This week I am delighted to have a slice of cake with M.W. Duncan.
He is currently writing the Esworth Equipoise series which saw Down From the Sky released by Severed Press in May 2021.
Independently, he has written and published Only The Dead: An African War. The first of three novellas which he intends to go back and finish one day.
Outside of writing he works in local government but dedicates his free time to making writing his full-time career. He has a passion for music, reading and gaming.
He has two cats, Horus and Nina.
What kind of books do you write?
I’ve been writing since I was quite young. I still have my first story ever written, typed out on a typewriter and illustrated by me. I guess I only really considered trying to make writing something more than a hobby in about 2012. I had some time on my hands and decided to try and write a full-length novel. I feel like I have all these stories and characters in my head and if I didn’t get them down onto paper, I would regret it.
In 2014 I signed a publishing contract with Severed Press for several books so that has kept me motivated.
I don’t particularly like working a 9-5, well 8:30 to 5 really. My ambition now is to try and make writing successful enough that I can perhaps work a traditional job part-time with my writing making up some of my income. I’m realistic though, it’s not my main driving force to make lots of money from writing. I’ll be happy to just tell my tales and get my books out there.
Can you describe your writing why?
I’ve been writing since I was quite young. I still have my first story ever written, typed out on a typewriter and illustrated by me. I guess I only really considered trying to make writing something more than a hobby in about 2012. I had some time on my hands and decided to try and write a full-length novel. I feel like I have all these stories and characters in my head and if I didn’t get them down onto paper, I would regret it.
In 2014 I signed a publishing contract with Severed Press for several books so that has kept me motivated.
I don’t particularly like working a 9-5, well 8:30 to 5 really. My ambition now is to try and make writing successful enough that I can perhaps work a traditional job part-time with my writing making up some of my income. I’m realistic though, it’s not my main driving force to make lots of money from writing. I’ll be happy to just tell my tales and get my books out there.
Share with us your favourite passage from the book you enjoyed writing the most
This is the beginning of my novella – Only The Dead: An African War. It was my first foray into the publishing world back in 2013. It holds a special place in my heart.
The heat created a dancing mirage on the road before me, a twisting of my vision, there for a moment before disappearing. I wiped at the sweat on my brow, and swatted insects away. It was a fact of Africa. It was a fact of Liberia. There were flies, and worse. Twice since arriving in Zorzor, I’d seen scorpions scuttling through the town, once even over my boots. Small, delicate almost, but with deadly stingers.
I stepped off the porch of the manor house, a building that wouldn’t have looked out of place on a turn-of-the-century plantation in southern states of America. It was the grandest structure in Zorzor, made of a reddish brick and wood. The once-white paint now clung scantily, peeling, reducing the building to a poor mockery of what it once must have looked like. Most of the buildings were crude huts with corrugated iron coverings for roofs. I slung my AK-47 over my shoulder and stepped out onto the dirt road. Shell casings were thick on the ground. They crunched and clinked underfoot like pebbles on the beach.
Dropped in the middle of the jungle, this island of calm was restive compared to many regions of Liberia. Zorzor was still, stagnant, and full of soldiers, only no battle was being fought. At least, not yet. I was with LURD rebels, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, fighting the corrupt government of President Charles Taylor. Described by many as the worst tyrant West Africa had seen, he clung to power and a fictional legitimacy. His forces controlled less than half the country.
Tell us about your latest project
I dipped my toe into sci-fi this year and released Down From
The Sky through Severed Press. I’m currently editing the sequel – The
Plenipotentiary. The series revolved around the planet of Esworth. The Terran
Cooperative have set up a colony on the planet, building humanity’s first city
outside of our solar system – Uriah’s Hope, but the rapid progress has awoken a
new enemy which will threaten the whole of humanity.
Once the editing is done, I’ve got a couple of other books I wrote over the last year, a standalone sci-fi – The 457 Incident and a zombie novel – What Comes After. They both need a second edit from me before I start sending out enquiries for them.
What is your favourite cake?
Do rock cakes count? My granny used to make the best rock cakes, especially good when they were fresh out of the oven with a light dusting of sugar. If rock cakes don’t count, I’m a sucker for a Victoria Sponge.
You can connect with M.W. Duncan here:
Instagram – mwduncanwriter
Twitter - @MarkWDuncan
Facebook - @mwduncanwriter
Join me next week when I will be having a slice of cake with Mike Van Horn.
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.
You can also support my writing endeavours and buy me tea & cake - it's what makes the world go round!
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