Author Interview: RJ Barker

Get the inside scoop on ‘Mortedant’s Peril’!

RJ Barker is the author of our Quarter 2 Epic ‘Marked for Murder’ featured book: Mortedant’s Peril. Read on to get the inside scoop from inspiration to favourite scenes and more!

Was there a particular moment, idea, or question that first sparked the story? What made you decide this was the book you wanted to write?

Usually, with all my other stuff, I just have a couple of ideas that could go together. But this one was slightly different because there’s a character in it called Whisper, there’s a goat who we tend not to talk about, and the city of Elbay. I actually wrote about all them about thirteen years ago, but it didn’t work, it was rubbish! But they’ve always been there in the back of my head, and I just thought there must be some way to do it. And then Irody just kind of appeared one day, in between writing the second and third book of my last trilogy which is really serious and complicated and difficult, and I wanted to write something next that was much more light-hearted. Suddenly this self-important little man popped up in my head and I was like, you make all of that other stuff work!

Was there any specific research you had to do for this book?

Not really! The great joy about secondary world fantasy is that you can sort of make everything up and you’re not wrong! I already knew quite a bit about mediums, because there’s this book called A Number’s Game by RJ Dark, which is my crime writing persona. That’s about a medium so I’ve done quite a lot of research on people that can talk to the dead for that, so it was in the back of my head already. And the rest of it is just a mixture of stuff that I like and knowledge I already had because I read a lot and I like history.

The world of Mortedant’s Peril feels incredibly rich and distinctive. Where did the inspiration for the alchemy system and the division of society into different priories come from?

Elbay started as a joke in my head. They pump water up through the city, so if you live up the top you get lovely clean water, but if you live at the bottom you get filthy water, so it’s a joke on the idea of trickle-down economics which is terrible for the people at the bottom. So there was that, and the priories — I didn’t want to make Irody a priest, and I didn’t want to make him an academic, but he has that feel about him. So I wanted to come up with else, and ‘priory’ just seemed like a nice word. And with that, I have no idea where the spurriers came from. Though there is a street in York which I go to quite a lot, so I don’t know if I saw that and put that in. But for all of their stuff, I wanted to use mathematics. I find mathematics really magical, because I don’t understand it. And this idea of sacrifice, to make something that you could really make yourself, I really liked that. I knew I wanted a religious sect as well, and then there’s a fourth priory, the pipers, which we don’t know much about. But we will find out, maybe, in the next book!

One of the most fascinating elements is a world partially fuelled by spirits. How did that concept develop, and what drew you to explore it?

This is really difficult to answer without spoilers! The spirits came about to make something in the plot work, it was really a sort of mechanical choice. But I can’t say anything more than that!

The gothic, hive-city atmosphere is wonderfully immersive. Were there any classic works of fantasy, science fiction, or gothic fiction that helped shape the aesthetic of the world?

I think Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. I read that at quite a young age and it had an impression on me. Goth, eyeliner, and my hair is not black any more, but gothic is still a big part of my life — I’ve been into that sort of thing for twenty years. But Gormenghast is definitely there, in the towering, teetering thing with people running around who aren’t quite as nice as characters typically are in the fantasy that we read now. And then, not so much fantasy, but I do know that there’s a lot of Edinburgh in it. Edinburgh is topped by a castle, and it’s a city built on itself. You can go underneath and visit Edinburgh from years ago which really affected me when I went down. It was so spooky, I love it!

Mortedant’s Peril is both a fantasy and a murder mystery. Did you find it challenging to balance the world-building with carefully drip-feeding clues and red herrings to keep readers guessing until the end?

