesy, I think it actually helps you appreciate what you’ve got a little more. It’s like the feeling of relief you get when you’re woken by a nightmare in the middle of the night and you realize it was just a dream!
Amazon.com: How have fans of your Autumn books taken to Hater? And are you having fans of Hater now buy the Autumn books?
David Moody: Great! Even though it’s not about the living dead, I think that Hater actually has a wider appeal to the core zombie audience who are sometimes frustrated with the Autumn books because they’re not about blood and guts and brains and violence…I always intended Autumn to be a very different approach to the genre where the threat from the undead is subtle and unexpected and where making a noise and fighting out in the open will always do the survivors much more harm than good!
I’m really pleased that my “core” readers seem to enjoy both series. As I mentioned earlier, the Autumn books have also been picked up by my US publisher. They’re off the shelves right now but will start being re-released shortly. It’ll be interesting to see what the reaction is of people who’ve read Hater first!
Benjamin Mouzone on April 09, 2009 at 08:00 AM
The interview was very eye opening. I wrote my first book "Through The Eyes of A Rookie" and I'm learning what self-publishing is all about. It doesn't have to be a negative experience, but slowly for me thats what its becoming. I'm very confident that my book will still do very well. The front cover is very marketable, and the content is very current and goes hand in hand with issues regular people deal with everyday. A respresentative from the self-publishing company has been trying to sell me marketing services for a good while. After purchasing one service, the circumstances of the agreement changed all of the sudden. Surely I have a family friend attorney looking into the matter, but really I just want to focus on pushing my book. The book is about my experience trying to become a police officer with a physical impairment, my first time on the job experiences, and some of the pressures young first responders deal with. I would be very fortunate to have a traditional company make me an offer, but surely I do want the content to remain true to my experiences as a rookie cop. Official release date is in June of 2009. Surely I will register to sell on amazon.com.
Much Success Mr. Moody,
Benjamin Mouzone