Today I welcome author Paul Dunkerley to author sit-down to answer five questions (and a bonus 6th) about Nothing in the Dark, the first book in the Deepseek series.
Q1. What inspired you to write Nothing in the Dark?
A. Nothing in the Dark has a unique history that began in 2015. I was working for a medical device company at the time, and during one of our full-office meetings, our Chief Medical Officer invited his medical school friend, Dr. John Leyden, who founded the Unicorn Foundation (now Neuro Endocrine Cancer Australia), to spruik the business, as they rely heavily on donations. I started to think about what kind of charity event I could hold. Initially I thought of a fun run, but for me, those two words don’t go together. Sausage sizzles are almost a fast food chain on their own, so that was out. I also considered a bike ride, but a colleague of mine had recently stacked her bike and came close to biting off her tongue. At that point, I gave up finding ways of maiming and killing myself and my friends in the name of “fun”. I’m a trained radio scriptwriter. I know how to put a story together, and I had recently completed a voiceover and broadcasting course. Then I hit on the idea of writing an audio drama of some kind and use staff as actors? I was so excited by it I planned this story as a trilogy, and those three scripts were adapted as the first Deepseek book, titled Deepseek-Nothing in the Dark.
Q2. Straker is a strong character- determined and strong-minded. Is he
based on someone in particular?
A. All the main characters are hybrids. They are part imagination and part based on the staff member who played them. Because I didn’t know what kind of acting experience people had, I wrote Cameron Straker to be played by myself, just in case I had to carry the show (thankfully I didn’t). Straker and I have some things in common. We both have the same waistline (but not the same bank balance). He shares a lot of my world views, and we have a similar diet. He has a passion for oceanography. I have a passion for aviation. His name is based on two people. His first name, Cameron, is named after a friend who passed away some decades ago. As for his surname, one of my favourite actors is Ed Bishop, who did a lot of work with Gerry Anderson and appeared in his live-action series UFO as Ed Straker, so that was a tip of the hat to him, as I would have loved to have seen him play this part were he still alive.
Q3. How did staff approach the recording sessions? Did they ham it up?
A. The staff approached their parts seriously and played it for real. They jumped on board very quickly. Our CMO was so excited by the concept he volunteered to be in it! Because I had to work around people’s personal schedules, each person was recorded separately. We had a non-recording session where they read through the script, with me coaching them. Then they went away for two weeks to practise at home. On the evening of recording, I got them comfortable around the microphone and convinced them it wouldn’t bite or sell them life insurance. On average we spent 90 minutes recording each person over a three-month period. Minor characters had their coaching on the day of recording. I will point out that since the Unicorn Foundation changed its name and database, this recording is no longer available on their site (it was a good number of years old by then).
Q.4. The book is set in the near future. How did you decide to move the
action forwards from the date of writing?
A. The first story is set in 2028, but I wrote this in 2015, so it was still a good few years off. It was mostly because I knew it would take me ages to publish, and this stopped the book from being set “in the past”. I also set it in the near future so I could introduce technologies that didn’t exist in 2015.
Q5. Action/adventure... and mildly sf. What is your own concept of the
book's genre?
A. For me, the Deepseek series is a fun action/adventure/thriller. While it does have its dramatic moments, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.
Q.6. How did you come up with the concept of Deepseek?
A. The Nothing in the Dark audio drama was released in January 2016. Two years later the company I worked for was bought out, and we were all losing our jobs, and as someone who is over 50, I knew it would be hard getting work. I felt the concept had legs, so I started to flesh it out into an ongoing series. Once I was made redundant in early 2019, I began writing it in earnest. The Covid lockdown was a great opportunity for me, because I just sat and wrote and wrote and tried to craft the best book I could. As I was new to publishing, I also did a tonne of research on how to do it properly, finally publishing in 2024. It has been quite the journey.
It has indeed! I've read and enjoyed all the Deepseek stories up till now and I'm hanging out for the next one.
To find out more about Paul and his books, check out the links below.
I hope you've enjoyed meeting Paul (virtually) as much as I have.
If you'd like to book your own author sit-down to talk up your literary project(s), drop me an email at affatheeditor@gmail.com with AUTHOR SIT-DOWN in the comment section.
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