Lawrence Harding is the literary alter-ego of a PhD Medievalist at the University of Cambridge. He enjoys reading, writing and discussing all manner of fiction but his chief loves are fantasy, science fiction, ghost and other speculative genres.
His days are taken up with reading about and discussing the weird and wonderful lives of medieval saints so his writing could be considered something of a busman’s holiday!
Lawrence appreciates the literary style, but is also a great lover of cheese and cliche, when done well.
What kind of books do you write?
Welp. How to do this without sounding utterly pretentious? I write about otherwheres and otherwhens, where the familiar is bent just a little in interesting ways. I like to write stories where the journey is not so much physical as internal, where both the characters and the readers learn something about themselves.
Can you describe your writing why?
To entertain, mostly. Entertain myself, my beta-readers, my friends, anyone who chances to pick up something I’ve written. And it helps me explore things that are important to me and those around me. A lot of my more recent writing has involved gender and mental health among other themes. If I can open minds to other ways of being then that’s a bonus.
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most.
Before him stretched an enormous expanse of smooth water. It was far greater than any pool he had seen before. Beside the craggy rock of the land, it was the only thing in sight that was not utterly alien to him. He reached out to touch the comforting firmness of the rock, but drew his hand away in shock as he felt weird, prickly fur growing there. Tall fronds waved at him, caught in a cool draught as the air raced around him as if in joy. It was like the breath of some great, benevolent beast; along with the strange hair-like growths, he found it all too easy to believe that he walked on the skin of some great creature, no more than a tick skulking on its flesh.
Something flew past him through the air, soaring with beats of its strange, flat arms as if it were swimming. It landed on one of the many great branching pillars that grew out of the earth, among the eruptions of dark green that grew from the pillars like a head of hair. His eyes rested on the great growths as they rustled in the draught that stirred the air. Then his gaze drifted upwards, and he gasped.
(The Beasts Above, Tales from the Underground)
I really enjoyed this part because I had to try and imagine how the surface would appear to eyes that have only ever been underground and have no conception of things we take for granted like wood, birds, wind and so on.
Tell us about your latest project.
I don’t have anything specific in the works at the moment, but I do have two new stories out. The first is “In the Asps’ Nest”, a tale of smoky assassins-guild intrigue, in Guilds and Glaives (Zombies Need Brains). That was one I had a lot of fun writing. The other is “Hounded” in Hidden Menagerie vol. 2 (Dragon’s Roost Press), which is a cryptozoology anthology. I opted to write about the dobhar-chú, a legendary Irish killer otter. I would definitely recommend both books!
What is your favourite cake?
Truly, a fiendish question. Though if pushed, probably chocolate.
Thanks Lawrence! That's a great cake choice - lots of scope for the bakers amongst us. I'm thinking there may be some brownies in my future - click here for a recipe.
You can keep in touch with Lawrence on Twitter @lhardingwrites.
Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with indie author Jeanette O'Hagan, grilling them gently about their writing life and of course sharing their favourite cake.
If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.
If you would like to take part in A Slice of Cake With... please fill in the form found here. I'd be delighted to have you.
Claire Buss is a sci-fi, fantasy & humorous writer and poet, completely addicted to cake. Find all her books on Amazon. Join the discussion in her Facebook group Buss's Book Stop.
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