Interview with A.R. McNevin, Author of Sunday Morning Shrapnel (Scriven of Soho Book 2)

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Sunday Morning Shrapnel (Scriven of Soho Book 2)?

I read a popular fantasy novel a few years back in which everything revolved around money; every success, every plot point was seen through the lens of money. I was so offended by this concept that I wanted to write something which used similar motifs but to a better aim. And thus the Scriven of Soho was born; an individual who says all he wants to do is get his payday, but whose actions (hopefully) speak to a man who is honorable, honest and humorous with it. That, by the time he does get his payday, it is so disconnected from the primary goal as to be an afterthought. Hopefully.

As for Lily’s plot in Sunday Morning Shrapnel, I have to point to the failed Frankenstein pilot from a couple of years back (2004). It has a terrible Rotten Tomatoes score, but I love this version of Shelley’s seminal work.

The title comes from a contemporary Irish saying – on the morning after the night before of heavy drinking, your wallet is empty of notes but your pocket is full of coins – nickels and dimes – the shrapnel from buy all those rounds. I felt it was appropriate for a character who primarily deals in coppers

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Sunday Morning Shrapnel (Scriven of Soho Book 2), what would they be?

A song you’ve likely (and unfortunately) never heard of called “Swallow” by a now defunct Irish band called Skindive would be the theme of Scriven of Soho. Scoring the rest of the book, I would have Kenny Roger’s “the Gambler”, and Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son”.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

Ahh, welcome to the pompous ass ranted answer – To read; genre doesn’t matter to me; the story does. Especially SF – and to a slightly lesser extent, fantasy – they require another genre to be complete. SF/Fantasy tend toward settings, while the other genres tend toward plot. I would like to write in SF setting, but at the moment, almost all of my open projects are set in fantastical worlds.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

A lot of TTRP books – Vaesen, DIE, the DUNE RPG, Wretched Epoch – good RP books are made to inspire. For novels, Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and a few of the Ciaphas Cain audiobooks when dare to grant myself a writing break.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

My favorite types of scenes to write are the revelation scenes; the “this is what’s been happening all along” moments. It’s in those moments when you get to give the reader a peek behind the curtain. Hopefully, you’ve done a good enough job in layering the facts and innuendo, that some of the reader’s questions are answered and more are created. If you’ve done a good enough job, the mystery is maintained, the pressure valve is opened just a bit, and the reader’s own interpretation of the narrative grows.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

None that I know of…

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

I tend to read lists of “writing rules” and then break as many as possible. While there will be one or two, here and there, which tend towards the universal, the vast, vast, VAST majority of them are specific to that writer’s style and can be ignored.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That there’s a hell of a lot of self-publishing authors out there producing fantastic work. Keep supporting us and we’ll keep producing.

A.R. McNevin is the author of the new book Sunday Morning Shrapnel (Scriven of Soho Book 2)

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