Please introduce yourself and tell us about your background as a writer.
I’m Harry Piper and I’ve been writing for a decade and a bit. I’m Welsh, Catholic and into Dungeons and Dragons to a slightly worrying extent.

What are the most prominent influences on your writing? How do you incorporate those influences without being derivative?
Ooh, there’s a lot to say there. Probably too much.

One of my earliest memories was watching an adaption of Jane Yolen’s Merlyn and the Dragons on the telly. But the main thing was that I was born a Welshman. You’ve got a red dragon for a banner, you’re surrounded by a fairy-tale landscape (apart from those poor wretches in Newport) and our national hero was a medieval warrior-king who claimed the mantle of prophecy. It was either going to be fantasy or grim social realism – I had no choice in the matter.

My parents introduced me to The Hobbit and Narnia which were both indispensable. I grew up reading a lot of Stephen King and HP Lovecraft (sorry, Mum) which probably explains how horror keeps finding its way into my stuff. King’s a master of pure narrative while Lovecraft is just unbeatable for atmosphere.

One big formative moment came when I stumbled on a little book of Conan stories with one of those awesome Frazetta cover illustrations. It was my first time reading Robert E. Howard and I wasn’t prepared for the pure visceral thrill. His stories really grab you by the throat and don’t let go. Another was that 1979 DAW Books Heroic Fantasy collection (the one with the red cover). When was finished with it I knew that, whatever else I would write, I wanted to do stories like those.

And there’s others who are just as important, if not more so. Gene Wolfe, William Morris, JRR Tolkien (who can say enough about him?), Tanith Lee, CS Lewis, Arthur Machen, Darrell Schweitzer, E.R. Eddison, M.R. James, Tennyson, Dunsany – impossible to name them all.

And that’s just the writers. I missed the sword and sorcery film boom of the ‘80s but my generation had the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Perfect, perfect films.

For us young ‘uns you have to mention video games, too – no way around it. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, Baldur’s Gate 2, Deus Ex – all games with a powerful narrative and atmosphere that retain a strong place in my imaginative landscape.

I dearly hope my work isn’t derivative but I’ve probably (albeit unconsciously) stolen bits and pieces from every cultural product I’ve ever read, watched or listened to. That’s just how it works. But I’d like to think that as long as you do your work cleanly and honestly whatever you end up with will be a unique expression of your art. I think stories are like people – on the surface, at least, all quite similar but no two exactly the same.

Many authors say marketing is one of their biggest challenges. What tactics have you found to be most effective for getting your name out there?
The short answer is I haven’t! I’m still dreadfully new to the game and I feel totally lost when it comes to matters of self promotion. I can barely introduce myself to a stranger so the idea of trying to flog my work fills me with horror. I expect I’ll get better at it as time goes on but for now the best I can do is hope my work will speak for itself, and that the occasional happy reader will leave a positive review on Amazon and perhaps tell a friend or two. Tell your friends, I would urge them. At gunpoint, if necessary.

How much do your audience’s expectations factor in to what you write? Does this ever cause you to hold back from experimenting?
Yes and no. You don’t want to get trapped in one particular sub-genre or style. To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often, as Newman said (I think he was talking about writing Genre; I could be wrong). But at the same time I think it would be a mistake to just dismiss the audience as irrelevant to your work. You need to know when something is working and when something isn’t. To adopt ‘You just didn’t get it’ as an attitude would probably lead to a bad place. Be bold, I’d say, but don’t bristle at criticism. Take what you can from it.

Have you had any new stories published recently? Are you currently working on any?
“The Raid into Annwyn” just appeared in Samhain Sorceries. Think I’m waiting to hear back on one and currently working on another. Having difficulty finding the time because I recently found a great job after being out of work for a while. I’m trying to sort my affairs out so I can get back to writing. If I put it off too long I get all discombobulated.

Name one newer and one older book you have read and enjoyed recently. (“Newer” meaning from the past year or so, and “older” meaning written before 1980.)
For newer I’d probably pick Stephen King’s latest, Fairy Tale. A young man and his dog go on an adventure. Utterly simple but brilliant. I was hooked from page 1. Even when he’s off his game King is still pretty engaging. When he’s on point he’s unbeatable.

For an older one I’d cheat and choose Gillian Clarke’s new English translation of the old Welsh poem Y Gododdin. It’s a tribute to a host of fallen warriors who died fighting a doomed battle against the Saxons (Welsh history in miniature). It’s got this simple, earthy and violent immediacy to it. But it’ll break your heart, too, in its tribute to young men dying before their time.

Any final words?
I’d like to thank DMR Books for publishing my stuff and their continued support of heroic fantasy. I’d encourage everyone reading this to check out Samhain Sorceries. If you liked my story, have a look at my earlier collection The Great Die Slow and Other Tales of Dark Adventure. If you didn’t like my work, I’d encourage you to do the exact same thing. You probably just didn’t get it.