No, not really! Murder mysteries are kind of my jam, ever since I was little. Agatha Christie was one of the first authors I remember reading, and I love Arthur Conan Doyle’s short stories and stuff like that, so it felt quite natural. And also, I’m not a writer that sits and plans stuff out. I’m a writer who is propelled forward by enthusiasm. I have an idea and I will write it! I will write an entire book and see where it ends up. Then, you go back and make it good, which is the hard bit! It’s kind of like time travel as well, because at that point, you know the things that need to happen at certain points, so you can go back and put them in. I think I wrote this in like 6 weeks, I was excited by it and it worked in my head so I could just go straight at it. But once I think it’s ready and I’m happy with it, I send it to my agent, and he will tell me all the things he thinks are wrong with it. And I will tell him he’s wrong while humouring him, and take up his suggestions to make it stronger. It then goes to my editors who then come back with a lot more suggestions. It gets tighter and tighter until everything works better.

The novel explores several very different beliefs surrounding death, and those conflicting ideologies create real tension throughout the story. Was it difficult to develop those perspectives while making the society feel cohesive and believable?

It comes quite naturally, as I’m quite fascinated by death. Our house is full of taxidermy and skulls and strange things, so it was a natural thing to reel in. And the three main priories in the city have a different take on it, and maybe they’re all a bit right. And if they could get on, then they might get a lot further in life, which is a really good motto for anybody.

There’s something endlessly entertaining about a protagonist whose response to developing genuine affection is to become even grumpier about it. What inspired you to give your hero such a spectacularly reluctant journey towards found family?

I like outsiders! And he’s very much an outsider in every way. He has basically made an enemy of every human being he’s ever met, he’s just terrible! But, one of the things that interests me about people in general is that I think for nearly everybody, if you give people the opportunity to be better, they will take it. And even Irody does, even if he doesn’t realise it. People who are scared of something often act in a very negative way, and it’s just a matter of knowing that thing. He thinks Whisper’s people are savages from outside of the city, they’re not human, and you don’t need anything to do with that sort of person. But when he’s actually exposed to the truth of it, he’s able to go ‘Actually, I might be wrong here’. He’s a tool to show that we should give people a chance, and people are doing that to him as well.

If you could set foot in the world of Mortedant’s Peril for one day, what’s the first thing you would do?

I would probably have a pie! I think they’re really good at making pies. No doubt that I would be violently ill later on, as I suspect your body has to get used to Elbay pies, but I would try that. I don’t know what else I’d do, as I’d probably be quite scared. It’s not a fun place, there’s a lot of alleys and you shouldn’t go in them. I would probably want to see one of the sea people, but apart from that I’d be hiding!

If Mortedant’s Peril had a soundtrack, what kind of music would capture its atmosphere?

I’ve been giving this lots of thought, and I can’t think of anything. And I love music, I used to be a really bad musician, and my music is constant, it’s always playing in the house! I couldn’t work out why I couldn’t think of anything, but then I realised that when I wrote the book, I saw everything through Irody, and he would almost definitely think music was foolish and frivolous for people like him. So it’s just not in his mind, and because of that I can’t tell you what Elbay’s music would be! I think there would be bells, they’re quite big on bells.

If there’s one idea, emotion, or takeaway you hope readers to carry with them after finishing this book, what would it be?

I think my other nine books are quite a bit grimmer than Mordant’s Peril, but I would say for each of my books, hopefully, you’d go away with a sense of hope, and that people can be better. That tends to be what I’m thinking about; redemption and forgiveness and being a better person than you thought you could be. So hopefully, you’d be kind of satisfied at the end. I suspect they’ll be some people who will be quite puzzled as to why they like Irody by the end, because he is still quite awful. You’ve seen behind the veil, he’s never quite going to be a nice man, but I hope they feel hope and a belief that other people can be better.

And finally, what has been your favourite part of seeing Mortedant’s Peril receive the FairyLoot treatment? 

I’ve spent ten years saying to every editor I’ve worked with, can I have a crow on the front of my book please?! I love crows! Even when it’s not been relevant I’ve asked, and they’ve always said no. But they’re on here! I really like all the crows, and all the symbols from the conjuring tables that they used to create the spirits. I love them because there’s a band called Fields of the Nephilim, an 80s / 90s goth band that I really like, and they’re like one of the touchstones I gave to the artist. And then there’s the inside pictures, that really conjure up the city. It’s a really beautiful book!