Steve Lockley

Quick Q&A

Tell us one thing you loved or found fascinating about a place you have lived.

Beaches. I’ve lived close to the sea for 30 years after growing up right in the middle of the country and while the sea itself holds no great attraction, the kind of things it washes up can be fascinating.

What did you want to be when you grew up (other than a writer if that was an option)?

I remember wanting to be a teacher, an electrician, an accountant but none of those really lasted. I ended up working in banking and insurance for far too long before deciding that making a living from writing could actually be a possibility.

Which super hero would you most like to be and why?

Hmm… The Flash. It would save a lot on travelling expenses.

It’s finally happened! The zompoc is here! Name four things in your ‘go bag’ and your primary weapon.

Big, heavy duty, bite proof gloves; spare car keys; cyanide pill (I’m not hanging around if I get bitten); water to wash it down. Chainsaw.

What is your go to comfort book or writer when you can’t settle into anything new?

There are a couple that are pulled off the shelves at regular intervals. Ray Bradbury’s ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ and Fred Pohl’s memoir, ‘The Way the Future Was’. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read them and yet each time I get something new from them.

What is the single most important thing to your writing process?

Coffee!

If you could collaborate with any author who would it be and what would you write together?

Sadly it’s too late to work with Ray Bradbury but I would love to have worked with him. His short story ‘The Crowd’ has an idea big enough to carry a novel and it would be interesting to see where it could lead.