Author Interview and giveaway: Kim and Ariadne

I have a special treat for you all today, Mishel interviews the authors of Pure steel and there is a giveaway at the end. And it's open to all :)

Welcome Kim and Ariadne! Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by.  Can you both tell us a little bit about  Pure Steele and the inspiration behind it?

KIM: Yes!

ARI: Funny story. Kim and I wanted to work on a creative project together and we started brainstorming about using podcasts to bring back the old school radio drama. We thought of this whole story about a ‘great white hunter’ and we could have a fun companion book for people to follow along with. It didn’t take long before we realized that a podcast was beyond us and the companion book morphed into ‘Pure Steele’.

The layout of Pure Steele is such a creative and amazing way to tell a story. What was one of your favorite and least favorite things about writing the story and completing the project?

KIM: Thank you! My favourite bit was the writing process, I think. Laying it out by hand was a lot of fun sometimes, but it could get a bit tedious after a long night. Building the story and characters was almost always a great time.

ARI: This may sound stupid but I loved being able to physically sit there and craft each page but it was also the worst. If we noticed a typo or changed the story, I would have to go back and redo the whole page! 

Which of the characters did you two enjoy working with the most?

ARI: I loved writing Mapsgoode and Thomas. I came up with all of the Uncle Georgie stories on the spot

and was afraid that Kim would think that they were too silly for the book. Each one of those stories made me laugh. I also had a lot of fun with Thomas because we only ever see one side of his conversations. He is reacting to these horrible letters from his boss that Flemyng has chosen to omit from the book.

KIM: I think probably Eleanor, in the end. It’s funny, because I think we, like Flemyng, started off telling a story that was largely about James Steele, but it was Eleanor who kind of shone through, in a very subtle way. Her entries are usually very personal and very self-contained rather than sweeping plot elements, but I think it’s kind of cool that way. She’s always in the moment and she’s always working toward something and I just really love writing her. Flemyng is fun, too. So many exclamation marks. 

If you had the chance to do it all over again would you change anything?

KIM: We would definitely write everything and edit it all before we made the pages by hand. We have this big folder at Ari’s place just full of completed pages that we had to throw out because we changed a plot element or made some small mistake. I don’t know what we were thinking.

ARI: My genuine hope is that someday, someone will want to take a look at those pages to see the ‘Pure Steele’ that could have been.

KIM: Yeah, the orphan pages. They’re like the ‘deleted scenes’ from the book.

If  Pure Steele  were made into a movie who would be your ideal cast for the main characters?

ARI: Kim and I have this conversation a lot and we rarely agree. I’m just going to throw these out there and see if Kim agrees. Michael Fassbender as Steele for no good reason. Emily Blunt as Eleanor because I like her face. Tom Hiddleston as Flemyng because I know that it will drive Kim nuts.  Chiwetel Ejiofor as Thomas because he is excellent. Steve Coogan as Alan because of his outstanding performance in ‘The Trip’. John C. Reilly is a perfect Mapsgoode. Lee Pace as Jacques because I can’t get enough of his face. Sean Bean as Pryce because he was Boromir and now seems to be a mess. And Christoph Waltz as The Dutchman because I figure he can pull of a Dutch accent and I want to troll Kim.

KIM: No, come on. I would go with Chris Hemsworth for Steele; he’s too young, but he’s just so big. He’s larger than life. Camilla Luddington for Eleanor because she was amazing in Tomb Raider. Someone like Stephen Merchant for Flemyng; he’s just such a keener. Paul McGann for Pryce, I think, and the Dutchman is obviously Philip Seymour Hoffman, even appearance-wise in the picture of him. I’m in for the rest of Ari’s choices, though, sort of. 

If the two of you could write a book about absolutely anything with any other author (dead or alive) what would it be about and who would you choose? It can be separately or a collaborative effort =)

ARI: Kim, help!

KIM: Oh my God. Okay, I don’t know if this is cheating, but I’d like to write a story with Amy Hennig, who wrote the Uncharted and Legacy of Kain series of games. I love her stuff; it’s so great. If I’m going by just straight-up book people, I think I’d like to work with Mary Roach. I’m not sure what we’d write together, but I know we’d go on some amazing field trips. 

What career would the two of you pursued if neither of you had a passion for books?

KIM: Well, both of us work for Ubisoft, so I think we’d still have gone into the video game industry in some measure, eventually. But man, I would have so much more free time. 

I’m always looking for books to add to my ginormous TBR (to be read) pile. What books are you guys currently reading or have read recently? Any good recommendations?

ARI: I don’t read! I’m the worst.

KIM: Okay! I think you should check out “A Frenchman in America” by Max O’Rell. I’d also suggest all of Mary Roach’s books, especially “Stiff”. Right now I’m reading Nick Offerman’s book and then next I’m starting my friend Eric Smith’s book, “The Geek’s Guide to Dating”. I’m hoping it helps. 

What are some of your favorite things to do when given a break from the writing life and other work-related things?  

KIM: Travel, for sure. I travel a ton, whenever I can, and that’s usually what I’m looking forward to. On average nights, though, I’m usually just playing video games or watching something awful on Netflix.

ARI: Video games, bad movies, good TV, sports, D&D, and board-games. 

Are you guys currently working on any projects that we may in the future? Either collaboratively or separately =)

KIM: I’m always working on something small or coming up with little ideas to pitch to Ari. We’re thinking about doing a couple shorter stories or side projects, but the big thing right now is completing the Pure Steele sequel, Heart of Steele, and finishing that story.

Thanks again for stopping by guys! It’s been a real pleasure =) Where can readers find out more about the two of you and your work?

KIM: You can find us at PureSteele.com! We try to update that every so often, so anything we’re doing can be found there.

GIVEAWAY

A signed hardcover copy of Pure Steele

1. Open to everyone in the universe.

2. Ends Dec 27

3. Just enter :D

And if you want to, be free to ask questions