Lou Yardley is a horror-fantasy novelist who is best known for the werewolf horror Horrorhound, which delivers a unique blend of bloody horror and sharp humour. With the recent release of her latest novel Rise of the Carnivores I got an opportunity to ask Lou a few questions about how the idea for the book came about, her influences and some of the other projects she is working n in 2019
Q. You are known for your work within the horror-fantasy genre, but Rise of the Carnivores has a very different feel to some of your previous work. How did the idea for the theme and style of the book come about?
Rise of the Carnivores was born out of a joke on Twitter. I know they weren’t for everyone, but I really enjoyed The Meg (2018) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) when they were out at the cinema last year. I shared my love for these films on Twitter and one of my Twitter buddies (@Synn_Unsworth – go say hi, he’s a very talented musician) suggested that I should write a “dinoshark” book. It just snowballed from there.
Style wise, I wanted to pay homage to the B-Movie. I LOVE B-MOVIES! Point me in the direction of a low budget movie on SyFy or the Horror Channel and it fills me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. In order to make sure that the book had a B-Movie vibe, I gave it an outlandish premise, popped a few crazy characters in the mix, ramped the action up as high as I could and threw in the odd bit of humour. I think I achieved what I set out to do, but I guess that’s for the lucky readers to decide.
Q. The front covers on your books have some eye-catching artwork and Rise of the Carnivores has a brilliant b-movie style design which incorporates the theme of the book. How did the design come about and who did the artwork?
Thank you! I know they say that you should never judge a book by its cover, but I always do, so I try to make sure that my covers are eye-catching and interesting. This time I worked with The Noble Artist. Jamie was brilliant to work with and worked wonders with my brief (“it’s kinda a b-movie dinosaur thing… and I want a mosasaurus in it”). The combination of his phenomenal painting and the choice of font for the title really made the B-movie idea come to life. One of these days I’m going to get a full-sized poster made of it.
Q. There are also dinosaurs drawn throughout the book, was this done by the same artist?
No, these were created by the wonderful Sludgework! I love her monochrome style. She also created my “Dagrimm Reaper” logo and she has just finished an image for the cover art of another project that I’m working on.
Q. I loved the various characters in the book, and it is their personalities and humour which really draws you into the story. How do you go about developing these characters and are some of them based on people you know?
I think each of the characters is a combination of different people. Sometimes I have a clear idea of how I want a character to act (like Wilfred) and other times the characters develop themselves as they go along (like Scott and Autumn). I won’t say too much, but Scott was a lovely surprise. I had no idea what he was going to do until I started writing his scenes.
Q. The book has a variety of carnivorous dinosaurs, some of which may be more recognisable than others. Did you do much research regarding the dinosaurs or have you always had an interest.
Yes, to both! I really loved dinosaurs when I was a kid, but I haven’t really done much research on them in recent years, so there was some frantic reading done before and while I was writing the book. I have gone for ‘movie dinosaurs’ rather than ‘scientifically accurate’ ones.
Q. There is a familiar theme in Hellhound and Rise of the Carnivores where a book is used as an important part in the story as it has an effect on the characters. Are there any books that have had an impact on you?
Well spotted! I’d have to say The Never-Ending Story by Michael Ende, Pet Sematary by Stephen King, The Rats by James Herbert, Slugs by Shaun Hutson, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Plague of the Dead by ZA Recht (RIP, dude) and the Demon Cycle books by Peter V Brett have all had an impact on me, but for different reasons. Sometimes it’s the story that draws me in, sometimes it’s the way the author writes and sometimes it’s the characters.
Q. There is a reference to your previous book Hellhound, suggesting that the events are possibly occurring in the same universe. Do you write the stories with the idea that they are co-existing in the same universe?
Not really, but I like the idea of throwing in little easter eggs here and there. I guess they could all exist in the same universe. It would be an exciting place! Dinosaurs, werewolves, monsters… Never a dull moment!
Q. Who are some of your biggest influences as a writer?
Stephen King, Shaun Hutson, James Herbert, Richard Laymon, Brian Lumley, Graham Masterton… I could go on! There are loads! I’m a big fan of horror from the 80s and 90s, so I find that I’m drawn to those writers a lot. That’s not to say that there are not some very talented modern writers out there. There are loads!
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
OH YES! I’ve got a short story called We All Scream for Ice Cream. This will be released on the 17th May and will be available from all of the usual places. I wanted to release a little goody to coincide with my appearance at the Brighton & Hove Book Fayre at the beginning of June.
I’m also working on a novel called The Deal Maker. I’m frantically throwing words into it at the moment like a mad “wordsmagician” (someone called me that once and I’m trying to make it stick!). I’m planning on an August release, so it will be hot on the heels of We All Scream for Ice Cream.
After that, I have a few more projects in mind, but I’ll hold fire on talking about those for the time being as I’ll probably change my mind about them by the time August rolls around!
Q. If you could write a new story based on any well-known fictional horror or fantasy character from literature or film who would you choose?
Pumpkinhead (1988) I love Pumpkinhead, especially the first film, but I feel like there’s so much more that you could do with that character that wasn’t covered in the movies. Just think of the different kinds of people who might want to risk using the revenge demon to do their bidding. Imagine what ruthless politicians would do with it. Or desperate reality TV stars. The possibilities are endless!
You can purchase Rise of the Carnivores and other books from Lou Yardley on the website online shop louyardley.bigcartel.com. For EVERY order of Rise of the Carnivores made through Lou Yardleys online shop louyardley.bigcartel.com, Lou Yardley will be donating £1 to Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity to thank them for all of the hard work they do.
You can my review of both Rise of the Carnivores here
You can see my review of the brilliant When the Sun Sets here
You can see more work from The Noble Artist on the website: https://thenobleartist.com/
You can find out more about Sludgework on the website: https://www.sludgework.com/
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
