Tell us about Mister Mann.
Mister Mann tells the story of a man accomplished in mime, magic and martial arts who adds mass murder to his alliterative skill set.

“You sit there thinking dark thoughts and beating yourself up for having these bad thoughts. And you say no one has these thoughts like you, but again you are deceived. Everyone has thoughts exactly like you. You don’t stand a chance; you were born to think them. It was preordained. It’s called conditioning. Everyone thinking the same thoughts, an out of step and dis-configured hive mind. It will be my pleasure to bring everyone into step to unify the hive… and get you all thinking of the ultimate. Death.” – Mister Mann

We can usually guess a book’s genre from its description, but not this time. Tell us, what genre is it?
Contemporary Dark Magical Realism Thriller. And it’s humorous.

That’s definitely different. What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Adult readers 18-85 who enjoy dark humour. One reviewer said “Mister Mann is like what would happen if Mike Tyson and Eckhart Tolle had a bar fight.” and another mentions “the darkness of Se7en with the humour of The Big Lebowski“.

That’s high praise. How long did Mister Mann take to write?
One year.

What was the most challenging part of your creative process?
The biggest challenge was finding the time to write. I wrote Mister Mann whilst holding down a full-time job (the average work day was 14 hours long). I wrote on the train commute, one hour every night and as much as I could at the weekends. For large parts of the novel I ‘method wrote’. I would descend into the character of Mister Mann and write from his perspective. It was exhausting, and I had to take care not to carry him into ordinary life.

Oh wow. What is “ordinary life”? Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born in Portsmouth (UK) and now live in the country with my wife, three gorgeous children and a cocker spaniel named Carlos. I’ve been an Avon lady, a soldier, a scientist, an apprentice astronaut, a magician, an adventurer and a fund manager. I’m also a professional stand-up comedian and a comedy script writer.

That’s a life and a half! Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?
People can read an excerpt, reviews, interviews and my biography at www.GerrardGGerrard.co.uk. Excerpts for my other novels BANKS and The Fool can also be found here. On twitter @TheMisterMann tweets random phrases from the novel.

And where can we buy Mister Mann?
From Amazon, Pronoia Books, Barnes & Noble.

What’s next?
My next novel BANKS is due next month. This deals with the problem of high finance and why banks fail. Don’t worry it’s not boring like normal books on the subject. There are plenty of laughs, controversy and delightful twists.

My third novel, The Fool, is due early in the new year. This is a historical novel set in Portsmouth spanning 900 years and dealing with the concept of Para Brahman. After that I will write the sequel to Mister Mann as fans have said they are missing that naughty little scamp.

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Enjoyed this interview? Then check out our conversation with Gary R Henry