Chatting With Garry Charles: Tranquil Disturbances

by Alex Mcdermott:

Is there anything more creepy than a small town, isolated out in the middle of nowhere, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to?  What do you do when the nightmares begin?  Garry Charles takes us on a ride into horror in his latest novel Tranquil Disturbances. What does go on in those forgotten places? I had to ask didn’t I?

Alex Mcdermott: You explore the ancient Lilith myth in your story. What attracted you to this particular story?

Garry Charles: The first novel I ever wrote was called Heaven’s Falling and it dealt with the afterlife, albeitin a twisted fashion, and this is when I first discovered Lilith. I loved the idea that before Eve there had been another love in his life. It made the story of Eden seem even less idillic that it did before. Ever since I have enjoyed delving into religion within my writing, despite the fact that I am not a religious man.

AM: What role do you see Amy playing the larger context of the story? She seems to represent an thematic point concerning the role of women in religion and cults?

GC: I wanted Amy to be seen as a point of innocence within a world that seemingly has none. I saw her as a child growing up in a society she sees as normal and now she deals with the invasion of that world. I hope the reader follows her growth and, at the end, realise that she sees her world through innocent eyes, that she sees no wrong in the way they live their lives. At the same time its always good when the reader picks up on other themes that are probably written in on a subconscious level. As a writer I find it enlightening to have a reader point something out that makes me want to go back and read what I wrote.

AM: Your biker characters are brutal and irredeemable. What inspired their development?

GC: When I sit down to write I always do so with the intention of creating characters that the reader will either love or hate… I want the reader to sit their hoping for these characters to either die or make it to the end. With Motorhead and his crew I wanted a group of people who were truly nasty. I wanted The Devil’s Rejects on acid… You’ll have to let me know if I managed it.

AM: There are obvious biblical references throughout the story, including Lazarus. What connections do you want your readers to make?

GC: My main concern is that the reader enjoys the story… On the surface all my stories are written with the main focus on entertainment. If the reader finds themselves finding more within the text then I’m happy. I hope they contact me and share what they have found, as sometimes I don’t even realise it was there to be found.

AM: What advantages and disadvantages did the use of a diary format have in writing Amy’s story?

GC: From the start of Tranquility I knew it would be written this way. I wanted the story to be told from two vantage points. I wanted the cold eye of the outsider and then the beating heart that is Amy’s diary entries. I can’t say they were any disadvantages, the entire story flowed easily and was written within five days.

AM: Your monsters are zombies but not quite zombies. Can you give your readers a little insight into their development?

GC: I didn’t want to write a real zombie story… I wanted to create something with more brain power, I wanted my monsters to have thought process despite the madness eating away at them.

The influences for Death Tide came from books I read in the late 80’s… James Herbert and Shaun Hutson weighing in more than others. I wanted to be able to show what was going on in the mind of those infected and with characters like Armstrong I was able to do so. I think his decline is great, a true villain.

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