Author Interview - Steve Nash
- Submissions Northodox Press
- Jul 27
- 3 min read
1) What was your inspiration for your novel?
I’ve always been fascinated by the gap between what we think of as civilised behaviour and what survival actually demands, especially in a fractured society. Somewhere in that gap, a badger detective appeared. Remington Platypus started with a simple question: what does justice look like when there’s no human hand to impose it? I also liked the idea of writing a crime novel without humans, so the wild itself had to shoulder the story’s grief and violence. And perhaps, on some level, I suspected animals might handle things with more dignity than most of us would.
2) Why did you want to write in your chosen genre?
I suppose I didn’t choose the genre so much as the story chose its own shape. It came out somewhere between crime noir and animal fable, with a bit of ecological lament thrown in. I’ve always loved fiction that plays at the edges of genre, where myth, crime, and poetry can sit at the same table (usually awkwardly). Though it definitely is a crime novel, I think because of the ways it plays with convention, it might more easily be described as a work of weird fiction… feral weird fiction.
3) What was the process for your writing?
Well, as you know, I come from a poetry background, so I should say it mostly involves wandering over misty moors, fondling moonbeams, and generally brooding with a quill in my ink-stained fingers. In reality, it was mainly me, a laptop, too much coffee, and the occasional existential crisis. I tend to write in bursts and always have, but I find I get quite consumed by a project, so there are long stretches of thinking, followed by frantic typing when the characters start shouting loud enough and misbehaving. I’d love to say I wrestle them into shape like a master storyteller, but mostly I just try to keep up and hope they don’t embarrass me too much.
4) Are there any titles that you could compare your work to?
It always feels dangerous to compare, but I think it’s important to acknowledge the debt owed to the great history of animal fiction. The characters of Remington Platypus are animals, but they’re not anthropomorphised (or only minimally for the sake of story), so they’re more Watership Down than Wind in the Willows. Animal Farm is another obvious influence, and I’ve always been fascinated by the way authors have used animals in fiction to explore human issues. Although, in my case, I may have taken it as an excuse to think far too much about badger psychology. Probably best not to ask how deep I went.
5) What are your preferred genres to read?
Anything that walks the line between the lyrical and the brutal, literary crime, eco-fiction, weird fiction, poetry. I’m a sucker for books that feel like they’re trying to stare something uncomfortable in the face. As an academic I find myself buried in philosophy and critical theory a lot, and I do find myself becoming lost in fiction that has that same kind of depth and openness to interpretation. Don’t I just sound like someone you’d really love to get stuck next to at a dinner party?
6) Do you have any further novels planned?
As a matter of fact, I’m halfway through another one which is very different to Remington. It is a horror novel with a dual narrative set in a creepy backwater town called Murkwater Creek. I’ve also been planning a work of historical fiction that makes use of my PhD research into the 19th Century. That’s the book I had planned to write when the horror novel crept up on me. And, hopefully, if my badger detective connects with readers, there will be another Remington story in the future. I suspect the animal world has a lot more to say.
7) What is one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring author?
It’s the same advice I offer to my poetry students at University: Write the book that only you could write, not the one you think people expect. And be kind to yourself while you’re doing it. There’s enough rejection and self-doubt in this business without adding your own. And obviously, read Remington Platypus, but that’s just good general life advice for everyone.
Order your copy of Remington Platypus, publishing 31st July 2025, here:
Comments