About the Book:
Forget Super Heroes, these Heroes have Mind Blowing Disabilities!”
In a sleepy town in Dorset, something has gone terribly wrong in the film business. A three hundred year old Judge is back, and sending locals to the gallows. A Roman Legion are about to attack shoppers in the high street, and a highwayman is riding through the night, trying to murder tourists atop his headless horse. Indeed, the infamous White Jess is a nightmare to steer!
Can nobody save the town? Probably not but some disabled nobodies work at the local cinema. Just don’t let Max drive the van, he is totally Blind!
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Author Interview:
1: Tell us a little about yourself and what got you in to writing?
I originally studied Performing Arts and then worked in TV Entertainment Development for a few UK TV firms. The first big thing I wrote was a comedy musical at university, which we toured to the USA, visiting venues in Rhode Island, Boston and New York. I also ran a youth comedy company for many years, which gave me a lot of experience in comedy writing.
2: Do you have a favourite time and place where you write?
I tend to wake up quite early and have all of my best ideas first thing in the morning, so it is not unusual for me to be writing at 4:30am or around that time.
I have been known to write all over the place, including on trains, buses and at a picnic table in my garden during the summer. However, a lot of the book I have just released was written sitting on my bed during lockdown.
3: Where do your ideas come from?
The idea for my latest book “THE FILM FREAKS” first came from a conversation I had with an autistic student that I once worked with. He was eighteen and said that he never read books or watched TV or films anymore. He believed that media was never written for people with additional needs or with disabilities. He also told me that if there was ever a character in a book who had a disability, they were always portrayed as being stereotypically quite pathetic or weak.
I thought that was quite sad, as in my experience people with disabilities are often incredibly tough. Anyway, that was how it began. I thought it would be fun to write a hero story that was the complete opposite of something like Marvel’s Avengers. I decided that instead of having super powers, all of the heroes in the book would have a different disability but none of them would be wimps.
The first character I came up with was Dylan, he is an autistic cinema caretaker who collects power tools and is based on another student I once worked with. In fact, most of the characters are based partly on real people that I have worked with or known, whilst in different teaching jobs.
Max for example, is based on a student who was completely blind and one day I had to take him for a careers interview but he did not know what he wanted to do when he eventually left school. He asked if he could have a little fun with the careers person and being intrigued I said yes. He then told the lady interviewing him that he wanted to be the first completely blind Formula 1 World Champion.
The poor career lady was so frightened about coming across as being discriminatory that she simply said “I am not sure if there has been a blind race driver before. Do you see any problems or issues that may arise if you were to gain a career within that area?” At that point the student said with a completely straight face, “Oh, you mean the whole blind thing. No, that won’t be a problem. You see, I am going to get one of my friends to sit on my lap in the race car and tell me when I should turn left and right!”
The career advisor never realised that the student was winding her up. However, when I started thinking about writing “THE FILM FREAKS” I thought it would be fun if my group of heroes had a blind getaway driver and everyone was terrified about getting into his van.
Then there is the character of Ali, who is also based on someone I once knew. She is incredibly OCD and cleans up the bodies after battles, with illegal acid based cleaning products. After all, in”THE FILM FREAKS” world, which is based in the real world, the Police tend to take an interest if you keep killing bad people in the street, unlike in Marvel movies. Therefore the group decide that it is a good career move to hide their enemy’s corpses.
However, my main character is a young woman called Toby. I do not want to give too much away about her but will say that she loses her legs and the start of the book but ends up becoming incredibly tough. Definitely, not someone that a drunken idiot would want to start a fight with down The Wonky Wizard Pub on a Saturday night.
4: Do you have a plan in your head of where the story is going before you start writing or do you let it carry you along as you go?
I have a basic structure and plan for a story before I start but it does tend to change and adapt as I write. To be honest, I think I would hate writing a book that was too heavily planned. The fun part of being a writer for me is when I feel my characters coming to life on the page and taking me and the narrative in new directions. As far as I am concerned, a plan for a book is simply a map of the road ahead but sometimes it is good to get to where you are going by leaving the road.
