Interview with Alexander Gordon Smith, Part Two

Welcome back to our interview with Alexander Gordon Smith, author of Lockdown: Escape from Furnace.

The justice and penal system portrayed in Lockdown are extremely interesting—and obviously, not very just.  The state of the courts as they are shown seem to suggest that it is fairly easy to railroad an innocent man, while Furnace, the prison itself, seems to rely as much on an atmosphere of terror to confine the prisoners as the actual bars and guards with guns do.  There have been a number of stories in the news in the last decade about people being unjustly convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, and being vindicated years or even decades later by new evidence coming to light.  How much, if any, of the ideas behind Lockdown reflect those sorts of news stories?

I was thinking less about the news and more about my own worst fears. The thought of being convicted of a crime you didn’t commit, and spending your life in jail, is absolutely terrifying. When I was writing the book I wasn’t attempting to make any kind of political point or statement about the penal system in the UK or in the US. I wanted it to be a horror story, pure and simple. In fact the biggest problem I thought readers would have with the book was believing that a teenager could be sentenced to life without possibility of parole. It was only after I’d finished Lockdown that I read an article about teenagers in the States who had suffered this exact fate – literally locked away for the rest of their life. It is a tragic and distressing thought that, for some young people, there is no second chance (of course you can say the same about their victims…). I’m not sure if any of these individuals were wrongly convicted, but if so I can’t imagine a worse nightmare.

I don’t think the prison system is perfect, I don’t think there is as much focus on rehabilitation as there needs to be. And whilst real prisons aren’t full of monsters and mutant dogs, they do all seem to be based on an atmosphere of terror and violence. Surely the punishment in going to prison is losing your freedom, not being forced to live in a hell-on-Earth. But, like I say, I’m no expert on the matter and would never pretend to be. Part of what I wanted to show was that the label of “criminal” isn’t so clean cut as most people think. Alex is a criminal, and he’s not a nice guy to start with, but he’s not a killer. It’s only when he gets to Furnace that he is forced to commit the crimes that he was accused of, and only then to stay alive. Alex changes so much during the course of the series, for better and for worse, and maybe that’s the point – people can change, we need to help them change before it’s too late.

Lockdown is listed as a Young Adult novel, and deals with some fairly serious issues.  There are people today who tend to believe that such topics are too intense for teenagers, and that young adults need to be prevented from reading works like that.  For example, recently in Wisconsin, a group of conservative and religious parents and other adults tried to have the public library in West Bend, Wisconsin removed Francesca Lia Block’s novel Baby Be-Bop from the children’s section of the library because it dealt with a young man’s acceptance of his homosexuality. What do you think about people who would theoretically ban your book or other books they believe are “harmful” to teens?

I have no time for people who want to ban books because the content disagrees with their religious or moral beliefs. If everybody got to ban a book they didn’t approve of then the shelves would be empty of all but the most mundane and vacant material.

I think the desire to stop teenagers from reading a book like Baby Be-Bop (I’ve never read the book but it sounds wonderful) is disgusting. After all, this is the stage of life when kids need books the most because they help them understand what they’re going through, help them come to terms with the huge changes in their life, the way they see the world and the way the world sees them. Books also help them challenge the views that certain authorities have perhaps tried to impose upon them, they help kids see a bigger world and a bigger truth. Teenagers don’t always want to talk to people about their problems, and books are often the only form of guidance and counseling they can get – and they are a brilliant source of guidance and counseling!

Surely banning a book like Baby Be-Bop because it deals with a young man’s acceptance of his homosexuality is saying homosexuality is wrong, and that’s a terrible message to send out. If these protesters are worried that reading the book might change somebody’s sexuality then they really need to wake up! Books are powerful things, yes, but they’re powerful because they help people understand life, they help them make their own decisions.

Lockdown is a book for teenagers, and yes it has violence and death in it but there’s nothing that isn’t suitable for the audience it was written for. If anybody wanted to ban Lockdown because they thought it was harmful to teens then I’d tell them where to go. Lockdown is about friendship and trust and hope and freedom and self-discovery and love, like most books for teenagers, and that’s what these idiot protesters are blind to. They see the book’s cover, they don’t see its heart.

In Lockdown, the hell that is Furnace is shown as populated solely by the male half of the population: young prisoners and adult prison staff.  Given that today’s gangs in the real world also have female members, is there a counterpart to Furnace filled with female prisoners?  Obviously, having Furnace be co-ed just wouldn’t work.

I always knew that this was going to be an issue, and thought of various ways to try and get female characters into the book – not because I felt that I should, but because I enjoy writing female characters! Obviously Furnace couldn’t be a co-ed prison (explaining why can be the most awkward part of the events I do with children!) but, as you say, girls are capable of committing terrible crimes too. In the world of my books there is a counterpart to Furnace filled with female prisoners, although this isn’t explicitly stated in the novel. Fortunately for its inmates, however, this prison isn’t part of the same horrific plan as Furnace. There are reasons for this which will become apparent later on in the series. There will be female characters in the books, but not until book four – and I can’t say any more for fear of ruining the story!

Do you consider Lockdown to be science fiction or horror, or something else entirely?

