Adrian Tchaikovsky Author Interview: Writing, Weekends and Warhammer
Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of the most imaginative voices in modern science fiction and fantasy, best known for his award-winning Children of Time series and genre-blending storytelling. In this interview, he chats about his love of Warhammer figures, the lessons he learned from Diane Wynne Jones, and why he’s a planner not a panster…
What’s a typical weekend like for you when you’re not writing?
Hah, “When I’m not writing.” I like that. Well, I do have the occasional day off, but usually it’s because something in particular is happening, so not typical. If I can get some downtime it’ll likely be spent doing as little as possible, but getting together with friends for boardgames or tabletop role-playing games is always appreciated.
What book (by another author) has stayed with you the longest, and why?
There are a few, but probably Power of Three by Diane Wynne Jones. It was the first book I read that I remember explicitly teaching me something about storytelling – in this case how to pull a switch to force the reader to re-evaluate everything that’s happened before.
What’s a favourite or comfort TV show or film you always go back to?
I think probably Farscape, which had all the fun stuff of a SF action series like B5 or Star Trek, but had a whole lot more aliens (and more alien aliens), a lot of comedy and a really fun set of varied characters.
Do you collect anything / have any collections?
I build and paint Warhammer figures, which becomes a collection very quickly. Also books, role-playing game manuals, and I have a lot of little Japanese articulated bug figures everywhere, because of course I do.
How long have you been writing?
I’ve technically been writing since around 1990 but I was in print in 2007.
Where do you get your ideas from?
Steve. You know, Steve the Ideas Guy. He’s great.
What does a typical writing day look like for you? Are you a planner or a ‘see where it goes’ kind of writer?
I’m generally a planner, especially where setting is concerned. I need to feel a certain solidity under my feet in order to write. As for a daily routine I generally write in the mornings these days – used to be evenings but then I had to get my son up for school – and in the afternoons it’s usually admin and other writing-adjacent tasks like edits, or indeed interviews.
If one of your novels or stories were to be adapted into a TV series or film, who would you cast as the leads?
Hugely open question given the number of books that might apply to! Honestly rather than just list my favourite actors, I feel it’s probably something I’m not best suited to pick – you need the actor to fit the character. Having said that, there are a lot of dreamcastings on my website.
Do you ever struggle with creative blocks? How do you push through them?
Not blocks per se. I do run into situations where what I’m writing isn’t working, and I have to work out what the problem is and how far I need to unravel things. Often the fix is to approach the scene from a different perspective, or tell it in another way, such as have a character recount it rather than wading through the actual events.
Which book of yours do you think new readers should start with?
I always ask people what they like, when they ask me what book to go for. Everyone has different tastes. Although the majority of readers come to me via Children of Time, I always like to push Dogs of War for science fiction. If people want fantasy then probably City of Last Chances.
What writing project are you currently working on?
I’ve just sent off a standalone SF book that is also sort of a gothic horror. It’s about clones and monks and things from the sea. Beyond that I have a trio of projects that I’m not able to talk about because they involve working with other companies, who’ll want to make their own announcements. As far as upcoming work that I’ve finished, the next Children book comes out next year.
You can explore Adrian’s work here: https://adriantchaikovsky.com/