5: What genre are your books and what drew you to that genre?
“THE FILM FREAKS” is a comedy fantasy with some Sci-fi elements but whatever you believe it to be, it is definitely not a kids book.
I have always loved writers like Douglas Adams who wrote “The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy” and Neil Gaimen. However, this book has also been compared to a Tarantino film but that is probably because it is quite left field. Besides, any book or film that has over the top violence, mixed with a bit of comedy tends to be compared to a Tarantino film.
Personally, I am not trying to be like anyone else when I write. I simply want to write a book that I would find funny, exciting and mind blowing if I read it. The biggest rule I set myself when writing is that I do not want the reader to be able to predict how my story is going to end. There is nothing worse than starting a book or watching a film and knowing the ending from the start. I want my stories to have more twists than a rattlesnake knotted up in a slinky.
6: What dream cast would you like to see playing the characters in your latest book?
That is a tough question to answer without giving away a lot about each of the characters in the book and I really want anyone who reads “THE FILM FREAKS” to imagine for themselves who would play those parts. Books are such a personal thing and I like the fact that everyone has their own take on things.
However, all I will say is that I did imagine Bill Murray playing one of the characters when I wrote the book and Jack Nicolson playing another but I am not saying who those characters are.
7: Do you read much and if so who are your favourite authors?
I do not read as much as I would like anymore due to life, work and writing my own books getting in the way. However, aside from the writers that I have already mentioned I love anything by both Stephen King and Stephen Fry. Now, I do not know if being called Stephen is a prerequisite for being a naturally brilliant, gifted, terrifying or funny writer but perhaps it is time for me to officially change my name, in order to be on the safe side.
8: What book/s are you reading at present?
I have just finished a book by the film director Robert Rodriguez, which was called Rebel Without A Crew. It was incredibly inspiring and was the true story about how he sold his body for medical research, in order to raise the money to make his first feature film. I would not recommend to anyone that they try that but it is a fun read.
9: What is your favourite book and why?
I could not choose a favourite as there are so many I love. I guess that is like asking a parent who their favourite child is. Nevertheless, as I mentioned earlier I do have a soft spot for anything by Douglas Adams.
10: What advice would you give for someone thinking about becoming a writer?
I would never want to force my opinions on anyone as writing is so diverse and there are so many different ways to boil a book. The only advice I would say is never let anyone stop you from writing. The world is full of people who are ready to tell you that you cannot do something, they are usually people who never do anything themselves and do not want to see others succeed. Personally, I believe that we all have a story or two inside us, so why not share them.
As for if you will succeed as a writer, does it really matter. If you enjoy writing and it gives you pleasure then you definitely should do it. Personally, I am starting to see “THE FILM FREAKS” starting to sell and that gives me a buzz, knowing others want to read what I have created. However, it is also just really lovely seeing my book existing upon the book shelf above my desk.
11: What are the best Social Media Sites for people to find out about you and your work?
The most important place to find “THE FILM FREAKS” is on Amazon.
Our other Socials are:
TIKTok: @thefilmfreaks0
Twitter/X: @The_Film_Freaks
Goodreads.com: www.goodreads.com/author/show/47317764.Johnny_Sawyer
About the Author:
Johnny Sawyer is an English Writer, who lives in Hertfordshire.
Having worked in TV entertainment development, performed as a comedian and had a career working within schools, he is well versed within the areas of both tragedy and comedy.
“The Film Freaks” is his debut novel. Speaking about the book in a recent interview he said “Are you bored of super hero stories? I know I am. That is where the idea for this book came from. Having worked within schools for so many years with people with additional needs, I wanted to write something with disabled characters in it, who were not stereotypical wimps. The book is about a group of disabled cinema workers who have to save their local town. I do not want to spoil the plot.
However, all I will say is that the book is an exceedingly violent, fantasy comedy set in Dorchester in Dorset. My main heroes are all seriously tough and each one has a Mind Blowing Disability.”
Johnny is now working on the sequel to “The Film Freaks”.
Reading Nook 