I definitely think of the book as horror. As I mentioned earlier I was inspired to write the series by thinking about my own worst fears – I knew that if I wrote about what scared me then I would write convincingly. I love horror, it’s my favorite genre to read, watch and write. It’s partially about the scares, the adrenaline, the heart-pounding action, but mainly it’s about the mystery, the intrigue, the knowledge that something very wrong is happening that totally unravels your perception of reality. That’s what I love about horror – absolutely anything can happen. I wouldn’t really call Lockdown sci-fi at all, except for the fact that it’s set ever-so-slightly in the future (well, hopefully an alternative future). I wanted it to be grounded in a world which could be ours, a world which felt real, because that’s when horror works best – when it’s your own life you see crumbling into madness, when it’s your own reality tipping into the void. I love it!

Certain elements in Lockdown (I won’t say which ones, since I’m trying not to spoil the novel for those who haven’t read it yet) definitely seem to put the novel directly in the SF/horror genre.  What are some of your favorite works in those genres?  Are there more genre elements in Solitary and Death Sentence?

I read so much that it’s impossible to list my favorite authors and inspirations – usually every new book I read becomes my favorite because I get so caught up in the adventure or the mystery. As we’ve already talked about, I think Stephen King is a genius when it comes to creating a realistic world and populating it with believable characters then putting them all through hell. I also love Clive Barker, whose imagination seems boundless. I was delighted to have been compared to him in a review in the Financial Times earlier this year. I feel inspired by all of the classic horror writers – Poe, Lovecraft, Stoker, Shelley and far too many more to list here. I love Darren Shan too, who was a huge stylistic influence on Lockdown . And when it comes to creating an atmosphere of utter terror I don’t think anyone can beat Ramsey Campbell.

While I don’t necessarily want to become known as a horror writer, Escape from Furnace is definitely a horror series. And yes, it gets darker with each subsequent book! Saying that, each title in the series has a distinct feel – Solitary is more of a horror book, with perhaps an edge of sci-fi, whereas Death Sentence is an action book at its heart. I wanted to keep each title fresh and distinct – too much of the same thing, especially with horror, can be overwhelming!

Lockdown is currently available for Amazon.com’s Kindle e-book reader.  Is it available in other formats?  What do you think of e-books and e-book readers?

I haven’t quite made up my mind about e-books yet… In theory I love the idea that you can take your reader with you and instantly have access to pretty much every book on the planet. I mean how cool is that?! I’m a huge gadget freak and will no doubt buy a reader soon just to see what they’re like. Also, my house is full of books – I had to take several hundred to the charity shop the other day because there was just no room for them. It would be nice to have a book jukebox which could sit on my bedside table not taking up any space and not accumulating several inches of dust!

However, I love books as objects, I adore them – they way they look, feel, smell, sound, everything about them. I hope books never become extinct because they are beautiful things. I think what might happen is that people will gradually move over to readers for most books – bedtime reads, holiday books, academic texts and so on. But hopefully they’ll continue to buy the books that mean the most to them, their favorite books, the ones they’re proud to display on the shelves at home. I think we’ve all seen pictures of Neil Gaiman’s library – if I could have a space like that to store my books then I don’t think I’d ever need to buy a reader!

But it is extremely exciting to have my book available as an e-book because it makes it so easy for people to get hold of it and actually read it. You don’t have to visit a store, you can just click a link and it’s right there. As an author you’re always worried that people might not spot your book on the shelf and pick it up, you’re always worried that nobody will read it! So the easier it is for people to get hold of, the better – if your story is travelling the world digitally at the speed of light it can’t be a bad thing! The most important thing for me is that Lockdown is being read and being enjoyed – whether that’s on the printed page, a screen or as an audio book doesn’t really matter.

With the plethora of YA novels being adapted into films these days, would you like to see Lockdown made into a movie?  If so, indulge us: what would be your dream cast?  Who would you like to see play Alex and the other characters?

Having a film made of Lockdown would be a dream come true – I can’t think of anything I’d like more! However, if they made it scene-for-scene then it would probably have to be rated R! You can get away with more in a book, I think, because you let the reader’s imagination do so much of the work. It’s different in films. Well, certainly in modern films which seem to have forgotten that horror works best when you don’t see the object of your terror in full-blown CGI.

I wouldn’t know who to suggest for the cast. Part of me thinks it would work best with a cast that was utterly unknown, especially for the boys. That way their adventure, and their nightmare, would seem more real. I could see somebody like Shia LeBeouf playing Alex, though, because he plays the everyday kid-next-door role really well and that’s what Alex is – he’s every kid who could have taken a wrong turn. I’m a huge fan of the wire and could see Tristan Wilds as Donovan. As for the warden… I could picture Liam Neeson playing the role, he’s certainly got the right build and with a bit of make-up could really look the part of a man who may be the devil!

Film adaptations aren’t always great, but I think if you try to separate the experience from the book, see it as a totally different story, then it works best. I love movies, and it really would be the most amazing thing in the world to be able to go into the cinema and watch my story come to life on the big screen. Keep your fingers crossed!

It’s been great talking to you.  Thank you so much for spending some time with us!

Thanks again for the chance to answer some questions on your fantastic blog!