Just So Stories

Recently I reviewed the amazingly great Gloam, debut novel of Jack Mackay [honestly, READ it! – it is SO good!] and am thrilled, as well as grateful, for this generous response to my Q&A. Perfect Halloween timing!!!

Jack, welcome to Just So Stories! I am so grateful to you for sharing some time with my readers. If I seem a little jittery, it’s probably because I’m keeping a careful eye out for any mysterious black mould appearing around the edges of my laptop 😉.

I must congratulate you on your simply outstanding novel, Gloam. I can tell you that over the past 10+ years of reviewing, I have rarely seen such an explosively exciting and engaging debut title. And, while I am a sook and don’t do ‘horror’ very well, I literally could not put it down because the creepiness was very seductive. So, let’s get down to it.

Hi Sue,

Thank you so much for these brilliant questions, and for your kind words about Gloam. I’m thrilled you enjoyed it.

Your questions gave me much food for thought, so I’ll try and answer them to the best of my ability.

What is the backstory to Gloam? Please tell us all: plot, characters, villain/monster, protagonist Gwen, the siblings and her step-dad. (I was actually trying to think of a book that had a similar situation, a step-parent taking on the children after the death of their parent- all I could come up with Love Actually – not a book!).

1. My personal backstory for Gloam began when my siblings, in the wake of watching Coraline and hearing my regular dinner-table sermons about the excellence of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, started hunting for horror stories in their age range. We were coming up a little bit short, so I thought, why not write my own? It just so happened that, at the same time, my grandparents decided they wanted to sell their house – the house I basically grew up in. The notion of an intruder in that family space was so existentially horrifying to me that it became the germ of an idea for a villain. That villain turned into Esme Laverne. From there, my real life informed the story. I really was stung by wasps in the treehouse my grandad built. Henry came from my desire to do right by stepdads, seeing as mine is pretty great, and stepfamily in general are usually dismissive, cruel or outright villainous in traditional fairytales, a genre which I drew heavily from for Gloam. The real-life house (which is almost 1-to-1 what I was imagining while writing) is also a big, white Georgian building with a history as a coaching inn for brigands and highwaymen, but it’s much less scary than the House on Gloam Island, and there isn’t any black mould (as far as we’re aware).

I’ve talked Gloam up to many since I read and reviewed it. I’ve also  pointed out to many, as I have over the years, that kid readers are often far more resilient and can withstand far more ‘shock’ than adults seem to expect.  In this instance, I have suggested that the ones who love ghoulish stories will eat this up ferociously. Everything about it is just so – well, seductive. It pulls the reader in from the very first pages. How did you decide what was an acceptable level of ‘scary’ and were there moments that you had thought of or written something and then pulled it back?

Thank you for such an enthusiastic review. I absolutely agree that kids are much more curious, clever and resilient than we give them credit for. Gloam deals with themes of grief, terror and familial infighting, and I felt it would be showing contempt to my audience if I didn’t approach these themes honestly, without sanding off the rougher edges. These are, after all, feelings that young people experience too, sometimes even more acutely than adults do. I don’t recall actively holding back while writing, but there are a few moments that I was surprised to get away with. In particular, a scene between Gwen and Esme early in the novel reads like the abuse of a child by an adult authority figure. For that reason, it was always the most disturbing scene in the book (to me, anyway), as it touches on a heavy real-life scenario with no fantasy monsters present. While adults might notice darker shades that would fly over a younger reader’s head, I felt very strongly that the entire premise of Gloam is built on this scene, and it would be undercutting the narrative if I had to remove it. Luckily, my publishers agreed.

Gwen’s grandmother is dead, and yet, she remains a very important part of the narrative. What was your motivation to have her death catapult Gwen’s family into this situation? Did you ever consider having an alternative?

I’m lucky enough that my grandparents are still with me (as a matter of fact, they still edit my books!) and it was uncomfortable to imagine a world where they were gone. But as someone who loves and values his grandparents more than words can express, I knew that the loss of one’s grandparents (and the lingering effect of their presence/absence) would be a compelling way to propel Gwen into the story – especially if her grandma had a deeper knowledge of the supernatural than she let on in life. It felt like a poignant way to show the people we love lingering with us even after they’ve departed the physical plane.

The tree that ‘speaks’ to Gwen is highly reminiscent of folklore and myths. Was that an intentional allusion? Or were you influenced by these old traditional tales in your development of the book?

I’ve always loved fantasy, and I’m a huge fan of fairytales in particular – for the way they speak directly to kids, didactically or otherwise, and for their flirtation with frightening things in the woods. What I really love about the fairytale as a concept is the sense of ancient wisdom passed down through generations – a theme that’s quite central to Gloam. The tree was my way of working those influences into the story, while giving Gwen a precious ally against the monster in her home.

Esme really is loathsome from the very first encounter. I’m with Gwen there. We (the reader) can tell instantly that she’s evil through and through, and it was so frustrating for us, as well as Gwen, that nobody else can see it. Do you think there are parallels in real life? What might that be if there are?

