We are here with Nick Moseley, author of the humorous and absolutely fabulous urban fantasy series The Brackenford Cycle! He was kind enough to take some time from his busy schedule and grant us an interview! 

Thank you Nick! And Welcome to The Magic Book Corner! It's great to have you here!

1) Hi Nick and welcome to the Magic Book Corner! To begin could you please tell our readers here a little bit about yourself? 

Hi, thanks for having me! Hmm, what to say about myself? Well, I'm a 40-something guy living in Worcestershire, UK (yep, the place where they make the sauce!) I've been writing all my life really, from the home-made "Choose Your Own Adventure" books and annotated spaceship diagrams I did as a kid, through to the novels and short stories I'm doing now. Outside of writing I enjoy playing golf (which I do badly), gaming (which I do averagely) and eating pizza (which I do excellently). 

2) Your series, The Brackenford Cycle includes up till now 4 books and 3 accompanying short stories. Are you planning for more? And if yes, is there any publishing date planned? 

Yes, definitely. There'll be two more full-length novels and another two novellas in the series. As far as publishing dates go I can't really say at this stage but I'll do my best to make it sooner rather than later! 

3) What readership in particular do you think The Brackenford Cycle would appeal to and why? 

Well first and foremost I think the series would appeal to readers of urban / contemporary fantasy, although I have had people tell me they've enjoyed them having never read any UF previously. The humour is very British (although whether that's a good thing or a bad thing will depend on the reader) so hopefully anyone who enjoys the likes of Pratchett, Adams or Fforde might find something they like in there too! 

4) What should a reader expect when picking up your books? 

The urge to reply "THE UNEXPECTED" to this question was almost overwhelming! Ahem. They should expect a rollicking mix of action, humour and sarcastic cats. 

5) The Brackenford Cycle is one of the most original, unique and ingenious series I've gotten my hands on! It's simply fabulous! What was the inspiration behind it and how did it come to be? 

Well many years ago I was an estate agent myself, although I was absolutely terrible at it. One day I went to have a look at a vacant property the agency was marketing. The place really creeped me out for no good reason, and I cut short my visit because of it. When I got back to the office I found out that the property was on the market because the previous owner, an elderly gent, had died. And he'd passed away in the room that had creeped me out the most! At that point I thought "blimey, I wonder if an estate agent has ever actually seen a ghost while conducting a property viewing?" and that was the idea that (eventually) became the Brackenford Cycle. 

6) Did you plan it all out at the beginning or are you just writing it as it comes? 

I didn't plan out the whole thing in forensic detail, but I did think about the broad-brush plotline and I know where the story is going and how it ends. All the details in between I'm filling in as I go along. 

7) Your MC - Trev - is one of a kind! An undisputed misanthropic bloke who dishes insults like candies at Trick or Treat! And a Sales Agent!! :D What prompted you to write him like this? Why a Sales Agent? And why a bloke? 

I like characters with flaws. So I gave Trev a boat-load of them! Usually when I read about characters who discover they have unusual powers, they fall into two groups - those who say "I WILL USE THESE POWERS SELFLESSLY" and those who say "I WILL USE THESE POWERS SELFISHLY (MWA HA HA HA HA HAAA)". I always thought there would be a third group who'd say "I have powers? This is all a bit inconvenient, to be honest - I was planning to go to the pub tonight" and that was the guy I chose to write about. 

8) Your books present quite a few "sales agent life and work" scenes that are downright hilarious. Are they purely fictional or based on a little grain of truth? 

Mostly fictional... mostly. There are definitely a few nuggets of truth in there too, though I'm staying tight-lipped on which parts! 

9) Your series is peppered with supernatural beings and each and every one of them has a little quirk. Ghouls that speak in tabloid, werewolves with a self-help group, and so on. How did these particular quirks come to be? 

I wanted to put my own spin on the typical UF species, so I tried to come up with something different (and hopefully, funny) for each of them. I had a lot of fun with the ghouls in particular, they'll be making a reappearance in the next book! 

