W.M. Akers
Author Interview - W.M. Akers
Author of Westside Lights
Westside Lights is the third of the Westside novels—supernatural mystery stories set in an alternate version of 1920s Manhattan that star Gilda Carr, a cantankerous detective who's dedicated to solving tiny mysteries. Westside Lights follows Gilda to a debauched Hudson River amusement district, where she lives on a stolen yacht with her lover, Cherub Stevens, and a one-footed pet seagull named Grover Hartley. When the seagull vanishes, Gilda's search for her carries her into the District's seething underbelly, where she will discover a mystery more horrifying than any she has ever known.
Author Interview - W.M. Akers
Author I draw inspiration from: The two most important inspirations for the Westside series are Herbert Asbury, whose The Gangs of New York gives an almost psychedelically strange vision of the vanished world of 19th Century gangsters, and Joseph Mitchell, who painted portraits of the sorts of misfits and oddballs that Westside is all about.
Author Interview - W.M. Akers | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book: I am rarely happier than when I'm sitting on a park bench with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee—or tea, or water, or anything!—in the other.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with: Perhaps it's a bit of a cheat, but I'd go with The Escapist—the fictional Houdini-inspired superhero from Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. The dude can get out of anywhere.
Author Interview - W.M. Akers | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author: Ooh boy—this is something I've wanted since I was a child. I honestly don't remember a time when I didn't want to be an author. That it's something I've gotten to pursue professionally is truly the greatest gift of my life.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook: All four!
The last book I read: I just finished reading Fear City, by Kim Phillips-Fein, an absolutely gripping account of the 1970s fiscal crisis in New York City. And I'm about fifty pages away from the end of Hench, by Natalie Zina Walschots, which is one of the best novels I've read in ages.
Author Interview - W.M. Akers | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer: Absolutely computer. I enjoy brainstorming and taking notes by hand—I have a Pelikan fountain pen that I just love—but trying to write seriously without a computer or typewriter drives me nuts. My handwriting is just too slow!
Book character I think I’d be best friends with: Archie Goodwin, narrator of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novels. He talks tough but he's a goofball at heart and I think he'd enjoy heading to the Polo Grounds to take in a Giants game together.
Author Interview - W.M. Akers | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a: A game designer! It's actually something I already do—my games Deadball: Baseball With Dice is a bestseller and my RPG Comrades has been translated into Spanish, Italian, and Polish. I love game design work because it's analytical and precise in exactly the way that writing isn't—it's a marvelous break for my brain.
Favorite decade in fashion history: I'm a sucker for slim-fitting suits and skinny ties, so I'll say the sixties for menswear. For women's fashion, I'd go for the 30s—I absolutely adore the deco-inspired gowns you see in old movies.
Place I’d most like to travel: I've always wanted to go to Iceland. Or Sweden. Or South Africa or Turkey or Australia or Japan or, heck, anywhere. It's been too many years since my last real vacation!
My signature drink: You can't go wrong with a dry gin martini, but when I'm feeling literary I fix a Travis McGee, named for the cocktail invented by John D. MacDonald's famous PI. Fill a rocks glass with ice. Dump some sherry into it, swirl it around, and strain the sherry out. Pour in a generous amount of Plymouth Dry Gin. Rub a lemon peel around the glass's lip, twist it over the drink, and toss the peel away. They are very, very good.
Favorite artist: Visual artist? I've been spending a lot of time at the Philadelphia Museum lately and my favorite room there is full of sculptures by Constantin Brâncuși. I'd never thought much about his work but these slender gold sculptures are just the most beautiful, peaceful things I've ever seen.
Number one on my bucket list: I just want to keep writing books!
Anything else you'd like to add: I did most of the research for the Westside books by digging around in the New York Times archives, a hobby I found so enchanting that I turned it into a newsletter, Strange Times, which is all about the weirdest stuff I find in the 1921 Times. Check it out! http://strangetimes.substack.com/
Find more from the author:
Twitter: @ouijum
Author Bio: W.M. Akers is a novelist, playwright, and game designer. He is the author of Westside, Westside Saints, Westside Lights, and Critical Hit, as well as the creator of Deadball: Baseball With Dice and Comrades: A Revolution RPG, and too many plays to mention here. He is also responsible for Strange Times, a weekly newsletter that investigates the weirdest news 1921 has to offer.
