Exploring The Balance Between Humour And Satire In His Unique Storytelling
Simon Carr discusses his humorous writing style, character inspirations, personal interests, and the balance between privacy and reader engagement, offering insights into his creative process.
Simon Carr is a master of absurdity, delighting readers with his irreverent humor and satirical storytelling. His works, including the popular Apocalypse Blockers series, are a testament to his unique ability to blend the bizarre with the profound, creating narratives that are as thought-provoking as they are entertaining. Carr’s talent for crafting memorable characters and weaving intricate plots filled with hidden references and clever dialogue has earned him a dedicated following. His fearless approach to tackling contemporary issues with a comedic twist sets him apart as a distinctive voice in modern literature. With each book, Carr invites readers to embrace the chaos and find joy in the nonsensical, leaving them with a smile and a fresh perspective on the world.
In this exclusive interview with Reader’s House Magazine, Simon Carr shares insights into his creative process, the inspiration behind his iconic characters, and the delicate balance between maintaining privacy and engaging with his audience. He also discusses the influence of his personal interests on his writing, the social commentary woven into his stories, and the challenges of crafting humour that resonates with readers. Join us as we delve into the mind of this remarkable author and explore the whimsical worlds he creates.
Your author bio is delightfully irreverent and absurd, much like the tone of your books. How do you strike the balance between humor and satire in your writing, and what do you hope readers take away from the utter nonsense you create?
The number one goal with every book is to make the reader laugh. My stories are very whacky and out there, I find I get the balance I need from the dialogue, no matter how absurd I go with the story I can keep the realism with the dialog and with how my characters interact with each other. What I hope readers take away from each book is a grin on their face, I do the whole sci-fi nerd thing too, there’s countless story arcs, easter eggs, and references in them for people who enjoy looking for them.
In Our Fathers (Apocalypse Blockers Book 1), the forces of Hell face an unexpected rebellion led by two priests. What inspired this blend of supernatural chaos and religious figures as the unlikely heroes, and how do you keep the story both serious and hilariously absurd?
The inspiration for Our Fathers is blatantly from Father Ted, the supernatural stuff is all me but Father O’Malley and Father O’Riley are very strongly influenced by Father Ted and Dougal, I even threw a few hidden references to Father Ted in there, I am a huge fan of Father Ted, I used dialogue to try and give the good fathers a realistic side to them so that it was not just a barrage of bizarre events one after the other like some kind of abstract dream, they are still two of my favourite characters and have featured in five of my books so far.
Your unique hobbies, like knitting and collecting empty beer cans, seem to reflect the offbeat nature of your work. How do these personal interests influence your creative process, and do they ever find their way into your stories?
The thing with me is, I tell a lot of lies, I made that up, my actual interests are very dull, I like gardening and fishing. I think fishing might of crept into a couple of books very briefly but there is no more a boring place in this universe than being in a room with me when I’m talking about fishing or gardening, so I try not to either of them influence me when it comes to my writing.
The character of Karen in Karen (Apocalypse Blockers Book 5) is a force to be reckoned with, to say the least. What motivated you to craft a story around such an iconic figure of contemporary culture, and how did you approach the challenge of turning this character into a formidable opponent for the forces of doom?
Karen is one of my big three from the Apocalypse Blockers series, along with Bob and Rick Toenail she’s at the very heart of the whole story. My idea for Karen was I wanted to take this loathed figure from popular culture and take her on a redemption story, I wanted to slowly change the readers mind about Karen by putting her through the mill, showing her strengths and making her face her flaws, I wanted the Karen character to slowly endear herself to the reader as the story goes forward. All of the characters in the Blockers series start off as anti-heroes, all except Rick and Rangalang. Karen is the most loathsome of them all, entitled, racist, selfish, so a really good challenge to make anyone at all like her. My issue with a lot of female heroes is they start off as perfect, so they have no room inside of the story to grow, Karen starts off as far away from perfect as you can get, so I had a lot of fun with her, and I think that made her character a lot more interesting, fun, and most importantly for me, funny.
Your bio suggests a preference for staying incognito, yet your writing is anything but subtle. How do you navigate the line between maintaining your privacy and engaging with readers who might be curious about the person behind the humour?
That’s a difficult thing for me, I am not a privet person as such, I am a high functioning autistic, high functioning in everything except my people skills. I try to keep myself away from people because I’m just not very good around them, the idea of doing a book signing event strikes terror into my heart, I’ve never done one and I don’t think I ever will. Its difficult when the idea is to try and market yourself when you are as marketable as absorbent doggy poo bags. I try to keep my marketing focused on my books. I don’t even put my author pic on my book covers. I do like answering emails from readers but even then, I’m always mindful of keeping interactions brief and to be careful what I say, I sometimes say things that are rude, offensive, or mean without realizing it, I have come to accept that I am not good for my books and to try and let them do the talking instead of me.
Blackburn Rovers and climate change are mentioned alongside more eccentric aspirations like gender-representative jelly babies. How do these diverse interests and beliefs shape the themes in your Apocalypse Blockers series, and how do you incorporate social commentary into the chaotic worlds you create?
A lot of the humour I use is derived from topics that people argue over a lot online and that’s in the news a lot, some people describe me as anti-woke and none PC, I’m not, well, I’m not very PC that’s true. I poke fun at everything but without falling down on one side of any argument, I make fun of the ridiculousness in things, but its not an angry comedy like a lot of satire can be, or pushing any agendas or political beliefs, its simply making fun of the ridiculousness in life, serious issues pop up in my books a lot but through a pair of silly glasses, nothing is taken seriously and no demographic gets picked on. I loved the way Monty Python would take serious issues in their TV shows then put a very silly twist on them that almost made them seem not important or serious, that’s what I tried to do with the Blockers, I wanted the reader to experience that sense of nothing matters because everything is silly anyway, a form of escapism where nothing is serious, nobody’s offended or upset, I wanted them to feel as if they are getting drunk with their best friend so they can joke about anything they want without fear of judgment.
