An Interview with Ian Acheson (Part I)

I can not tell you how excited I am about the blog posts over the next few days!  On Friday I’ll be posting my review of Angelguard, the first book in the Angelguard Trilogy by Ian Acheson.  Ian and I have been emailing back and forth over the past week and he has agreed to be interviewed on the blog, so today’s post is part one of that interview.  Check back tomorrow for part two, and then on Friday I’ll post my review of the book!

To prep for the interview, I’ll start by sharing some information about the book.  Taken directly from Ian’s blog, the sneak peak of the the book says, “Within a period of weeks, three horrific bomb blasts devastate areas of London, Los Angeles and Sydney. No explanation is offered, no victory claimed for these acts of terror. Yet behind the scenes a Machiavellian European businessman is planning to bring the G8 nations to their knees for his own larcenous purposes, aided by the dark forces to whom he has sold his soul. Jack Haines, an Australian academic, is grieving the loss of wife and children in the Sydney blast. Against his will he finds himself thrown into a war that transcends the physical world, a conflict in which angelic guards have a special mission for him. This is a gripping novel of the unseen forces that throng our world.”  And here’s book trailer for Angelguard:

Part one of the interview will focus on helping us get to know Ian as a writer a little bit before venturing into the specifics of the book.  So here we go!

TF: First, thanks so much for agreeing to do this – I’m very excited to be participating in this blog tour.  Can you tell us a little about yourself, like what do you like to do when you’re not writing?

IA: I’m a self-employed strategy consultant so I am seeking new opportunities, clients, etc most weeks whilst completing engagements.

I read a lot and a lot and even some more. I read widely besides what I mentioned above on business, faith and writing.

Fiona, my wife and I spend a lot of our down time together hanging out. We enjoy movies, theatre and food. Fi’s a great cook, which is a blessing.

TF: So what books have most influenced you?

IA: Wow, Thomas where do I start? Fast action based novels have been a key influence. The Left Behind series, Joel Rosenberg’s “Last Days” series, to Ted Dekker’s early thrillers like Blink and Three. Obviously Peretti’s novels. Many other great Christian authors like Mike Dellosso, Tom Pawlik, Mark Andrew Olsen, Tosca Lee, Erin Healy. Probably like most of us there’s a long list. We really are spoilt with the depth of quality authors.

 Further, I read a lot of secular suspense thrillers from Daniel Silva’s “Gabriel Allon” series, I’m an old Clive Cussler fan, to Australia’s Matthew Reilly. I read a lot of Biblical commentaries and what I call Christian self-development books too.

TF: Alright, well if you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

IA: I grew up reading the classics: Dickens, Austen, Eliott, Shelley, etc. If there was one novelist I’d like most to write like its Australia’s Tim Winton. His mastery of the English language and ability to create evocative scenes are extraordinary.

TF: You mentioned that you like to “read a lot”.  What book(s) are you reading now?

IA: Fiction: Mike Dellosso’s soon to be released “Fearless” and Danielle Trussoni’s “Angelolopis”

Non-Fiction: Henri Nouwen’s “The Way of the Heart”, Judith MacNutt’s “Angels are for Real”,  Sol Stein’s “Stein on Writing”

TF: You go into some detail on your blog about your inspiration for the book, but can you tell us what inspired you to write Angelguard?

IA: We live in a world where so much evil occurs. It fascinates me that the Bible talks a lot about spiritual warfare but we as a Christian community tend not to.  In writing Angelguard I hoped to highlight this battle.

All my life I’ve loved stories of good and evil. Super heroes, to Tolkien, CS Lewis, Ted Dekker and on. Frank Peretti’s  “Darkness” books had a big impact on me 20 or so years ago when they came out.  Since I was a kid, I’d always visualized angels and demons in the common way I think most people do, that is, human-like with wings. Other than Lewis’ work, the “Darkness” novels were the first Christian novels I’d read that provided a visual picture of this spiritual battle.

Come back tomorrow for some specific questions about the book and characters, and don’t forget to check out my review on Friday (and if you’ve got questions you want me to ask or you want to ask post a reply to this post and maybe, if we’re lucky, we’ll find out – no promises, but it can’t hurt to ask :))