10) Oscar, the talking cat, is to me one of the highlights of your series. Why a cat and how is it that he turned out to be the "world's most sarcastic talking cat"? :) 

Well originally Oscar was going to be an ordinary cat, and there would be a running joke where he appears as if from nowhere to startle Trev whenever he was at Granddad's. Then I started to think "what if he really *was* appearing from nowhere because he's got some powers of his own" and that led on to the version that made the final cut. I made him sarcastic because, let's face it, Trev frequently needs someone to take him down a peg (or maybe several!) 

11) The two talking swords are another highlight. Especially because of their character. Why two? And why write them this way? 

When The Twins were introduced into the plot I made a big deal out of how unique and powerful they were, but when I came to write the scene where Trev uses them for the first time it felt a little... underwhelming. So after a bit of thinking I came up with the idea of them being able to communicate with him. And that led onto the thought that they'd probably be a little disappointed to find themselves being wielded by a mostly harmless estate agent with zero fighting ability! And of course they could bicker with each other as well as Trev... I kind of see them as an old married couple, albeit a rather bloodthirsty one! 

12) Is there anything else you are planning for outside of the Brackenford Cycle series?

Yes, as well as the Brackenford books I'm also working on a new series. It's set in a pseudo-Victorian "steampunk" setting and is about the Todtgrave Company, a team of ghost-hunters working in the sprawling city-state of Redforte. Unlike the Brackenford books it's written in the first person, from the perspective of the Company's owner Freddie Todtgrave, a fallen aristocrat who was disinherited by his family. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far! The working title for the first book is "Brass and Bones". 

13). This one sounds like a great fun read too! :) Should we expect the same kind of great action, humour and sarcasm from this new series as well? And do you have any publishing date in mind for "Brass and Bones"? 

Yes, definitely! I found Freddie's "voice" quite quickly and I'm really enjoying writing his narration - he has a variety of humorous observations about the people he meets and places he visits. But it's not all humour... I can promise plenty of action and horror as well. Redforte is a dangerous place! As far as due dates go, I'm just past the halfway point of the first draft, so it's going to be 2020 before it's ready to publish I think. 

14) Did you face any obstacles or disappointments in your writing career? They are usually there in the life of most writers, especially self published ones. If yes, which were the biggest and how did you deal with them? 

I think probably for most writers the main obstacle is juggling work, social and domestic commitments and finding time amongst it all to write, and I'm no different. I've always set myself the target of completing a chapter a week, but I haven't always been the best at sticking to it! While there have been times where I've been discouraged, and I've let my routine slip, I always come back to the keyboard sooner or later. Writing can be unbelievably frustrating, but I enjoy it too much to give up! 

15) And lastly, do you have any advice for other upcoming writers out here? Or any message to the Magic Book Corner Readers? 

I'm not sure if I'm the best person to be handing out writing advice, but as I alluded to in the previous answer you have to make time to write and you have to stick at it. There must be thousands of brilliant novels out there, languishing unfinished on hard drives! It doesn't matter if the first draft is a mess, it can always be revised and polished. But you can't do that if it's never finished. 

Many thanks to the Magic Book Corner for having me, and to all the readers who've taken the time to give me feedback on my books - it means so much to indie authors. 

Thank you Nick, for dropping by our Magic Book Corner! 

We'll be keeping a watch for your new series and invite you again to talk about it! Hope to see you back here soon. :)

About the Author: Nick Moseley

Was born in: Worcester, The United Kingdom

Writes: Fantasy, Humor and Comedy

Nick Moseley is the author of The Brackenford Cycle, a series of humorous urban fantasy novels centred around Trev Irwin, a misanthropic estate agent who discovers a) that he has latent psychic abilities, and b) that most of the supernatural beings in Britain want to kill him. 

The first novel in the series, "Location, Location, Damnation", was released in May 2013 and was followed in October 2013 by "Deceased Estate", a standalone novella set between book one and the full-length sequel, "Hangman's Pond", which was released in January 2014. 

Nick lives in Worcestershire, England (yes, where the sauce comes from). He has previously worked as a salesman, warehouseman, estate agent and forklift truck driver, and proven himself mildly incompetent at all of them. Writing has been an invaluable aid to preserving his sanity.