Hello and welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, where I’m joined by the excellent David Towsey – we’ve spoken before about his role as one half of writing duo D.K. Fields and the brilliant Tales of Fenest trilogy, but today we’re chatting about his new solo novel Equinox, which is out now from Head of Zeus. An intriguing fantasy novel with some pretty dark moments and a genuinely fantastic central concept, Equinox is one of those books that really gives the reader a lot to think about – I’ve read it, and I loved it. I’m delighted to be able to talk to David about what readers can expect from the book, where that clever concept came from, and loads more!
Without further ado then, on with the interview.
Track of Words: To start things off, welcome back to Track of Words and congratulations on the publication of Equinox! For anyone not already familiar, could you give us a quick overview of who David Towsey is and what sort of things you write?
David Towsey: Thanks, it’s great to be back with Track of Words! I write mostly SF/F with a dash of horror, though in fairness most of my writing blends a lot of different genres. I get a big kick from seeing what happens when you throw genre conventions at each other like atoms. When I’m not writing, I’m usually gaming; I’m definitely part of the hipster revolution in boardgames, but I also play video games and have started getting into miniature gaming too.
ToW: How would you describe Equinox, and what readers can expect from it? What sort of story is this?
DT: It’s a dark fantasy novel that follows a witchfinder, Special Inspector Christophor Morden, as he’s sent to a remote village after finding a victim of some grisly magic: teeth where teeth really don’t belong. Reader’s can expect some fairly nasty (though, if I may say so, imaginative) magical set-pieces. But the big twist to this fantasy world is that every physical body has two people in it, one who lives during the day, the other at night. And that complicates everything.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
DT: Well, Christophor is the witchfinder, and he’s pretty focused on his work. He and the other Special Inspectors have been so successful that witchcraft has become somewhat rare, especially the kind that can cause the kind of horrors that open the novel. But his day-brother, Alexsander, couldn’t be more different. Alexsander is a musician who enjoys enjoying himself; whether that’s booze, romantic dalliances, or simply good company. Over the years they’ve had to find ways to tolerate each other’s lifestyles. When Christophor drags them both off somewhere to chase a witch, Alexsander does his best to find work as a travelling bard. But this latest case tests their brotherly harmony to breaking point.
ToW: I absolutely loved the central concept of day and night brothers/sisters – it’s something totally new to me, and really interesting. Where did this idea come from, and what did it allow you to do with this story?
DT: It was, like so many things in writing, a coming together of separate moments/thoughts that culminated in the idea for Equinox’s world. Firstly, my partner Katherine Stansfield (a fantastic writer, with whom I co-wrote The Tales of Fenest trilogy) was taking a nap in a chair one day, by a window. I was busily tapping away on the laptop and looked up to see her face half in the light, half in the shadow. Sounds cheesy, but sometimes the way these things work is cheesy. It just so happened that at the time I was working through some stuff: trying to understand why at times I felt strong and confident about something, and then at others I felt so vulnerable. These two moments came together and, as SF/F authors often do, I wondered how far I could push them. A whole world where everyone has two selves, one during the day and one at night, pushed it pretty far.
Widow’s Welcome, the first book in The Tales of Fenest
It allowed me to explore what happens when we’re “at war” with ourselves. So often external conflict is a metaphor for the internal struggles we have (and in some ways, Equinox is no exception), but I wanted to bring that internal battle right to the forefront of the story. Christophor and Alexsander are different in so many ways, but they’ve found a way of coping with the different sides of themselves… so far. The characters that survive and thrive in this kind of world are those that can manage that harmony. Whereas those that can’t don’t tend to end well. Again, this is pretty blunt in being a device for bringing that internal metaphor out into the open.
ToW: I imagine it must have been tricky at times to make the day/night siblings concept work. What challenges did it pose for you?
DT: It was like pulling teeth! (Pun very much intended.) I can’t tell you how challenging this text was to write. Firstly, there was the logistics. I’m not much of a planner, more of a pantser, and when every character is really two different characters with their own worlds, friends, etc. it was a lot to keep track of. The narrative contains two separate threads – one day, one night – which wouldn’t normally be a challenge, except in this case those threads can never come together – not properly. For what I wanted to do with the story they had to interact, had to influence each other, but at a very significant remove.
