In Talk with Luke Swanson
Today, I'm in conversation with Luke Swanson, regarding his new novel, 'The Other Hamlet Brother', which launches on 11th February.
Luke was raised on a steady diet of stories. You can find him with a book constantly in his hand. He is the author of full-length fiction as well as a handful of published short stories. He lives with his wife in Oklahoma City.
Let's learn more about him! Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m 25 years old, living in Oklahoma City! My first novel is The Ten, a
mystery-thriller, and it was published in 2016. The Other Hamlet Brother is
my second published novel.
When did you start writing?
o For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved reading. For years, I would
unconsciously rework what I was reading, editing those books and forming my
own stories. I started writing in earnest in high school. I wrote a really bad
historical fiction novel that I hope never again sees the light of day, and then I
wrote the first draft of The Ten. After letting it sit dormant for a few years, I
revised a good chunk of it and sent it off to be published by a house called
Limitless Publishing. While writing The Other Hamlet Brother and
subsequent novels, I also wrote a handful of short stories that are available
from Limitless.
What inspires you to write?
o I love the art of words. I read constantly, and I want to add my own stories to
the global canon. The idea that my words can speak directly to someone
somewhere is extremely humbling and inspiring.
Tell us about 'The Other Hamlet Brother'.
o The Other Hamlet Brother is a tragi-comedy that follows the identical twin of
Denmark’s most famously moody prince. Tim Hamlet has removed himself
from royal life for many years, but he is drawn back in, and all manner of
chaos ensues. I’ve described this book as “Young Frankenstein, but for
Shakespeare”—it has a very silly tone, with anachronistic dialogue and jokes,
but it also has profound emotional at its heart. This book is written so that fans
of William Shakespeare’s works will be able to pick up on small jokes and
details, but other readers who couldn’t care less about Shakespeare will also
be able to engage. This is part of why I love Shakespeare in the first place:
Whether or not you like his plays, you can relate to his characters. In The
Other Hamlet Brother, Shakespeare’s characters stand on their own and are
developed fully within the novel, so unfamiliar readers will be able to enjoy
this book without having to do any homework before!
Are most of your characters just drawn out of the wind, or do you try to inherit them some of the quirks of people around you?
o I think I naturally imbue characters with traits I see in the world, be they
realistic or not. Like, I don’t know someone as violently prideful as Prospero
is in my book, but I have met prideful people, so I can take that trait, amplify
it, and follow it to its natural conclusion. Once I establish a character’s goals,
values, and motivations, I give them room to react to situations as they
uniquely would. The real fun comes from putting differing characters in a
situation together—the old writing axiom of “show, don’t tell” comes into play
here. For instance, if they need to get through a wall, one might want to climb
over, and one will try to blow it up! That’s characterization in a nutshell.
What are your thoughts on reading?
o Books are endless wells of empathy. No matter what genre you
read—romance, sci-fi, biography, thriller, comedy, etc.—you will always
learn something. And I’m not just talking about facts and figures, like you
learn from a textbook. I’m talking about humanity. You can see reality from
another set of eyes. To paraphrase Harper Lee, books allow you to get in
someone else’s shoes and walk around for a while. If you can’t tell, I’m a huge
proponent of reading!
What book are you reading right now?
o Right now, I’m reading The Alienist by Caleb Carr, a historical suspense
novel, and Good Brother Bad Brother, a nonfiction book about Edwin and
John Wilkes Booth. Those two books pretty much sum up my main favorite
genres—thrillers and US history!
Tell us three fun facts about yourself.
o I attended Oklahoma Christian University, where I studied writing and history.
There, I met my now-wife, to whom I got married in November 2019! For my
fulltime job, I write for Samsung’s US Bixby.
What do you have in store next for your readers?
o I have two books that are finished (at least in their first drafts). One is a sequel
to The Ten, starring the same character, Detective Jason Flynn. It’s more of an
action-thriller than a mystery, and it’s a wild ride. I hope readers like it. The
other novel is a sort of satire of war—I’m really proud of that one and think it
could be my best work to date!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?
o You can learn more about my books and short stories at
www.lukeswansonauthor.com. You can also follow me on Instagram
(@lukeswan33) or on Goodreads to see what I’m currently reading!
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