Tag: Mark Mayes

The Gift Maker by Mark Mayes

Where to begin to review a book that defies categories and genre classification? From the first line of The Gift Maker the reader is absorbed into a world that is both real and unreal, secular and magical. A fantasy and a morality tale. A world in which male students get drunk, spout philosophical polemics and lust after young women who seem to have a lot more self-discipline.

One such student, Thomas Ruder receives a strange package in the middle of the night at his lodgings but refuses to open it. The next day, the young woman he’d love to know better, Liselotte Hauptmann, confides that she too has received an unsolicited gift and she takes him back to her rooms to reveal its contents…

Dauman is the gift maker who has a special present for the third friend Johan called Jo. Each of them makes his or her way independent of each other to the border town of Grenze where a strange impresario, Reynard, pulls the theatrical strings and weaves a tantalising web of subterfuge.

Mark Mayes creates worlds within worlds using smoke and mirrors and provides a challenging and thought-provoking read. Some of the descriptions I found to be almost too detailed in their gruesomeness they and reminded me of Dickens with his visions of the debauchery, poverty and evil of Victorian London. And yet this is counterbalanced by poetic twists of fantasy which will have you enthralled.

References to fairy tales abound, plus nods to the book of Genesis and the Holy Trinity of the New Testament. The final chapters are far more lyrical in tone – and when you get to the metamorphosis/transfiguration you’ll see why.

Mark Mayes is a masterful and original storyteller. His unique narrative style is truly inspired and I found this book totally fascinating and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a book that is far from ordinary.

Published by Urbane Publications on 23 February 2017, The Gift Maker is available from Amazon.

Follow Mark on Twitter @Mark_J_Mayes

Talking Characters

When I was a child, we had living with us “the doctor” and I often had to tell my mother not to sit in a certain seat as the doctor was sitting there. For many writers, the characters in their books are like imaginary friends. We chat away to them, blame then when distracted and hopefully enjoy their company ­– except, of course when they are the bad guys!

One of the (many) unexpected pleasures of having my first crime novel published, is having conversations with readers about characters and plot lines. One told me off in no uncertain terms about exposing Elizabeth, protagonist Hannah Weybridge’s baby, to the violent ending of the book. That’s all I’ll say, as I don’t want to give spoilers in case you haven’t yet read or finished, Dancers in the Wind.

A friend whose only comment on my short fiction had been that she didn’t like short stories, was, as usual, fairly mono-syllabic after reading my novel. As we were talking about the fact I was writing a sequel, she said, “Oh no you’re not going to kill off Tom Jordan are you?  I like him!” She, like me, had fallen a little bit in love with the Detective Inspector. I smiled in what I hoped was an enigmatic way and told her she’d have to wait and see.

It has surprised and delighted me, how some readers have really taken to the prostitute in the story. Hers is a sad and unfortunately common story of abuse and betrayal; I am glad that I have done her justice and managed to make her a believable and sympathetic character. The interplay between her and Hannah has also been commented upon in many of the reviews and the dynamics between them are crucial to the plot.

Mark Mayes’ review on Amazon included this comment: “Hannah, Princess, and Tom, are all vividly drawn characters: nuanced, often wrestling with internal contradictions, as most of us humans tend to. The minor characters of the novel are deftly conveyed, as individuals.”

I found that hugely encouraging as many a TV, film or stage production is judged on how good or bad minor characters perform. An untalented actor can ruin the experience and just so with a minor character in a novel.

As Dancers in the Wind is the first of a trilogy, another unanticipated joy is being able to develop characters in the sequels. A minor character like Sam reappears in Death’s Silent Judgement. Things have changed in his life and maybe there will be further developments – but who knows? He’s competing with other characters who have been patiently waiting in the wings and as I write book three, they are ready to take a more central role.

Dancers in the Wind is on sale in Foyles and other bookshops and can be ordered from Amazon UK or Hive Stores with free delivery.

Death’s Silent Judgement will be published on 11 May 2017.