It’s been a busy, old time of late but I am very happy to be back posting a BB10-Q interview with an author whose life is as fascinating as the protagonist of her works. So let’s meet KT Davies and Breed, a lovable war-spawn whose adventures span several books.

Hello there. Where are you right now and how are you doing there with the end of the year approaching?

Oddly enough I’m in pretty much the same place I’ve been for the last year and a half. Thank you Corona virus! I’m in the snowy West Midlands in the UK. It is beautiful, and extremely festive with all the little craft markets and ice rinks and carol singers…okay maybe could do without the last one, but hey ho, each to their own.

West Midlands!? I was there for three years, studying something at Warwick. Lovely area! Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick Castle, Kenilworth. And what’s that you say? You’re in need of some carol singing? “Hark the herald angels sing…!”

Obvious question: what are you working on right now?

I’m working on Breed 6, the final novel in The Chronicles of Breed,  https://kdavies.net/adtk so no pressure there. I’m also plotting a potential follow-up to my latest novel, The Spider and the Fly.  https://kdavies.net/tsatf

I am about to start reading, bk3, “Something Wicked”, so I see I have some catching up to do. Six books!? Crikey, Breed is a busy, little rogue!

Breed is quite a creation. From whence did the little rascal come?

Breed is the ultimate outsider, the random dungeon encounter, the nameless monster heroes kill without a second thought in pursuance of their very important quest. That was my starting point. I wanted to tell the monster’s story, not in a Mary Shelley, ‘let’s pity the poor beast kinda way’. Breed is a protagonist, not a victim. I also wanted the character to be entirely accessible to all readers which is why, in soon to be six books and several short stories, I’ve never mentioned their gender. I didn’t want anything to get in the way of a reader being able to share Breed’s adventures.

Being a chap, I had Breed as male for a while, but it finally dawned on me that the gender is never mentioned. After that, Breed was Breed.

One aspect of Breed I really enjoyed is the heightened sense of smell. In my review I wrote that this “is a brilliant concept and allows for some amusing olfactory imagery.” Any reason behind this super-sense? I have a very strong sense of smell myself, so it appealed to me.

Thanks for noticing that, not many people do. I wanted Breed not just be a human in an alien skin. I wanted aspects of their character to be defined by their physicality as well as their experiences. Being a lizard-like creature, I wanted to incorporate their ability to ‘taste’ the air. I like to challenge myself as a writer so I enjoy a little creative, anthropomorphic interoception.

Breed is a rather sarcastic so and so. Do you have a similar sense of humour? If so, please tell me a couple of your favourite comedy shows.

I have what they call where I come from, a ‘dry sense of humour’, nothing like that potty mouth Breed, I assure you. I’m not a big TV watcher but just before the first lockdown I found an old Canadian show called ‘Corner Gas’ and watched it over until the pixels on the tv bleached out (not really but I watched the whole six series about four times). It’s super gentle, nothing much happens, and I loved it.

I’ve had a look at your web-site and learnt a great deal. You were born in a cold climate, got married in the 19th century, have a few lovable demons running round, and also a cat-worshipping cult of dogs. You like having your ears blasted with heavy metal. You are incredibly creative and skilled at making things! I’m seriously intrigued as to what the dragon skeleton-thingey is. You patrol your lands on horseback and spear any trespassers. And train in between shifts. You read awesome books and play awesome games. Oh, and you throw axes. Did I miss anything? So, my question is, how the heck do you have time for all that!?

I don’t! Which makes me sad.

What was the last live metal show you attended? And what concert sticks out in your mind as one that was “survived” as opposed to merely enjoyed?

