FEATURED AUTHOR: DANE COBAIN

ABOUT THE BOOK

When the Angels attack, there’s NO REST FOR THE WICKED.

Father Montgomery, an elderly priest with a secret past, begins to investigate after his parishioners come under attack, and with the help of Jones, a young businessman with an estranged child, Montgomery begins to track down the origin of the Angels.

The Angels are naked and androgynous. They speak in a dreadful harmony with no clear leader. These aren’t biblical cherubs tasked with the protection of the righteous—these are deadly creatures of light that have the power to completely eradicate.

When Jones himself is attacked, Father Montgomery knows he has to act fast. He speaks to the Angels and organizes a final showdown where he’s asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.

INTERVIEW WITH DANE COBAIN

Dane, you currently have three books published: a supernatural thriller called No Rest for the Wicked, a book of poetry called Eyes Like Lighthouses When the Boats Come Home, and Former.ly: The rise and fall of a social network. Do you write every day?
Writing is just a part of my lifestyle, and so yeah–pretty much. There may be the odd day here and there where I don’t write anything, but it’s pretty rare. When I’m on holiday or at music festivals, I keep journals and write poems, and I carry a notebook around with me and jot stuff down in that, and on my phone. It’s not necessarily that I try to write every day—I just do, without really noticing.

What do you wish you’d done differently when you first started the publishing process?
I wish I’d had a more thorough understanding of marketing earlier on in my career. These days, I work in marketing, and so that helps a lot with getting the word out—however, it also makes me more conscious of the end product when I’m working on something. It doesn’t necessarily influence the story, but I do start thinking about how I could sell the book before I’ve even finished writing it. It helps to have one eye on the goal.

What do you think is hardest aspect of writing a book?
Getting people to buy it and read it—you wouldn’t believe how much of a writer’s time is spent on getting the word out there. That said, getting feedback from new readers is also the most rewarding aspect, so it’s a necessary evil.

Yes, sadly, I would believe it. What’s more important—characters or plot?
For me, as both a writer and a reader, it’s characters. I’ve read plenty of good stories with characters but no plot; I’ve never read a good one with plot and no characters.

What’s one thing you never leave the house without?
Cigarettes and a lighter.

What do you love about where you live?
High Wycombe is a multicultural town, but there’s also a great local community and a lot of artistic and writerly folk around.

What is your superpower?
Multitasking—I do it all of the time!

What do you like to do when there’s nothing to do?
There’s always something to do! If I run out of things to do, I find more things to do, so that I’m always doing something. I’m the sort of person who hates sitting around and doing nothing. I don’t find ‘relaxing’ to be very relaxing.

Where is your favorite place to visit?
Amsterdam. It’s a beautiful city and the perfect mixture of weird, seedy bits and beautiful, historic bits. I must go back sometime soon.

Would you rather be a movie star, sports star, or rock star?
A rock star—that was my initial goal, as a kid. I guess I started writing after picking up the guitar as a teenager—I used to write songs, and from there I moved on to other stuff.

What’s one thing that drives you crazy?
People on the Internet. Seriously. This is the awesome part of the Internet, and so I’m sure that everyone who reads your blog is pretty cool, but there are a lot of really stupid people out there who get angry and aggressive over nothing. I have no time for people who use the Internet to start fights and arguments. It’s much more fun to make new friends.

What’s in your refrigerator right now?
Beer and cheese! That’s the simplified version, anyway. I’m a vegetarian, so no meat!

Who is your favorite fictional character?
I’m a big fan of reluctant heroes and antiheroes, but my favorite character of all time is probably Lyra Belacqua from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, purely because she’s the protagonist and it’s my favorite series.


How do you like your pizza?
Vegetarian hot (onions, mushrooms, jalapenos, and extra cheese), with garlic and herb dip.


What is the wallpaper on your computer’s desktop?
It says: “Life has no ctrl+z.”

What’s your favorite smell?
I’ve been burning a lot of incense recently, and I usually have a candle going. My favorite smell is probably vanilla—simple, but lovely.


What’s your favorite color?
Red.


What is your favorite movie?
It’s hard to say, because I usually name a few of them: Wayne’s World, Donnie Darko or The Princess Bride. I like each of those for different reasons, mostly sentimental.


What are you working on now?
I’m working on loads of things—I just finished finalizing the edits on Former.ly, a novel about a social networking site for the dead. I’ve also got a non-fiction book called Social Paranoia, about how consumers and brands can stay safe in a connected world, which will be going into editing just as soon as my editor, Pam Harris, finishes off Former.ly. I’m also writing a novelization adaptation of a screenplay that I wrote—the two will be published together as Come On Up to the House. After that, I’m planning on writing a detective series.

KUDOS FOR DANE'S WORK

Eyes Like Lighthouses is Dane Cobain’s first book of poetry, distilled from the sweat of a thousand memorised performances in this reality and others. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

“I’ve never seen anyone do a stream of consciousness piece as talented as that. Very impressed.” – Mark Allard-Will, author of Saskatch-A-Man and co-founder of Cuckoo’s Nest Press

“Dane’s poetry is a multi-layered spiral of the macabre, quirky humour and disjointed imagery. Not only does he make you think, he captures the small forgotten moments of everyday life.” – Nikki Dudley, co-editor of Streetcake Magazine

“ . . . [Dane] combines concrete detail with socioeconomic concerns.” – Lorna Wood, associate editor of Gemini Magazine


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dane Cobain is a writer, poet and musician from a place you've probably never heard of, somewhere in England. When he's not writing books, he's reading and reviewing them on his book blog, SocialBookshelves.com or working at his day job in social media marketing.

Connect with Dane:
Website  |  Blog  |  
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  
Goodreads 

Buy the book:

Amazon UK  |  Amazon US