I mentioned that Esme represents the fear of something strange and hostile insinuating itself into a familiar space, but there were lots of things that bled into her character while I was writing. One of the feelings that’s particular to the experience of being young is the feeling of being ignored or dismissed even when you know you’re right. I felt like it was important to build Gloam around that feeling, not only to show parents, like Henry, as flawed people who don’t get everything right despite their best intentions, but also to make Gwen feel all the more isolated against the growing danger of Esme Laverne. That became my way into the story – to show Gwen doing her best to rally her siblings against odds that are stacked against her. Esme was great fun to write, not least because she’s so sly and seductive in her evil, but also because she gave our heroine a tremendous challenge to overcome (and hopefully it feels all the more satisfying if/when she does).

It would be even more amazing if you suddenly produced this first-rate read straight up without any background in writing or creative pursuits. What is the Jack Mackay story there? When did  you first start writing?

I started writing when I was four years old (mainly Beast Quest fanfiction with unwittingly rude names for the Beasts) and finished my first novel when I was eleven. It was quite rubbish and also heavily plagiarized, but every book I wrote from then on – another at thirteen, another at sixteen, etc. – plus all the ideas that never became written stories, were vital practice for becoming a better writer. As for other creative pursuits, I’m a massive film nerd and I run a theatre company in York with a friend of mine. I generally like to keep myself buried in art. It’s a great way to find community, and it makes me feel more complete.

Now, because I’m like Kipling’s  mongoose and want to know it all, tell us about young Jack. What was your childhood like? Family? School (naughty or teacher’s pet)? Interests? Were you a reader as a child? What/who were your favourites? One might think creepy but perhaps there was more?

I owe everything to my family, who never made me feel as if writing was a waste of time. My grandad is a very literary man, and my curiosity comes from him. My childhood was spent voraciously reading and then scribbling away in notebooks, designing fictional worlds or characters (many of them cribbed from stuff I’d watched or read recently). I was always taught to care about my education, so I was generally a bit of a teacher’s pet – except for when I doodled bizarre characters or animals on the desks to try and make me and my friends laugh. My favourite books were always Harry Potter (which I read in its entirety more times than I can count), Roald Dahl stories, and Goosebumps.

Can you tell us more about your writing life such as what your writing day/schedule looks like? What does your writing space look like? Do you have special things that inspire your writing such as music, mementos?

I wish I had a coherent writing routine. I’m still working on it. But what I do know is that I like to put a bit of distance between home and work. It helps me to focus if there isn’t a pile of unread books, unwatched DVDs or unplayed video games next to me. So I usually head to a café – bonus points if it’s a café inside a bookshop. I can sit there for hours, drink gallons of coffee and feel very cosy and intellectual. If I’m writing, I can do quiet music – strictly nothing with lyrics – but these days, I’m trying to be more at one with my surroundings, so I’ll often just sit and sip my coffee in silence until the ideas come. Luckily, I’ve found that the low hum of a café is ambience enough.

What do like to do outside scare the wits out of children (and some grown-ups)? Are there hobbies and interests? What’s your down time like?

If I’m not writing or acting, I’m probably sat in front of the television with my dog, watching a movie. I try to write critically about things I watch/read – reviews and essays, etc – but I haven’t published any of that stuff yet. I play D&D with friends a couple times a month, and I’m trying to get back into sport – swimming or tennis – but I’m a seasoned procrastinator before I’m an athlete. To be honest, I feel like I’m cheating by writing for a job. It’s basically play – no downtime required.

Is horror your preferred genre for your own reading? Or do you have broader tastes? Who is your favourite author now as an adult reader?

Horror is home. You can do things in horror that you just can’t do anywhere else – not to the same extremes anyway. The more you love horror, you realise that – like comedy – it’s part of almost everything we experience as people, so I love to horror stories that push the boundaries of suspense and terror and while still reflecting what it means to be alive. That said, I try and read widely. Inspiration comes from unexpected places, and many of my favourite books aren’t horror stories (even if many of them still have a darker undertone). My favourite books and authors change every time I’m asked, but right now I’d say Stephen King, Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, China Miéville and Shirley Jackson.

Are you working on another book already? Will it be alike in genre? Or a complete departure?

Book 2 is almost finished – it’s just having its copyedits done now. It’s not a sequel to Gloam (I think Gwen and her siblings have earned their rest) but it’s still horror for the same age range. I was inspired to write it after my agent told me to re-read “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, so if you want to get an idea of what it might be like, give that story a read. Anyone who liked Gloam will hopefully find something to enjoy in the new one. It’s called The Haunting of Old Splinter – look out for it in 2026! [NB I read The Monkey’s Paw many years ago and it gave me the heebie-jeebies BADLY! That reference alone will make this forthcoming new title terrific!]

Lastly, can you sum yourself up in a six-word sentence?

Always thinking about the next thing.

Thanks again for your questions and for being such a champion for Gloam. I’m very grateful.

Jack 

Jack, thank you SO much! It is extremely exciting to have you visit and share some insights with us.

 Congratulations again on Gloam – it’s an absolutely cracking read! [Did I tell you lot to read it!! Oh yes, I did – but now I’m telling you again – READ IT!!]