Oh, this makes me really, really sad because I haven’t been to a gig since before the plague struck. The last band I saw was a Folk-bluegrass ensemble called ‘The Dead South’ they were excellent, and I heartily recommend them. One time at a festival, I can’t remember the band I was watching but out of nowhere I was on my arse, literally wondering what hit me. Before I got trampled to death, some bruiser hauled me onto my feet and apologised for punching me. Apparently, he’d thumped me because he thought I’d punched his sister. His sister also sheepishly introduced herself, she must have been *at least* six foot tall, built like a navvie, and looked like she could bench me. I was both alarmed and flattered that they thought I’d been insane enough to hit her. Anyway, they bought me a couple of pints and we parted ways the best of friends.

Ouch! But good result!

The mask I see on your web-site is pretty amazing. Do you make them for your own cos-play? Or do you sell them?

Thank you. I used to sell ‘em when I was a prop maker. I might start doing so again now that the family have got back into cos-play. Who knows?

And the Dragon-skeleton?

It was a giant puppet/monster for a LARP game. It had glowing eyes and everything. I really enjoyed making it.

What started you on the spear-throwing?

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved weapons (no, you’re weird). Swords, axes, bows, spears, muskets, cannons! shinai, lightsabers, you name it. Not so much modern weapons, but we do play airsoft every now and then.

And give us a tip on how to throw axes.

Hold the blunt end, breathe through your eyelids, and use the Force. Seriously though, don’t take tips from me because I’m also the person who took a chunk out of their leg while splitting logs.

Again…Ouch!

When I did a ninja-experience here, the trick was to cartwheel the upper body when throwing shuriken.

Now you’ve told me that, do you have to kill me? “She knows too much…”

And this little spot of banter allows me to seamlessly segue into my next question… You’ve been to Japan! And made a knife at a small forge outside Kameoka. I’ve lived here twenty years and I have never made a knife. Can you share a few more details about your time here? Did you make any faux-pas whilst here?

I have, and it was amazing. Again, I’ve been fascinated with certain aspects of Japanese culture since I was a sprog. I think it ties in with my love of Star Wars which as you know, riffed off Kurasawa’s film ‘The Hidden Fortress’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051808/ . I also studied Kendo for about eight years on and off, and I’ve done a little bit of Karate and Aikido.

Making a knife using a fan forge was just so cool. As a writer, I squirrel away experiences like that for later use. The village was beautiful, the smith was a master, and he had a super cute Shibu Inu called Merry who my son fell in love with. It was an amazing experience, and I will most certainly do it again. As an aside, there is something magical about forges and smithing which is why I put Wayland (AKA Volund), into one of the Breed books.

I know what you mean about the forge. I get sleepy-dreamy just being in front of an open fire.

We crammed in as much as we could in ten short days. We stayed in a groovy hotel in Tokyo with a delightful Asimo type robot greeter. It also had a fantastic coffee shop (coffee is life). We then shinkansened our way to beautiful Kyoto in the shadow of Fuji san. In Kyoto we stayed in a quaint ryokan. In a way, the Japanese people reminded me a little bit of us brits. There seems to be, superficially at least, some cultural similarities–  like apologising for breathing too hard combined with the ability to party like all the booze in the world was about to reach its sell-by date. We saw some great shows. We got super excited and bought a huge Spring, cherry blossom Gundam (from the store under the Giant Gundam in Odaiba city), without any idea how we were going to get it back to the UK. (We ended up leaving several sweatshirts and a couple of pairs of flipflops). I fell in love with Japanese toilets and fully intend on getting one when we reno our bathroom, oh yes. As I said before I practiced kendo for a few years and we were lucky to be able to watch a class in a beautiful old dojo.

Ah, yes, Japanese toilets. They range from a hole in the ground to the Starship Enterprise. The heated seats are particularly appreciated in winter.

As for faux pas, we did our best to study up on etiquette before travelling, as you do. I think we did okay but then everyone was so nice I doubt they would have called us out if we’d screwed up. One unavoidable issues was that me and the other half have a fair few tattoos. So he and I used the tub in our room in the ryokan rather than the communal onsen downstairs. We were allowed to use ‘em, and my other half did, but I ain’t into the whole, getting nekkid in front of strangers thing either.

