Tell us about your Being Richard.
Being Richard is about an immortal, Sunbeerka, living in Surrey UK. He’s been around for many, many years and all he wants is a quiet life. Unfortunately he’s reached that time, yet again, when he needs a new identity. Having stopped growing any older aged 30 he has to ensure he doesn’t look too young for the age he’s meant to be. Discovering Richard Ridley who died as a small baby seems perfect, but something about Richard’s past disturbs him. He might have dismissed the idea of Being Richard, but a man turns up claiming
to be from the Special Investigation Department who track down immortals. The man, Gilbert Hawkins, claims that he too is immortal, and that all the department wants is for Sunbeerka to help them find
other immortals, and take on Richard Ridley’s identity. If he doesn’t comply they’ll lock him up, forever. Unhappy with the department’s interference in his life and with being Richard, Sunbeerka sets about discovering all he can about young Richard’s family and how he died. Stress and pressure bring back Sunbeerka’s panic attacks, and when more more memories are stirred as he’s forced to tell his life-story, he feels that there are too many similarities between the death of Richard’s mother and the death of his own mother for him to let it rest. Gilbert tells him to leave Richard’s family history alone, but obsession takes over, and even when a fortune-teller predicts his death, Sunbeerka is compelled to keep walking into danger. Until he discovers the truth, he’ll never be happy being Richard.

What genre is it?
I usually choose the genre description of paranormal thriller, because it’s a thriller involving an immortal. There’s also mystery and suspense, with a puzzle being solved throughout the book. Even though Sunbeerka is an immortal he’s really just an ordinary man coping with an exceptional set of circumstances.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Anyone who enjoys a story in which there’s a puzzle to be solved, action, and a sprinkling of dry humour. Alongside the thriller/mystery there’s also the human drama of how Sunbeerka copes with being immortal, what affect it has on his psyche and whether he can allow himself to be friends with Gilbert.

Some people will be fascinated by Thundry Meadows, where Sunbeerka was born. It is an ancient site of special interest and there is an air of mystery surrounding the area.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love Being Richard.
Dick Francis and a chase to the last fence then you’ll love Being Richard. If you also like exploring what life is like when
we’re different from everyone else then you’ll also enjoy Being
Richard.

Sunbeerka? That’s a weird name.

Sunbeerka means Son of the Swamp Lord and it’s his ancient title from his tribe. He does  have a name, just like you and I, but I’d like that to be a treat for my readers, and in the book he refers more frequently to his title, Sunbeerka.

Okay, Sunbeerka it is then. How is he immortal? I’m guessing he’s no Twilight-style vampire.

He’s born 2562 years ago at Thundry Meadows, a beautiful spot on the River Wey, which is associated with the god Thor. One of the sparks for writing the book is the fact that ancient artefacts have been found around the location suggesting tribal settlements thousands of years ago. I did original research in as much as I visited locations, which are very near to my home, and sucked in the atmosphere and imagined what it would have been like living in the area back then. No-one knows what language they would have spoken so I derived words from Anglo-Saxon to try and give an authentic feel, and studied the history of the place names.

In the book we discover that Sunbeerka is the younger son of the Swamp Lord, born to be sacrificed to the gods if the tribe should ever run into trouble. When a rival tribe threaten the peace Sunbeerka is strung up for ritual sacrifice, only it appears that the gods don’t want him dead and after days of torture he’s struck by lightning and rather than dying lives on. From that day on he discovers that he cannot die, so he’s stuck at age thirty. He’s tall, good-looking and incredibly strong.

Gilbert Hawkins also claims to be immortal, but the two of them are quite different, and no, Gilbert isn’t a vampire either.

How would you like the reader to feel as they read the last word of your book?
I’d like them to wonder what Richard and Gilbert get up to next.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
Visiting Lilly will be published later in the year.

Is Visiting Lilly the sequel to Being Richard?

Visiting Lilly is not a sequel to Being Richard, it’s about a straight talking police detective, D.I. Talbot, who takes a personal interest in a young man who wants to visit an elderly woman in an old people’s home, but her family won’t let him. Talbot can’t understand the problem, until information arises suggesting that these two people may have met each other before in a different time and space.

I have an idea for a sequel to Being Richard which continues the idea of searching for more immortals. Of course, not all immortals turn out to be such easy going individuals, even if they are female. Sunbeerka also believes in reincarnation and is constantly on the lookout for the man who killed his mother so he can wreak his revenge, and I suspect he might find what he’s looking for in the next book.

In that case, hurry up and write it! In the meantime, tell us a bit about yourself.
I work as a professional tarot reader and astrologer and have written two books on tarot: The System of Symbols, a new way to look at tarot and Sex & Tarot. Ideas for my novels arise out of concepts, ideas and actual occurrences I encounter while working. To many people ‘paranormal’ is something ‘out there’ but I live with these things every day as part of my life, so writing about the extraordinary is simply writing what I know best.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
http://toniallenauthor.com/

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
@Listansus
https://www.facebook.com/ToniAllenAuthor.

What’s next?
I’m currently preparing a book of tarot key-words for publication and making final adjustments to Visiting Lilly. I’m also working on a new novel, which is currently all very hush-hush.