The SatNav of Doom

I'd like to welcome William Macmillan Jones back to our blog. Last time, he was kind enough to give me an interview. This time, he will be sharing what inspired him to write his newest novel, The SatNav of Doom.

Once again, the Dark Lord has a cunning plan. And once again someone else is going to have to carry it out for him: that's what henchmen are for, isn't it? To hench? Oh, and to be sent on the risky missions…

Not that this one should be risky. What could be easier than secretly inserting computer spyware into a laptop, using a Banned Underground gig as a diversion? The Tax Office probably does it all the time. But the Tax Office is not normally being chased for an unpaid credit card bill for a huge round of drinks. (That's the politicians. And the henchmen, of course.)

And it isn't just any laptop the Dark Lord wants to spy on either. The Government is struggling to find the way out of the Recession without a road map, and what better aid than a SatNav linked to a computer? If the Dark Lord can get inside information on future economic policy, maybe he can clean up and buy a new Mercedes.

Then there is a mystery: where did the time-travelling SatNav come from in the first place? What if the original owner wants it back?

Magic, mayhem and macro-economic policy collide in the latest surreal instalment of the acclaimed comic fantasy series, The Banned Underground.

http://www.amazon.com/The-SatNav-Doom-Banned-Underground-ebook/dp/B00F78VG8U


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Here's what the author has to say about what inspired his novel . . . .
 

It’s such a very simple question isn’t is? ‘What was your inspiration?’ And like all the best questions* it can be asked in a few words, and sometimes needs an enormous essay to answer. Normally at this point I get bored and come up with a trite reply, as I’d rather be writing more bad jokes. So this is it: I’ve got a series contract to fill, and needed a book at this point. So I wrote this one. The thing is, on one level that’s actually true. I do have a series contract to fulfil, and The Satnav of Doom just slotted into, well, the slot.

If I’m going to break the habit of a lifetime and treat a question seriously (sorry, that’s not entirely true. I always treat ‘What do you want to drink?’ seriously.) then of course there’s a bit more to it than that. I’ve got a small confession to make. I do occasionally read the reviews that get written of what I do. After reading The Vampire Mechanic, one reviewer commented that the series was improving and growing, but the jokes remained a little shallow. Now I wasn’t upset by that, because any author who is going to get upset by his/her reviews might as well hang up the keyboard. But it did make me think that perhaps it was time to get a little sharper.

Sadly, by training and the dreadful Karma built up in my last incarnation, I’m an accountant. Hence, large corporations and the Inland Revenue and the economy are never very far from my thoughts. Granted, they are frequently unprintable thoughts, of the sort that would occasion hefty use of the red pen and a rude retort from my editor, but that too is to be expected. So my thoughts turned to the economy. Particularly the heavily over-used phrase ‘The road map for The Recovery’ If the road map is going wrong, then a Satnav is needed…another artifact as self satisfied and useless as the average government. So this book contains – I hope – some jokes that are a little more pointed than previous books. If that goes down well, maybe the trend will continue. Actually I hope so, because I would like to see the series continue. I have the best fun writing the books, and now if they are going to carry on selling I think it’s time that a little more of myself, my ideals and attitudes, can be glimpsed by a discerning reader.

So finally, how about that for an inspiration to write a book? To use fictional characters to finally show a little of who the author is, what makes them tick?

What? It’s been done already? In that case, the idea of doing it again can’t be all that controversial, can it?

*Where are we eating? What are we eating? Where’s the manager, I want to register a complaint? Why does that phone system play such awful music when the caller is on hold? **

**Sorry, I have a habit of putting footnotes everywhere. At least I didn’t go for the title this time.

It’s such a very simple question isn’t is? ‘What was your inspiration?’ And like all the best questions* it can be asked in a few words, and sometimes needs an enormous essay to answer. Normally at this point I get bored and come up with a trite reply, as I’d rather be writing more bad jokes. So this is it: I’ve got a series contract to fill, and needed a book at this point. So I wrote this one. The thing is, on one level that’s actually true. I do have a series contract to fulfil, and The Satnav of Doom just slotted into, well, the slot.

If I’m going to break the habit of a lifetime and treat a question seriously (sorry, that’s not entirely true. I always treat ‘What do you want to drink?’ seriously.) then of course there’s a bit more to it than that. I’ve got a small confession to make. I do occasionally read the reviews that get written of what I do. After reading The Vampire Mechanic, one reviewer commented that the series was improving and growing, but the jokes remained a little shallow. Now I wasn’t upset by that, because any author who is going to get upset by his/her reviews might as well hang up the keyboard. But it did make me think that perhaps it was time to get a little sharper.

Sadly, by training and the dreadful Karma built up in my last incarnation, I’m an accountant. Hence, large corporations and the Inland Revenue and the economy are never very far from my thoughts. Granted, they are frequently unprintable thoughts, of the sort that would occasion hefty use of the red pen and a rude retort from my editor, but that too is to be expected. So my thoughts turned to the economy. Particularly the heavily over-used phrase ‘The road map for The Recovery’ If the road map is going wrong, then a Satnav is needed…another artifact as self satisfied and useless as the average government. So this book contains – I hope – some jokes that are a little more pointed than previous books. If that goes down well, maybe the trend will continue. Actually I hope so, because I would like to see the series continue. I have the best fun writing the books, and now if they are going to carry on selling I think it’s time that a little more of myself, my ideals and attitudes, can be glimpsed by a discerning reader.

So finally, how about that for an inspiration to write a book? To use fictional characters to finally show a little of who the author is, what makes them tick?

What? It’s been done already? In that case, the idea of doing it again can’t be all that controversial, can it?

*Where are we eating? What are we eating? Where’s the manager, I want to register a complaint? Why does that phone system play such awful music when the caller is on hold? **

**Sorry, I have a habit of putting footnotes everywhere. At least I didn’t go for the title this time.