Hello my Freaky Darlings,
Today Alec McQuay, the author of the post apocalyptic novella – Spares, pays us a visit. So I think I’ll just hand over to Alec and he can tell you all about it.
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First off a huge, warm thank you and many rib-crushing bear hugs for Joan for offering me the chance to guest on her lovely, blood-soaked blog!
It’s always difficult to start a blog post I find, especially a guest one. My own blog can be any old rubbish but when you’re doing something with someone else it’s good to have a format, so I’m stealing one or, as we call casual theft in the writing game, “I’ve researched one.’
So, who, what, where, when and WHY the hell am I here?
Who I am is an interesting question with a suitably dull answer I suppose, but I am Alec McQuay and I recently wrote a novella for Fox Spirit books which goes by the name of “Spares.” Other than that I’m an Aquarius, five-foot eight of sleep-deprived enthusiasm and I train as a Thai Boxer. This involves baggy satin shorts and unshaved legs. SEXY.
What Spares is should be, I hope, somewhat more interesting. In short it’s a post-apocalyptic story about the undead, but it sure as hell has nothing to do with zombies.
The city of London is full of shuffling, bad-smelling, part-rotten and wholly unwholesome creatures that look every bit like they have crawled out of the grave and gone in search of the life that has deserted them. At least it was last time I was there. But in the world of “Spares,” the city is home to people who just go on living no matter what happens to them, leading ultimately to a terrible apartheid situation where those who are complete and undamaged occupy the higher echelons of society, while the shuffling, poorly repaired masses are firmly at the bottom of the ladder. In the endless search for spare parts, a small gang finds themselves with a badly injured friend and a bill to be paid with the delivery of a new hand for the sinister doctor who put him back together.
Soon enough, they find themselves on a collision course with the “Untouched” and at risk of starting something awful from which they can never turn back.
Where? Well the novella is based in London and the Greater London area, but this is a global issue. At some point I hope to expand outwards into a much larger and more intricate story that shows the consequences of our heroes’ actions as the Untouched retaliate and the pitiful creatures known as “The Lurchers” are forced to rise and regain their lives and their dignity.
When? It’s set in the future, but not very far. Time isn’t too relevant as everything is falling apart just as the people themselves are, and nothing much is advancing as far as the Lurchers are concerned. This isn’t about moving forward, it’s about holding on, and the vast and frightening difference between living forever and simply being alive forever.
Also, “when” is RIGHT NOW, as the novella has been out for a month or so and is receiving some great feedback! Also, and most excitingly, Spares is to be available as a paperback in the not so distant future! Best to keep an eye on Fox Spirit’s website for that one…
Why is, perhaps, the most important question of all.
Blood and organ donation are two very simple things which can extend and improve the lives of our sick and our dying, but while most of us would accept an organ or blood, very few comparatively are willing to make donations themselves.
There have been talks of making organ donation an opt-out system, where it will be presumed that you agree to donation unless you have taken the steps to state otherwise.
Shut-in syndrome sufferers, their advocates and many others, are taking to the courts of the world to plead for the right to control when they die if they lose faculty, motor function and the dignity which they believe should be their right to possess. 
Arguments over abortion law.
Religion.
Ethics.
The human body, life, right to life, quality of life and everything else that falls under those headings are such vast and intricate topics no matter how your own personal views may be. There’s so much in there to inspire a writer that I decided to throw myself into it as deeply as I could and, while I will stop far short of expressing my own personal opinions or attempting to directly influence someone else’s feelings, it’s fair to say that people are liking what they are reading.
So there we go! Hopefully I haven’t bored any of you to death and hopefully I’ve piqued a little interest along the way. If so then please do go to Amazon or Wizard’s Tower Books and grab a copy for yourself, or have a look at www.foxspirit.co.uk and keep an eye out for the wonderful paperback announcements that are to come!