Then there was a whole raft of “what about?” questions to sift through, some irrelevant but others essential. Most SF/F texts face these, so I was used to the process, but Equinox took it to an extreme for me. What about relationships? If you marry someone during the day, why would you be married at night? What about having kids? What about being a parent? How does inheritance work? What about prisons? What about education – do you have to study both day and night? And so on. Of course, it’s impossible for a writer to anticipate every question readers may come up with. I did have some help from beta readers, and my editors at Head of Zeus, so a good number of scenarios were considered. But I love seeing readers and reviewers raise things I’d never even thought of in this world. It’s all part of the fun of writing in these genres.
ToW: I liked how there was a sense of broader events going on in this world, but you largely kept a real small-town, everyone knows everyone else’s business sort of feel. Was that always the plan? What was your thinking behind this setting and what it would bring to the story?
DT: I always wanted this story to feel claustrophobic. Many of the other novels I’ve written have a broader scope, whether it’s a western wide-open landscape or the many realms in The Tales of Fenest. But it felt right to set a witch-hunt in a closed community – it’s perhaps one of the more familiar elements of the novel, which helps to ground the stranger stuff. The claustrophobic atmosphere of Drekenford, nestled in a valley as it is, meant I could really focus in on the personal and social undercurrents, even when every character is really two people. But no man – or village – is an island, so those bigger world forces kept creeping back into the story. Early on in the drafting process I realised I shouldn’t fight that, but embrace it.
Farewell to the Liar, the third and final book in The Tales of Fenest
ToW: There are some pretty dark, at times genuinely gruesome moments in Equinox – especially for anyone (like me) who’s squeamish about eyes. How do you find the right balance of light and dark in a story like this, which isn’t an overt horror story but has those really dark moments?
DT: Yeah, sorry about that… in body horror terms, eyes are a bit of an easy win. I think the darker end of SF/F has a lot of grey areas that really appeal to me as a writer, and reader. But I don’t think there’s any one “right” balance to be had. Equinox is definitely tipped towards the darker end, which worked well for the plot of this witch-hunt. Even Alexsander’s best efforts can’t really offset all the suffering I put my characters through. But his touches of light are still essential. Once you decide you’re not writing horror – where the main drive is to scare or unsettle – it becomes a question of how do those horror-moments help your story.
ToW: With Equinox now out, and your Tales of Fenest trilogy (as D.K. Fields) completed, what are you working on next? Is there anything you can tell us about future writing plans?
DT: I have an idea bubbling away, likely another horror-inflected standalone. The pitch is: Remains of the Day meets Cthulu. I really want to explore something cultish in a big old country house. I have a few key images and ideas in place, but it’s still pretty nebulous at this stage.
ToW: Lastly, if you had to choose between being a day brother and a night brother, which option would you go for and why?
DT: This is the first time anyone’s asked me this great question! I’m definitely not a morning person, so I guess I’d be a night brother. I think I could get a lot more done at night. Writing by candlelight has a certain romantic element to it too.
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Massive thanks to David for agreeing to chat to me for this interview, and for writing such excellent answers! You can read my review of Equinox right here – but suffice to say I thought it was excellent, and would strongly recommend it to pretty much any fantasy fan (as long as you can cope with a little bit of gross eye-related body horror). I think I would be a day brother, by the way…I wouldn’t say I was a morning person as such, but I would definitely miss the sunlight…
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Photo credit: Two Cats in the Yard Photography
David Towsey is a graduate of the Creative Writing programmes at Bath Spa University and Aberystwyth University. Born in Dorset, he now lives in Cardiff with his girlfriend and their growing board game collection. Together, they write under the pseudonym of DK Fields.
His first novel, Your Brother’s Blood, was published in September 2013 UK (December 2015 US) by Quercus’ imprint Jo Fletcher Books. The rest of the Walkin’ Trilogy followed in 2014 and 2015. His short fiction has appeared in numerous markets, links to some of which are available on this site. He has reviewed for critical journals, including New Welsh Review and the BSFA’s Vector.
He is also one half of the indie games company, Pill Bug Interactive, who have released two titles across PC and Nintendo Switch™.
Find out more at David’s website.
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