Interview with Author G. M. Nair

The next author I’m talking ot for my interview series is G.M. Nair! I’ve known G.M. on twitter for a while. He wrote such funny tweets that I bought his first book, Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire, which I loved! He’s recently released his second book, The One-Hundred Percent Solution.

Tell us about yourself! What would you like readers to know about you?

G.M. Nair: Hi! I’m G.M. Nair and I’m an Aerospace Engineer who made the decision to get into the highly unlucrative field of independent book publishing with my niche sci-fi/mystery/comedy series Duckett & Dyer: Dicks For Hire. I’ve also written comedy for the stage and screen and am currently working with the NYC Sketch Comedy troupe Infinite Sketch.

Alexis: Awesome! I didn’t know you were an Aerospace Engineer and that you were writing sketch comedy. Sounds amazing!

What book or books have most influenced you as a writer?

G.M. Nair: Well, in my case, Douglas Adams comes to mind. Really, he comes to mind whenever anyone discusses sci-fi comedies, and for good reason. The Hitchhiker’s Guide and Dirk Gently books are certainly some of my biggest sources of inspiration, since I grew up with them. But I like to think that I’ve put my own spin on them by drawing from other sources like Agatha Christie’s Poirot novels, and basically any comic books written in the last 20 years.

Alexis: I love Douglas Adams! He was one of my favorite science fiction authors, and I loved his book Last Chance to See as well.

What are some tropes of fiction in your genre that you love/hate? Why?

G.M. Nair: If you’ve read my books, it’s obvious that I love time travel and paradoxes. Especially ones that take a good amount of thinking to untangle. It makes me feel clever. I do hate when the time travel doesn’t make consistent sense, though.

I’ve also had enough of ‘chosen one’ main characters. I wanna see some undeserving schlubs going on adventures.

Alexis: I am also sick of the “chosen one” trope. I think that sometimes the biggest impacts on history happen because of ordinary people make choices or take a stand. Think of all the people having an incredible impact right now just by protesting and documenting and videotaping police violence. I think the “chosen one” trope discounts the importance and impact of everyday people trying to do the right thing.

Who is your favorite character in your book? What do you like about them?

G.M. Nair: Stephanie Dyer is probably my favorite character to write, which is a real shame since she never got a point of view chapter in my first book. I remedied that with the second book to give the readers a little more depth into her character. I really enjoy her kookiness and writing out her dumb jokes but also being able to peel back the veil a little bit when looking at the inner turmoil she suppresses.

Duckett & Dyer: Dicks for Hire, by G.M. Nair, reviewed by Alexis Lantgen at Lunarianpress.com

What TV shows/Movies do you like to watch or stream?

G.M. Nair: I’m currently going through Cowboy Bebop for the first time, which is a lot of fun. But otherwise, I could just watch The Simpsons, Futurama, or Always Sunny In Philadelphia all day.

What’s your favorite animal?

G.M. Nair: The Kakapo. Hands down. Don’t know it? Look it up.

Alexis: Omg, I actually love Kakapo! I literally have kakapo t-shirts and my Instagram is almost entirely pictures of Australian birds now, since I liked so many kakapo pictures!

Picture from New Zealand Kakapo Recovery! Kakapo are amazing birds, you guys!

Do you like playing video games? What’s your favorite game right now? Has a video game ever influenced you as a writer?

G.M. Nair: I don’t play as many video games as I used to growing up. But I remember the Final Fantasy games really influencing my pre-teen and teenage writing. I still have stories from that era backed up in my brain, so maybe someday I’ll get around to it.

These days, I’m just playing Mario on the Switch because I don’t have time to devote to anything more in depth.

What advice do you have for other writers or people just getting started in writing?

G.M. Nair: Accept that your first draft is going to be absolute garbage and just get the ideas out in a stream of vomit. It’s a lot easier to fix a thing that exists than to try and fix something that doesn’t.

Also, don’t take advice from randos on the internet.

How do you choose what books you want to read?

G.M. Nair: Mainly by cover and subject matter. Or if I hear people talking about it. It’s a real crapshoot to get me interested in a book. So I guess that’s why I’m not doing gangbuster sales.