12 Curly Questions with author Gareth Ward

1. Tell us something hardly anyone knows about you.

I played wicket keeper at school and got two black eyes in the same match. I spent a week looking like a panda.

2. What is your nickname? 

Wardini-Wizzle

3. What is your greatest fear?

The zombie apocalypse – although I sort of secretly long for it, too.

4. Describe your writing style in 10 words. 

Humorous and sly steampunk with a touch of the ridiculous.

5. Tell us five positive words that describe you as a writer.

Imaginative, steampunk, fantabulous, magical, happy.

6. What book character would you be, and why? 

Lord Voldemort. He did great things. Terrible, yes, but great.

7. If you could time travel, what year would you go to and why? 

2117. They have been promising flying cars since I was six and I’m still waiting. I’m hoping in 100 years they will have them sorted.

8. What would your 10-year-old self say to you now? 

Why didn’t you take better care of my knees?

9. Who is your greatest influence? 

As a writer – Terry Pratchett

10. What/who made you start writing? 

I’ve always loved stories. I can’t narrow it down to a single incident.

11. What is your favourite word and why? 

Myriad. It has myriad uses.

12. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be?

The Lord of the Rings. It’s a wonderful story and by the time you got to the end you’d be ready to start at the beginning again.

Gareth Ward (aka The Great Wardini) is a magician, hypnotist, storyteller and bookseller. He has worked as a Royal Marine Commando, police officer, evil magician and zombie, and as a writer and compere of Napier City’s inaugural steampunk murder mystery evening. Born near Oxford in the UK, he currently lives in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, where he runs two independent bookshops with his wife, Louise. His first novel, The Traitor and the Thief, a rip-roaring steampunk adventure, won the 2016 Storylines Tessa Duder Award. See garethwardauthor.com for more information.