It’s time to introduce you to my little secret, the wonderful Warrick Mayes.
The world had become such a dark dreary place and this man came charging along like my knight in shining armour and offer his noble services to me. He took my novel in his armour cladded hand and sifted through my stubborn spelling mistakes and for that I’m truly grateful.
But his talents are never ending and Mr Gallant Prince is also a pretty darn amazing author and poet. You can find his work by following the links below.
In Warrick Mayes words explain “Sleeping with God” to us.
Sleeping With God:-
An ordinary man discovers that he is married to God, a very beautiful and sexy woman - two things that are difficult to reconcile. Add the realisation that, as God, his wife knows what he is thinking, and you have a worried man. Is it OK for a man to find God sexy, have fantasies about her, and have her know all these things? This starts to cause problems with his sex drive and with his whole system of beliefs.
He then discovers that she, God, owns a strip club, a porn business and other less than reputable businesses. He starts to wonder if she might be the Devil rather than God. He bumps into another man, who is sympathetic to his problem and seems to be more God-like than his wife, and have similar powers. Add in an exotic dancer, and other temptations and our ordinary man is tested to the limit.
Sleeping with God’ could be seen by some people as a rather controversial read, and a risky project for you, (however I think it’s a masterpiece) how did you come up with the idea for this story?
I'm not worried by controversy. I also think that religion would do better if it were prepared to discuss such controversial concepts instead of simply condemning them. If God exists, then when we first tried to explain that which we didn't understand by the existence of a god, man did so in terms of his understanding at that time. If we had to draw similar conclusions today, God would probably be described in completely different terms.
I also think that God is not so far removed from nature as we believe. Thus he/she (and why not a mother God) would actually be in favour of procreation, so participation would be a natural extension of that belief.
I'm sure there will be lots of religious people who will avoid this book because of its title. However, religious people still enjoy sex. And, this is not meant to be an argument against the existence of a god, but is simply a fictional story for people to enjoy.
I love the way you put temptation in Alex’s way and the internal struggle that he faces to stay on the correct path. Do you think this is what happens in life? That we humans are simply pawns in a game of chess been played by forces so much bigger then we are?
Temptation:
You used "been", so that's a smacked-botty coming your way. (you can edit that bit out! - or were you tempting me?)
No, I don't believe that God is placing temptation in our path. However, we all face temptation and it's how we deal with that temptation that determines our path in life. I believe that giving in to these temptations will lead to short-term happiness; bit will eventually lead to greater unhappiness. Thus it's better not to give in, and the benefits will be greater.
The question all author’s get thrown at them, how much of Mr Mayes is actually in Alex?
Ha! There's quite a lot of me in Alex. I think this is natural. We all know that it's easier to explain an emotion we have experienced than one we haven't. Thus, it's easier to make Alex respond in ways I can imagine myself responding - so I become Alex and he becomes me.
Have you met your own Mogdia?
To avoid any embarrassment for people I currently know, I will answer this in terms of people from my dim and distant past.
When I was at college there was this girl I met at a party. We were both friends of the host, I was at West Kent College and she was at East Kent College. Her name was Susan. We enjoyed a wonderful evening together, exchanged telephone numbers and spoke a number of times on the phone together in the days that followed. Then something changed and she didn't want to see me again. She was perfect in just about every way. We never got to the stage that Alex and Mogdia reached but I was heart-broken when I couldn't convince her to see me again.
I know you have a few projects in the pipe line but as we speak what are you currently focusing on?
I have several things in the pipeline. A second book of rhyme will be released in January "Below a Tree..." It's complete, but I'm waiting for proofs to arrive in the post, and will release it if they look good.
I've just finished writing a story-rhyme called "The Wizardry of Bentley Sluff". I have sent it to some agents who specialise in children's books and also to some illustrators as I'm not up to illustrating it. It may be some time before it's released because it really needs some nice pictures to compliment the story.
I'm writing a fairy story, a modern day frog-prince. I have a real-life princess to thank for the idea, and I'm about half-way through the write, with all the re-writing and editing to follow.
As I work on these other projects I'm also continuing to write more poetry, so another book of rhyme will probably be complete some time in 2016.
What book/author shaped you into the writer that you are today?
I can't say there's any one author who has influenced me more than any other. However, I would say that I draw on three authors for inspiration, not that I'm like any of them. Joseph Heller, the author of catch-22 put so many ideas into that book, he virtually exhausted all his writing talent in one go. It was a masterpiece.
Douglas Adams, who I first heard of when listening to radio 4 in the 1970's, wrote the wonderful HitchHikers' Guide to the Galaxy. I loved his ideas and would be so proud if I could write something that captured people's imagination in the same way.
Finally, Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld novels and much more besides. I always chuckle when I read his work, and strive to create worlds that mirror our own in the amazing way he manages to do it.
Do you have writing ritual?
I don't have any writing rituals. I also don't make any commitments. When I sit down to write I might end up working on a poem or writing another chapter of a book. I get side-tracked by other ideas, hence the reason I have so many books on the go at once.
Give me your top 3 dinner guest and a brief reason why you’d invite them?
The first person I thought of was Putin. It's not that i would particularly enjoy his company, but I would like an opportunity to tell him what I think of his expansionist policies.
Secondly, and in contrast, I would like to invite Nicola Adams. I was so impressed by her performance in the London Olympics when she became Britain's first ever female olympic gold-medal boxer. I swear she was smiling all the way through the final. She was so bubbly and enthusiastic I thought she was a teenager, but it turned out she was nearly thirty years old. I'm a sports fan and there were so many possibilities for this slot. I considered Kriss Akabusi, Sebastion Coe, Peter Osgood or Didier Drogba.
My final guest would be my grandfather, Dennis Walter Mayes. He was very influential in my early years, but I would love one more dinner now that I have so much more life experience. He fought in the Spanish Civil War, but before that he flew on the R33 airship as part of the crew. He was one of the skeleton crew that was on board when a storm caused the airship to break free of its mast. The crew brought it back to the base despite some considerable damage to the nose, and were awarded gold watches for their effort.
Quick Fire Round:-
Favourite film - Monsters Inc
Tea or Coffee? - depends what you're offering.
Next country to visit - Cambodia (having been to Egypt and Cancun in Mexico)
well its time for you to jump on board your charge and ride off into the the sunset, thank you for joining me on my humble blog.
well its time for you to jump on board your charge and ride off into the the sunset, thank you for joining me on my humble blog.
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