The Insider is a Silver Leaf Books sponsored feature that allows the readers to gain additional information about the authors, books, and projects. This section will consist of live interviews with the authors, and their direct responses.

This Insider interview is with Stuart Clark, author of the upcoming release, Project U.L.F..

SLB: Your debut novel will be released in the next few months. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what got you started with writing and how you came up with the idea for Project ULF?

CLARK: I've always written, whether it be for work or for pleasure, it just seemed to be something I enjoyed doing.  When I left University in the U.K., initially I didn't have a job to go to so I signed up for an evening class entitled "Scriptwriting for film and television."  On the final evening of this class, the instructor told us to come up with an idea and pitch it to the rest of the class as if we were trying to pitch a script to a studio executive.  The idea that I came up with was essentially Project U.L.F. and it was met with such enthusiasm that I thought I might be on to something and went away and wrote it.

SLB: Since you have always written, did you always want to be a writer?

CLARK: It's something I've always enjoyed doing.  I seem to express myself better in writing than any other medium.  I like the fact that I can sit and think of exactly the right word rather than blurting out the first thing that comes into my head. When I started Project U.L.F. it really was just a personal project, I just wanted to write the story and prove to myself that I could write a book.  At the time I had no expectations that it would get published.  Obviously I'm thrilled that it has been.

SLB: How was the process of taking your initial manuscript and getting it to the point where it is now?

CLARK: Long!  I started the novel in 1993 and finally finished it in 1999 - there was a lot going on in between!  During the time I was writing it I was a member of a writing group and they would comment and critique my work month by month.  I also gave the manuscript out to some trusted friends for their comments, so even during the writing process it was constantly being tweaked.  Once it was done, I put it in a box for three months and didn't look at it so that when I next pulled it out and read it, I could view it a bit more objectively.  I did two major edits on it myself before I even submitted it to potential publishers.

SLB: When Project U.L.F. does arrive in a couple of weeks, how excited are you about having a tangible book in your hands?

CLARK: Very excited.  Seeing the book come together over the past few months has been really fun.  It's going to be very strange looking up at my bookshelf and seeing my book there.

SLB: Why don't you tell us a little about your book?

CLARK: It's quite a hard book to pigeonhole I think.  Primarily it is a science - fiction novel, but it is also very cross genre, bringing to it elements of fantasy, drama and adventure.  Essentially, the story involves the men and women who work at Chicago's Interplanetary Zoological Park, a futuristic zoo that exhibits alien life forms.  Wyatt Dorren heads the department responsible for the capture and return of alien specimens and he is well liked and respected by his staff.  His popularity will prove to be his downfall though, since the zoo boss sees Wyatt as a threat and plans a one-way mission to be rid of his latest challenger. When Wyatt and his team realize their predicament, they have to find a way to get back to Earth.  That's not their only problem though, the resident aliens aren't particularly friendly either and their situation rapidly becomes a struggle to merely survive.

SLB: What has been some of the early feedback that you have received about it?

CLARK: The first reviews have been really positive which has been exciting. Overall I've been really pleased with the response so far.

SLB: That's great! Readers can find some of these reviews in our Book Review section. A little of my own feedback, I love the cover. That creature with the saliva dripping looks positively terrifying! Why don’t you tell us a bit about what you were thinking when you came up with the concept for the cover art for your book?

CLARK: I was looking at artist's websites one day when I came across the website of a guy called Henning Ludvigsen who's work just blew me away.  I contacted him and asked him if he'd be prepared to do the book cover for me (never thinking in a million years that he would) and to my great surprise, he agreed.  Henning had already done a piece entitled "Meeting" which was very similar to the book cover - It was a kind of humorous, first contact, man-meets-alien picture with a human character looking across at a reptilian like alien.  The more I thought about it, the more that kind of picture seemed appropriate for the cover, I just needed my alien to look pretty hostile towards the human character.  Henning did a great job of bringing my alien to life.  Other than just looking great, the cover does have a second, hidden meaning, but to find out what that is, you'll have to read the book.

SLB: For those readers who would be interested in meeting you, are you planning on doing any book signings and/or conventions?

CLARK: Absolutely.  Of course, right now it's early days and I'm just looking into booking signings and convention appearances, but as soon as it happens you'll be the first to know.

SLB: Do you have a website where fans and readers can get regular updates from you about your appearances and books?

CLARK: Sure. www.stuartclark.net.

SLB: Will there be a future installment for the characters of Project U.L.F., or are you working on a different project now?

CLARK: There will be another Project U.L.F. book, yes.

SLB: Once people read Project U.L.F., I’m sure that will be very good news indeed! How is the sequel coming?

CLARK: It's coming along.  It's certainly being written at a faster pace than the first book!  Right now I'd guess I'm about half way through it.

SLB: Do you plan on working on anything following Project U.L.F.? If so, do you have any general ideas as to what you might try to write?

CLARK: I'm constantly having ideas for stories so there will be other stories after Project U.L.F.  I think I'll stay in the Sci-Fi realm for a little while longer, but I would like to try my hand at a bit of fantasy and maybe even some plain old fiction.

SLB: Speaking of Fantasy, you also have signed up to write one of the Tales in the Imperium Saga: Tales of the Council of Elders book. Why don’t you tell us a bit about that? What are you working on?

CLARK: That's right. I've been emailing Clifford Bowyer, author of the Imperium Saga about this upcoming project and he's given me some background information on one of his characters, a centaur named Promethisus, so it looks like I'll get that crack at fantasy writing sooner rather than later.  The project itself looks to be a great collaboration with authors and fans of the original Imperium Saga books contributing.

SLB: Other than writing, what are some of your interests and hobbies?

CLARK: I used to play a crazy sport called Ultimate Frisbee and played at the World club championships in 1995 and the European club Championships in 2001, but that's a young person's game and I'm getting to old for that! I've since graduated to the much gentler game of golf at which I am hopeless, but I continue to persevere with it.  Other than that, I love scuba diving and I am a PADI certified Divemaster - and I'm crazy about sharks.

SLB: Well, that's all the time we have for this session. Best of luck with your work on the new book, the Tale, and even more so with the success of Project U.L.F.. Is there anything else that you would like to add about yourself or your book before we leave?

CLARK: On a personal note, I'd just like to thank the people who have already invested in a copy of the book.  I sincerely hope you enjoy it and I'd love to hear your feedback.  Please drop me a line, either via Silver Leaf Books or through my own website - www.stuartclark.net.

Thanks.