It’s not as restrictive as it used to be, but some places still have signs up about tattoos. I think some places differentiate these days between standard tatts and the irezumi body art.

Back to Breed. I say in my review for Tooth and Claw (bk2) that this is a book with “a veritable library of put-downs and curses. K.T. Davies has a real flair for that!” Did you grow up with four older brothers or something!? Where does the inspiration come for all these wonderful verbal assaults?

Heh. Where I come from swearing is an equal opportunities hobby. As I’m not a monster, I try to be mindful not to turn the air blue inappropriately like at the local church faire or funerals and Christenings. I don’t always succeed, but I try!

The inspiration for much of Breed comes from the era of highwayman late 17th century to mid-18th. I love frockcoats and flintlocks, and baroque and roll and roister-doisters spewing thieves’ cant.

And onto the last question for this part of the interview: what can we expect to see in the future from yourself as an author or otherwise?

That is a good question. I’ve got so many ideas bubbling away in the old brain pan, it’s tough knowing where to start. Unfinished business first, so that’s Breed 6, possibly another Spider and the Fly, and I’m thinking of revisiting my first novel which was epic fantasy and deserves some love now that I know what I’m doing. 

I, for one, would be very interested in reading some epic fantasy by KT Davies, so here’s hoping!

And here are the BB10-Q.

Q1) What book are you reading now? OR What was the last book you read?

The last book I read was Italo Calvino’s ‘If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller’.

Q2) What genre of books do you usually read?

Anything and everything. Boring answer, but true.

Q3) What was the last book that made you cry or laugh out loud or gave you pause for thought?

The only book that has made me cry was The Lord of the Rings when I thought Frodo was dead, but that was a long time ago.

Q4) What book do you remember fondly from your childhood?

The BFG.

Q5) Apart from reading, what hobbies do you have?

As mentioned above, far too many. Currently, I’m mostly playing online MMOs. I’m also doing a bit of CrossFit because on some level I must be a masochist.

Q6) Where is your favourite place to read? (Ex. In bed, on the sofa, in a park, in a coffee shop etc.)

A sun-kissed beach but that ain’t happened in a while *shakes fist at the Covid sky*. I usually end up reading in bed or the comfy chair by the log burner, if the dogs haven’t beaten me to it. 

Q7) What book would you like to see made into a TV show and who would you like to play the lead character?

Dangerous to Know of course! I think it would make an excellent animated series. I have no idea who would voice them though. 

Q8) If you could meet a fictional character in real life, who would it be and why?

None of mine that’s for sure, they scare me. Someone nice and fluffy like Dracula.

Q9) What literary world would you like to experience/live in?

Not Star Wars, with my luck I’d rock up on Alderaan. I’d go generic steampunk, I think. You’ve got plenty of fantasy, magic, and robots but also indoor plumbing. Even with magic, ye olde medieval worlds without flushing toilets and weevils in your bread does not appeal.

Q10) If you could say something to the entire world today, what would it be?

Oooh, something really cool and inspirational. The thing I find myself saying most often to the sprogs other than ‘bring those plates downstairs’, is that it costs nothing to be nice. So, I guess that’s it. Be nice you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

And that wraps it up. My thanks to KT Davies for allowing Buckmaster Books a peek inside her world. If you haven’t checked out The Chronicles of Breed yet, I urge you to do so. Breed is a great character who gave me so many laughs, and kept me very much entertained with their adventures (which mostly involve Breed trying not to die horribly!).

As always, there will be a giveaway. Details on the Facebook post. I hope you enjoyed this interview, are keeping warm, and staying safe. I can’t speak for the whole world but Japan is in a better place now than we were before summer. It’s not over yet but I feel somewhat hopeful.

Ah, just a quick challenge to throw out there: whilst doing this interview with KT Davies, I was reminded of three episodes in Blackadder, one each from series II, III, and IV. If anybody can correctly guess the episodes, I’ll give you a nugget of purest green (subject to availability from Lord Percy).